At Least 17 Independent Cardiac Risk Factors
This is like Russian Roulette on AAS! Picture a massive revolver with a 17 shot capacity. If you go to an exceptional doctor, he/she will check about 6 of the risk factors that can EACH cause a heart attack or stroke. So remove 6 of the 17 cartridges from the revolver's cylinder, give it a spin, point it at your heart or head, and proceed to pull the trigger - Not just once but pull the trigger 17 times because, unlike a revolver, all 17 risk factors are working continuously and simultaneously to kill you! The only way to be safe is to remove ALL 17 risk factors.
There is an excellent article that goes along with the graphic from the Life Extension Foundation at: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2013/apr2013_Misconceptions-About-Atheros...
These well defined cardiac risk factors are the basis for my recommended annual blood tests: http://www.eroids.com/og/anti-aging/recommended-annual-labcorp-blood-tes...
Note: I believe there is an 18th factor not included on the attached graphic (Low HGH). I suspect, because most people can't afford conventional (legal) HGH therapy, it may not be worth mentioning in mainstream anti-aging literature.
Update 6/21/13: I now also include thyroid dysfunction as a factor and have added comprehensive thyroid blood testing to my recommended annual LabCorp blood tests posted here: http://www.eroids.com/og/anti-aging/recommended-annual-labcorp-blood-tes...
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in 30 years of research into this as a medical flunky, I do think that is all right, but I also believe much of it is genetically determined and even correcting a few of them (or all of them) will not prevent all strokes or MIs, BUT it is not a bad idea to work on reducing risk via fixing these. But guess we all gotta go sometime, jsut not today!
Reminds me of the time a few years ago when the price of gas was starting to get too high... I went to the auto parts store and spent several hours looking for every gadget I could find that would increase mileage. It took most of my paycheck to purchase and several days to install all of the modifications. One promised a 25% increase. Another as much as 28%, etc, etc.
I finally got everything installed and working properly but eventually had to remove all of them. The problem was that the synergistic relationship of all those improvements saved more than 100% and caused a fire hazard when my gas tank overflowed from all the gas I saved. ;-)
interesting! thanks
Happy to help.
I was going to check if you have the list of bloodtests that cover these risk factors, but it's still a work in progress. Vitamin K does not seem to be a typically available bloodtest..I wonder if this is covered by some sort of standardized blood panel.
Try this: http://www.eroids.com/og/anti-aging/recommended-annual-labcorp-blood-tes...
The reference ranges are under constant revision with ongoing research but the list of annual blood tests is fairly stable! ;-)
You don't need to take a test to measure your K2. You just have to make sure you balance your D3 with enough K2. The way to be sure is to take 100 mcg of K2 for every 1,000 IU of D3. K2 should be taken in the MK-7 form. See my recommended regimen post here: http://www.eroids.com/og/anti-aging/basic-anti-aging-supplement-regimen
Thank you pathtaker...that's a handy set of annual blood tests. I'm not a young man, nor that seasoned
but at the same I think it's prudent to start getting into regimen that will reap quality of life benefits at a later time.
Hey Pathtaker,
Again, I appreciate the work you are putting in on this.
I'm throwing this out not to be argumentative or arrogant, but rather to spark discussion and attempt to get to the truth.
It looks like there are only 3 risk factors for heart disease:
Oxidative stress
Inflammation
Auto-immune dysfunction.
The items you list may contribute to, but are not risk factors. Also, low HDL or high LDL cholesterol are not necessarily contributors to heart disease either. What is important to note about cholesterol is the particle size and total number of particles. HDL/LDL are broken into 8 subgroups. You can have high HDL and low LDL and be at risk for heart disease if cholesterol is being easily oxidized. This would satisfy my first criteria of risk - oxidative stress.
Please consider reading this book:
What your doctor may not tell you about heart disease by Mark Houston, MD.
Most of the time,the only risk factors you will hear about are the ones a doctor can treat with a prescription pill.Do a search on homocysteine.Almost all of the risk factors on that chart can be controlled through diet and supplementation.
I agree with you in part. Yes, they want to treat you with a pill. Here is where I think the more insidious problem exists. I believe they do this thinking it's helpful. Most physicians believe that the risk factors for heart disease are:
obesity
diabetes
smoking
high cholesterol (LDL)
high bp
It turns out that these may contribute but are not risk factors. So, you could be free of all the above and still have cardiovascular disease. So, your doctor could be giving you bad information thinking that it's helpful.
I also agree with you on homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine points to one of the risk factors I mentioned earlier - oxidative stress. So, there are many indicators that point to the 3 primary risk factors I
oxidative stress
inflammation
autoimmune dysfunction.
I also agree with you that all or virtually all of them can be corrected with diet, exercise and supplementation. In fact, some meds like statins can actually increase cardiovascular risk in some patients.
Good reply and good information klon.You don't list your age in your stats,but I'm guessing your in the older crowd and pursue longevity and anti-aging.If your in the younger crowd,good for you and stay healthy
Thanks and yes. I've been looking into this material for at least 20 years.
Exactly... I'm 64 and I take only one prescription, metformin, and it is by choice for its anti-aging properties. However, that doesn't take care of hormone balance.
The Homocysteine problem has been known since about 1978 but mainstream docs are just starting to recognize it. I'll bet that if it took a patentable prescription drug to cure the problem, it would have been in standard practice for the past 30 years.
klon has some different (from mainstream) ideas about optimal hormone reference ranges. They are interesting, thought provoking and, IMO, well worth considering.
From an Lef magazine article,Dr. Kilmer McCully reported on his findings around 1969,I think.He did this at a convention for cholesterol and cholesterol medication.He was shunned from the medical community.
You're right. He wrote a book I highly recommend, "The Homocysteine Revolution". It is the story of his discovery and his treatment by the medical establishment.
No worries... I appreciate your participation and thoughts.
A quick observation... Fibrinogen, some aspects of hormone balance, Vitamin K2, and blood glucose don't fall into your three categories yet they are directly correlated with cardiac risk. Just like aging is not a simple process, neither is cardiovascular disease.
Keep in mind that this list is a minimum of factors. There are others including, but not limited to cholesterol particle size and number.
My purpose here was to bring some of the "hidden" factors to the fore.
UPDATE: Hey klon, I'm re-reading Houson's book to see if I can get a better handle on what you are attempting to tell me... Don't give up hope! ;-)
Minor nuance here. The items you list and many others, if deficient, can result in the risk factors I mentioned. For example, a vitamin B12 and folate deficiency can result in incomplete metabolism of homocysteine to simple amino acids. Elevated homocysteine is an indicator of oxidative stress. It's the oxidative stress that is a risk factor for heart disease, not a simple deficiency of B12.
By the way, elevated homocysteine can contribute to Alzheimer's disease...
I understand your point and the connection between homocysteine and oxidation (and inflammation) but limiting the understanding of heart disease to three categories misses part of the picture.
For example, elevated fibrinogen causes an increased risk of stroke and heart attack independent of other factors and doesn't belong in any of the three categories. Mitochondrial dysfunction (partially caused by telomere shortening with advancing age and cell replication) can cause heart failure but also doesn't fall into any of the three categories.
I believe a lot of doctors and researchers have tunnel vision. They focus so much on their area of expertise that they naturally diminish other important factors. To be optimally healthy, I believe we have to take control and pull together all we can from multiple sources. My chart of risk factors is an effort to provide that more encompassing overview for practical application.
I still think we are sort of saying the same thing but using different terminology.
There are a very large number of contributors to heart disease that all eventually result in the late stage of risk factors of inflammation, oxidative stress and autoimmune dysfunction.
Telomere shortening. As you know, telemeres form an end cap on chromosomes. Each time replication occurs, a small segment is shaved off. When the telemere becomes too short, the chromosome is damaged during replication and the cell dies. So, telomeres act, in part, as a biological clock. Telemere length rapidly decreases when oxidative stress, autoimmune dysfunction and inflammation is elevated.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is caused by a number of factors that result in less energy available to all cells. There are too many factors to discuss here, however mitochondrial dysfunction results in a number of problems that eventually result in one or more of the 3 factors I mentioned.
I'm not familiar with fibrinogen. How does elevated fibrinogen factor into cardio vascular disease?
I think you and I are on the same page like you said. What I find amazing is that with all the information available to prevent, halt and reverse heart disease, it is still the number one killer.
Fibrinogen is a clotting factor. When levels get too high, the risk of stroke especially and also heart attack rise. There are two ways to lower it, one is by giving blood but I prefer nattokinase, an enzyme that breaks up fibrinogen. The Vitamin K2 (MK-7) that I use from vitacost.com includes nattokinase because of the manufacturing process they use to make the K2. (kill two for one)
I finished re-reading Houston's book. I disagree with a few things in it but generally believe he is right on target with his overall understanding. I suspect the few areas where we differ are due to updated information since the book was published and, on balance, not a big deal.
Thanks again for your comments. I'm still intrigued by your thoughts on TRT reference ranges and different protocols. Wish I could afford the $395 just to see what Thierry Hertoghe's book has to say on the subject. :(
Thanks for the reply. I'm very curious where you disagree with him. Can you elaborate?
By the way, Hertoghe has another version of his handbook that includes no references that is about half the cost...I believe it's called the patient's handbook or something similar to that.
Yes, I saw Hertoghe's patient handbook but I'm still trying to find a way to get the full version. Right now, I'm reading his Hormone Solution book. I did noticed his reference to a minimum Free T of 120 pg/mL for men and 4 pg/mL for women though. I've got a busy schedule this week so I'm not sure how much reading I'll be able to get in. Do you have a copy of it? If not, I could send you a cracked .mobi file you could read on an Amazon Kindle or Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, or other device.
I should have taken notes while I was reading his book but off the top of my head it was things like his reference for homocysteine being too high. His recommendation is to investigate any level abve 12 mmol/L but problems start with levels as low as 6. I recommend maintaining a level less than 7 but the lower the better. Also, I don't believe he ever mentions another of the missing links to controlling homocysteine, a methyl donor such as TMG.
He mentioned a CRP level of 2 mg/L being "very safe" but I believe it should be kept below .5 and again, the lower the better.
There were a few other things that caught my attention, but I don't recall exactly what they were. Overall though, I agree with his ideas and think his book is excellent.
waltrthat my friend, is a serious graphical representation.
Yep, but no exaggeration... Serious business for sure!