An Alternative Arteriosclerosis Model

How does Atherosclerosis occur exactly? Nobody really knows. Medicine presumes that it is cholesterol causing this major damage to arteries. Besides, it is a substance found in big quantities in atheromatic plaques of patients. More experiments are designed, all of them testing how well cholesterol fits in the model they have constructed and accepted as an undeniable truth already. It fits but not too well. In fact quite poorly. Definitely not enough to justify prescribing toxic inefficient drugs to patients. The cholesterol theory has a unique feature, it is treated as a fact. Nobody dears to doubt it. Billions of dollars have been invested in experiments and research for the statins to force this "nasty" molecule lower its concentration in the blood. Medicine cannot go back now, it is really difficult.

Recently researchers tested other factors that they believe may be correlated with atherosclerosis. The results are pretty amazing: human studies showed that elevation of blood homocysteine is found to be a greater risk factor (22-40 fold) than elevated cholesterol (1.2 ' 3.1 fold), high blood pressure (8-18 fold) or cigarette smoking (3.5 fold). But this is not convenient for the medical community because they would have to re-assess and possibly discard most of the beliefs modern therapy of atherosclerosis is based on. Not to mention the loss in billions of dollars the pharmaceutical companies would suffer if such a radical change was to take place. In fact there have been many studies clearly indicating that the cholesterol hypothesis is not very well explaining how atherosclerosis occurs. Key points of this theory cannot be explained by mainstream medicine. But this is considered insignificant.

In fact the story goes way back to the 70s, when a brilliant medical research from Harvard found out all about homocysteine and the massively important role it plays in the development of arteriosclerotic disease. The pieces of the puzzle were already there and he managed to connect them and see the whole picture. Of course cholesterol is a big part of the story but it is not the cause of arteriosclerosis. It is a secondary effect. It accumulates wherever there is arterial damage. Homocysteine is a natural by-product of protein metabolism, can be toxic if it remains in the human body and is therefore excreted with urine, under normal conditions. Under certain circumstances, very common indeed, it accumulates in the liver, reacts with cholesterol and form a highly toxic substance that causes arterial damage when it is released in the bloodstream. The simplicity of this mechanism has been verified in many research projects and also opens the way for the real cure of arteriosclerosis. If homocysteine is the causing factor then all we need is to help our liver metabolize it so that it is safely flushed away with the urine. Just like it is supposed to do. Specific vitamins (B6, B12 and B9) fortify the enzymes responsible for the above reactions and literally can reverse this debilitating disease without any toxic drugs. Even before the 70s, publications had shown that these vitamins play a major cardioprotective role. Today, there are serious research projects confirming just that but still mainstream medicine is blind and deaf to this pioneering work.

The standard prescription for lowering blood cholesterol levels is statins. These drugs are minimally tested in humans, have severe side effects and offer minimal, if any, protection from heart attacks and strokes. The fact that medicine cannot provide a sound explanation and cure becomes the patients' discomfort. By the way, statins make many billions of profit for the pharmaceutical companies that produce them per year. It doesn't surprise me that they are still used despite the horrific side effects. People should know what their choices are. Statins are not the only way.


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Helen Davies MSc is an accomplished Medical Researcher, holding a Master degree in Human Molecular Genetics. As a founder of Primal Health company, she is heavily involved in Lipids Metabolism and Atherosclerosis mechanisms research. If you are interested in learning more about the true nature of Atherosclerosis and natural and safe ways to eliminate it, visit our website --> http://www.DNA-Diet.org