Authors:
[Summary Commentary] Dr. Gregory Howard
Giampaolo Niccoli, Paolo G Camici
Blood Viscosity And Risk Of Myocardial Infarction
The cause of a heart attack or stroke is complicated for sure, but let’s take a few minutes this new year to educate ourselves on how to easily and significantly lower the risk of sudden cardiac death or heart attack. The incidence of new heart attacks in the United States is 720,000, and 335,000 recurrent heart attacks per year. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, killing over 366,800 per year. Let’s take a few minutes to educate ourselves on how to lower the risk of sudden cardiac death or Heart Attack.
The Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study in an ongoing investigation of middle-aged men in eastern Finland. This population of men has one of the highest recorded rates of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in the world. Over decades, this study has investigated the effects of coffee, omega-3, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, and most interestingly the effect of blood donation. A cohort of 2,862 men were followed for nine years. A subset group of 153 men donated blood on a regular basis. Only one man who regularly donated blood had a heart attack in the nine year period of the study. This is an incidence of 0.7%. Of the remaining 2,709 men, 316 had an acute myocardial infarction, or an incidence of 12.5%. This study indicates donating blood reduces the risk of a heart attack 18 fold.
What science can help explain the findings of this prospective study of 2,862 men over a nine year period of time? First, let’s debunk much of the medical dogma we think is true regarding cardiovascular disease. The cause of a heart attack or stroke is complicated for sure, but we have been intentionally or unintentionally led astray from the truth. Most of us have heard aspirin is a blood thinner. This information was taught to my kids in a high school biology class. Among most educated adults, it is common knowledge that aspirin is a blood thinner. Intuitively, we also assume a blood thinner like aspirin would perfuse and oxygenate our brains better resulting in a reduced risk for dementia and stroke. We also have been led to believe significant blockage in coronary arteries always occurs before a heart attack. This is why the gold standard cardiac catheterization is used to predict cardiac risk. A cardiac catheterization is a big deal costing thousands of dollars and carriers an immediate risk of death from the procedure. The reason patients agree to the procedure and insurance companies pay for the procedure is because it is almost fool proof at predicting cardiac risk, right? No significant blockage reportedly means no significant risk for a heart attack, right? The majority of heart attacks also occur because of high cholesterol levels. This is the story, and what we have been told over the years. We accept this information from our doctors as medical gospel. The following studies in peer reviewed journals have been ignored. There is no debate over the science in these journal articles. The facts just don't fit with standard of care medicine, so this good science has been ignored. This may help explain why cardiovascular disease is still the number one cause of death in America.
Studies show blood viscosity correlates perfectly with all known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including age, sex, smoking, obesity, inflammation, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and other known cardiovascular risk factors. Blood donation significantly decreases blood viscosity. Old red blood cells become stiff and inflexible over time which increases blood viscosity. New red cells are malleable and will conform in shape to the smallest blood vessels, which are known as capillaries. Red blood cells must go one at a time or single file through capillaries. Blood donation promotes the replacement of old red blood cells with brand new red cells.
Highly viscous blood is abrasive and does not flow as smoothly as less viscous blood, leading to turbulence that can damage the delicate intima or lining of the blood vessel. Glucose molecules in diabetes and uric acid molecules in gout add to abrasive qualities and increases viscosity of blood. Pulsatile arterial pressure can also damage the arterial lining over time. Damage to the arterial lining is the first step of cardiovascular disease.
The effects of blood viscosity, taken together with an understanding of the dynamics of blood flow help explain why atherosclerotic plaques are found only in specific locations in the vasculature. If cholesterol was the primary culprit, plaques would be evenly distributed throughout the body rather than localized. Instead, plaques are found almost exclusively in acute divisions or bifurcations of the arteries. Plaques form in the exact places where doppler blood flow investigations show turbulence is the greatest. We all have these areas of turbulent blood flow because we share a common anatomy of our vascular tree. However, not everyone develops atherosclerotic plaques. The difference lies in the viscosity of the blood traveling through those arteries.
Most patients, and even many physicians, still believe in the lipid hypothesis of heart disease. It is commonly thought cholesterol sticks to the inside of a blood vessel similar to calcium deposits accumulating on the inside of a water pipe over time. A heart attack is thought to occur when blood flow is restricted to a point where oxygen delivery to cardiac tissue can no longer meet demands. This sounds logical, but is largely false. Most heart attacks come without warning. If a slow accumulation of cholesterol were the cause of a heart attack, years of chest pain would give ample warning to seek medical attention. Unfortunately, heart attacks and stroke are silent killers which usually occur without warning. Cholesterol accumulates in our blood vessels for a reason. Blood vessels need constant upkeep and repair. The arteries are somewhat similar to a garden hose. If you repeatedly stepped on your garden hose, the wall of the hose would eventually need repair or the hose would burst suddenly under pressure. The lining of blood vessels are also damaged by a constant pressure and turbulent blood flow. There are two possible repair mechanisms. Cholesterol provides a soft patch, and collagen is a stronger patch material. Collagen is the stronger and preferred material for repair, but in limited supply. The synthesis of the stronger repair material collagen requires vitamin C. Nobel Prize recipient Linus Pauling recognized this fact, and also noticed most mammals other than humans have the ability to make vitamin C. A goat weighing 150 pounds makes about 10 grams of vitamin C per day. Most interesting, mammals which have the ability to make vitamin C repair their arteries with collagen and don't develop heart disease. Yep, this is why you don't have to take your cats and dogs to the veterinarian for angioplasty. Linus Pauling is considered to be one of the top scientists in the history of mankind. He won two Nobel Prizes and numerous accolades before his academic downfall. Unfortunately, Linus Pauling was completely defamed after obtaining US Patents and publishing studies showing how the combination of vitamin C and the amino acid L-Lysine could prevent and reverse heart disease. His opposition charged, “ the once famous Doctor Pauling must have lost his mind to think two natural substances could prevent heart disease.”
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