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Alpha Health
Education
Topics from the
Book of Heart and Arterial
Disease
Atherosclerosis
Coronary Artery Disease
Strokes

Alpha
Nutrition Rescue
Book of
Arteries.
Protein & Homocysteine
Diabetes and CV Disease
High Blood Pressure
Antioxidants
Exercise
Aspirin & Platelets
Course Work-Abstracts
Food allergy
Diabetes
Weight Management

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The mechanisms of arterial disease appear to
be multiple. Immune responses to food proteins may important contributors.
Delayed pattern food allergy may occur within blood vessels causing
inflammation in vessel walls and triggering the clotting mechanism. Many
people with delayed pattern food allergy develop migraine, angina, heart
rhythm abnormalities and may be more likely to develop blood clots and
inflammation of blood vessel walls, all features of the life-threatening
complex of vascular disease.
Dr. William Hollander of
Boston University suggested that atherosclerosis was an autoimmune disorder
with immune complexes injuring blood vessel walls. We think that circulating
immune complexes often contain food proteins as antigens and this mechanism
is important in causing a wide spectrum of food allergic disease. Since
proteins derived from meat, milk, eggs and wheat have the highest risk of
appearing in the blood as immune complexes, these foods are reduced or
eliminated in the Alpha Nutrition Program.
We ask a simple question -
If there is any possibility that chronic symptoms such as attacks of
migraine, heart rhythm abnormalities, digestive disturbances, breathing
difficulties or brain dysfunction are linked to food ingestion, would it not
be prudent to investigate and remove food -causes using diet revision as an
inexpensive, safe, effective strategy?
Keaney et al
[i]
reported that: background Inflammation within vulnerable coronary plaques
may cause unstable angina by promoting rupture and erosion. In unstable
angina, activated leukocytes may be found in peripheral and coronary-sinus
blood.
A non-specific indicator of
inflammation is the C-reactive protein levels in the blood. Elevated levels
are associated with increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. For
example, Ridker et al
[ii]
studied 27,939 apparently healthy American women, who were followed for
eight years for the occurrence of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke,
coronary revascularization, or death from cardiovascular causes. Elevated
C-reactive protein levels were a better predictor of vascular events than
low LDL cholesterol levels. The researchers reported that: 77 percent of
all events occurred among women with LDL cholesterol levels below 160 mg per
deciliter (4.14 mmol per liter), and 46 percent occurred among those with
LDL cholesterol levels below 130 mg per deciliter (3.36 mmol per liter)
C-reactive protein and LDL cholesterol measurements tended to identify
different high-risk groups, screening for both biologic markers provided
better prognostic information than screening for either alone.
Myeloperoxidase is another
serum marker of inflammation that may be Myeloperoxidase is an enzyme that
generates reactive oxygen species, is released from white blood cells. In
one study, plasma myeloperoxidase levels were predictive of subsequent
coronary events in patients with chest pain. The authors concluded that: A
single initial measurement of plasma myeloperoxidase independently predicts
the early risk of myocardial infarction, as well as the risk of major
adverse cardiac events in the ensuing 30-day and 6-month periods.
Myeloperoxidase levels, in contrast to troponin T, creatine kinase MB
isoform, and C-reactive protein levels, identified patients at risk for
cardiac events in the absence of myocardial necrosis, highlighting its
potential usefulness for risk stratification among patients who present with
chest pain.
[iii]
Inflammation can be treated
by removing the causes of inflammation, treating infection and using
anti-inflammatory medication such as ASA. The role of food proteins and
immune complexes as agents of inflammation is rarely investigated and may
turn out to be the hidden agent behind many heart attacks and strokes.
[i]
Keaney, J. F. Jr., Vita, J. A. (2002). The Value of Inflammation for
Predicting Unstable Angina. N Engl J Med 347: 55-57
[ii]
Paul M. Ridker, M.D., Nader Rifai, Ph.D., Lynda Rose, M.S., Julie E.
Buring, Sc.D., and Nancy R. Cook, Sc.D. Comparison of C-Reactive Protein
and Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in the Prediction of
First Cardiovascular Events. NEJM Volume 347:1557-1565 November 14, 2002
Number 20
[iii]
Marie-Luise Brennan, Ph.D., Marc S. Penn, M.D., Ph.D., Frederick Van
Lente, Ph.D., et al Prognostic Value of Myeloperoxidase in Patients with
Chest Pain NEJM Volume 349:1595-1604 October 23, 2003 Number
17
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