Dr. Press' Recommendations For Cardiovascular Health
for more in-depth information, get Dr. Press' book "Chiropractic Patient's Q&A"

RESVERATROL

In addition to the usual recommendation for plenty of exercise, it is critically important for patients to maintain the health of the cardiovascular system. We used to speak of the so-called "French Paradox", in which the French had the highest saturated fat diets of Western Europe, and at the same time the lowest rate of Cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes). For a long time it was thought by scientists that this was due to the high Alcohol intake, from all the wine consumed in France. Recently however it was discovered that in all red grapes there is a substance called Resveratrol, which is an anti-oxidant, and is able because of its small molecular weight, to invade the most minute areas of the cardiovascular tree, and even pass the blood-brain barrier. This substance in recent studies in large quantities has even shown promise in helping certain cases of Diabetes. Thus, Dr. Press now recommends that all patients over 35 should be taking at least 40 mgs of Resveratrol twice a day (BID).

CHOLESTEROL vs HOMOCYSTEINE

In the 1960's when all the hullaballoo began about cholesterol, a scientist was working at Harvard, and discovered the effects of homocysteine. Homocysteine is an amino acid found in the blood stream, which is deleterious in its effects on our arteries, in that it appears to mediate the formation of inflammatory sites in the arteries which can become the focus of thrombus (clot) formation, or other blockage. It is for the reason of inflammation that patients are being advised to take Aspirin every day. It turns out that the effects of homocysteine are far more important than those of cholesterol. However the drug companies cannot make their fotunes on selling the reasonable inexpensive vitamin mixtures needed to keep your homocystein levels low. Taking a mixture of Vitamins B6, B12, Folic Acid and DMG, (Vitamin Shoppe brand "homocysteine blocker") will go a long away to keeping a low homocysteine level, and making cholesterol nearly irrelevant. Naturally, if your cholesterol levels are really high, say over 300, then you should probably be taking a statin medication to lower it despite the foregoing.

What about statins? I'm already taking one of them anyway...

Nearly all the statin drugs have a disclaimer on their labels saying that "this drug has never been shown to lower the risk of coronary artery disease or stroke." ??? If your doctor has you on a statin drug to lower your cholesterol, ask ... Why? The answer is to prevent a heart attack from the high cholesterol! Are we alone in wondering if this is not a contradiction?

See NY Times Editorial about Statins (click here - .pdf)

What about Zetia, Zocor and Vytorin? DANGER.

A recently released study done by the drug companies themselves, shows that not only do these drugs not protect you from cardiovascular disease by lowering your cholesterol (which Dr. Press has always maintained was irrational) but they actually INCREASE the plaques in your arteries and may kill you sooner from heart disease or stroke!

Read the article (click here - .pdf)

Co Q10 ?

Finally, ALL Statins lower your body levels of Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 though not yet labled officially a vitamin essentially meets all the necessary requirements for being considered a vitamin, i.e. it is critical for life. All vitamins are necessary for life. That means that if you fail to get enough of them, you eventually die from the deficiency. CoQ10 is necessary for your cells (ALL CELLS, including your heart muscle) to produce ENERGY. The mitochondria require CoQ10 to make ATP. ATP is the real energy force in all living things. Patients have been developing congestive heart disease, due to a deficiency of CoQ10, caused in our opinion by the administration of a cholesterol lowering drug to prevent a disease it cannot and has never been shown to prevent. However we do know that people die from congestive heart disease! In short, if you are taking ANY Statin drug, you MUST be supplementing with CoQ10 at least double the recommended daily amount that the makers of CoQ10 print on their lables. Ask Dr. Press for more information.

Dr. Press' Recommendations For Joint Health
for more in-depth information, get Dr. Press' book "Chiropractic Patient's Q&A"

Unlike most vitamins, there seems to be no good research that would make the recommendation of one brand of joint health formula significantly better than another, there fore Dr. Press suggests that all patients over the age of 40 should, (unless there is some contraindication with some medication you are taking), take Glucosamine and Chondroitin. (WARNING: If you are allergic to shellfish, there are shellfish free versions available for an additional cost) Glucosamine and Chondroitin come in single, double and triple strength formulas. You can determine the level you need based on the degree of arthritic changes you have been diagnosed with, or ask the doctor. We recommend both substances together, though the vast bulk of research favors the effects of Glucosamine alone, there are some studies showing that chondroitin does increase the benefit. If you have joint pains, you can buy MSM to take along with your glucosamine and chondroitin, but DO NOT buy the three products combined in one pill! There are two reasons: 1st, you can't get enough MSM in the combination pill to do you any real good, and 2nd, it just increases the cost of the product excessively. Get MSM powder instead, and, for general joint pains take two teaspoons in the morning and two in the evening. If the taste is too bitter, you can mix it into applesauce or yogurt and even add some sweetener like Splenda. The toxicity of MSM has been tested in athletes taking more than 3000mg/kg of body weight (vastly more than recommended above, and there were no ill effects).