Sticky, thick blood - risk of stroke or MI

For new readers or for those who may have not been reading regularly and may have missed the many discussions about inflammation and sticky, thick blood leading to risk of stroke or heart attack, this is a reminder to become very knowledgeable on the key risk factors which can be identified by specific highly-sensitive tests.

Preventive medical care should be high priority and these tests should be routine, but apparently, there is more money to be made from having to stent or do bypass surgery. What other reason could there possibly be for not screening everyone with tests that truly are preventive indicators? Typically, unless you see a doctor who practices integrative/functional medicine, you’ll have to ask for these special tests and often pay out of pocket. It makes no sense that this is the case, but that’s the way it is. (Medicare pays for some but not all.) You can call the lab that routinely does your blood draws and ask which of these tests are covered by insurance and the cost if not covered. If you have to pay out of pocket, try to get as many as possible and eventually, all of them.

Afibbers, especially, should be screened routinely and if any numbers are out of range, then immediately take corrective measures to normalize the levels. Don’t rely that your cardiologist or internist is routinely checking. You have to be the one to make sure you know your numbers.

Overly sticky, thick, inflamed blood has a tendency for adverse clotting. Test, don’t guess.
INR measurements while on warfarin/Coumadin only indicate that specific number and as we know, warfarin does not protect us 100% from the risk of adverse clotting. If one or several these risk markers are out of the safe range, you can still have complications.

This is the list for essential testing
Homocysteine
Fibrinogen
Ferritin
High Sensitivity or Cardiac C-reactive protein
Hemoglobin A1C
Lipoprotein (a)
Interleukin – 6
Oxidized LDL

Elevated homocysteine, above all, is a very important marker. Everyone should read about and understand the role that elevated homocysteine plays as this is a serious influence. Many past posts on homocysteine have been offered. The Internet is loaded with information… specific reference would be the book by Kilmer McCully, MD… The Homocysteine Revolution.
Start here with this link – 2 part report plus others
[www.spacedoc.com]


Refer to the original post describing these marker tests.

Red Flags to Beat the Odds
PREDICTING YOUR RISK FOR HEART ATTACK OR STROKE –THE SILENT SYMPTOMS
[www.afibbers.org]

Interleukin is not on that post… it’s an important measurement to rule out inflammation.

Integrative Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra says:
Interleukin-6 is important because it stimulates the liver to produce CRP. And, in addition to heart disease, we are learning that this cytokine has a strong association with asthma (asthma is the result of airways swelling and constricting, so it makes sense that an inflammatory agent is behind the curtains here as well). The Iowa 65+ Rural Health Study demonstrated that elevations of interleukin-6 and CRP were associated with increased risk of both heart disease and general mortality in healthy older people.
I’m convinced that interleukin-6 may be an even better marker for inflammation than CRP because these “precursor” levels rise earlier. Therefore you should ask your doctor to conduct an interleukin-6 test.

Thanks Jackie.

If someone has had a lot of health issues, including cancer and cancer treatments, 10 years of afib and flutter and 4 ablations, plus dental procedures, and a bunch of other health issues, will these blood tests ever be normal? I had my 3rd and 4th ablation, Feb. and July, by my new EP. The last ablation seems to be successful but I am not posting details until I get results of my seven day heart monitor, which I just finished. Between ablation # 2 and # 3 I took a good quality Nattokinase 3 times a day, but my Fibrinogen never went down that much. Two years ago I had the bloodwork done for Ferritin and CRP and they remained high, as well as the Fibrinogen. Do you think with time, the results from these tests will improve? I know my body has been through a lot and I worry that I will never get rid of the inflammation no matter what supplements I take or what my diet is.

Thanks for all the information you share!

christy

Christy - first, I have great empathy for you. All of the influences you mention definitely impact the markers and each is an indicator of systemic imbalances. Gaining control of the numbers definitely poses a challenge that is best managed with the help of a physician who has advanced education and experience in functional-medicine type treatment along with additional, specialized testing to determine in each case, which metabolic pathways are compromised or if there are pathogens driving some of the inflammation and elevations. Based on those results, then targeted nutrients help bring the numbers down along with detoxing to lower the hepatic (liver) burden and facilitate liver function. One thing you can do as a start on your own is be aware of the importance of maintaining alkalinity. This topic has been discussed extensively... if you don't find it in a general search, email me and I'll help you locate links to useful reports. Using the magnesium bicarbonate water (Waller Water) is an easy, economical way to get started and coupled with an diet targeting a continual alkalizing focus should get you off to a really good start.

I'll be glad to guide you to sources for finding a practitioner in your area or finding links to reports and so on. Just let me know.
Kindest regards,
Jackie

Thanks Jackie, great review of the vitally important sticky blood issue! A bit one for all of us and one I will have to deal with in particular detail after having my LAA isolated

Also the new Blood Viscosity test offered so far only at Meridian Valley Labs is a very good addition test to add to this important list! It is a multidimensional issue and taking the time to make sure we are doing everything we can to insure as robust of a slippery blood flow that is as low inflammation as possible can really help overall across the board health about as much as anything else we can do!

Blood Viscosity Test

Shannon

Thanks Shannon - I agree about the Meridian Valley testing although it may not be accessible for some. Everyone needs to be aware of the blood viscosity issue... so many influences produce a tendency for sticky blood.

Jackie

Thank you, Jackie. I will email you later about the information you suggested.

christy

Shannon,

Please see Jackie's posting (last one in the thread) about fibrosis in Conference Room 74 [www.afibbers.org]

Hans

Here's a link to a great article by Integrative Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra on sticky blood with before and after photos showing the benefit of grounding on blood viscosity.
Easy to do; easily accessible

[www.heartmdinstitute.com]

Jackie,

Thank you for reminding us of the benefits of grounding/earthing. I used the grounded bed sheet for a while, but can't say I noticed any difference as far as sleeping is concerned. Anyway, I stopped using it because of my concern that it may be more harmful than beneficial if you, like I do, live in a city with a high level of electropollution. The recent addition of smart-meters do not help the situation. I wonder if you know if Dr. Sinatra has ever discussed this potential problem with the grounding/earthing approach?

Hans

Hans - I'll look in my notes from those teleconferences to see if I can get a direct quote so it is technically correct.

Jackie

Thanks Hans and Jackie,
Just read through CR 74 and its very interesting and relevant! Just print it out now and the last paper Jackie refers too as well!

Mahalo for the heads up!
Shannon

Hans - As long as a person living in the city where cell towers, antennas and smart meters pollute the area uses either the grounding rod or their outlets are all grounded, they are safe and the grounding effect does occur. You may be 'overpowered' by the abundance of of electropollution in yur area. Dr. Sinatra and Oram Miller both address the sleeping problem in these locations... and indicate high levels of electropollution is a major cause of insomnia. Therefore, shielding the sleeping room seems to be the only solution. Garry Gordon addresses the loss of electrons and the subsequent symptoms of what he calls 'electron deficiency' by adding them back with the PEMF treatments.... along the same lines as Dr. Tennant using his Biomodulator.

There are various cautionary comments in the literature about people who use anticoagulants and grounding to be sure they don't thin too much. Conversely, a person not on coagulants but with high electropollution exposure may have overly thick, sticky blood and the risk of stroke and MI. This electropollution concern is not a well-known concern unless one is involved in the 'new awareness movement' to limit exposure when possible and take remedial steps every day to de-fuse the potential problems. When commenting about that gounding experiment Dr. Sinatra did with his colleagues, he said all but one of them had various degrees of overly thick, 'ketchupy's blood...before grounding.

Since EMFs are everywhere and unavoidable, it makes sense to do grounding while sleeping. I've been grounding while sleeping for well over a year and while I didn't previously have any sleep problems, my sleep is deep and uninterrupted.

Jackie

Jackie,

Thank you for looking into this. I'll try it again.

Hans

Hello Jackie,

I asked Sam Milham [www.sammilham.com] for his opinion on the grounding/earthing approach. Here is our correspondence:

Hello Sam,

I have one short question on which I would very much appreciate your opinion:

Is grounding/earthing with a bed sheet safe in an area with a high level of electropollution from overhead wires, WIFI, Smart meters, etc?

Hans

Hans,

No, using the ground in the outlet or using a ground rod is the same as hooking your body up to the utility neutral.
Best, Sam

So, obviously there are conflicting opinions on this subject. I believe earthing/grounding is, in theory, a great idea, but unfortunately most electricity suppliers now use the ground for return of the neutral current in order to save money. So there is no longer such a thing as an "unpolluted" ground. I think I'll play it safe and leave the bed sheet in the cupboard!

Hans

Hans - Thanks. I'm going to pursue this a bit further. Certainly, if you don't use yours, it can't be harmful, but what are you doing to block out the electropollution that comes through the walls if your area is so polluted? Scary stuff.
Jackie

Jackie,

I have eliminated 60 HZ-related electropollution through rewiring and the installation of automatic demand switches. I have also convinced my neighbours to turn off their WIFI's at night. However, I stil have not found a way of dealing with cell phone radiation and radar signals from freighters passing by on the ocean not too far from our house. I guess "wrapping" the house in something will be the next step

Hans