Reprinted with permission of Life Extension

In an article published online on August 10, 2009 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Harvard researchers report an association between higher plasma levels of vitamin B6 and a reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) in women.

The study included 144 participants in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study who were diagnosed with myocardial infarction. The women were each matched for age, smoking status and other factors with two participants in the same study who did not have a history of heart attack at the time of the heart attack cases’ diagnoses. Stored fasting blood samples were analyzed for plasma pyridoxal 5′ phosphate (PLP), which is the predominant form of vitamin B6 that exists in circulation, and homocysteine, an amino acid which, when elevated, has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Higher levels of PLP were correlated with greater dietary intake of vitamin B6, lower body mass index and lower levels of homocysteine. The researchers uncovered a significant association between plasma PLP levels and reduced heart attack risk. Women whose PLP levels were among the top one-fourth of participants at greater than 70 picomoles per milliliter had a 78 percent lower adjusted risk of undergoing a heart attack compared to those whose levels were lowest at less than 27.9 pmol/mL. When the women were analyzed according to age, those aged 60 and older whose PLP levels were among the top quarter were found to have a 64 percent lower risk than those in the lowest quarter, while those who were under 60 in the top fourth of PLP had a 95 percent lower risk.

The authors remark that the study’s findings are consistent with the role of vitamin B6 as a cofactor in the conversion of homocysteine to cysteine. The vitamin also plays a role in the transport of important minerals such as magnesium across cell membranes. The authors observe that the results of some research suggest that factors other than diet that control vitamin B6 levels could eventually be found to be more important in reducing heart attack risk.

The current prospective study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to examine the relationship of vitamin B6 levels with heart attack in postmenopausal women. “Our investigation revealed that a lower fasting concentration of PLP is significantly associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction in predominantly postmenopausal women, a relationship that may be causal,” they write. “Future studies are needed to better understand both dietary and nondietary determinants of plasma and tissue vitamin B6 status and their role in the prevention of myocardial infarction and other chronic diseases.”

From www.lef.org

In 1990, researchers studied the effects of Irvingia on eleven human Type 2 diabetics. Compared to baseline, there were significant reductions in blood triglyceride levels (16%), total cholesterol (30%), LDL (39 %), and glucose (38%), while HDL-cholesterol levels were increased by 29% after four-week supplementation. These desirable biochemical effects were accompanied by improved clinical states.

In 2005, researchers fed guinea pigs a high-fat diet with or without Irvingia. The guinea pigs receiving the Irvingia displayed a significant increase in beneficial HDL accompanied by a significant decrease in triglycerides and LDL. After three weeks, the Irvingia-supplemented animals lost more than 7% of their body weight; whereas the control group fed the same high-fat diet (without Irvingia) showed more than 8% increase in body weight.

In 2006, researchers studied the effect of Irvingia in rats who were artificially induced to develop diabetes. Just a single oral dose of Irvingia lowered plasma glucose two hours after treatment.

Another study in 2006 evaluated the effects of Irvingia in slowing the intestinal absorption of glucose in healthy rats. The results showed a significant reduction in after-meal glucose blood level and lower subsequent fasting glucose scores.

The first double-blind study in humans occurred in 2005. Twenty eight of the subjects received Irvingia while twelve were given a placebo. All subjects maintained their normal calorie intake. After 30 days, subjects taking Irvingia lost 12.3 pounds. The Irvingia group also experienced significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides and an increase in HDL.

In a recent controlled study, humans taking this new compound lost 28 pounds over a 10-week period compared to less than 3 pounds in the placebo group. Unlike other weight loss studies that mandate at least some moderation in food intake, these study participants did not alter their diet in any way.

Equally remarkable are results showing the same mechanisms that enable this compound to remove body fat also lower heart attack risk factors like LDL, glucose and C-reactive protein.

For the entire article, visit the Life Extension Foundations’ website.

A unique opportunity to save countless lives and billions of dollars is being overlooked by the medical community. This technique increases blood flow to the heart, strengthens the circulation, and offers a proven way to treat heart disease in lieu of stents or bypass surgery.

Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a safe, non-invasive procedure that can overcome heart disease in two ways—by passively exercising the heart to strengthen the vascular system and by targeting inflammation, the underlying culprit in damaged blood vessels that inhibits blood flow.

More than 100 studies have demonstrated its overwhelming effectiveness and unquestioned safety in improving blood flow in patients with heart disease. Some experts are calling for the EECP procedure to become first-line therapy for heart disease, long before surgery or other invasive procedures are used. Approved by the FDA for chronic stable angina, cardiogenic shock, congestive heart failure, as well as during a heart attack, EECP not only saves lives but is also considerably cheaper and safer than traditional invasive procedures such as angioplasty and coronary stents, which continue to be the mainstay of therapy. Medicare even pays for it!

For patients with some forms of heart disease, enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a non-invasive, high-tech, low-risk procedure, performed on an outpatient basis, which offers a remarkable reprieve from some of the potentially disabling symptoms of stable angina and coronary heart disease. Patients lucky enough to be offered this underused therapy may experience changes in their conditions that range from significant pain relief to renewed mobility and energy, to a rekindled libido. They may also literally gain a new lease on life, simultaneously avoiding the dangers of coronary bypass surgery while buying enough time to reverse the heart disease that brought them to this crossroads in the first place. But chances are, unless you inquire about it, you’ll never even be told this option exists.

To see the complete article by Dale Kiefer, visit the Life Extension website