Aortic Valve Stenosis - new discovery - Montreal

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Adrienne said:
I am sending the link to an article about a new discovery which was made by the Montreal Heart Institute (where I had my MV surgery) in the treatment of aortic valve stenosis:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2008/18/c6903.html
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This is really incredible news. I hope the clinical trials and studies turn up amazing results and that people with this problem have a solution other than OHS.

As a side note. There's brand new information here that was never passed on to me through either my surgeon, my PCP or my cardiologist; I didn't know that the deposits on my valve were partly a result of cholesterol. They told me I was precipitating "salts" from my blood on the edges of the leaflets that increased exponentially through the changing hemodynamics across the valve but no one called them that dirty word in heart disease, "cholesterol".

Thanks for the information Adrienne. I think I have some new material to pass on to my doctor and the hospital nutritionist. I can now ask how to improve the levels of HDL in my family's diet in order to get a jump start on cholesterol related problems in the future.

Take heart...
 
VERY INTERESTING Information on the possibility of Aortic Stenosis Reversal.
Thanks for posting Adrienne!

I wonder how long it will be before they begin human studies... One would think that efforts to raise HDL would not be a danger to humans, and is known to help reverse Coronary Artery Disease.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Thanks, Adrienne- very interesting. I wonder if it would pertain to those who have already had their valve replaced with a bovine or pig valve. It kind of ties in with the recent suggestions that post-surgery patients take a statin, although many doctors do not agree with that theory.
 
pamela said:
This is really incredible news. I hope the clinical trials and studies turn up amazing results and that people with this problem have a solution other than OHS.

As a side note. There's brand new information here that was never passed on to me through either my surgeon, my PCP or my cardiologist; I didn't know that the deposits on my valve were partly a result of cholesterol. They told me I was precipitating "salts" from my blood on the edges of the leaflets that increased exponentially through the changing hemodynamics across the valve but no one called them that dirty word in heart disease, "cholesterol".

Thanks for the information Adrienne. I think I have some new material to pass on to my doctor and the hospital nutritionist. I can now ask how to improve the levels of HDL in my family's diet in order to get a jump start on cholesterol related problems in the future.

Take heart...
Click to expand...

The usual recommendations for increasing HDL are increased Cardiovascular (Aerobic) Exercise (10% typical improvement potential) and NIACIN supplements (there are different types of prescription medications for this). Skin "tingling" at theraputic doses is a not-uncommon side effect.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Very interesting article. I had stenosis but my valve was bicuspid which isn't mentioned in the article. Im assuming they focused on tricuspid valves. And Im pretty sure that being a bicuspid valver had more to do with my stenosis than with my cholesterol.

My HDL was in the "normal" range ">40 / <60" prior to my surgery and it was just recently rechecked and Im now at 35. The fact that I couldn't exercise during recovery probably has alot to do with that. Im back to running a bit and should be running 10 miles a week within a month or so. My overall cholesterol is now 111 which is about 40 points lower than before the surgery. Go figure.

Bottom line is exercise is the best way to raise your HDL. I also talked to the Coumadin Clinic and they told me that taking Fish Oil is ok also as long as its not massive doses. I read that Fish Oil also helps raise your HDL hence my question to them. And not smoking of course, and a balanced diet :D
 
Thanks for the article. I too was born with a BAV and developed AS. My doctor has never been happy with my total cholesterol reading (so I'm on Crestor) but my "good cholesterol" has always been very high. Interesting stuff. Thanks again.

Cheers,
Michelle
 
This study is showing a slightly different angle, but is basically a reworking of a study that was funded by the statin manufacturers a few years ago, intended at that time to prove that cholesterol drugs could be used to control calcification. Although they also declared they had "duplicated" aortic stenosis and had "proven" that it could be controlled by drugs alone, it was a faulty study and premise, and the statin drugs failed completely to reduce or slow stenosis in large and extended human trials afterwards. They did get to sell a lot of statins to hopeful patients and clinics during that time, though. Things to note:

  • Rabbits have no coronary artery disease in nature. To make them have any kind of plaque they are fed unnatural diets that are extremely high in fats, are denied normal fodder, and are sometimes given added compounds to suppress their HDL production.

  • Rabbits are a very poor model for aortic stenosis, and the deposits are not the same as those found in human patients. Stenosis just means narrowing, not that the causation and apatitic compound are identical. The compounds created in other rabbit studies share only some chemicals (such as calcium) with human stenosis, and mainly so because those chemicals are already prolific in the body. The structure, percentages, and part of the base chemical makeup are different from human apatitic calcifications.

  • This type of study is based on the false premise that cholesterol-derived paques and valve calcification are only very slight modifications of the same thing. However, the physical structure and makeup of apatitic valve calcification is different from that of arterial plaques, and is specific to the valve, not endemic throughout the arterial system. It's crusty and inextricably bonded to the tissue: valves often crumble entirely when removed. Arterial plaque begins soft and spongy, fat-based, and although it may pick up some calcifications as it matures, it doesn't have the same mineral nature as valve calcifications routinely exhibit.

  • The plaque in rabbits also appears in other parts of the bloodstream besides the valve, a finding that does not typify human aortic stenosis, which is often found in isolation on the valve, with otherwise exceptionally clear arteries (especially in bicuspids).

  • That a compound was found that could reverse an entirely unnatural situation rapidly is neither astounding nor particularly unexpected.

I'm completely from Missouri on this one: Show me on a human.

Best wishes,
 
Was it The Vit C?

Was it The Vit C?

I wonder if the rabbits diet was devoid of sufficient Vit C . Studies in the 50's found that when rabbits were denied Vit C they developed calcifcation in their arteries and I suppose this would include their aortic valve as well. Researchers however were able to reverse this calcification when they added foods contaning high levels of Vit C to the rabbits diet again.From memory I believe it was also a Canadian reseracher that first experiemented with this.
 
Rabbits create their own vitamin C within their bodies, another reason they are less than perfect subjects, so it's not probable that vitamin C was involved. Guinea pigs, like humans, don't make their own vitamin C, one reason why they are well-known as testing subjects.

Regarding arterial plaque formation vs. rock-hard valve apatitic formation, I offer this from doctors Green and Samson from http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/chelationimp.html:
Pathology of Atherosclerotic Plaque
The modern consensus of the genesis and pathology of atherosclerosis differs from both older and recent chelation theories. In brief, arterial atheromas begin as low-density lipoproteins (LDL), cross the endothelial cell layer of the artery at a point of local injury or oxidant damage, and are deposited in the subendothelial layer. Monocytes, attracted to the injured area and subendothelial layers, engulf LDL and become foam cells, collectively forming a fatty streak on the arterial wall. The accumulation of foam cells ruptures the arterial endothelial cell layer, and platelets aggregate at the site and release growth factors, stimulating smooth-muscle cells to proliferate. During repair, cells produce collagen and form a fibrous, collagen-rich cap over the site (plaque). This plaque contains cholesterol, lipid particles, fibrous protein, and debris. The plaque enlarges as the process repeats. Calcium deposition inside the atheroma is a late event, and is not intrinsic to the genesis or maintenance of the atheroma's structure. Calcium rarely occupies more than a small fraction of the plaque's volume [6].
Click to expand...
I see no magic here. Let's see if supplements containing ApoA-I mimetic peptide suddenly show up in the "health underground" ads.

Best wishes,
 
To Bob H

To Bob H

Bob, As always, thank you for the "reality re-set." Although I have pretty bad AS, I will wait on this one and continue on course for eventual VR surgery. . .
 
green tea

green tea

Thanks for posting the link to this interesting finding. In addition to exercise and proper diet, studies have shown that drinking several cups of green tea daily helps increase HDL cholesteral and reduces the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
 
Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling

Hi Tobagatwo
Yes you are right it was guinea pigs.I looked up the reference again.Hav you read Linus Paulings theory? If so what are your thoughts about this.

Cheers
Butterfly.
 
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