What Doctors Don’t Tell You Australia-NZ – July 22, 2019

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42 WDDTY | ISSUE 01 | AUG/SEP 2019 FACEBOOK.COM/WDDTYAUNZ

SPECIAL REPORT

inflammation and improves

insulin sensitivity.^8

Get physical

Hundreds of studies point

to the heart benefits of

regular exercise, but

a 2017 study of

130,000 people

in 17 countries

underscores

that you don’t

need a gym

membership to

get the benefits.

The Prospective

Urban Rural

Epidemiology

(PURE) study

showed that any

activity—from

running on a treadmill

to walking to work or

mopping a floor—allows

people to meet the current

guideline of 30 minutes of activity

a day, or 150 minutes a week, to raise

the heart rate.

Meeting the guideline by any means

reduced the risk for death from any cause

by 28 percent and death from heart disease

by 20 percent.^9 According to Dr Salim

Yusuf, director of the Population Health

Research Institute at McMaster University

in Canada and the principal investigator

of the PURE study, “If everyone was active

for at least 150 minutes per week, over

seven years a total of 8 percent of deaths

could be prevented.”

What’s more, the more physical

activity—in whatever form taken—the

greater the benefits, with no indication of

a ceiling effect. People getting more than

750 minutes of physical activity per week

had a 36 percent reduction in their risk

of dying.

Chelate toxins

Toxic metals such as lead and arsenic

and hormone-disrupting chemicals like

phthalates and bisphenol from plastics

have all been increasingly linked to

heart disease.^10

In 2013, a massive $31 million study

by the US National Institutes of Health

shocked cardiologists when it reported

a modest reduction in heart-related

events among patients who received

a form of chelation therapy—which

removes metals from the body—

compared to controls.

Notably, chelation therapy was linked

to a 40 percent decline in bad outcomes,

with few side-effects, in the heart patients

with diabetes, with a more modest

decline among nondiabetics. Combined

with multivitamins, the therapy was even

more effective.^11

Dr Kahn recommends that his patients

use N-acetylcysteine to help flush toxins

from the body and eat cruciferous

vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli

and bok choy, which also help

chelate metals.

One study of

N-acetylcysteine

given at a dose of

1.8 grams per

day for just

four weeks

found that the

supplement

reduced

levels of the

inflammatory

molecule

homocysteine and

lowered blood pressure

regardless of patients’

cholesterol status or whether

they smoked.^12

Sweat it out

Sweating is a key way for the body to

dump toxins including metals like

lead, arsenic and mercury, and to rid

itself of unwelcome phthalates from

plastics.^13 Many studies have found that

regular sauna use is linked to favorable

cardiovascular health. Sauna has been

found to lower blood pressure and

improve artery function.^14

Coenzyme Q10

Mitochondria are the powerhouses in every

cell in your body. Oxidative damage to these

little batteries contributes to a wide range of

issues including cardiovascular disease. For 50

years, researchers have known that coenzyme

Q10 (CoQ10) has an antioxidant effect and is

critical to the energy transfer that takes place

within mitochondria. Statins, however, have

been shown to radically deplete CoQ10, which

may explain their common side-effect of

fatigue and pain in the muscles.

Though it is not widely followed advice,

some studies have recommended that

doctors prescribe CoQ10 to their patients

taking a statin to counter this effect of the

drugs. However, data has been mixed as to

whether or not it provides any benefit.^1 One

possible reason for these mixed results is the

difficulty of delivering CoQ10 inside the cell

where it is needed.

Recently, researchers have developed

mitochondria-targeted antioxidants to

overcome this problem. The supplement

mitoquinone (MitoQ) links a fat-soluble

molecule to CoQ10 in order to help it penetrate

inside the membranes of mitochondria.

A study published in 2018 in the American

Heart Association journal Hypertension adds to

a growing body of animal and human research

that this novel antioxidant could be a powerful

tool in the war against heart disease along

with a host of other conditions.

Researchers from the University of Colorado

at Boulder testing the supplement on healthy

men and women found that compared to a

placebo, mitoquinone increased blood vessel

dilation by an astounding 42 percent, which,

in practical terms, meant their blood vessels

were performing like those of someone 15 to

20 years younger.

The study also showed that mitoquinone

reduced oxidative stress in the mitochondria.

These latest findings, if correct, suggest that

mitoquinone could lead to a 13 percent drop in

heart disease.^2

REFERENCES

1 Ochsner J, 2010; 10: 16–21

2 Hypertension, 2018; 71: 1056–63

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