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Complementary Medicine Community
This forum is for questions and support regarding acupuncture, chiropractic, dietary supplements, herbal remedies, homeopathy, naturopathic medicines and treatments.
WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM)?
Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine. An example of a complementary therapy is using aromatherapy to help lessen a patient's discomfort following surgery.
Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. An example of an alternative therapy is using acupuncture instead of surgery for back pain that has been recommended by a conventional doctor.
WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM)?
Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine. An example of a complementary therapy is using aromatherapy to help lessen a patient's discomfort following surgery.
Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. An example of an alternative therapy is using acupuncture instead of surgery for back pain that has been recommended by a conventional doctor.
Save Your Heart by Combating AGEs
by dixter, Jul 06, 2008 02:18PM
Save Your Heart by Combating AGEs
Tim Russert’s death has focused the national spotlight on heart disease. Even though Russert was following his doctor’s orders, taking medication for his heart disease and diabetes and watching his diet and exercising, he still died suddenly at the relatively young age of 58.
But what Russert had been told about heart disease was sadly incomplete. His medications weren’t protecting him, and he probably didn’t realize that his body produced large amounts of inflammatory chemicals called AEGs that increased his risk of a fatal heart attack.
With Russert’s hectic lifestyle, chances are he ate processed foods, which are high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, and excitotoxin additives. All play a major role in atherosclerosis.
Even though he may have believed that, as a diabetic, he could safely eat fructose, nothing could be further from the truth. Fructose is highly reactive in the body. Along with omega-6 oils (supposedly “heart healthy” oils including corn), sugar and excitotoxins added to processed foods form dangerous complex chemicals called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs.
In fact, diabetics form huge amounts of these destructive products, which are measured by a test called hemoglobin A1c. These AGEs generate a great number of free radicals and lipid peroxidation products that damage surrounding cells and tissues. In addition, they can become very sticky and gum up cell mechanisms (a reaction called cross-linking). Extensive free-radical damage is present in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
AGEs and the free radicals they produce trigger intense inflammatory reactions. When scientists measure inflammation in large groups of people, they find that high levels of inflammatory markers (such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, CRP, and IL-1) predict more accurately who is at a greater risk of a stroke or heart attack than cholesterol levels.
Inflammation oxidizes the cholesterol (and other fats) and leads to the arterial “crud” associated with atherosclerosis. Likewise, oxidized LDL-cholesterol and other oxidized fats also damage brain cells.
While cholesterol gets all the attention, pathological examination of the crud in arteries demonstrates that most of the oxidized lipids consist of omega-6 oils (corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, canola, and soybean oils), the very same vegetable oils recommended by government health agencies and the American Heart Association.
The big question is, what can we do about them? Recent studies have shown that some supplements can significantly reduce AGE accumulation or reduce their harmful effects.
For example, curcumin and quercetin both reduce AGE formation. In fact, many plant extracts — such as ellagic acid, berberine, green and white tea extract, silymarin, and hesperidin — reduce AGEs and improve blood sugar metabolism. Alpha-lipoic acid, as a powerful antioxidant and hypoglycemic, also improves insulin resistance and diabetes.
Blaylock MD
Tim Russert’s death has focused the national spotlight on heart disease. Even though Russert was following his doctor’s orders, taking medication for his heart disease and diabetes and watching his diet and exercising, he still died suddenly at the relatively young age of 58.
But what Russert had been told about heart disease was sadly incomplete. His medications weren’t protecting him, and he probably didn’t realize that his body produced large amounts of inflammatory chemicals called AEGs that increased his risk of a fatal heart attack.
With Russert’s hectic lifestyle, chances are he ate processed foods, which are high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, and excitotoxin additives. All play a major role in atherosclerosis.
Even though he may have believed that, as a diabetic, he could safely eat fructose, nothing could be further from the truth. Fructose is highly reactive in the body. Along with omega-6 oils (supposedly “heart healthy” oils including corn), sugar and excitotoxins added to processed foods form dangerous complex chemicals called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs.
In fact, diabetics form huge amounts of these destructive products, which are measured by a test called hemoglobin A1c. These AGEs generate a great number of free radicals and lipid peroxidation products that damage surrounding cells and tissues. In addition, they can become very sticky and gum up cell mechanisms (a reaction called cross-linking). Extensive free-radical damage is present in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
AGEs and the free radicals they produce trigger intense inflammatory reactions. When scientists measure inflammation in large groups of people, they find that high levels of inflammatory markers (such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, CRP, and IL-1) predict more accurately who is at a greater risk of a stroke or heart attack than cholesterol levels.
Inflammation oxidizes the cholesterol (and other fats) and leads to the arterial “crud” associated with atherosclerosis. Likewise, oxidized LDL-cholesterol and other oxidized fats also damage brain cells.
While cholesterol gets all the attention, pathological examination of the crud in arteries demonstrates that most of the oxidized lipids consist of omega-6 oils (corn, safflower, sunflower, peanut, canola, and soybean oils), the very same vegetable oils recommended by government health agencies and the American Heart Association.
The big question is, what can we do about them? Recent studies have shown that some supplements can significantly reduce AGE accumulation or reduce their harmful effects.
For example, curcumin and quercetin both reduce AGE formation. In fact, many plant extracts — such as ellagic acid, berberine, green and white tea extract, silymarin, and hesperidin — reduce AGEs and improve blood sugar metabolism. Alpha-lipoic acid, as a powerful antioxidant and hypoglycemic, also improves insulin resistance and diabetes.
Blaylock MD
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