We know the body uses collagen to repair the blood vessels.  Giving the body what it needs to do this is the essential first step in the right direction.  A second step we can take is to reduce the things that attack our arteries!  If we can do this, we can reduce the repairs to have to be made in the first place.  Of course, it would help to know where these attacks come from.  Then we could neutralize many of the causes of lesions and tears. 

1. Homocysteines  

   We have known since 1984 that a high homocysteine level is a risk factor for premature death overall from heart disease and strokes.  A young girl of 9 ½ years old died in Ireland of a “massive coronary”.  Doctors were amazed when her autopsy showed arteries of a 70-year old person!  In doing tests, they found a high level of homocysteine in her urine.    

   A high homocysteine level is also associated with cancer, lung disease, Alzheimer's disease, as well as depression, multiple sclerosis, menopausal symptoms, and rheumatoid arthritis.  However, heart disease has become the primary concern.

   Homocysteines areamino acids created in your bloodwhen protein is broken down.   They are usually converted into other less caustic amino acids with the help of B vitamins and folic acid.  However, if you don’t have enough B6, B12 and folic acid to support this process, your homocysteine levels rises too high.  (It is sad to say, but only 11 percent of all Americans get enough folic acid from its main sources.  Liver, kidney, broccoli, beef, kale, turnip greens, and beats provide some but cooking destroys as much as 90 percent of a food's folic acid content.)

“Contact Inhibition”

   “Contact inhibition” is what regulates the growth of the smooth muscle cells just below the inner sheath of collagen in your blood vessels.  Homocysteine interrupts this process.  This allows the smooth muscle cells to multiply, creating a bulge that rips other cells apart.  This pushes out into the interior wall of the arteries where they create the rough edges that Lp(a), etc. attaches to.   

   Combined with the free radical production, we are now on the way to the artery lesions we talked about earlier.  Thesecontribute to atherosclerosis, reduce the flexibility of blood vessels, and increases clotting by making platelets stickier and slows blood flow.

   Studies show a direct positive correlation between high serum homocysteine levels and the risk of heart attack and stroke.  Every doctor should know that the risk for heart disease triples when the blood level exceeds 15.8 umol/L.  Unfortunately, this level is considered to be acceptable by many authorities.  However, the optimum level should closer to 8 umol/L.  Many doctors and people do not know that… 

The odds of heart disease are directly proportional
to the homocysteine concentration. The higher the
homocysteine level, the higher the risk! 

   This has been very well researched!  A large study of 2127 men and 2639 women was conducted at the University of Bergen.  They found that for every 5 umol/L increment increase in homocysteine levels above 9 umol/L, cardiovascular mortality increased by 50 per cent!  But this is about more than just cardiovascular death.  All other causes of death also increased by an average of 49 per cent!

   A study in Norway, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that 24% of patients with high levels of homocysteine were dead within 5 years!

   The good news is that… 

Dropping the homocysteine level by 5 points
can reduce heart disease risk by 50 percent! 

   It is interesting to note that lifestyles showed that smoking and drinking coffee were associated with higher homocysteine levels.  Taking vitamins and exercising were associated with lower levels. 

   Another study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (June 1, 2001; 37:1858-1863), had heart disease patients take 5 milligrams (mg) of folic acid daily.  They had better functioning of their arterial inner lining and a greater ability of their arteries to widen appropriately.

   Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are the keys!  Folic acid is the most important of these.  There are literally hundreds of studies in medical journals that find folic acid reduces high homocysteine levels.  Unfortunately, the typical American diet is low in all three.  Normal food processing greatly reduces these nutrients. 

   In both cases, the message is clear:  Take the nutrients needed to lower your homocysteine level if you wish to live longer!

2. Free Radical Damage

   Dr. Denham Harmon is famous for having "discovered" free radicals - especially in relationship aging.  In general, a free radical happens when an atom or molecule loses an electron in its outer ring.  This happens from normal chemical reactions, heavy metals, pollutants, smoke and other things.  Then the molecule becomes “charged"!  This makes it very reactive and can cause a lot of destruction in cells.  Free radicals want to pick up electrons from other molecules and causes damage to many biological processes.  This is especially of unsaturated lipid molecules of cell membranes and DNA. 

   When free radicals (also called oxidative damage) take electrons from lipids, which makeup all cell walls, the cell wall is hardened.  Then it becomes harder for the cell to properly get its nutrients and release waste.  Free radical also damages DNA, especially the DNA found in the mitochondria (which produce the energy for the cells).  When a free radical damages DNA in the mitochondria, it cannot be easily fixed.  Among other things, DNA creates new cells.  When damaged, the new cells the DNA creates become progressively inferior.  This is considered to be a major cause of aging.

Rancid Fats in Your Arteries

   Free radicals are also not good for your arteries.  Free radicals attack fats like LDL cholesterol and oxidizes them (makes them go rancid).  This rancid fatty cholesterol will irritate the interior walls of your arteries, causing roughness and tears.  Lp(a) molecules now have a foothold to grab onto.

   To add insult to injury, free radicals can also make molecules stick together when they try to share an electron.  This adds to the potential plaque build-up.  

Tumors and Calcium

   With damage to the inner lining of the artery, more of the free radicals can penetrate into the muscle cells of the artery.  Sometimes, the muscle DNA is altered and new muscle cell begin to be created much too rapidly.  The growth can push into the center of the artery where the blood flows.  The body sees this bulge as something dangerous and defends itself by depositing a protective layer over the damaged area in the artery.

   If there is not enough collagen, it will begin to patch it by the Lp(a) cholesterol method we talked about.  The muscle bulge is limited in how far it will grow.  Interior blood vessels can only provide blood so far and the plaque patch seals it on the inside.  It stops growing but another problem comes up.  It is not able to get rid of waste – including calcium!

   Calcium builds up in the muscle cells until they become very hard and die.  This produces the hard calcium deposits you hear about.  If enough of it happens, the arteries become harder and less able to expand.  When the body needs more blood, the arteries can’t expand enough and heart pains or a heart attack can happen.

   Another tragedy can happen if a patch of these dead muscle cells, filled with calcium, ever break off and causes a blood clot.  This is usually blamed on cholesterol but the real culprit was the free radicals damage – and the body’s inability to heal it properly. 

Cholesterol gets the blame
but free radicals started it all. 

   All in all, the increase of free radicals is one of the most serious health problems in our modern society.  It is the reason we talk so much about them in our other articles.   The many antioxidants we add to our basic formulas are to counter and neutralize free radicals.  For those in which artery health is a special concern, we add extra to our cholesterol formula. 

3. High blood pressure

   This is not too complicated.  If our blood pressure is too high, it can rupture a weakened blood vessel.  People worry about high blood but more import is the difference between the two measures that counts.  This is called the “pulse pressure”.

   The difference between the systolic (the high number) and the diastolic (the low number) is more important than how high the two numbers are.  For example, the optimal blood pressure is usually given as about 120 over 80 (a pulse pressure difference of 40). 

   The greater the difference in pulse pressure, the greater the danger of heart attacks. 

A difference of 50 approaches unhealthy,

60 is significantly more dangerous,

70 and up is very dangerous. 

   One study of 12,763 men found that for each 10 mm increase in the pulse pressure, heart attack risk rose 22 %!  Many doctors, and even nurses, recognize this.