Heart Muscle
Adapted from THE CALCIUM BOMB: The Nanobacteria Link to Heart Disease and Cancer, by Douglas Mulhall & Katja Hansen (The Writers Collective) www.calcify.com
What medical condition affects more of us than heart disease, arthritis, or cancer, and why is it suddenly such a compelling issue?
According to thousands of medical journal articles, Calcification also known as calcium deposits, hardening of the arteries, cysts, stones, and hard plaque happens in all those illnesses and more.
And it just struck home for millions.
Throngs of baby boomers are rushing to get checked for calcification since rock icon David Bowie and former President Clinton had emergency operations for it. David Letterman, Larry King, CBSs Ren Syler, actress Koo Stark, and many pro athletes have it too.
Calcification is the hardening of our body tissue by calcium salts. These salts contain other minerals, such as phosphorus, and are often harmful. They are dangerous because they provoke chronic and painful swelling, gumming up arteries and organs, with crippling or fatal results.
Calcification can sometimes be a disease on its own, but is more frequently found in other illnesses. Calcium deposits are in breast and ovarian cancer. Breast implant patients occasionally require surgery to remove calcium deposits that develop around the implant. The deposits show up as spots on mammograms and can be mistaken for cancer.
Calcification is often in arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes. Many arthritis sufferers who have calcium deposits go on to develop heart disease, but until recently the link has never been understood. Nor has the one between osteoporosisloss of bone calciumand the seemingly contrary growth of calcium deposits elsewhere as the illness progresses.
Although calcification occurs more frequently as we age, being young is no defense: it is often in sport injuries, and sidelines many athletes. Bursitis and tendonitis can contain calcium deposits. Kidney stones are usually calcified at the center.
More than half a trillion dollars are spent annually to treat calcification-related diseases. So why havent more stories explained it until now? Because until now, no one knew where it came from or how to get rid of it.
For example, look for the term calcification at the National Library of Medicines PubMed website and youll find about 23,000 articles about the condition, but few if any claim positive scientific evidence of a cause.
One of the barriers to finding a cause or treatment for calcification is that some experts have long claimed it is part of the bodys healing process. Because of this widespread idea, doctors have often not considered calcification to be at the root of the problem. They also often dont associate calcification with the trademark inflammation that accompanies it.
Yet up-to-date medical manuals such as the authoritative Merck Manual of Diagnosis a bible found in many doctors offices describe calcium phosphate crystals that make up calcification as aggressive and provoking chronic inflammation as well as attacking joints.
Now, the discovery of a tiny particle has shown a link between calcification and inflammation. Scientists who now work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) discovered something so small that it challenges the definition of life. It made headlines when Mayo Clinic researchers found it in heart disease, while others discovered how to test for and treat it.
Basically, the scientists found that the particle generates a calcium phosphate shell while in the blood, and attacks human tissue. This provokes an immune reaction that includes chronic inflammation.
And in October, the Journal Pathophysiology published clinical trial results suggesting that when the particle is targeted with treatment, calcification seems to be reversible. [Study title: Maniscalco et al, “Calcification in Coronary Artery Disease can be Reversed by Long-Term EDTA-tetracycline chemotherapy,” Pathophysiology 11 (2004) 95101.]
The study also demonstrated reversal of most of the clinical symptoms of atherosclerosis, including coronary artery calcification, in a majority of patients who participated in the trial.
The authors of the study emphasize that the results are just preliminary, but nonetheless the treatment that they used is available now as a combination of an over-the-counter nutraceutical and a prescription of generic antibiotics.
The problem with the tiny discovered particle that seems to be generating calcification is that no one knows exactly what it is. Its DNA remains a mystery because much of cant be isolated using standard tests. So right now, scientists from NASA and a dozen or so international institutes are using nanotechnology methods to try and decipher its secrets.
Look for the next installment to see what they have found, and how it affects treatment.
Adapted from THE CALCIUM BOMB: The Nanobacteria Link to Heart Disease and Cancer, by Douglas Mulhall & Katja Hansen (The Writers Collective) www.calcify.com
What medical condition affects more of us than heart disease, arthritis, or cancer, and why is it suddenly such a compelling issue?
According to thousands of medical journal articles, Calcification also known as calcium deposits, hardening of the arteries, cysts, stones, and hard plaque happens in all those illnesses and more.
And it just struck home for millions.
Throngs of baby boomers are rushing to get checked for calcification since rock icon David Bowie and former President Clinton had emergency operations for it. David Letterman, Larry King, CBSs Ren Syler, actress Koo Stark, and many pro athletes have it too.
Calcification is the hardening of our body tissue by calcium salts. These salts contain other minerals, such as phosphorus, and are often harmful. They are dangerous because they provoke chronic and painful swelling, gumming up arteries and organs, with crippling or fatal results.
Calcification can sometimes be a disease on its own, but is more frequently found in other illnesses. Calcium deposits are in breast and ovarian cancer. Breast implant patients occasionally require surgery to remove calcium deposits that develop around the implant. The deposits show up as spots on mammograms and can be mistaken for cancer.
Calcification is often in arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes. Many arthritis sufferers who have calcium deposits go on to develop heart disease, but until recently the link has never been understood. Nor has the one between osteoporosisloss of bone calciumand the seemingly contrary growth of calcium deposits elsewhere as the illness progresses.
Although calcification occurs more frequently as we age, being young is no defense: it is often in sport injuries, and sidelines many athletes. Bursitis and tendonitis can contain calcium deposits. Kidney stones are usually calcified at the center.
More than half a trillion dollars are spent annually to treat calcification-related diseases. So why havent more stories explained it until now? Because until now, no one knew where it came from or how to get rid of it.
For example, look for the term calcification at the National Library of Medicines PubMed website and youll find about 23,000 articles about the condition, but few if any claim positive scientific evidence of a cause.
One of the barriers to finding a cause or treatment for calcification is that some experts have long claimed it is part of the bodys healing process. Because of this widespread idea, doctors have often not considered calcification to be at the root of the problem. They also often dont associate calcification with the trademark inflammation that accompanies it.
Yet up-to-date medical manuals such as the authoritative Merck Manual of Diagnosis a bible found in many doctors offices describe calcium phosphate crystals that make up calcification as aggressive and provoking chronic inflammation as well as attacking joints.
Now, the discovery of a tiny particle has shown a link between calcification and inflammation. Scientists who now work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) discovered something so small that it challenges the definition of life. It made headlines when Mayo Clinic researchers found it in heart disease, while others discovered how to test for and treat it.
Basically, the scientists found that the particle generates a calcium phosphate shell while in the blood, and attacks human tissue. This provokes an immune reaction that includes chronic inflammation.
And in October, the Journal Pathophysiology published clinical trial results suggesting that when the particle is targeted with treatment, calcification seems to be reversible. [Study title: Maniscalco et al, “Calcification in Coronary Artery Disease can be Reversed by Long-Term EDTA-tetracycline chemotherapy,” Pathophysiology 11 (2004) 95101.]
The study also demonstrated reversal of most of the clinical symptoms of atherosclerosis, including coronary artery calcification, in a majority of patients who participated in the trial.
The authors of the study emphasize that the results are just preliminary, but nonetheless the treatment that they used is available now as a combination of an over-the-counter nutraceutical and a prescription of generic antibiotics.
The problem with the tiny discovered particle that seems to be generating calcification is that no one knows exactly what it is. Its DNA remains a mystery because much of cant be isolated using standard tests. So right now, scientists from NASA and a dozen or so international institutes are using nanotechnology methods to try and decipher its secrets.
Look for the next installment to see what they have found, and how it affects treatment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heart disease is a silent killer, According to the National Institutes of Health, it will kill nearly 500,000 people this year. If more Americans took control of their health, this statistic could be reduced by as much as 87%, that means 435,000 people would literally save their own lives each year.
Your lifestyle, diet, and environment subtly and profoundly affect your heart — by restoring or depleting over 30 essential nutrients. For optimum heart health, your body needs the correct balance of these 30 nutrients. In the context of a wholesome diet and healthy lifestyle, supplementation is the easiest, most effective way to promote maximum heart health.
A diet high in fats has been recognized as a primary villain and risk factor in cardiovascular disease. The difficulty many people have in understanding the risk of a high fat diet is not so much in the total fat but in the types of fat included in the diet. On the one hand there are two types of fats - one of which is good, one of which is bad. Saturated fats are one of the villains when it comes to the bad fat part of the formula and this type of fat is commonly found in almost all foods. Unsaturated fats are far less harmful. It is recognized that approximately 95 percent of the population is deficient in essential fatty acids.
Essential fatty acids are involved in energy production, the transfer of oxygen from the air to the bloodstream, and the manufacture of hemoglobin. They are also involved in growth, cell division and nerve function. Essential fatty acids are found in high concentrations in the brain and are essential for normal nerve impulse transmission and brain function.
Essential fatty acids are also involved in the manufacture of prostaglandins, substances which play a role in a number of body functions including hormone synthesis, immune function, regulation of the response to pain and inflammation, blood vessel constriction, and other heart and lung functions.
Symptoms of essential fatty acid deficiency may include fatigue, dry skin, immune weakness, gastrointestinal disorders, heart and circulatory problems, growth retardation, mental problems and sterility. It is likely that a lack of dietary essential fatty acids plays an important role in the development of many common diseases.
There are many types of essential fatty acid supplements available, including flaxseed oil, fish oils, evening primrose oil, black currant oil, and borage oil. These are available in capsule and free oil forms. Some experts advise avoiding fish oil supplements because they may have toxic contaminants. Fish oil supplements should not be taken during pregnancy due to the damaging effects of high doses of vitamin A.
Several risk factors have been linked to heart disease. These include unchangeable factors such as an early family history of heart disease. If a family member developed heart disease relatively young, before age 50, your risk is increased. Usually, however, heart disease is more likely to strike a woman after menopause.
Certain medical conditions play key roles. High blood pressure increases your risk of both heart attack and stroke, so controlling it is very important. Diabetes also increases your risk of developing heart disease, especially in women. Unfortunately, many diabetic women have a nerve disorder which makes them less sensitive to pain, so they might miss the heart attack warning sign of chest pain.
Keep in mind that lifestyle plays a crucial role. Smoking and fatal heart disease go hand-in-hand. If you smoke, quit. Oral contraceptives used by smokers might cause trouble too, so if you smoke and take the pill, you might be in greater danger of having a heart attack than someone who doesn’t. Obesity and a sedentary “couch potato” outlook also add to your risk.
What counts is not how many risk factors you have, but what you do to change them. Maintain a lean weight and good blood cholesterol level. Cut the saturated fat content from your food and increase your intake of essential fatty acids. Eat less meat and chicken. Bulk up on vegetables and fruits. You’ll be eating healthier and you will probably lose some weight!
Most importantly, exercise! This is critical to good health. Too often, we say we don’t have time. Make time. Put yourself first and work out, even if you have to schedule it into your appointment book.
For years, we were told women didn’t have to worry about heart disease. Now that we know the truth, we must all make the changes needed in the name of healthier and happier hearts.
Kathy Browning is a healing arts practitioner and wellness coach. She is also the Editor-In-Chief of The Art of Living Well, an ezine focused on the mind, body, spirit connection and the author of Feng Shui for Abundant Living. Be sure to visit http://www.cancercomfort.com for more information.
Tags: Heart Disease
