Chronic Inflammation: How to Prevent Cancers, Strokes and Heart Attacks

Nicholas Corrin, M.S., L.Ac.
info@eclectichealing.com

The Problem of Vulnerable Plaque in Heart Disease

Increasingly, chronic inflammation is being seen to lie at the root of life-threatening, modern diseases. For example, cardiovascular disease, still the number one killer in the US, was commonly thought to be due to cholesterol and to the slow, mechanical build up of plaque on arterial walls. Instead, we are now coming to understand that the real cause is chronic, undetected infection (1) that give rises to inflammation (2) and to the formation of vulnerable plaque. (3) So-called vulnerable plaque is an unstable clot or globby deposit in arteries that can easily be dislodged, traveling to the heart, carotid artery or brain, and precipitating cardiac infarct, or stroke. Unlike ordinary plaque, which is readily seen on angiograms, vulnerable plaque evades detection: an arteriogram will not detect the presence of this vulnerable plaque. However, high speed MRI's are now being developed which can see the presence and location of vulnerable plaque deposits. (4) The kind of ordinary plaque that is picked up by regular angiograms - and synonymous with what is popularly known as “clogged arteries” - is most often surgically treated with angioplasty or bypass surgery. Yet it is not this type of plaque that causes most heart attacks, and the body has an innate capacity to re-route blood from blocked arteries through new arterioles that it will generate (rather like re-routing traffic through back roads when a section of freeway is shut down). It has been estimated that as much as 85% of heart attacks are in fact due to vulnerable plaque, and therefore, to chronic infections.

Blood Clots, Inflammation and Sympathiconia

Vulnerable plaque consists of clotted globs of infection within the blood which have become entangled with an inflammatory immune response. The immune response has encircled the infection, but not fully disposed of it. It stays there in a manner not dissimilar to circulating immune complexes. But whereas CICs move through the bloodstream, vulnerable plaque stays put, parked on the arterial wall. Until something causes it to rupture and parts of it to break free, with disastrous consequences such as heart attack or stroke. The clot, or plaque, is a kind of precarious obstruction within the artery itself. The plaque is attached to the wall, but not firmly anchored into it. As a result, it can easily be dislodged by the rushing pulsations of arterial blood itself, and also by fluctuating tensions held in the walls of the artery that are caused by an overly active sympathetic nervous system, a condition known as sympathiconia. (5)

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is a natural response of the body to injury or infection. The body sends an onrush of blood to the site, which is what causes the redness, swelling and possibly fever. Both red and white blood cells are despatched. The red cells bring oxygen and other necessary nutrients for cellular repair. The white blood cells mount an immune response against infection. This reaction is normal, healthy and for the most part, should not be interfered with, unless the body cannot cope and is overwhelmed.

However, when inflammation is chronic, this means that the body is unable to cope. Chronic inflammation is typically due to chronic, underlying infection. It can also be due to the presence of circulating allergens, accumulations of toxic heavy metals or dangerous industrial residues such as dioxins, pcbs and xeno-estrogens. The infections remain unresolved because of a failure of the immune system to remove them. The reason for this is largely connected with a severe imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, which itself is chronically stuck in sympathetic mode. According to the eminent researcher and leading Japanese immunologist, Toru Abo MD, chronic inflammation is consistent with sympathiconia, or chronic over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system (and consequent under-activation of the parasympathetic nervous system) (6).

Inflammation, Cancer and the Immune Response Ratios

Immune cells can be divided into two main categories: lymphocytes and granulocytes. In a normal healthy adult, the ratio of lymphocytes to granulocytes should be around 30:70. But in a condition of symapthiconia, excess numbers of granulocytes are produced, and it is these leukocytes that are most engaged in fighting bacterial infections outside the cell. Production of granulocytes is under the control of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. So when that branch is in high gear, large numbers of granulocytes will be consistently manufactured by the body. This is intrinsically an imbalanced situation. The body is basically being held in an ongoing fight-or-flight mode. Granulocytes, unlike lymphocytes, attack infectious micro-organisms by generating reactive oxygen, which is a way of killing them. However, when granulocytes are over-active, when they “miss” their targets through mis-reading the battlefield conditions (7), or when they simply overestimate the presence of bacterial infection, they will attack the body's own tissues, degrading them with reactive oxygen. Since much of this attack is aimed at epithelial tissue which replicates rapidly, the ensuing damage can could lead indirectly to other infections or to mutations in the DNA itself under the barrage of granulocytes. According to Dr. Abo, this is how many cancers will arise: genes in rapidly replicating epithelial tissue will be damaged by excess numbers of granulocytes, leading to mutant genes and thence to cancer. There are no genes per se that will produce cancer. Only mutant genes and damaged DNA create cancer.

The Dangers of Anti-Inflammatories

Both steroids and NSAIDs are routinely prescribed by MDs for an extremely wide variety of health conditions. Whereas NSAIDs such as aspirin have proven preventive effects for heart disease and stroke by their anticoagulant factors, they can also cause internal bleeding and subsequent organ damage. Steroids, such as prednisone, on the other hand, can be even more deleterious in the longterm. Since steroids are cholesterol based substances, they build up in the body as oxidized fat stored in tissues. Steroids actually induce symapthiconia, according to the longterm research of Dr. Abo and his colleagues. Because a chronically overactive sympathetic nervous system induces a) inflammation and b) excess reactive oxygen, these conditions will lead to lipid peroxidation, which is clearly linked with early aging, cellular damage degenerative disease. Todays steroids are eve more potent than those of previous generations of drugs. Their suppressive effects are very strong. However, this suppression only takes care of symptoms, driving the real cause of the malfunctioning deeper into the system and coating the body's interior with layers of oxidized fat. Anti-inflammatories only mask over the problem because they do not address the logic of disease causation. That logic is: Chronic inflammation is caused by a) Chronic infection and b) Chronic over-activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.

How Can Chronic Inflammation Be Treated?

  1. Lowering Blood viscosity. Blood can thicken and become sluggish. This can be due to higher levels of fibrinogens produced as grow older. There is also some evidence that fibrin levels can be elevated due to the presence of parasites in the blood. When the blood is thicker, it more easily forms clots. Moreover, the red blood cells tend to agglomerate, forming clumps. This makes these bloodstream sluggish, and prevents delivery of oxygen and other nutrients through tiny arterioles and capillaries. Sluggish blood also induces a sluggish immune response, making it more difficult for white blood cells to deal with infectious micro-organisms, allergens or toxins. Instead, circulating immune complexes tend to be formed, which make the whole problem worse. The solution is to de-coagulate blood flow, and de-agglomerate red blood cells, restoring their normal shape, function and membrane permeability. In Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine, this is done through the use of herbal formulas which correct the toxic stagnation in the blood, a condition known as blood stasis. Just as stagnant water starts to smell bad and become a breeding ground for diseases, so does human blood when it is too “static”. There has been enormous success with enzyme therapy first developed in Germany over forty years ago by the Mucos Company. Their product Wobenzym-N is a wholly natural enzyme-bioflavonoid with no negative side effects after decades of use in many countries.
  2. Lowering Homocysteine and Heavy Metal levels. Homocysteine has been strongly linked with cardiovascular disease, but increasingly also with cancer and nemrodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Homocysteine elevation has to do with faulty methylation pathways and with the presence of heavy metals that interfere with these pathways. This can be treated through oral chelation compounds such as “Beyond Chelation Improved” made by www.longevityplus.com, and by specific homocysteine reducing formulas now available from other nutraceutical companies such as Jarrow.
  3. Removing Infections. The anti-adhesion effects of Wobenzym-N are not he only benefits it has to offer. According to Dr. Garry Gordon, MD “Wobenzym alone has been shown more effective in treating Herpes than the standard anti-viral drugs now available.” Heart disease has been causally linked with CMV, Herpes, Chlamydia and Heliobacter. The fact that the first three of these are considered opportunistic infections in AIDS patients only goes to confirm the relationship of heart disease to a weakened immune system best by chronic inflammatory responses at a usually undetected level. The cocksackie virus also been strongly correlated with heart disease, and in particular Keshan's disease.8) The fact that this particular heart-disease-causing virus has been shown to thrive in conditions of selenium depletion, and that selenium is a vital part of our defenses against cancer and cellular degeneration demonstrates the circular linkage between degenerative diseases, mineral depletion, heart attacks, strokes, cancers and chronic infections. Mineral deficiencies, compromised immune responses, over-active autonomic nervous systems produced chronic inflammation and the presence of undetected noxious micro-organisms are involved across the board. So restoring immune potency is critical. One proven way to do this is to use Transfer Factor along with powerful herbal immune modulators. A second way to do this is to use bio-frequency methods to eliminate parasites, fungi, viruses and noxious bacteria by targeting them with specific bio-electrical frequencies that cause them to be destroyed. If each of these approaches is combined together into a protocol: i.e. enzyme therapy using Wobenzym-N plus bio-frequency plus immune-modulation through Transfer Factor, the infections can be addressed without recourse to anti-biotics.
  4. Restoring Autonomic System Equilibrium. With heart disease and precancerous conditions there is always a disregulation of the body's electric circuitry. Everybody knows that the heart and the brain are electrical organs (measured by EEG and EKG), but in fact all the cells of the body are electrical in nature. When this electricity becomes disrupted, we have disease. This problem of circuitry can be corrected using methods such as Vibropuncture™, Onnetsu Far Infra-Red Therapy, or Acupuncture. Both the heart and the brain can become filled with congested bioelectrical current, especially in conditions of long-standing emotional stress. This stress and electrical congestion can predispose the person to organic disease. Such negative consequences can be avoided by choosing preventive therapy with Vibropuncture™, Onnetsu Far Infra-Red Therapy, or Acupuncture.

What Medical Tests are Available To Track Homocysteine Levels, Blood Coagulation or Chronic Inflammation?

  1. Homocysteine levels can be checked using oral methionine ingestion testing.
  2. Blood coagulation status can be checked using Lpa, Platelet Aggregation, Oxidized Cholesterol Antibody, and VCAM molecule tests.
  3. Inflammatory status can be monitored using C-Reactive protein tests.

Summary

Information is power. The more informed we are, the more we can take charge of our own health, and prevent or reverse dangerous degenerative conditions. Infections and consequent chronic inflammation affect vast numbers of people at lie at the root of the majority of heart attacks, cancers and nemrodegenerative diseases. Further details about several of these conditions and preventive treatment strategies using potent nutraceutical compounds can be found at www.gordonresearch.com. Also, the energy circuitry of the body has amazing capacities to heal our bodies when treated with bio-electrical and bio-frequency medicine. Such medicine dates back many thousands of years, and is now available in modern, hi-tech form. When coupled with oral chelation and nutrient supplementation therapy, an extremely effective form of medicine is generated that can help us avoid later surgical interventions, and prevent the likelihood of heart disease, strokes or cancer.

References

  1. Circulation Journal, Vol. 5-99, 1999
  2. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 3-40, 1999
  3. Assessing and Modifying the Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque (American Heart Association Monograph Series), Valentin Fuster, MD, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002
  4. Gordon Research Institute: Heart Disease, America's No. 1 Killer
  5. Your Immune Revolution, Toru Abo, MD, Gaia Holistic Inc, New York, 2007
  6. IBID
  7. kitchendoctor.com: Parasites and Parasite Cleansing

©Nicholas Corrin & Eclectic Healing Arts, 2009

Disclaimer

This article is meant to inform, and is for educational purposes only. In no way is it intended to diagnose or to treat any condition or disease, nor is it intended to prescribe or to suggest to prescribe anything. It is recommended that no actions be taken independently of a consultation with a qualified medical health professional. It is strongly recommended that no-one seek to self-diagnose or to discontinue or replace any medication they may be on without full discussion with their physician.



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