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Homocysteine
Suppplement Attitude Changing By Dr. John Yim, Naturopathic Physician Not too many years ago it was rare to hear that medical doctors were suggesting vitamins for their patients. Their belief was that if patients ate three healthy meals a day, they would get all the nutrients they need. Also, it was widely believed that there were not enough double-blind placebo-controlled studies to prove that vitamin or mineral supplements were effective in the treatment of health conditions. It is certainly heartwarming to this naturopathic physician to see how times have changed. Medical doctors are starting to prescribe supplements to their patients. The reason is simply that there are now numerous studies published in reputable medical journals validating the use of different supplements in the treatment of all kinds of conditions. The best example of this is the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. For decades the big focus was on triglyceride and cholesterol levels. If cholesterol was high, patients were put on a drug to lower cholesterol in order to prevent atherosclerosis and other subsequent conditions. Today, some researchers believe that more people have died over the years from high homocysteine than high cholesterol. Homecysteine is a metabolic waste product that results from the breakdown of an amino acid. methionine. Normally, the body can easily eliminate homocysteine, but if the levels get too high, it can cause injury to the lining of the blood vessels. In response to this injury, the body starts laying down platelets, fibrin, fatty material and so on with the intention of repairing the injury. In time, atherosclerotic lesions are formed in the blood vessels. It should be pointed out that oxidized cholesterol and free radicals can also cause injury to the lining of blood vessels. The great news is that studies have shown that three humble vitamins can accelerate the body's ability to clear out homocysteine. THese are folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12. More and more of my patients are telling me that their medial doctors have told them to take these vitamins. Also, I have seen homocysteine results on blood tests requested by some doctors. This is fantastic. Just when you think testing for homocysteine levels is the key to identifying folks most at risk for cardiovascular disease, a study published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2001 says the testing for blood levels of S-adenosylhomocysteine appears to be a more sensitive marker for differentiating cardiovascular patients. By the way, for folks who have atherosclerosis and have and angioplasty, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 29, 2001, says that the rate of restenosis was significantly reduced in subjects who took the three above mentioned vitamins compared to the placebo. The day will come in my lifetime when pioneers like Linus Pauling, PhD. (proponent of Vitamin C) and the Shute brothers (Canadian medical doctors who promoted the use of Vitamin E) who were ridiculed and ostracized by the medical community will be vindicated as will the use of nutritional therapies.
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