Heart Cipher

If there was any doubt about whether confusion exists about an inflammatory basis for depression, one only has to look at a set of recent LEF news items and articles on the subject.

I received an email this morning noting that St John’s Wort has been found to be effective for major depressive symptoms.  Here’s the link…

A review published online by Cochrane Systematic Reviews on October 8, 2008 concluded that extracts of the herb St John’s wort are as effective for treating major depression as standard drugs.

Notice in the article on the bottom left of that page, LEF writes as follows:

The mechanism of action of St. John’s wort in depression is not entirely clear. One idea is that St. John’s wort affects presynaptic serotonin uptake and inhibits norepinephrine reuptake (Nangia M et al 2000).

Where do we find ourselves with this kind of understanding?  Well, we find ourselves in a state where we have a seemingly random list of herb and other supplements that treat depression without any deeper understanding of why these substances work.

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Haven’t written here in a while. Life has been hectic and stressful for a good two weeks now. Some interesting potential new insights gained. Will write about that in a bit.

For now, I wanted to point you to an online webinar that Dr. Davis will be conducting on Vitamin D3 this week.

Here’s the link to register for the webinar…

See ya’ there.

And just for fun, how about that “Vitamin D3 Song” by John Denver?

You’ll recall that 4 to 6 weeks ago, I described a discussion going on at the WebMD heart.org forum about Coronary Artery Disease, Coronary Artery Calcium Scanning, and dramatic reductions in cardiac events in patients.

Among the things Dr. William Davis of TrackYourPlaque.com and the HeartScanBlog mentioned in that thread is that, in his cardiology practice, optimal Vitamin D levels were essential to coronary plaque regression.

At least one other doctor questioned Dr. Davis about it because there haven’t been significant studies showing Vitamin D level to be critical. No single other doctor at the WebMD forum spoke up and seconded Dr. D.’s point about Vitamin D.

Well, things will be different from this point forward now that the journal Circulation has just published an online version of a study showing that Vitamin D deficiency “may adversely affect the cardiovascular system.”

The study conclusion also states that

further clinical and experimental studies may be warranted to determine whether correction of vitamin D deficiency could contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

What do you think? Should I wait another 2 to 5 years for these additional studies to be completed and published or should I supplement with Vitamin D3 now? More generally, is it any wonder why an increasing number of informed lay persons take Dr. Davis more seriously than they take their own doctor? He is years ahead of where most of his colleagues are when it comes to understanding the requirements for coronary plaque regression.

The study abstract follows the jump…

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Seems to me that any article written about the man who discovered and realized the significance of Omega 3 Fatty Acids is a must read.

Hat tip to the daily bulletin email from the Life Extension Foundation for the link.

In my post Speaking of Bad Taste, I wrote that I was looking to make taking powdered, non-flavored arginine more tolerable.

The importance of doing this becomes clearer if you take a look at the Track Your Plaque Supplement online spreadsheet I’ve posted about. The cost per day of taking the recommended dose of arginine is about $ 0.49 per day using a NOW Foods arginine powder I found a price for. Now, if I use the LEF PowerMaker II product, there isn’t really a taste problem but the price is about 150% higher most recently at $ 1.24.

So, on average, using a non-flavored arginine saves about $ 22 a month. Not a fortune, but these supplement costs can add up. I’d like to save room in my supplement budget for trying new products as they appear on the scene and might be helpful and have proven to be non-toxic.

In short, keeping the cost down, from my point of view, is a good thing.

But enough about cost, let’s get back to bad taste…

(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

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I have begun to maintain for myself an online google spreadsheet that contains lists of Track Your Plaque related supplements and how much they cost to purchase at various online sources.

Here’s the link to the latest version of my TYP_Supplement spreadsheet.

The objective here is to try to get a handle on supplement quality and price over time. No single supplement is especially expensive, but the cost can add up depending on what you’re taking.

I expect that getting this spreadsheet filled out completely will take awhile.

Meanwhile, it contains sources and prices for Arginine, Carnitine, Vitamin D, Slo Niacin, and CoQ10.

If you see any issues with it, give me a holler.

Some may have thought my last post about “FACCing doctors” to be in poor taste.

So as long we’re talking about bad taste let’s talk about arginine.

Arginine is a critical component of Dr. Davis’ Track Your Plaque program. On his site, Dr. Davis provides references and writes that:

L- arginine is an amino acid (building blocks of proteins) found in many foods, particularly meats and nuts. L-arginine is a powerful tool for plaque regression, with compelling and fascinating scientific evidence supporting its use.

L- arginine powerfully dilates (relaxes) the arteries of the body. In the coronary arteries, this discourages arterial wall injury that contributes to plaque deposition and growth. It reduces angina (chest pain) in people who have severe coronary blockages. L-arginine lowers blood pressure, inhibits inflammatory cell adhesion, and suppresses production of inflammatory proteins. Several studies clearly document the ability of l- arginine to shrink plaque (carotid). Impressive plaque shrinkage can be achieved when l- arginine is given, while control groups not receiving l- arginine experience substantial plaque growth.

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