In this study looking at high dose vitamin D and blood vessel health (endothelial dysfunction), I’d like to point out the dosages used. I have previously brought up the concept of overdose of Vitamin D, but look at the levels used in this study!! 10,000 / day for 3 months with no problems… I know that I personally don’t usually exceed 6,000 / day, but the results of this study are pretty impressive.
Endothelial Dysfunction
Postprandial recruitment of neutrophils may contribute to endothelial dysfunction – (03-10-03)
Postprandial recruitment of neutrophils may contribute to endothelial dysfunction.
Wow. Viewing eating as an inflammatory process is a little intimidating. This study found that a fat, a glucose and a mixed meal induced neutrophil increases (a type of white blood cells) while water did not. This may be one of the reasons while the water only fasting trial on hypertension showed such phenomenal results (search past issues for this article).
J. Lipid Res. — Abstracts: van Oostrom et al. 44 (3): 576
Folic Acid Improves Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients With CAD – (10-09-00)
Folic Acid Improves Endothelial Dysfunction in Patients With CAD
The evidence pointing to homocysteine as an independent risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and the evidence suggesting that folic acid, vitamin B12 and B6 can lower levels is now reaching incredible levels. Every person worried about cardiovascular disease needs to have homocysteine levels checked.
J Am Coll Cardiol 2000;36:758-765 Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who received supplemental folic acid experienced decreased plasma homocysteine levels and significantly improved flow-mediated dilation, according to a report by Canadian researchers. Dr. Mangoni told Reuters Health that “we are probably going to see an increase in vitamin supplementation as a tool to provide cardiovascular protection.”
Natural Remedies for Headaches: It’s Not in Your Head
By now, if your neurologist has not discussed a link between your chronic migraine headaches and your heart, it might be time to find a new one.
This is not a new link, but it seems like the headache treatment community has been attempting to keep it secret. Or worse, they are so disconnected from the medical literature that they are still telling their migraine patients that we don’t know what causes migraines. Before we get to the meat of this article, we do need to bring up the blood vessel theory of migraine headaches. Long ago headache specialists believed that chronic migraine headaches were caused by an event that led to constriction of the blood vessels (the cutting off of blood to certain regions of the brain from this constriction was believed to cause the aura associated with the headache). The body then counteracted the constriction by forcing the blood vessels open again, leading to rebound dilation of the blood vessels. This overexpansion of the blood vessels pressing on nerves in the brain was believed to cause the pounding headache of a migraine.
From this theory, the development of drugs of the 5-HT agonist class (drugs like the triptans used heavily to control the pain of migraines–notice I did not say “treat…”) that helps to shrink the blood vessels back down again.
With this history in mind, when I mention that chronic migraine headaches are strongly linked to problems with the blood vessels, I am NOT talking about the theory noted above. Rather, I am talking about vascular health. The inside lining of the blood vessels of your body is called the endothelium. Endothelial dysfunction refers to a condition where the blood vessels no longer react the way they should. In general, there is an imbalance between substances that help open and close the blood vessels when needed. This begins to disrupt the normal functions like clotting, immune function and ability to control the diameter of the blood vessel.
Poor vascular health is the precursor to, and begins years and years before, heart disease, stroke and dementia. And, most importantly, this is a process that occurs in ALL of the blood vessels, not just the blood vessels of the heart or just the vessels of your pinky finger. Or, relevant to this article, the brain.
THIS is why migraines are not, and have never been, a problem in the head. This is just where you feel the most notable symptom first. Let poor vascular health leading to chronic migraine headaches go on for years and heart attacks, strokes or dementia are sure to follow.
Any headache specialist who does not understand this is NOT a headache specialist. They are, most likely, an expert in using medication to alleviate the pain of a migraine.
And just in case you think I’m surely mistaken because you’re never heard of this relationship before, I present this particular study. Researchers compared the blood flow in the heart of 40 patients with migraine to 35 healthy volunteers. Here’s what they found:
- In the chronic migraine headache patients, the blood flow reserve in the heart was about 1/3 less.
- In addition, blood flow through the left ventricle was reduced in the migraine group.
Basically, the endothelial dysfunction was causing problems with the blood flow through the heart. This is not a cardiac problem and it is not a headache problem; IT IS A BLOOD VESSEL PROBLEM. Until we begin to view chronic migraine headaches through this lens, we will never fix the problem. We will just manage it.
For those migraine sufferers looking for natural remedies for headaches via better vascular health, the most bang for your buck is going to be an anti-diabetic lifestyle. Diabetes and prediabetes destroys the blood vessels, contributing to endothelial dysfunction. For a more complete review, consider my Chronic Migraine Relief eBook or my Migraines and Seizures eBook, both available through Amazon.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Is Associated With Endothelial Dysfunction – (04-12-01)
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Is Associated With Endothelial Dysfunction
Insulin is the key player in this relationship. Insulin is known to shunt away from estrogen production over to testerone production. This elevated testerone is known to be a risk factor for PCOS. Managing insulin levels can be one of the most important things to do for controlling a wide variety of disease states.
Circulation — Abstracts: Paradisi et al. 103 (10): 1410
Insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction and essential hypertension – (03-26-01)
Insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction and essential hypertension
This study suggests a link between endothelial dysfunction (one of three layers of cells making up the arteries), essential hypertension and insulin resistance. Remember that most cases of high blood pressure are essential/idiopathic, meaning that the cause of the condition is unknown. This study may punch holes in the name “essential” hypertension. Maybe the name should be switched to “insulin resistance hypertension?” So many disease conditions have been linked to insulin resistance that this link should not be a surprise to anyone. The discouraging fact remains that a large portion of today’s diet consists of processed sugars which undeniably can lead to insulin resistance. And, to top off this, insulin resistance (also termed Syndrome X or Metabolic Syndrome) is a largely unrecognized disease state by most physicians.
Synergy : Journal of Internal Medicine 249 (2), 189-197
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Is Associated With Endothelial Dysfunction – (04-09-01)
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Is Associated With Endothelial Dysfunction
In view of recent findings that insulin resistance can be a contributor to endothelial dysfunction; and knowing that high insulin levels can shunt hormone production into too much testosterone in the female to contribute to PCOS…then this study is merely proving that A=B and B=C so A must =C. But it’s nice to see the studies done to prove what clinicians in the trenches use empirically every day.
Circulation — Abstracts: Paradisi et al. 103 (10): 1410
FFA-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction Can Be Corrected by Vitamin C.-(06-10-02)
FFA-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction Can Be Corrected by Vitamin C
Kind of makes you wonder how we can see headlines that vitamin C does not protect against heart disease, huh? This study finds that antioxidant therapy may help to protect the lining of the blood vessels against oxidative damage from increased free fatty acids in the bloodstream. The FFA can be increased when insulin resistance lowers the ability of cells to take up the FFA from the bloodstream, so lifestyle changes to increase insulin sensitivity would go nicely with the antioxidant therapy.
JCEM — Abstracts: Pleiner et al. 87 (6): 2913