What causes atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease?

[qwazy]

Mann, G. V. (Vanderbilt Univ. School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. 37203), A. Spoerry, M. Gray, and D. Jarashow. Atherosclerosis in the Masai. Am J Epidemiol 95: 26-37, 1972.—The hearts and aortae of 50 Masai men were collected at autopsy. These pastoral people are exceptionally active and fit and they consume diets of milk and meat. The intake of animal fat exceeds that of American men. Measurements of the aorta showed extensive atherosclerosis with lipid infiltration and fibrous changes but very few complicated lesions. The coronary arteries showed intimal thickening by atherosclerosis which equaled that of old U.S. men. The Masai vessels enlarge with age to more than compensate for this disease. It is speculated that the Masai are protected from their atherosclerosis by physical fitness which causes their coronary vessels to be capacious.

As shown by this study the Masai have extensive atherosclerosis but low incidences of cardiovascular diseases. Now I wonder what causes the calcification and why does it not seem to have the same effect in the Masai then in western populations? Is there a way to avoid the calcification at all?

 

[haidut]

As shown by this study the Masai have extensive atherosclerosis but low incidences of cardiovascular diseases. Now I wonder what causes the calcification and why does it not seem to have the same effect in the Masai then in western populations? Is there a way to avoid the calcification at all?

Stress is a huge factor, and the Masai probably have a lot less of it in their lives.

Heart attack survivors have high stress (cortisol/adrenaline) hypersensitivity, low androgens

A very interesting study that highlights yet again the connection between chronic stress and ill systemic health, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study demonstrates that people who had experienced a heart attack have dramatically higher higher cortisol and adrenaline/noradrenaline...

raypeatforum.com

Inflammation (driven by PUFA) is also key, and since the fat they eat is mostly saturated, despite of the thickening of the arteries no actual plaques form. Most of the atherosclerotic plaques in vessels of Western people have been shown to be white blood cells, which demonstrates the role of inflammation.
Finally, they actually found only fat deposition in the arteries, which is not the same as atherosclerosis, as the Masai's vessels enlarged with age to accommodate for the lipid depositions. If the vessels enlarge adaptively to maintain the same diameter and blood flow then this is by definition not sclerosis, for which narrowing without adaptation is required. For comparison, the vessels of Western patients with CVD do not expand adaptively and this is why their disease is defined as sclerotic.
"...Measurements of the aorta showed extensive atherosclerosis with lipid infiltration and fibrous changes but very few complicated lesions. The coronary arteries showed intimal thickening by atherosclerosis which equaled that of old U.S. men. The Masai vessels enlarge with age to more than compensate for this disease."

The hardening of the vessels, which prevents their adaptive enlargement as needed, is driven by cortisol/aldosterone, confirming again the role of stress mentioned above.

Cortisol And Aldosterone Cause Vascular Calcification

In one of his newsletter circa 2015, Ray wrote about the role of aldosterone in heart failure, heart attacks, shock, and edema. He conjectured that aldosterone antagonists would one day be recognized as therapeutic for these conditions. Almost all types of heart disease start with vascular...

raypeatforum.com

 

[Mito]

Is there a way to avoid the calcification at all?

The Inhibitory Roles of Vitamin K in Progression of Vascular Calcification

Abstract Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that is indispensable for the activation of vitamin K-dependent proteins (VKDPs) and may be implicated in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Vascular calcification is intimately associated with CV events and mortality and is a chronic inflammatory process...

raypeatforum.com

 

[lampofred]

Low CO2

 

[iROH]

Stored PUFA from too much whole milk?

 

[Peatness]

The Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Taurine on Cardiovascular Disease

Taurine is a non-protein amino acid that is expressed in the majority of animal tissues. With its unique sulfonic acid makeup, taurine influences cellular functions, including osmoregulation, antioxidation, ion movement modulation, and conjugation of ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Zsazsa]

Dr. Malcom Kendrick has a whole blog dedicated to this subject and also published a book on it

Dr. Malcolm Kendrick

Scottish Doctor, author, speaker, sceptic

drmalcolmkendrick.org

 

[Jon2547]

Supposedly chondroitin sulfate is very beneficial. I have been using it and high dose K and Lysine and Vitamin C.

 

[Braveheart]

Supposedly chondroitin sulfate is very beneficial. I have been using it and high dose K and Lysine and Vitamin C.

Great....have studied this and came up with the same....can you share your protocol?

 

[Dolomite]

Broda Barnes wrote a book that explains how being hypothryroid causes cardiovascular disease.

 

[Braveheart]

Broda Barnes wrote a book that explains how being hypothryroid causes cardiovascular disease.

"being hypothryroid causes cardiovascular disease".....enter on your search engine

 

[Jon2547]

Great....have studied this and came up with the same....can you share your protocol?

I take half a teaspoon of Vit. C on an empty stomach each morning along with a rounded half tsp of Lysine. Then with a meal I have Vit. K and a rounded tsp of chondroitin sulfate. Just a word of caution, the chondroitin tastes like leftover poultry products (from a barnyard, like chicken feet) and the aftertaste lasts a while. It may be the most foul thing I've ever tasted.

 

[Jam]

Also, since the Masai drink non-homogenized raw milk, they absorb much less xanthine oxidase than a "civilized" person drinking homogenized milk. In Italy, for example, most store-bought milk is homogenized.

Xanthine oxidase​

Xanthine oxidase (XO) generates •O2− by catalyzing the oxidation of xanthine and hypoxanthine during purine metabolism. XO reduces molecular oxygen, leading to the formation of •O2− and H2O2. In the vasculature XO can produce large amounts of ROS under pathophysiologic conditions, such as atherosclerosis and ischemia-reperfusion injury.46 This enzyme is expressed not only in vascular and endothelial cells but also circulates in the plasma. Vascular XO activity is regulated by NAD(P)H oxidase, since NADPH-driven generation of H2O2 stimulates xanthine oxidase activity.47 Hence cellular generation of ROS from one enzymatic source further generates ROS formation from another. A role for XO as a vascular source of ROS in hypertension was suggested on the basis of blood pressure-lowering actions of xanthine oxidase inhibitors, allopurinol and oxypurinol, and by the finding that oxidase activity is increased in SHR.48–50 Vascular XO–derived ROS may be particularly important in conditions associated with endothelial dysfunction. Clinical studies demonstrated improved endothelial function by oxypurinol in patients with hypercholesterolemia but not in patients with hypertension.51 Vascular XO activity correlates inversely with endothelial function in patients with heart failure and atherosclerosis.52

 

[Braveheart]

I take half a teaspoon of Vit. C on an empty stomach each morning along with a rounded half tsp of Lysine. Then with a meal I have Vit. K and a rounded tsp of chondroitin sulfate. Just a word of caution, the chondroitin tastes like leftover poultry products (from a barnyard, like chicken feet) and the aftertaste lasts a while. It may be the most foul thing I've ever tasted.

Thank you very much...I am currently using NOW brand CS 600mg 3 capsules daily...still researching...looks like I need more, and it takes time/patience.

 

[Demyze]

@Jon2547 @Braveheart

I'm not sure its a good idea to use the vitamin c supplements;

"Over the next 20 years, my own increased sensitivity to synthetic ascorbate led me to look for such reactions in others. The same people who reacted to it often reacted similarly to riboflavin and rutin, which were also made from cornstarch by oxidation. I ascribed the reaction to some industrial contaminant that they had in common, possibly the heavy metals introduced with the sulfuric acid. The heavy metal contamination of synthetic ascorbate is so great that one 500 mg tablet dissolved in a liter of water produces free radicals at a rate that would require a killing dose of x-rays to equal. The only clean and safe vitamin C now available is that in fresh fruits, meats, etc. The commercial stuff is seriously dangerous."
-ray peat

 

[Braveheart]

@Jon2547 @Braveheart

I'm not sure its a good idea to use the vitamin c supplements;

"Over the next 20 years, my own increased sensitivity to synthetic ascorbate led me to look for such reactions in others. The same people who reacted to it often reacted similarly to riboflavin and rutin, which were also made from cornstarch by oxidation. I ascribed the reaction to some industrial contaminant that they had in common, possibly the heavy metals introduced with the sulfuric acid. The heavy metal contamination of synthetic ascorbate is so great that one 500 mg tablet dissolved in a liter of water produces free radicals at a rate that would require a killing dose of x-rays to equal. The only clean and safe vitamin C now available is that in fresh fruits, meats, etc. The commercial stuff is seriously dangerous."
-ray peat

https://www.vitacost.com/doctors-best-pure-vitamin-c-powder-with-quali-c

 

[Dolomite]

Broda Barnes wrote a book that explains how being hypothryroid causes cardiovascular disease.

Solved: The Riddle of Heart Attacks by Broda O. Barnes and Charlotte W. Barnes

 

[Jon2547]

@Jon2547 @Braveheart

I'm not sure its a good idea to use the vitamin c supplements;

"Over the next 20 years, my own increased sensitivity to synthetic ascorbate led me to look for such reactions in others. The same people who reacted to it often reacted similarly to riboflavin and rutin, which were also made from cornstarch by oxidation. I ascribed the reaction to some industrial contaminant that they had in common, possibly the heavy metals introduced with the sulfuric acid. The heavy metal contamination of synthetic ascorbate is so great that one 500 mg tablet dissolved in a liter of water produces free radicals at a rate that would require a killing dose of x-rays to equal. The only clean and safe vitamin C now available is that in fresh fruits, meats, etc. The commercial stuff is seriously dangerous."
-ray peat

i know i know.. thing is, i stopped using bamboo silica powder for a while because it supposedly effects the endotoxin(?).. thing is some of the benefits of using silica to remove aluminum outweigh any endotoxins whatever that means..

 

[RealNeat]

I'd eat heart. Coq10.

People in the us get stressed, deplete magnesium, deplete coq10, deplete vitamin E by PUFA, drink their problems away and deplete even more nutrients as a result.

Hardly comparable to the stress conditions of the masai and their version of vascular "pathology"

 

[RealNeat]

Stress is a huge factor, and the Masai probably have a lot less of it in their lives.

Heart attack survivors have high stress (cortisol/adrenaline) hypersensitivity, low androgens

A very interesting study that highlights yet again the connection between chronic stress and ill systemic health, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study demonstrates that people who had experienced a heart attack have dramatically higher higher cortisol and adrenaline/noradrenaline...

raypeatforum.com

Inflammation (driven by PUFA) is also key, and since the fat they eat is mostly saturated, despite of the thickening of the arteries no actual plaques form. Most of the atherosclerotic plaques in vessels of Western people have been shown to be white blood cells, which demonstrates the role of inflammation.
Finally, they actually found only fat deposition in the arteries, which is not the same as atherosclerosis, as the Masai's vessels enlarged with age to accommodate for the lipid depositions. If the vessels enlarge adaptively to maintain the same diameter and blood flow then this is by definition not sclerosis, for which narrowing without adaptation is required. For comparison, the vessels of Western patients with CVD do not expand adaptively and this is why their disease is defined as sclerotic.
"...Measurements of the aorta showed extensive atherosclerosis with lipid infiltration and fibrous changes but very few complicated lesions. The coronary arteries showed intimal thickening by atherosclerosis which equaled that of old U.S. men. The Masai vessels enlarge with age to more than compensate for this disease."

The hardening of the vessels, which prevents their adaptive enlargement as needed, is driven by cortisol/aldosterone, confirming again the role of stress mentioned above.

Cortisol And Aldosterone Cause Vascular Calcification

In one of his newsletter circa 2015, Ray wrote about the role of aldosterone in heart failure, heart attacks, shock, and edema. He conjectured that aldosterone antagonists would one day be recognized as therapeutic for these conditions. Almost all types of heart disease start with vascular...

raypeatforum.com

Do you think high cholesterol +200 is a dependable diagnosis for thyroid insufficiency (and possibly other hormones)?