Washington - Too often, people pass a cardiac check-up only to collapse with a heart attack days later. Now scientists have found a clue that one day may help doctors determine if a heart attack is imminent, in hopes of preventing it.
Most heart attacks happen when fatty deposits in an artery burst open, and a blood clot then forms to seal the break. If the clot is too big, it blocks off blood flow.
The problem: Today's best tests cannot predict when that is about to happen.
"We don't have a way to get at whether an artery's going to crack, the precursor to a heart attack," said Dr Eric Topol, director of California's Scripps Translational Science Institute.
On Wednesday, Scripps researchers reported a new lead - by searching people's blood for cells that appear to flake off the lining of a severely diseased artery.
Intrigued
Topol's team measured high levels of those cells, deformed ones, floating in the blood of 50 people who'd just had a heart attack. The research is reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Next, Topol said his team soon will begin needed studies to learn how early those cells might appear before a heart attack, and if spotting them could allow use of clot-preventing drugs to ward off damage. Some San Diego emergency rooms will study an experimental blood test with chest-pain sufferers whose standard exams found no evidence of a heart attack, he said.
Do not expect a test to predict heart attacks any time soon - a lot more research is needed, caution heart specialists not involved with the study. But they are intrigued.
"This study is pretty exciting," said Dr Douglas Zipes of Indiana University and past president of the American College of Cardiology. It suggests those cells are harmed "not just in the minutes prior" to a heart attack, he said, "but probably hours, maybe even days" earlier.
"It's a neat, provocative first step," added Dr William C Little, cardiology chief at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre. "But it is not a biomarker ready for prime time."
About 935 000 people in the US have a heart attack every year, according to government figures. Doctors can tell who's at risk: People with high blood pressure and cholesterol, who smoke, have diabetes, are overweight or sedentary.
But there's no way to tell when a heart attack is imminent. Tests can spot that an artery is narrowing, or if a heart attack is under way or already has damaged the heart muscle. They can't tell if the plaque inside arteries is poised to rupture.
Surprise
So it's not that uncommon for someone to suffer a heart attack shortly after passing a stress test or being told that their chest pain was nothing to worry about.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, investigated cells shed from the endothelium, or the lining of blood vessels, into the bloodstream. They're called "circulating endothelial cells".
First, Topol's team paired with Veridex LLC, a Johnson & Johnson unit that makes technology used to find cancer cells floating in blood. Could it find these cardiovascular cells, too?
The team took blood samples from 50 heart attack patients - before they had any artery-disturbing tests or treatments - and from 44 healthy volunteers. They counted lots of the endothelial cells floating in the heart attack victims' blood, and very little in the healthy people's blood.
The big surprise: The cells in the heart patients were grossly deformed. "Sick cells" is how Topol describes them.
The study couldn't tell when those abnormal cells first appeared - and that's key, said Wake Forest's Little. It's not clear how many heart attacks happen too suddenly for any warning period.
But Topol theorises there are plaques that break apart gradually and may shed these cells for up to two weeks before the heart attack. He cites autopsy studies that found people's arteries healed several plaque ruptures before the final one that killed them.
Topol said Scripps and Veridex have filed for a patent for a blood test to detect the abnormal cells.
- AP Read the original News24 article HERE
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON HEART DISEASE
In 1989 the World's only two-time, unshared Nobel Prize-winning scientist and his associate continued that early research, formulated a scientific theory for coronary heart disease.
Unfortunately Medical Science, being so strongly profit driven fails to recognise some of the most important causes and treatments of heart disease.
In the United States alone 50 million people are currently diagnosed with one or more of these conditions. Most are gambling on cardiovascular health with conventional medical treatment with little relief of their disease or symptoms.
"If you are at risk of heart disease, or if there is a history of heart disease in your family, if your father or other members of the family died of a heart attack or stroke, or if you have had a mild heart attack yourself, then you had better be taking vitamin C and lysine." British Journal of Optimum Nutrition, Linus Pauling Interview, 1994
There is a proven solution for cardiovascular disease, according to Dr. Linus Pauling, who in 1992 announced:
" . . . we can get almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes by the proper use of vitamin C and lysine. It can prevent cardiovascular disease and even cure it. If you are at risk of heart disease, or if there is a history of heart disease in your family; if your father or other members of the family died of a heart attack or stroke . . . or if you have had a mild heart attack yourself, then you had better be taking vitamin C and lysine.”
Now 20 years later, medical ‘science’ has failed to acknowledge, investigate, or publish a single study on Linus Pauling’s theory, and conventional cardiology is still no closer to curing heart disease and in fact may be causing an increase in heart disease because of the Lp(a)-increasing side effect of statin drugs.
In the 1940s, even before World War II, pioneering scientific researchers established a significant correlation between a single nutritional deficiency (ascorbic acid) and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Linus Pauling, widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century and a pioneer in the field of orthomolecular medicine, and his associate Dr. Matthias Rath alerted the world to the cause of heart disease in 1989. Their Unified Theory of Human Cardiovascular Disease Leading the Way to the Abolition of this Disease as a Cause for Human Mortality, published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 6:139-143, constitutes one of the greatest potential breakthroughs of modern science. In summarizing their findings in the Unified Theory paper they conclude:
"This disease is the direct consequence of the inability of man to synthesize ascorbate (vitamin C) in combination with insufficient intake of ascorbate in the modern diet."
"Since ascorbate deficiency is the common cause of human CVD, ascorbate resupplementation is the universal treatment for this disease."
"Further clinical confirmation of this theory should lead to the abolition of CVD as a cause of human mortality for the present generation and future generations of mankind."
To read the full text of "A Unified Theory of Human Cardiovascular Disease Leading the Way to the Abolition of This Disease
as a Cause for Human Mortality" in .pdf click HERE to download.
Their remarkable theory, and its intriguing claim that low-cost Lp(a) cholesterol binding inhibitors will prevent and even dissolve arterial blockages, has, to the great detriment of the American public and in fact the world, apparently gone unnoticed by the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession and the media. At his last public interview in 1992, Dr. Pauling announced, " . . . we can get almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes . . . even cure it.” Full Excerpts from Pauling's Last Public Interview in 1994 is provided lower down on this page.
In Pauling's last private telephone interview with reporter Peter Barry Chowka, conducted on April 9, 1994, he expressed his surprise that this theory of heart disease wasn't formulated and the disease eradicated decades earlier, stating:
". . . I have trouble understanding why somebody interested in heart disease didn't think of it 20 or 30 years ago when it was accepted by cardiologists that the primary cause of atherosclerosis and heart disease is a lesion in the wall of an artery in a region of stress. So I asked myself two or three years ago, 'Why should there be a lesion in the wall of the artery?' Animals don't have these lesions in regions of stress. Well, you have the lesions because arteries are weak. Why are they weak? Ordinarily, animals' arteries are strengthened by the deposit of collagen. And you can't make collagen without using up vitamin C. Humans don't get enough vitamin C, so their arteries are weak. And then a lesion forms, followed by the other stages of developing heart disease. THEREFORE, DEFICIENT INTAKE OF VITAMIN C IS A PRIMARY CAUSE OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE."
Those who have acute coronary syndrome (ACS), artery disease, chest pain (angina pectoris), a heart attack history, (myocardial infarction or MI), a history of stroke (also a form of cardiovascular disease), peripheral artery disease (PAD), atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol - and even those who don't - would be well advised to follow this scientist's advice.
EXCERPTS FROM THE LAST PUBLIC LINUS PAULING INTERVIEW IN 1992
(taken from interviews with Tony Edwards for QED BBC Television and with Patrick Holford at the Power of Prevention conference)
INTERVIEWER: You are recommending vitamin C and lysine for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. How exactly does lysine help to prevent cardiovascular disease?
DR. PAULING: Many investigators contributed to showing that lipoprotein (a) is what is deposited in plaques, not just LDL, but lipoprotein (a). If you have more than 20mg/dl in your blood it begins depositing plaques and atherosclerosis, so the question then is, "What causes lipoprotein (a) to stick to the wall of the artery and cause these plaques?" Well, countless biochemists and other chemists are pretty smart people and they discovered what it is in the wall of the artery that causes lipoprotein (a) to get stuck to the wall of the artery and form atherosclerotic plaques and ultimately lead to heart disease, strokes and peripheral arterial disease. The answer is there is a particular amino acid in a protein in the wall of the artery - lysine - which is one of the 20 amino acids that binds the lipoprotein (a) and causes atherosclerotic plaques to develop. I think it is a very important discovery.
Well, now, if you know that there are residues of lysine, lysyl residues, that hold the lipoprotein (a) to the wall of the artery and cause hardening of the arteries, then any chemist, any physical chemist would say at once that the thing to do is to prevent that by putting the amino acid lysine in the blood to a greater extent than it is normally. Of course, you get lysine normally in your food. Meat in particular contains a good bit of lysine. And you need lysine to be alive. It is an essential amino acid. You have to get about a gram a day to keep in protein balance, but you can take lysine, pure lysine, a perfectly non-toxic substance in food, as 500-mg tablets and that puts extra lysine molecules in the blood. They enter into competition with the lysyl residues on the walls of arteries and accordingly count to prevent the lipoprotein (a) from being deposited or even will work to pull it loose and destroy the atherosclerotic plaques.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think the treatment of lysine and vitamin C can reverse the atherosclerotic process?
DR. PAULING: I think so, yes. Now I've got to the point where I think we can get almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes by the proper use of vitamin C and lysine. It can prevent cardiovascular disease and even cure it. If you are at risk of heart disease, or if there is a history of heart disease in your family; if your father or other members of the family died of a heart attack or stroke or whatever, or if you have had a mild heart attack yourself, then you had better be taking vitamin C and lysine.
WHAT CAUSES ARTERY BLOCKAGES?
More than 650 documented scientific studies have proven that a lack of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is the key risk factor for heart disease. Occlusive coronary artery disease (atherosclerosis) is a form of scurvy that occurs when the body is deficient in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and subsequently the collagen that is made only in the presence of high levels of vitamin C.
Without vitamin C, and hence collagen, the lining (endothelium) of the coronary arteries (the points of the greatest mechanical stress and force from the heartbeat) begins to deteriorate and develop weak spots (lesions). The body's response to the weakening arteries is to deposit plaque to reinforce the arteries, much like a scab on a skin wound. Years of ongoing deficiency and resultant plaque deposits results in artery blockages that prevent adequate blood flow to the heart and ultimately cause a heart attack.
Most animals make large amounts of vitamin C in the liver, and those that do rarely suffer from coronary artery blockages. Because humans lack the ability to make vitamin C in the liver as most animals can do, oral intake of vitamin C at high levels (far greater than the U.S. RDA) is required by the body in order for it to make adequate collagen for vascular health. Like humans, guinea pigs are also unable to make vitamin C and were demonstrated in laboratory studies nearly 50 years ago by Canadian doctor George Willis, and later in 1989 by Drs. Pauling and Rath, to develop and die from artery blockages like humans when vitamin C was withheld from their diet. Willis' landmark Reversibility experiment clearly showed that early atherosclerosis is reversible simply by increasing vitamin C to optimal levels.
WHAT REVERSES ARTERY BLOCKAGES?
Coronary artery plaques are comprised in large part of the "sticky" cholesterol known as Lp(a), which has been proven ten times more likely to cause artery disease than the LDL cholesterol that your doctor normally tests for in a cholesterol panel. Doctors seldom test for Lp(a) levels because the Lp(a) connection to heart disease risk has been downplayed despite scientific evidence, medical journal reports, and media reporting that Lp(a) increases heart attack risk, and because there are no current pharmaceutical drugs proven to lower Lp(a).
However, it is well established that Lp(a) is attracted to the amino acid lysine and therefore binds to the lysine found in a protein in artery walls via the Lp(a)'s binding sites when the artery, weakened from a lack of collagen due to a vitamin C deficiency, has formed weak spots, or lesions, and requires reinforcement.
According to the twice Nobel prize winner Pauling, "Knowing that lysyl residues are what cause Lp(a) to get stuck to the wall of the artery and form atherosclerotic plaques, any physical chemist would say at once that the thing to do is put the amino acid lysine in the blood to a greater extent than it is normally. . . you can take lysine, pure lysine, a perfectly non-toxic substance in food, as a supplement, which puts extra lysine molecules in the blood. They enter into competition with the lysyl residues on the walls of arteries and accordingly work to prevent Lp(a) from being deposited, or even will work to pull it loose and destroy atherosclerotic plaques." Linus Pauling, Journal of Optimum Nutrition, Aug 1994.
Today more than 1,500 scientific studies have investigated the role of Lp(a) in heart disease, and most have confirmed Pauling's insight. We also know that our chances of heart attack or stroke are 70 percent greater when Lp(a) is elevated, according to Oxford research published in Circulation, September 2000. It is almost impossible, however, to get enough of the critical, heart-healthy nutrients ascorbic acid and lysine, also referred to as Lp(a) binding inhibitors, recommended by Pauling from one's diet.
For accurate testing of Lp(a) cholesterol, Heart Disease Cause and Cure recommends the use of a laboratory in the U.S. that accurately measures Lp(a) cholesterol for determining heart attack risk. Heart disease risk can be almost completely eliminated with the use of the Lp(a) test for determining Lp(a) cholesterol level along with continued use of Pauling therapy Lp(a) binding inhibitor formulas for lowering Lp(a) to a safe level and preventing continued plaque deposits.
LINUS PAULING - WHO WAS HE?
Born on February 28, 1901 in Portland, Oregon, Linus Pauling received his Bachelor's degree from Oregon State College in 1922, his Doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 1925, and honorary degrees from universities in seven countries and numerous awards for his work in science and humanitarianism. A multifaceted genius with a zest for communication, for years Dr. Linus Pauling was probably the most visible, vocal, and accessible American scientist. He was a master at explaining difficult, even abstruse, medical and scientific information in terms understandable to intelligent lay persons.
Dr. Pauling wrote numerous articles and books for the general public — on science, peace, and health. Popular books in which Linus Pauling detailed his nutritional recommendations are Vitamin C and the Common Cold, Cancer and Vitamin C (with Ewan Cameron, M.D.), and How to Live Longer and Feel Better. His landmark book, The Nature of the Chemical Bond, is frequently cited as the most influential scientific book of the 20th century.
Dr. Linus Carl Pauling, responsible for the invention of the world's only known cure for heart disease.
Dr. Linus Pauling is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes — for Chemistry (1954) and for Peace (1962). The British magazine New Scientist ranks Linus Pauling among the 20 most influential scientists in history, in company with Darwin, Einstein, Galileo and Newton. Over the seven decades of his scientific career, Pauling's research interests were wide-ranging and eclectic. He made important discoveries in many different fields of chemistry — physical, structural, analytical, inorganic, and organic chemistry, as well as biochemistry. In both theoretical and applied medicine he made important discoveries in genetic diseases, hematology, immunology, brain function and psychiatry, molecular evolution, nutritional therapy, diagnostic technology, statistical epidemiology, and biomedicine. Much of Pauling's lifework combined the dedication and knowledge of the scientist with a deep commitment to humanitarianism that espoused his own operating ethical principle of the "minimization of suffering." Pauling also shared a devotion to pacifism with his friend, Albert Einstein.
When Pauling died on Aug. 19, 1994 at the age of 93 years, the world lost one of its greatest scientists and humanitarians and a much respected and beloved defender of civil liberties and health issues. He left us, however, his last great scientific contribution to the world - the only known cure for heart disease.
Linus Pauling commemorative 2008 U.S. Postal Stamp
Dr. Pauling was honored posthumously in April 2008 with a Nationally distributed United States Postal Service stamp that features his likeness. "We are pleased to honor Linus Pauling as one of the top twenty scientists in the world," said Corvallis, Oregon Postmaster John Harrington.
LEARN ABOUT FOODSTATE VITAMIN C
Also read about FoodState Vitamin C Complex
STUDY : (Download .pdf file) Comparative Bioavailability to humans of Ascorbic acid alone or in a Citrus extract
STUDY: (Download .pdf file) Citrus Extract and Human Lipids
STUDY: (Download .pdf file) Human Supplementation with Different forms of Vitamin C
STUDY: (Download .pdf file) Comparison of Two Forms of Vitamin C on Galactose Cataracts
STUDY: (Download .pdf file) Bioavailability of Vitamin C
WHAT MAKES FOODSTATE DIFFERENT?
Read more HERE
The discovery of Vitamin C in 1927 by the Hungarian scientist Albert Szent Györgyi was a significant step forward in the understanding of the role that nutrients play in the maintenance of health in the human body. Szent Györgyi used paprika and orange to isolate the white crystalline powder that we know today as ascorbic acid or vitamin C. These fruits had been used to treat and cure scurvy. In the process of synthesizing the active substance, Szent Györgyi used a progressively more and more concentrated form to treat scurvy patients, and found that the more concentrated the substance, the shorter the recovery time. This was an exciting discovery, but he was devastated when in his final stage of purification, when the isolated ascorbic acid was finally synthesized, the patients showed a poor response. Szent Györgyi realized that Vitamin C needs to be combined with other food substances for optimal utility in the human body.
Szent Györgyi received the Nobel Prize for his work, but only much later, in 1955, discovered one of the group of substances that enhance the uptake of Vitamin C in the body. He called it Vitamin P. Today we recognize these substances as bioflavonoids and we are aware of the assistance they provide in the effective utilization of Vitamin C in the body.
One of Szent Györgyi’s students was a pharmacist by the name of Andrew Szalay. Andrew moved to the United States in the late 30’s and he was distressed to see that ascorbic acid was being sold very widely as a chemical isolate for supplemental purposes. He also observed that other vitamins and minerals were also being sold as chemical isolates. He knew that the human body was designed to process foods and to extract nutrients from these whole foods. In nature there are no isolated chemicals as source material for human nutrition. Andrew Szalay set out to find a way of providing concentrated nutrients in a food form where the nutrients are bound to other elements including protein, carbohydrates and lipids. This endeavor took many years but culminated in a new, unique and innovative way of providing wholesome food-form nutrients as supplemental products.
Andrew Szalay developed a range of technologies that take concentrated nutrients in isolated chemical form and bond them to their essential food elements. An example would be where calcium carbonate is introduced under very specific conditions to a reactor containing live yeast. The calcium carbonate is ingested and integrated into the yeast plant to form part of the whole-food matrix. Once this process is completed, the outer membrane of the yeast cells is removed by enzymatic action, with no live yeast remaining.
Andrew has developed different methods for different nutrients. Substrates including citrus, carrot, alfalfa and soya concentrates, are used to produce nutrients in food form.
Andrew Szalay has produced something most remarkable for mankind. We can now take concentrated nutrients in a food state form rather than as chemical isolates. Absorption, bioavailability and utility are dramatically increased.
Further reading
Milk Homogenization & Heart Disease
Written by Mary G. Enig, PhD
December 13 2003
For many more articles on heart disease click HERE
