Preventing Heart Disease
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
ring Your Risk Of Heart Disease
by: News Canada
(NC)-If you have been deemed at risk by your doctor, there are steps you can take to help control risk factors.
According to Statistics Canada, heart disease is one of the leading causes of death of Canadians, accounting for over 26% of all deaths.1 Despite this, there are a variety of ways Canadians can lower their risk of heart disease and ultimately heart attacks:
Diet and Nutrition
- Get your blood cholesterol level checked by your doctor
- Lower LDL (low density lipoproteins) levels by following a low-saturated fat and low cholesterol diet
Exercise *
- Become physically active for a minimum of 30 minutes at least three times per week
- Physical exercise may lower your risk for heart disease or stroke
Lifestyle Modifications
- Limit alcohol consumption for overall lifestyle benefits
- Stop cigarette smoking, or at a minimum cut back gradually
Preventative therapies
- Consult your doctor for regular check-ups and for a prevention plan, especially if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, have had a heart attack or stroke, are overweight, smoke or have an inactive lifestyle.
1 Selected leading causes of death by sex, Canada, 1997. Statistics Canada. www.statscan.ca (November 22, 2002).
* Consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program
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About The Author
News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web. News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial “fill” items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services. |
Tags: Heart Disease
