Guest guest Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Saw this article on another forum and simply HAD to send it out to everyone I know - this is extremely important information! It may even save your life, or that of a loved one! Linda Fatal Heart Attacks - Caused by Your Medication?Health Alert 88Dear Subscriber:Have you ever had chest pain? If you have, you have probably had theexperience of a "cardiac workup". This is what doctors call it when they runthe battery of tests we use to evaluate chest pain. The result of thisprocess is usually a prescription medication. That's what I want to talkwith you about today. I have just read a new study that says that the most common medications wedoctors have been using to treat chest pain for decades actually increasesyour risk of having a fatal heart attack. In other words, you may be takinga heart medication that can give you a heart attack. I'm talking about thegroup of medications called nitrates commonly prescribed for chest pain. Luckily, there are natural and safe alternatives to nitrates. I'll tell youabout these alternatives, and I'll tell you what you can take to protectyour heart from these drugs.Millions of Americans take nitrates, such as nitroglycerin. You can takethem as tablets you swallow, sublinguals you place under your tongue or aspatches you apply to your skin. Here is a list of the most common nitrates: a.. Nitroglycerin b.. Nitrostat c.. Nitro-Dur d.. Nito-Bid e.. Nitrolingual f.. Isosorbide g.. Isoptin h.. Isordil i.. Ismo j.. Imdur k.. Dilatrate l.. Minitran m.. Monoket * Drug Damage *People take nitrates to relieve heart symptoms. Angina is chest pain causedby a temporary lack of blood flow to the heart. Nitrates will temporarilyopen blood vessels to allow blood to flow back into the heart. However, as they do this they damage the sensitive lining of the heart bloodvessels called the endothelium. This eventually makes the endothelium stopits normal functioning (endothelial dysfunction). People with endothelialdysfunction suffer from more heart attacks.And now, a recent Japanese study has proven just how damaging nitrates are.Researchers studied over 500 participants for almost 4 years. Subjects whotook nitrates on a regular basis were 2.4 times more likely to have a majorcardiac event than those who didn't take nitrate drugs. And the nitrateaccelerated any damage already present in the heart.1 * Natural Relief *Nitrates temporarily dilate blood vessels by helping to produce nitric-oxidemolecules. Nitric oxide (NO) naturally opens blood vessels. Fortunately,nitrates aren't the only substances that cause the release of NO. Severalnaturally occurring nutrients can also release NO. These supplements havethe same effect, without harming the heart.L-arginine: The most important of these supplements is l-arginine.L-arginine is a precursor for NO. This means that it has a hand in theproduction of NO. L-arginine gently causes blood vessels to dilate andimproves endothelial dysfunction. The International Journal of Cardiology published a study, which analyzed 35participants with endothelial dysfunction. Researchers split the subjectsinto two groups. One group took l-arginine, while the other took a placebo.Those who took the l-arginine saw an improvement in the health of theirendothelium. The placebo group had no significant change. 2Taurine: Taurine is an amino acid that protects against endothelialdysfunction and endothelial cell death. Taurine also causes vessel dilation.Scientists have seen the benefits of taurine in the lab. Researchers havefound that taurine protects the heart lining through its antioxidantproperties. Taurine can actually prevent endothelial cells from dying. 3Folic Acid: Folic acid lowers levels of toxic substances that irritate theheart's lining. Less endothelial irritations equates to a reduction incardiac events. In one well-done study, researchers examined 75 participants with coronaryatherosclerosis. Half of the participants took folic acid, while the otherhalf took a placebo. Those who took the placebo had no significantimprovement. But the researchers concluded that "folic acid supplementationsignificantly improved endothelial dysfunction..."4Vitamins C and E: Both Vitamin C and E have antioxidant effects on theendothelium. The vitamins protect the lining from damage. They do this byblocking the oxidative stress caused by irritants like nitrates. Take amixture of tocopherols and tocotrienols (kinds of vitamin E) for the bestprotection. If you are on nitrates, you may be able to switch to a more gentle naturalnutritional approach to relieve symptoms without damaging the delicateliving system lining the blood vessels of your heart.You should also check your C-reactive protein and homocysteine levels. Astheir levels rise, your chance of having a heart attack does too.Controlling these inflammatory factors can have the opposite effect of thenitrate drugs and keep your heart blood vessels supple and responsive. Youcan read more about the importance of these levels in Health Alert 23.To Your Good Health,Al Sears, M.D. Are you earning what you're WORTH? http://trueteam.com/wealth.php/linday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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