High Homocysteine Levels Predict Heart Attacks: B12 will Lower Homocysteine

by Melanie Grimes

Research has shown that high levels of homocysteine in the blood can predict who will suffer a heart attack. High levels of homocysteine prevent dilation of blood vessels. Research showed that homocysteine levels were a better indicator of heart attacks and strokes than high cholesterol levels. The research on the amino acid homocysteine and heart disease is over ten years old. Following men with heart problems for six years, Norwegian researchers found that the higher the homocysteine levels, the greater the risk of death following a heart attack. Another study showed that the risk of a fatal heart attack increased four-fold in those with high homocysteine levels in the blood. Several nutrients have been shown to lower blood homocysteine and the associated risks.

The risk factor for other diseases also increases with elevated levels of homocysteine. Diseases such as gout, rheumatism, cancer, leukemia, kidney disease, lupus, and even depression, go up as the homocysteine levels rise. Some doctors suggest a link between homocysteine and the thyroid gland as a link to these non-vascular disease states.

A healthy level of homocysteine in the blood is below 15 micro mol/liter, but some doctors recommend levels below 7. A simple blood test can be used for diagnosis.

Nutrients that reduce homocysteine are B12, B9 (folic acid), B2 (riboflavin), and B6. These nutrients act through various chemical pathways to break down homocysteine in the blood. Adding zinc and Tri-methyl Glycine (TMG) to the diet is also recommended. Physical exercise will decrease homocysteine levels, as will losing weight and reducing stress. A vegetarian diet reduces homocysteine levels as well.

Smoking and drinking alcohol will increase the levels of blood homocysteine as well, along with estrogen deficiency and use of some pharmaceutical drugs, such as steroids. Coffee and tea also cause an increase.

Some people are genetically prone to elevated homocysteine levels, but by changing the diet, reducing alcohol consumption, increasing exercise and adding B vitamins, homocysteine levels can be lowered, and the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other chronic conditions can be eliminated.

http://www.healthy-heart-guide.com/homocyste...

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/468927

http://www.alsearsmd.com/homocysteine-levels...

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi...

About the author

Melanie Grimes is a writer, award-winning screenwriter, medical journal editor, and adjunct faculty member at Bastyr University. She also teaches homeopathy at the Seattle School of Homeopathy and the American Homeopathic Medical College.
A trained homeopath, she is the editor of the homeopathic journal, Simillimum, and has edited alternative and integrative medical journals for 15 years. She has taught creative writing, founded the first Birkenstock store in the USA and authored medical textbooks.
Her ebook on Natural Remedies for the Flu is available at: 

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Chemotherapy Makes Cancer Far Worse

Woops! Study Accidentally Finds Chemotherapy Makes Cancer Far Worse

Anthony Gucciardi

August 7th, 2012

A team of researchers looking into why cancer cells are so resilient accidentally stumbled upon a far more important discovery. While conducting their research, the team discovered that chemotherapy actually heavily damages healthy cells and subsequently triggers them to release a protein that sustains and fuels tumor growth. Beyond that, it even makes the tumor highly resistant to future treatment.

Reporting their findings in the journal Nature Medicine, the scientists report that the findings were ‘completely unexpected’. Finding evidence of significant DNA damage when examining the effects of chemotherapy on tissue derived from men with prostate cancer, the writings are a big slap in the face to mainstream medical organizations who have been pushing chemotherapy as the only option to cancer patients for years.

The news comes after it was previously ousted by similarly-breaking research that expensive cancer drugs not only fail to treat tumors, but actually make them far worse. The cancer drugs were found to make tumors ‘metasize’ and grow massively in size after consumption. As a result, the drugs killed the patients more quickly.

Known as WNT16B, scientists who performed the research say that this protein created from chemo treatment boosts cancer cell survival and is the reason that chemotherapy actually ends lives more quickly. Co-author Peter Nelson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle explains:

“WNT16B, when secreted, would interact with nearby tumour cells and cause them to grow, invade, and importantly, resist subsequent therapy.”

The team then complimented the statement with a word of their own:

“Our results indicate that damage responses in benign cells… may directly contribute to enhanced tumour growth kinetics.”

Meanwhile, dirt cheap substances like turmeric and ginger have consistently been found to effectively shrink tumors and combat the spread of cancer. In a review of 11 studies, it was found that turmeric use reduced brain tumor size by a shocking 81%. Further research has also shown that turmeric is capable of halting cancer cell growth altogether. One woman recently hit the mainstream headlines by revealing her victory against cancer with the principal spice used being turmeric.

This accidental finding reached by scientists further shows the lack of real science behind many ‘old paradigm’ treatments, despite what many health officials would like you to believe. The truth of the matter is that natural alternatives do not even receive nearly as much funding as pharmaceutical drugs and medical interventions because there’s simply no room for profit. If everyone was using turmeric and vitamin D for cancer (better yet cancer prevention), major drug companies would lose out.

Additional sources:

Pubmed/21775121

Pubmed/19138983

Shock study: Chemotherapy can backfire, make cancer worse by triggering tumor growth

Shock study: Chemotherapy can backfire, make cancer worse by triggering tumor growth

Scientists found that healthy cells damaged by chemotherapy secreted more of a protein called WNT16B, which boosts cancer cell survival. 'The increase in WNT16B was completely unexpected," said Peter Nelson, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

AFP RELAX NEWS

Monday, August 6, 2012, 12:59 PM

SVEN HOPPE /SHUTTERSTOCK.COMHealthy cells damaged by chemotherapy secrete more of a protein called WNT16B, which boosts cancer cell survival

Long considered the most effective cancer-fighting treatment, chemotherapy may actually make cancer worse, according to a shocking new study.

The extremely aggressive therapy, which kills both cancerous and healthy cells indiscriminately, can cause healthy cells to secrete a protein that sustains tumor growth and resistance to further treatment.

Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab.

They tested the effects of a type of chemotherapy on tissue collected from men with prostate cancer, and found "evidence of DNA damage" in healthy cells after treatment, the scientists wrote in Nature Medicine.

Chemotherapy works by inhibiting reproduction of fast-dividing cells such as those found in tumors.

The scientists found that healthy cells damaged by chemotherapy secreted more of a protein called WNT16B which boosts cancer cell survival.

"The increase in WNT16B was completely unexpected," study co-author Peter Nelson of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle told AFP.

The protein was taken up by tumor cells neighboring the damaged cells.

"WNT16B, when secreted, would interact with nearby tumor cells and cause them to grow, invade, and importantly, resist subsequent therapy," said Nelson.

In cancer treatment, tumors often respond well initially, followed by rapid re-growth and then resistance to further chemotherapy.

Rates of tumor cell reproduction have been shown to accelerate between treatments.

"Our results indicate that damage responses in benign cells... may directly contribute to enhanced tumor growth kinetics," wrote the team.

The researchers said they confirmed their findings with breast and ovarian cancer tumors.

CANCER TREATMENT OVERVIEW

The result paves the way for research into new, improved treatment, said Nelson.

"For example, an antibody to WNT16B, given with chemotherapy, may improve responses (kill more tumor cells)," he said in an email exchange. Curcumin extracts demonstrates ability for stopping cancer growth and tumor spreading.

"Alternatively, it may be possible to use smaller, less toxic doses of therapy."

Cholesterol Myth by Dr. George V. Mann

The Cholesterol Myth

“Saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet are not the cause of coronary

heart disease. That myth is the greatest ‘scientific’ deception of the century,

and perhaps any century.”

- George V. Mann, M.D.

Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine

There is simply no one better in the 21st century at developing practical health-related solutions based on the world’s leading medical and nutritional science. “Science – Not opinion” is Brian’s trademark. When
Brian is through explaining a topic it is “case closed!” When he says it, you “can take the information to the bank!”

Unlike most of his peers’ recommendations, Brian’s health and nutritional recommendations have stood the test of time. Brian has never had to reverse or significantly alter any of his medical reports—reports
that have tackled everything from the dangers of soy, to the wrongly popularized need for fiber in the diet, to his warning about the potential harm of supplementing with copious amounts of omega-3. In 1995 he
published the report “Fiber Fiction” and finally, eleven years later, others in research are acknowledging the silliness of recommending fiber in the diet of a human being. Brian’s latest crusade is to warn of the dangers of excess omega-3 (in particular, fish oil) and how it will lead to increased cases of skin cancer. The list goes on and on… Brian received an appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Texas Southern University in the Department of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (1998-1999). The former president of the University said of his discoveries: “...His nutritional discoveries and practical applications through Life-Systems Engineering are unprecedented.” Brian earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1979. Brian founded the field of Life-Systems Engineering Science in
1995. This field is defined as The New Science of Maximizing Desired Results by Working Cooperatively with the Natural Processes of Living Systems. To many, Brian is THE MOST TRUSTED AUTHORITY ON HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN THE WORLD.

Brian continues to be a featured guest on hundreds of radio and television shows both nationally and internationally. His sheer number of accomplishments during the last decade of the 20th century and into
the 21st century are unprecedented and uniquely designate him as the #1 authority in the world of what really works and why. Forget listening to the popular press or most popular so-called health magazines. Their
editors simply don’t understand the complicated science that they write about – they merely “parrot” what everyone else says without independent scientific verification. Their recommendations often have no basis in reality of how the body works, based on its physiology.

Brian has dedicated his life to provide the truth – which is almost always opposite to what everyone says. Here’s why Brian is the #1 man in America to listen to when it comes to your health.

Breast Cancer HER2, Metastasis and Natural Compounds

Natural Compound Attacks HER2 Positive Breast Cancer Cells

By Duke Medicine News and Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – A common compound known to fight lymphoma and skin conditions actually has a second method of action that makes it particularly deadly against certain aggressive breast tumors, researchers at Duke Medicine report. Natural supplements keep rising to the surface as the method for treating cancer. “Natural” confounds the whole system of research, grants, funding and marketing.

The compound is called psoralen, a natural component found in foods such as figs and celery, and researchers have long understood that it that works by disrupting DNA replication and causing cell death when activated by an energy source such as UV light. UV light from the sun combined with natural supplementation has much promise. Whethere is it HER2 cells or STEM cells, cancer proliferation, spreading factor and metastasis is the most important goal for any cancer therapy. Unfortunately, chemotherapy and radiation will cause cancer to proliferate and get worse according to Stanford Univeristy researchers and University of Michigan. This is particularly important because these universiteis are the two most proliferative researchers on metastasis and that as a cause of fatality in cancer patients.

Duke researchers have now identified another way the compound works to kill tumor cells, raising the potential for psoralen to be developed as an effective therapy for cancers that are particularly vulnerable to this second mode of action.

Reporting in the Feb. 14, 2014 issue of the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers detail how psoralen blocks the signaling pathway of the HER2 receptor, which is overproduced in 25 percent of breast cancers, plus ovarian, gastric and other solid tumors. When HER2 is overproduced, it fuels uncontrolled cell growth, leading to an aggressive form of cancer. Psoralen shut down this process in experiments using HER2 overexpressing breast cancer cell lines.

“This was very unexpected,” said senior author Neil L. Spector, M.D., the Sandra Coates Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke. “The therapy has been known to kill cancer cells by causing DNA damage, but it is also having a direct anti-tumor effect on HER2 overexpressing breast cancer cells by blocking HER2 signaling.”

Psoralen also attacks another form of HER2 that is present in the nucleus of tumor cells. This form of the protein is resistant to cancer therapies such as lapatinib and trastuzumab that are otherwise effective in targeting HER2-positive cancers.

“Cancer drugs can recognize HER2 receptors when they are outside of the cell, but they don’t recognize the truncated version inside the cell nucleus,” Spector said. “We have shown that psoralen is effective in targeting this other form of HER2 that is resistant to current HER2-targeted therapies.” Other natural substances have shown promise in all types of cancer cells and cancer STEM cells. Only 1% of the tumor is a metastasizing element.

Spector said the benefits of psoralen remain dependent on its activation by an energy source, which has been an impediment to its use in solid tumors. Currently, psoralen is primarily used as a topical treatment in conjunction with UV light exposure in a process called PUVA. The treatment is used for skin conditions such as psoriasis and as a therapy for lymphoma by exposing treated blood to UV radiation during a dialysis-type procedure.

“The challenge all along has been to figure out a way of generating UV light deeper in the body,” Spector said. That challenge is close to being resolved. In a previous publication, Duke investigators from the Pratt School of Engineering, working in collaboration with Spector and scientists from Immunolight, the company that has funded the research, reported the development of micron-sized particles that absorb energy from X-rays to emit UV light in and around cells, much like the cathode ray tube technology used in televisions. Sunlight, unfiltered, also provides this UV light.

The tiny particles are injected into tumors along with the psoralen, then targeted by low-dose X-ray that cause the micron particles to create the UV light necessary to trigger psorlen’s anti-tumor properties. Spector said the technology is being tested in animals, and may be approved for human trials as early as this year.

“A good part of four years has been trying to figure out how to overcome the biophysics challenge of generating enough energy inside the body to activate the particles and the drug,” Spector said. “We’ve come a long way.”

In addition to Spector, study authors include Wenle Xia, David Gooden, Leihua Liu, Sumin Zhao, Erik J. Soderblom, Eric J. Toone, Wayne F. Beyer Jr., and Harold Walder.

Immunolight funded the study. Duke and Immunolight have filed several joint patent applications on the technology.

 While universities wait for elements to patent, clinics around the world use natural elements that accomplish the same goal. 

Cholesterol and Heart Disease - Myth of epic proportions

According to Dr. George Mann, one of the original authors of the study on cholesterol and heart disease: “Saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet are not the cause of coronary heart disease. That myth is the greatest ‘scientific’ deception of the century, and perhaps any century.”

- George V. Mann, M.D.,  Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine

The cholesterol “problem” has not been due to eating (natural) fat in general, but due to the kinds of fats, period. Bad fats - hydrogenated oils, often found in margarine and most supermarket items, which we’ve been led to believe are better for us, have replaced the good healthy ones like butter, the natural fat from meat, and unprocessed, full-fat dairy products.

Let’s take a look at the structure of our cells. The critical bi-lipid membrane cell walls are composed of half fat and half protein. There is no structural carbohydrate in your 100 trillion cells. Of the half fat about 25%-33% is suppose to be from natural polyunsaturated fats (EFAs) and from saturated fat. Saturated fat has been incorrectly termed “bad” over the past 5 decades! The saturated fat supports cellular structure, keeps out impurities, protects the delicate polyunsaturated fat (EFAs), and gives cellular support.

The polyunsaturated fat allows essential nutrients, hormones, numerous biochemical processes, and vital oxygen into the cell. Fats have a particular molecular structure. But when good, natural dietary fats are altered into trans-fats and other man-made unnatural, biochemically altered structures (the kinds found in popular low-fat, highly processed foods), the molecular biochemistry and structure is changed. This is what makes them so dangerous. Our bodies use them in place of the good natural fats it needs, but the
structure is all wrong; very dangerous, and malfunctioning!

Imagine what these bad transfats do to your cell structure. Damaged fats create damaged cells. Transfats don’t work because they don’t have the required structure our bodies are designed to use. What makes them so bad is that they “fit” into the cell even though they are defective. These hydrogenated oils and other man-made modified oils are known to stop the oxygen transfer of EFAs and cause cancer. Even when margarine and other hydrogenated products contain relatively few transfats—as little as just 1%-2%—this translates to an enormous number of transfat molecules. Obesity is more related to bad fats, carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods. Process milk is not the same as raw milk.

In absolute numbers there will be some 1x1021 molecules (one followed by 21 zeros, or 100 million-trillion) in each tablespoon of oil. Therefore, the potential for them to cause damage, either integrally in the cellular structure, or in biochemical reactions, is highly significant, because only a tablespoon of defective oil provides some 100,000 defective oil molecules for each cell in our body—a tremendous overload potential. Add to this defective number the huge number of defective fat molecules from other processing sources and you will be terrified at what you and your family have been consuming for decades!

In absolute numbers there will be (an order of magnitude of) some 1x1021 molecules (1 followed by 21 zeros!) per tablespoon of oil - an overload potential of 104 (10,000 to 1) defective EFAs/cell).

Damaged fats and oils ruin our bodies in a number of ways. Rather than “high” or “low” cholesterol being a problem, the real issue is not the amount of cholesterol or the HDL or LDL number, but rather whether your cholesterol structure has been damaged.

Meat, butter and cheese, per se, do not relate to bad health, and heart disease in particular. There is nothing in the literature to indicate any poor health relating to meat, eggs, cheese, etc. and high cholesterol levels. There is a great deal of poor health related to process foods, chronic high glucose levels, and high intake of a diet saturated with carbohydrate food choices.