Homocysteine

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http://www.hfn-usa.com/articles/0200904homocysteine.html

 

Amazing hope for anyone at risk for heart attack or stroke!

 

If you or a friend or relative have survived a heart attack or stroke, you know

that life afterwards is forever changed. A victim of cardiovascular disease

(CVD) lives in fear of when the next attack might strike. And if you haven't

been stricken yet, count your blessings—because in the United States alone,

someone suffers a heart attack every 20 seconds, and a stroke every 53 seconds.

 

The pharmaceutical industry offers plenty of temporary fixes, including statin

drugs for reducing cholesterol, aspirin for thinning the blood, and

anti-hypertension medications for reducing blood pressure. Essentially, they all

help prolong the life of a patient with CVD. But none of these drugs is without

risk or side effects. And none of them fight the very cause of

atherosclerosis—which results in dangerous artery-clogging plaque.

 

But now, based on clinical studies, there's real hope that high levels of

homocysteine—the new established risk factor for CVD—can be significantly

reduced with vitamin B supplementation.2

 

What is homocysteine?

 

Homocysteine is a by-product of the amino acid methionine, which is naturally

found in food and your body. If the right cofactors are present, it will

eventually convert to cysteine and other beneficial compounds. If the cofactors

are lacking, it will build up to toxic levels and generate free radicals that

increase injury to arterial walls, and accelerate oxidation and the buildup of

cholesterol in blood vessels … setting the stage for heart attack and stroke.3

 

How does homocysteine cause damage?

 

Homocysteine sets off a dangerous chain of events by irritating the inner lining

of arteries and veins. Eventually, the inside of the arteries and veins become

rough instead of smooth. As they become diseased, the inner arterial wall

thickens and results in arteriosclerosis. Cells lining the artery proliferate

and combine with protein and lipids in a mass called an atherosclerotic plaque.

Plaques are typically the first sign of cardiovascular disease. With time,

plaques gather cholesterol and fat, finally becoming atheromas. Atheromas

distort the artery wall, allowing for calcification. When an atheroma blocks

blood to the heart, it is referred to as a heart attack. When it blocks blood to

the brain, it is a stroke.

 

In addition, it was recently reported that homocysteine interferes with the

production of nitric oxide, a substance that impairs the blood vessels' ability

to dilate, or expand—which also contributes to risk of heart attack and stroke.4

 

Millions of dollars are spent annually on drugs designed to lower blood pressure

by dilating blood vessels and reduce cholesterol. But there's a better way!

 

The good news is that scientists have discovered Vitamins B6, B 12, and folic

acid can dramatically lower homocysteine levels!

 

Most people with a high homocysteine level don't get enough folic acid, vitamin

B6 or B12 in their diet. Supplementing with these vitamins helps return the

homocysteine level to normal.

 

In 1969, Kilmer S. McCully, M.D. of Harvard Medical School found that heart

patients had nearly 80 percent less vitamin B6 than healthy individuals. As a

result of his work, he postulated that B6 might help protect the arteries from

the damage that precedes heart disease.5 In addition, a deficiency of vitamin

B12 is associated with elevated homocysteine levels and folic acid is essential

for the proper metabolism of homocysteine.6,7 It is estimated that by

supplementing with only 400 mcg. of folic acid daily the number of heart attacks

suffered by Americans each year would be reduced by 10%. It is also estimated

that individuals with low vitamin B6 levels have a five times greater risk of

having a heart attack than individuals with higher B6 levels!

 

More than 20 case-control and cross-sectional studies on more than 2,000

subjects have provided what Harvard epidemiologist Meir J. Stampfer, MD, calls

" remarkably consistent " findings regarding the relationship between homocysteine

levels and cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, patients with stroke and other

cardiovascular diseases tend to have higher blood levels of homocysteine than

subjects without disease. Stampfer points out that homocysteine levels do not

have to be elevated by very much to increase risk, since most of the patients in

these studies had levels that were within what is generally regarded to be the

normal range.8

 

Decades after Kilmer's breakthrough study, the data continues to pour in. One of

the largest studies was reported in the 1992 report from the Physician's Health

Study. The study, which included 14, 916 male physicians, found that men whose

homocysteine levels were in the highest five percent were three times more

likely to have a heart attack over a five-year period than men with lower

homocysteine levels!

 

Homocysteine contributes to cellular aging and Alzheimer's disease

 

A recent study at the National Institute on Aging found that homocysteine does

more than just damage the arterial wall. As a major consequence of folic acid

deficiency—a particular problem with the elderly—elevated homocysteine impairs

DNA repair and may have adverse effects on multiple organ systems during aging.

Folic acid supplementation was found to help normalize homocysteine levels, and

thereby help sustain health for a longer period of time.9

 

Alzheimer's disease

 

People with elevated levels of homocysteine had nearly double the risk of

developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new report from scientists at

Boston University. The findings, in a group of people participating in the

long-running Framingham Study, are the first to tie homocysteine levels measured

several years before with later diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other dementias.

The report, which appeared in the February 14, 2002, issue of The New England

Journal of Medicine, provides some of the most compelling evidence yet of an

association between high plasma homocysteine and eventual significant memory

loss.

 

Another report published this summer reiterates the finding that a high level

homocysteine in blood serum and spinal fluid have consistently been found in

individuals who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.10

 

Homocysteine is a clearly established risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

But you can do something about it, and you can do it easily and quickly!

 

To learn more about how you can prevent heart disease and stroke, click below to

read " Cardio Companions:12 Powerful Nutrients for Cardiovascular Health. " To

learn how you can increase circulation and reverse atherosclerosis—click on

" EDTA Chelation. "

 

 

References:

 

1. FMT Loehrer et al., Effect of methionine loading on 5-methyltetrahydrofolate,

S-adenosylmethionine and S-adenosylhomocysteine in plasma of healthy humans

Clinical Science (1996) 91. 79-86

 

2. Klerk M, Verhoef P, Verbruggen B, Schouten EG, Blom HJ, Bos GM, den Heijer M.

Effect of homocysteine reduction by B-vitamin supplementation on markers of

clotting activation. Thromb Haemost 2002 Aug;88(2):230-5

 

3. Olszewski, A. J.; et al. " Reduction of Plasma Lipid and Homocysteine levels

by Pyridoxine, Folate, Cobalamin, Choline, Riboflavin, and Troxerutin in

Atherosclerosis. " Atherosclerosis 75 no. 1 (Jan, 1989): 1-6.

 

4. Ashfield-Watt PA, Moat SJ, Doshi SN, McDowell IF. Folate, homocysteine,

endothelial function and cardiovascular disease. What is the link? Biomed

Pharmacother 2001 Oct;55(8):425-33

 

5. McCully, K.S. " Homocysteine Theory of Arteriosclerosis: Development and

Current Status. " Atherosclerosis Reviews 11 (1983): 157-246.

 

6. Brattstrom, L.; et al. " Higher Total Plasma Homocysteine Due to Cystathionine

Beta-Synthase Deficiency. " Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental 37 no. 2 (Feb,

1988): 175-178.

 

7. Brattstrom, L.; et al. " Impaired Homocysteine Metabolism in Early-Onset

Cerebral and Peripheral Occlusive Artery Disease. " Effects of Pyridoxine and

Folic Acid Treatment, " Atherosclerosis 81 no. 1 (1990): 51-60.

 

8. Stampfer M, Malinow M. Can lowering homocysteine levels reduce cardiovascular

risk? N Engl J Med. 1995; 332:328-329.

 

9. Mattson MP, Kruman II, Duan W. Folic acid and homocysteine in age-related

disease. Ageing Res Rev 2002 Feb;1(1):95-111

 

10. Teunissen CE, de Vente J, Steinbusch HW, De Bruijn C. Biochemical markers

related to Alzheimer's dementia in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Neurobiol

Aging. 2002 Jul-Aug;23

 

 

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