Incomplete work in progress.

      CARDIOVASCULAR KEY ISSUES;

Fortunately, there is a great deal that can be done with nutrition to prevent and even reverse to a significant degree cardiovascular disease.  Unfortunately, medical doctors are not typically using more than a very small amount of nutrition science in working with their patients.   There is a great potential to benefit cardiovascular health via nutrition control, but unfortunately many if not most conventional cardiologists cannot usually be relied on to provide fully informed guidance.  (We are in no way suggesting not listening to and following the advice of your cardiologist, but rather suggesting seeking additional medical professional advice on nutrition as fits your health situation.)

There is almost certain an excessive reliance of drugs alone which have the potential to damage the heart and other body vital systems.  The prime example of this is with the use of Statin drugs without the patient being warned about the fact that a very important substance made by the body (Coenzyme Q10) is down-regulated when the LDL cholesterol is down-regulated by the drug.  In Canada, there is even a regulatory requirement that the drug company statin labels warn that ubiquinone (CoQ10) impairment from statin drugs could damage cardiac function.  How can it be that all doctors everywhere are not required to warn patients of this reality when they prescribe statin drugs?

Fortunately, CoQ10 is available in supplement form and has been shown to be beneficial to health in many scientific studies.  CoQ10 is very safe and good for health in so many ways that even if thee is not absolute certainty of a benefit in supplements, except for some patients on major blood thinners or other very high potency medicines, why not use CoQ10 as a precaution.  There is almost certainly some benefit to Statin drugs in the short term for some patients and it is possible if not probable that the combination of a Statin along wiht CoQ10 could be much more beneficial than a Statin alone.

Another key issue is the actual biology of LDL cholesterol in relation to atherosclerosis.  There is a growing body of science that indicates that the simplistic "LDL is the problem" is at least partially misleading at best.   The reality is that high levels of LDL are found in only about 20% of heart attack patients.  This is not to say that LDL is not involved in the other patients but does indicate that the "high LDL" model of the problem is unquestionably far too simplistic.  There is a growing body of evidence that LDL oxidation, LDL small particles and low HDL are much more determinate.

The situation is far from simple.  While there are several antioxidant vitamins (C, E, Selenium) and fruit antioxidants which protect LDL from oxidation and which can raise HDL, there is a possibility that the antioxidants may interfere with Statin drug, but even if they do, the question is if there would be a net increase or decrease in long term benefit.  The science data is not clear. Herbs such as Alfalfa can also raise HDL. 

We are told to use low fat dairy.  Yet, there is evidence that LDL particle size may be beneficially increased by dairy saturated fats (which are mistakenly lumped together with bad red meat saturated fats by many if not most medical professionals.)  There are growing questions about dairy fats which at least with organic dairy products could well be very beneficial against stroke, heart disease, and even cancer in individuals without dairy allergies.

There is growing evidence that calcification of atherosclerotic plaque is a critical bad event and that such calcification can be largely prevented and possibly reversed through supplementation with vitamin K2 (not the vitamin K1 used to control bleeding.)  There is some evidence that K2 can be very beneficial with the possible exception for patients on Warfarin/Coumadin.  Here again, a medical professional is called for.

As a rule, until more science is available, and Integrative medicine M.D. or professional nutritionist should be consulted until cardiovascular M.D.s become more knowledgeable of the benefits of nutrients as addendums to medical therapies.  The cardiologist should be kept informed of any unusual nutritional practices in all cases.