is there alternative besides surgery for carotid artery?

[rexeugene]

Is there any product that would help elemanate the plack buildup in my carotid artery?

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

Piracetam is your best bet if you are looking for a product but you must be aware the the best alternative is lifestyle change. You must watch you diet and do more exercise and especially cardiovascular exercise.

You must have a very limited source of saturated fats in your diet and promote the healthier polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Stay away from salts! Eat more fruits and vegetables, they contain potassium and antioxidants and other phytochemicals. Antioxidants are extremely important to include in your diet since they will fight free radicals known to contribute to plaque buildup. You can look for products such as Green+ from Genuinehealth or eat a lot of fruits and vegetable and drink a lot of pure fruits juice and vegetable juice.

Best regards,
M4

[respirate]

Curcumin, Quercetin, Hesperidin, Ellagic acid, Resveratrol, Vitamin E and vitamin C combination.

[Paxiled]

Don't really have an answer for you, but just want to clarify a couple of things.  First, the notion that saturated fat is bad for you isn't generally true, just sometimes true.  Plaque in blood vessels is caused not by cholesterol, but by the oxidation of cholesterol.  What constitutes a beneficial fat from a harmful fat has to do with how quickly it oxidizes, causing it to adhere to the blood vessel walls.  Omega 3 oils are saturated fats, yet they provide the good cholesterol, HDL, that doesn't oxidize and helps keep cholesterol moving instead of sticking.  Example are fish oil, which is mostly saturated, and flax seed oil, which is partly saturated.  Oils once thought harmful are now recognized as being so full of antioxidants that they probably are beneficial.  One such oil is coconut, which I wouldn't use but was once thought to be harmful because it's saturated but is now recognized as containing a high level of antioxidants.  A beneficial saturated oil is red palm oil, which contains the highest levels of any food of a part of Vitamin E called tocotrienols, which may be very beneficial in preventing oxidation of cholesterol.  It should be mentioned that in studies of Vitamin E, which was thought to prevent oxidation, it proved not to do that, but the vitamin E studied did not contain tocotrienols.  

Another caution is we don't know how blocked this blood vessel is.  Any natural approach will be relatively slow.  If the blood vessel is so blocked that you're in immediate danger of a stroke, then surgery might be the only thing quick enough to help.  Since none of us are cardiovascular experts, I have no idea how much is that much.

A third caution, again, is that what helps prevent oxidation in the first place won't necessarily clear out what's already oxidized.  respirate has offered some antiinflammatories that may very well help, but I really don't know.  If it were me with such a condition I'd probably go see a naturopath for a more expert opinion than we're able to provide.  I think we're all better at trying to prevent plaque from forming that from clearing it out once it has, but I would say the most immediate thing you can do to keep things moving is increase your HDL.  This must be done with caution, however, if they've got you on blood thinners.

[respirate]

Grapefruits and oranges are high in hesperidin your diet is the foundation of your nutritional health.This is also true in preventing heart attacks and strokes. A high intake of omega-6 fats, trans fats,and red meats greatly increases your risk.Omega-3 oils, such as DHA with some EPA, significantly reduce your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Drinking fluoridated water also increases risk, because it contains high levels of fluoroaluminum, a powerful poison. What to eat: Eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Make sure you get a variety.
Quick and easy ways to get them in Frozen flavonoids. Wintertime supermarket’s frozen-food case for blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries.
Broccoli, zucchini, and green peppers in tomato sauce. All contain
salicylates, which, even in tiny amounts, may calm inflammation. Choose good fats, Eat Walnuts, cold-water fish such as salmon and sardines, and pumpkin seeds and flaxseed. A tablespoon of ground flaxseed on breakfast cereal a handful of walnuts eat fish at least twice a week Omega-3-enriched eggs. Eat less of these: Corn, safflower, sunflower, and sesame oils.They’re full of omega-6 fatty acids, the building blocks for the
inflammation-promoting variety of eicosanoids.

[Paxiled]

Just researched piracetam, which I had never heard of.  It appears to be a pharmaceutical product approved by prescription in Europe, but not in the US.  Dr. Andrew Weill in a 2007 article recommended against its use, but a lot can change in three years.  However, it's use appears to be to increase oxygen flow to the brain, although no studies seem to actually back that up.  It was originally thought to help with Downs Syndrome, but didn't.  Most people take it as a smart drug much like they take gingko or gota kola or galangal or many other herbs that allegedly oxygenate the brain.  Piracetam does seem to have been researched for stroke victims to improve cognition in some small studies, but there's nothing indicating it can clear out plaque.  

[mammo]

I'm no expert on this forum, but once the plaque is formed it can be just like concrete, and if there is an alternative to surgery, it would be too slow a process to have any impact on your carotid build up.  My husband's had plaque that they couldn't do angioplasty on due to it's "concrete" form, and surgery had to be done.  This may all be good for prevention, but you need to follow your cardiologist's opinion on this.

[jdb7560]

Any thoughts on chelation therapy with EDTA for this?

[M4Y0U]

Piracetam is a supplement, it can be bought as a powder or pills over the internet or at some food supplement stores. And yes it is studied for it's anti-coagulant proprieties.

''Clotting, coagulation, vasospastic disorders

Piracetam is useful as a long-term treatment for clotting, coagulation, and vasospastic disorders such as Raynaud's phenomenon and deep-vein thrombosis It is an extremely safe anti-thrombotic agent that operates through the novel mechanism of inhibiting platelet aggregation and enhancing blood-cell deformability. Because traditional anti-thrombotic drugs operate through the separate mechanism of inhibiting clotting factors, co-administration of piracetam has been shown to highly complement the efficacy and safety of traditional Warfarin/Heparin anti-coagulation therapy. The most effective treatment range for this use is a daily dose of 4.8 to 9.6 grams divided into three daily doses at 8 hours apart. Piracetam is currently being investigated as a complement or alternative to Warfarin as a safe and effective long-term treatment for recurring deep-vein thrombosis.''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracetam#Clotting.2C_coagulation.2C_vasospastic_disorders

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16459490

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8457235

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1C-4031BTK-22&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d5619ee64c50ab18ecc78fc0586f1e03

[M4Y0U]

I did not mean supplement like it's natural or anything like that, it's a nootropic drug still but you can get it just like a supplement with no prescription.

[M4Y0U]

If you know you have plaque build up in your carotid artery that means you saw a doctor, if that doctor suggested you surgery i would go for it. Like you have been told any alternative would be a very slow process and you are in danger of having a stroke. Oh and in case you have a stroke, which i don't wish' Piracetam has been found to improve cognition after a stroke. But yeah basically you want to avoid the stroke and go for the surgery. Carotid artery is something to be taken very seriously. When i said ''limited source of saturated fats'' the meaning of this was basically stay away from bacon and go for the Omega-3 kind of saturated fat this is why i said LIMITED and not AVOID because Omega-3 and 6 are very limited in quantity and should be taken daily even tho they are saturated fat. Basically fish is ok and bacon is bad.

[M4Y0U]

Why won't you cite your sources? Some of information you provided in your second post is coming from The Mystery of Inflammation PDF from

http://www.macsportsandrehab.com/

Until line 7 everything was fine but everything after is coming from the above source and it would have been great to at least cite the information.

[Paxiled]

The studies you cited -- well, they aren't actually studies, just documents -- are all quite old.  Dr. Weill's article came after, and other researchers just gave up on it.  One researcher called it a drug in search of a disease.  It is a drug, not a natural product, approved in Europe but not in the US.  That's why you can only get in on the internet, it has to come from Europe.  That doesn't mean it doesn't do something, but it doesn't remove plaque, and all research on it as to strokes was after the people had already suffered the stroke and retrieving cognition was being worked on.  And again, you keep asking respirate to quote his source, but I keep telling you both that you can't just copy stuff, you're in danger of violating copyright law.  If both of you want to stay on this forum, stop quoting other people's hard earned labor and just put it into your own words and put a link if you want, as M4 did here.  Unfortunately, those links are just one paragraph summarizing studies without saying if they were reliable, and were old studies.  That's why the drug was never approved in the US, there's no proof it does anything, but if it does, it oxygenates the blood.  So do many supplements, as I stated above, and might be a good thing to do generally, but won't remove plaque that's already formed.  As to Omega 6 fatty acids, they are way overrepresented in the American diet, so it's unlikely anyone has to supplement them.  And the major heart aiding fat in fish oil is EPA; DHA largely affects brain performance, and is also a major factor in eye health.

Jeez, folks, this person has a clogged carotid artery.  Send him to an expert, we can't help him.

[mammo]

If something is on-line for public viewing it is well known that people everywhere are printing, copying, and attaching links to this information.  If a site is concerned about copyright issues, you are not able to copy and paste any of it's information, and it carries a strong warning aginst this. Everyone knows that if we copy and paste something here, it's no different than that person clicking on a link and reading it themselves.  If we are not able to do this, then we shouldn't be attempting to translate it in our own words as much gets lost in the interpretation.  It's much better to allow the person to read it for himself, but I don't see where posting a link is any better than copying and pasting, it's still allowing one to read information thru MH website.  I will check this out.

[respirate]

I've never seen The Mystery of Inflammation PDF from
http://www.macsportsandrehab.com/ until now. I get my information like just about everyone
research. I take notes and read  

[respirate]

It's from mens health

[M4Y0U]

I never said it was not a drug!

''I did not mean supplement like it's natural or anything like that, it's a nootropic drug still but you can get it just like a supplement with no prescription.''

As for the sources, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ and http://www.sciencedirect.com/ are the two most complete websites scientists publish their resources and to get the full studies you have to pay and all universities have access to those websites and stdents can get the studies for free. So if you say they aren't actually studies you are WAY out just simply because they are the main place scientists publish their study and get peer reviews.

And the studies are telling it IS useful as a long-term treatment for clotting, coagulation, and vasospastic disorders. If you know a bit of biology and medicine you can easily state that physical activity, anti-coagulants WILL help at removing the plaque build up.

Also why are you telling me this stuff about EPA; DHA that i already know? Did i told the guy to get supplements? If you address your post to me, stay on the the topic that is meant to be taken personally by me.

Also i have been very clear with rexeugene

''If you know you have plaque build up in your carotid artery that means you saw a doctor, if that doctor suggested you surgery i would go for it. Like you have been told any alternative would be a very slow process and you are in danger of having a stroke. Oh and in case you have a stroke, which i don't wish' Piracetam has been found to improve cognition after a stroke. But yeah basically you want to avoid the stroke and go for the surgery. Carotid artery is something to be taken very seriously.''

That's enough for you to not remember me that we must send him to the expert.

You said ''folks'' ok i know that from there the message should not be taken personally but you should have make another post intended to everyone if you wanted to discuss that.

[Claire_MHModerator]

Looks like this topic's drifting away from Alternative Therapies, and there's a lot of great information being shared here.  If you do post information from another source, please be sure to cite it so that your source gets the credit :-)

Claire
MedHelp.org

[M4Y0U]

Thanks a lot! I've been trying to deliver the message but it seems that i have failed to do so. I hope this will resolve the issue we are having here so we can avoid any discussion on related to sources and citation that would make the topic drift away.

[Paxiled]

The DHA comment was meant for respirate's post.  I combine in my posts what's relevant to the thread to aid the person posting, not for the benefit of those replying.  As to your links, I went to them all, and they didn't prove anything, but I researched further to actual researchers and discovered that the drug was never able to get approval from FDA because it never proved it did anything for anything.  Ever since, the manufacturer has been trying to find a disease its drug can treat.  Maybe one day it'll succeed.  If you wish to take it, I'm fine with that.  But it won't solve the problem of the poster, and that's all I'm trying to deal with here.  The other point about citing sources is that you keep going after one person on here for things you didn't like people doing to you, and all I'm trying to do is clarify what the concerns are.  As to websites being free for anyone to copy, as one responder noted, that's not true.  Books are available for anyone to copy, too, but it violates copyright.  Not all websites are copyrighted, but people have gotten into trouble on this site for copying material and I'm just trying to protect everyone so it doesn't happen to them.  Anyone can comment on anything in their own words without violating copyrights, and then can include a link to that site for the full source quotation.  That keeps MedHelp from coming after any of us, which is all I'm trying to prevent.  Finally, as this forum has no official leader, none of us should be telling others what they can and can't do.  If nobody had done that, I wouldn't have commented about it.  MedHelp has proven quite capable of policing itself.  There was also a comment about chelation -- that might be an option for the poster.  It's why I suggested he or she see an expert, because what we still don't know is how blocked the artery is, and it's a very important artery.  Finally, the subject is physiology, not biology.  Just sayin'.

[M4Y0U]

You know it happened do me and i didn't like it and i got warned and i learned from that experience and since then i have no problems and this is why I am sharing it with respirate. All i want here is that the forum runs smoothly in a good ambiance without violating any Terms of Uses, that's all.

Oh and about piracetam i encourage you to read more about and you will eventually see that it is a anti-coagulation nootropic drug. The links i provided here are not all te ones i checked out but but only the most respectable websites around. It is under investigation to be co-administered with Warfarin or as an alternative to Warfarin. Anyway Pax, it doesn't take a P.h.D in medicine to know that what increases blood flow and oxygenation will most likely be an anti-coagulation agent. Whatever what should happen is the surgery and then his doctor will probably put him on Statin. But he did want to know if there were also alternative to HELP, not to replace traditional treatments. Therefore it why in the first place i talked about piracetam and lifestyle changes such as diet and physical exercise.

[M4Y0U]

Physiology is an integral part of biology in human biology and biology itself by the way Pax. In human Biology 111 it's almost everything about physiology.

You say

'' It's why I suggested he or she see an expert, because what we still don't know is how blocked the artery is, and it's a very important artery.''

I already talked about this issue and it is crystal clear that he saw an expert to know that the artery is blocked and he is here to know if there are any alternative that might HELP along with his traditional treatment and i already told him what i think about this and if his doctor offered surgery that he should go for it.

[M4Y0U]

You say

''Finally, the subject is physiology, not biology.  Just sayin'.

I will know explain to you how it works since it might be useful for other people too.

When we say arteries, it is physiology. When we talk about oxygenation, low-density lipoproteins, sterol regulatory element binding protein, enzyme HMG-CoA reductase inhibition, blood-cell deformability, coagulation etc it is biology and medicine like i stated.

[peggy64]

can we quit trying to prove that we know more than someone else does?

I come here for information. Not to see egos being stroked.

Can we just let someone post, and if we ask for references and what they give doesn't satisfy us, let that be a personal problem and not something that is beaten into the ground.

I hope that most people here, do as I do. When I read something someone posts, I verify it for my own personal knowledge.

.ya'll are getting on my nerves...I'm just sayin

[respirate]

A blood thinner called dabigatran etexilate could be effective in preventing clots instead of warfarin. in Canada it's called Pradax and in Europe it's called Pradaxa, It's not yet approved in the  U.S.
The study, was published  by the New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Heart Association.