Homocysteine: The Heart-Breaker? Life-Taker?

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood that is really a by-product of methionine (your metabolism). So, it occurs naturally in the body.

Homocysteine is not just a pointless, harmful amino acid floating around in your body. Despite the ill-effects that this amino acid might have on your body, it still plays an important role.

From what I can gather is that Homocysteine, when converted to cysteine, is a building block to produce vital compounds the body needs to do things like,

• detoxifying the body,
• creating energy for the body,

which both are essential for creating overall health and wellness for your body. But, the overall importance of Homocysteine in the body is a little over my head, so I will let a doctor, with almost 3 decades of experience practicing alternative medicine, explain to you its importance.

"Homocysteine performs a necessary function in the body, after which, if the right cofactors are present, it will eventually convert to cysteine (and this is one of the amino acids needed to produce glutathione, which is very critical in your detoxifications pathways.) and other beneficial compounds such as ATP, (the energy molecule of the body) and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), creatine, choline, part of your RNA and DNA messangers and epinephrine..these are all critical elements of your healthy biochemistry." -as stated by Dr. Deborah Baker

And, Thank You, Dr. Baker! Well, if you can make heads-over-tails from that explanation, then God Bless You. :) And if you want to find out more about the importance of Homocysteine, then I suggest you do a Google search for it. But, that really goes beyond my knowledge, interest, and the scope of this lens.

I want to concentrate more on the potential hazards and problems associated with abnormal, or high levels of Homocysteine in your body. And what kind of preventative measures you can utilize to reduce the risks and ill-effects of what high levels of Homocysteine, age, and time can do to your body.

Why are doctor's becoming more interested in Homocysteine?

It is also important to note, that it is believed that homocysteine is over 40% more accurate to predict heart disease than cholesterol. This is why doctor's have been expressing a large interest in this particular amino acid.

Homocysteine is a nasty little bugger! It is sharp, jagged, and if left unprocessed it wreaks great havoc on the walls of your bodies blood vessels.

In fact, as Homocysteine travels through your body, it cuts little "pockets" in your blood vessels, which allows things like cholesterol to get stuck and oxidate! This could be a major contributing factor in heart disease and stroke! Why?

Because if this nasty guy wasn't in your body hacking away at your blood vessels, then your cholesterol wouldn't be loitering, and throwing little "cholesterol parties" in them, causing plaque build-up, and blood flow restriction. Homocysteine in a sense is laying the foundation for Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke!

Now, contrary to what Porky Pig might say, "that's not all folks!"

High homocysteine levels can also make the blood clot more easily than it should. This means that there is potentially an increased risk of blockages in the blood vessels.

There are some pretty major effects that clots can have on your body if they decide they want to "pick-up" and get a change of scenery. Some of these effects include

• Getting stuck in your lungs (called a pulmonary embolism),
• Getting stuck in your brain (which can cause a stroke)
• Getting stuck in your heart (which can cause a heart attack.)

Homocysteine is not something you want to take lightly. They can cause some major damage that could be irreversible if not caught early! And to make matters worse, despite the potential harmful effects high levels of homocysteine can have on your body, it is not common practice for doctor's to even check your homocysteine levels!

But, there is still hope for us and the medical community.

Studies have shown that lowering homocysteine levels in patients that already have a history of heart-attacks, or strokes does not significantly reduce the risk of having them in the future. For reference, here are a couple of studies and their results:

• The HOPE-2 Study
• The Norwegian Vitamin Trial (NORVIT)

Note: However, there was found to be a 25% reduction in stroke among patients in the HOPE-2 Study.

Now, researchers are switching gears to see if lowering homocysteine levels has a greater effect in people who have a family history of cardiovascular disease, but show no symptoms. The studies are still on-going, however, the hope is to discover more of a "preventative maintenance" solution to cardiovascular disease.

There are currently two ways you can lower your homocysteine levels:

• Diet,
• or, Vitamin Supplication

But, before we list some ways to balance your homocysteine levels, allow me to mention some factors that play a role in increased homocysteine in the body.

Here are some common factors that are directly related to higher homocysteine levels:

• Smoking
• Alcohol
• Drugs (i.e. Birth Control Pills!)
• Kidney Failure
• Genetic Abnormalties
• Enzyme Abnormalties
• Menopause
• Vitamin B-12 deficiency

As you can see, there are a few things you can do immediately to lower homocysteine levels. For example, reducing your intake of alcohol, stop smoking, or increase your B-12 intake. However, Homocysteine levels rise as people age, and it has also been observed that males are affected more than females.

The best way to fight having high, or dangerous, levels of homocysteine floating around in your body is to get a good dose of B Vitamins everyday. Your body needs

• B9 (folic acid),
• B12,
• and B6

to properly convert homocysteine into nontoxic substances.

There are a few ways to increase the vital B-Vitamins that help aid in converting homocysteine through your diet. Here are a few small ideas to help you get going in the right direction.

To increase your B9 (folic acid), try eating more of these items:

• fortified breakfast cereals,
• potatoes,
• bananas,
• garbanzo beans
or, chicken.

To increase your B6, try eating more:

• fruits
• vegetables

A healthy diet would require you to eat five to six servings of fruits and vegetables a day. That is a combination of fruits and vegetables, not five, or six of each.

To increase your B12, try eating more:

• dairy products,
• red meats (i.e. beef)
• some types of fish,
• and organ products like liver

Doctors know that the best way to receive your daily dose of b-vitamins is

• sublingually,
• or in shot form

So, you might not be getting what your body needs if you just stick with a healthy diet. This is more true for people over 40 because your body loses its ability to process b-vitamins as you age. But, if you are young, then by all means a healthy diet might be just fine for you.

There are still on-going studies as to if taking B-Vitamin Supplements are really that beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, but they look promising. Especially, since these "super" vitamins break down the potentially harmful Homocysteine that goes around cleaving your blood vessels (if left alone).

But, until there is sufficient evidence that point to the benefits of vitamin supplementation, having a balanced diet appears to be the best strategy to lower your homocysteine levels.

For more information on B-Vitamin Supplementation and the benefits it has to your body, click here

Or, just click here for a Sublingual B-Vitamin product review.

The reason I am putting this module in the lens is because I think that Statin drugs are given very liberally to any and everyone as a cure-all to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. But, like I said there is no conclusive evidence that has ever linked cholesterol, which is what Statin drugs like Lipitor or Zocor fight, with Cardiovascular disease, or stroke. In fact, the medical field may be targeting the by-product of the real problem, instead of stopping the problem.

Here is a personal story to prove my point. I was twenty years old, and I had just come back from the Iraqi invasion in 2003, and I discovered I had border-line high blood pressure. Go figure...I had high blood pressure from the stresses that war brings on your body, and my cholesterol was probably up from being forced to eat MRE's everyday for a few months! But, before I left I had optimal blood pressure and my cholesterol level was fine.

Anyway, the doctor had no suggestions for me to improve my health since my diet was keen, I had never been in better shape (the Marine Corps tends to keep you that way), and so his only other alternative was to start me on a drug called Zocor. At the time that was fine for me, but I knew nothing about the drug, and I was not given any real warnings about taking it.

It wasn't until my family started raising questions with me, as to why I, as a twenty-year old, was taking a Statin Drug. Since they were raising questions, I figured it was in my best interest to do some research. Here is what I found about some bad side-effects of Statin Drugs:

• Unexplained muscle weakness
• Unexplained muscle pain. (Neuropathy)

This muscle pain is a symptom of muscle breakdown that is occurring in the body.

• When tissues break down, the body must eliminate the excess waste products. The waste products then overload the kidneys, causing more serious problems. (aka Rhabdomyolysis)

Severe rhabdomyolysis can result in death from acute kidney failure due to overload of the kidneys with deteriorated muscle tissue.

• An interference with proper functioning of the peripheral nerves, which helps connect the central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) to the limbs and organs


• Memory Loss

Now, every drug has side-effects, but it was not until recently that the adverse effects of long term use of statin drugs has become obvious. In fact, they seem dangerous. They are fighting cholesterol, which may only be indirectly responsible for cardiovascular disease and stroke, but worse of all they are breaking down people's bodies! Let's fight the root of the problem without breaking down our bodies with dangerous side-effects!

Do your research, and find out more about why you should not take these harmful drugs to fight cardiovascular disease and stroke.