Clot risk
Welcome to new readers!
My focus on the Afibbers Forum is to create awareness over important issues related to Afib and overall health to promote longevity. Since we have many new readers joining us daily, this is an important reminder to be aware of the potential for risk of stroke or heart attack from blood clots that can form in the heart during prolonged bouts of atrial fibrillation. While it’s not that common, the risk is real has been an important forum topic so there are many archived posts on natural, preventive measures,
if you have not been prescribed an anticoagulant.
Clot risk involves both the time factor and the status of one’s blood viscosity. Thick, sticky blood is known to clot faster than thin and slippery. In addition to the important heart support nutrients such as electrolytes/minerals such as magnesium and potassium, etc., Afibbers who are not on anticoagulants, also need to be aware of potential causes of blood hyperviscosity and incorporate a daily prophylactic regimen for that as well. Whether or not you have atrial fibrillation, this is of critical importance throughout one’s life as many influences cause hyperviscosity. This can become an issue when Afib events last longer than a few hours and harkens back to the old warning,
“Churn cream and you get butter; churn blood and you get a clot” which still holds true today.
Inflammation is a primary element in promoting hyperviscosity or thick, sticky blood, so knowing your inflammatory markers as well as taking steps to keep inflammation low is very important…again, whether or not you have atrial fibrillation.
Here’s a bit of background and then links to some of the past reports and posts on this very important topic. As you read through these reports, you’ll note references to systemic enzymes that function well to lower fibrinogen and help thin the blood by natural means. Magnesium bisglycinate is also known for its anti-platelet aggregation properties. Low dose aspirin is also has anti-clotting properties but when used long-term is known to cause undesirable side effects. That said, if you are surprised by a long-lasting afib event and are not on an Rx anticoag or using systemic enzymes, then taking an 81 mg tablet of aspirin certainly makes sense.
Magnesium Bisglycinate has a greater blood antiplatelet effect than fish oil (p < 0.02) A cross over study compared blood platelet adhesiveness in volunteers after 7 days supplementing with fish oil (3g/day) followed by a 7 day washout period and finally 7 days supplementation with (160/mg/day). Magnesium Bisglycinate significantly reduced platelet adhesiveness (p <0.05). It was concluded that Mg bisglycinate had great potential for reducing risk in people with a propensity for stroke. ~ Weaver K & Speigel , J Am CollNutr 7:5, 1988
My history is that I have a slightly low platelet count which made using Coumadin/warfarin difficult back when I began my afib saga (1995) which was the only anticoagulant available at the time. In desperation and after much research, I decided not to use warfarin and told my cardiologist that I would sign a waiver if needed but I was going to switch to the fibrinolytic enzymes (Nattokinase) and I hoped he wouldn’t ‘fire’ me. I didn’t have to sign a waiver and I did very well with many prolonged events during the 8 years prior to my first (Natale) ablation in 2003. For that, I did go back on warfarin and as soon as I was cleared to stop (3 months), I immediately went back to using nattokinase (NK).
Good thing, because at 103 days post-ablation, I went into Afib and was cardioverted about 30 hours later. The following week, I had the requisite spiral CT scan of the heart in preparation for the 3 month review with Dr. Natale. All was fine and I was enjoying my bliss in NSR. I had asked for and received about 6 weeks later, a copy of the CT scan report. I was shocked to see the notation that there was a clot in my heart. I called Dr. Natale’s nurse and I half-joked about the situation, saying “it’s a good thing I went back on my Nattokinase or I’d probably be dead.”
Previously, I had great confidence in the efficacy of systemic enzymes for managing clot-risk factors, but this certainly confirmed what I had learned in all my research prior to my decision to use NK instead of warfarin. I had the good fortune to have many conversations with Ralph Holsworth, DO, the NK expert in the US, and he shared volumes of research with me and his experiences using it with his patients. As a result, I offered the two Conference Room Sessions, 39 and 40 on Nattokinase. Since then, the literature continues to support the use of nattokinase as well as serrapeptase for this purpose.
Nattokinase: Natto kyn (long i ) nase
Session 39 –
Nattokinase, Interim Survey [
www.afibbers.org]
Session 40 -
Nattokinase Summary Part 1 and 2 [
www.afibbers.org]
Lots to read through… Part 2 begins on page 23.
Dr Hiroyuki Sumi, a Japanese researcher at Chicago University is the scientist with whom Dr. Holsworth studied to learn about nattokinase. Over 17 published studies confirm Dr. Sumi’s discovery: Natto is a natural clot buster and circulation booster! Human trials performed in Japan and the U.S. show nattokinase may be the solution for a host of circulation-related health problems.
The new, improved version is
CardioKinase by Pure Prescriptions. Spend time here at this website to read the current details and improvements with Nattokinase written by Dr. Holsworth. Be sure you examine the comparison chart with the red hearts. Use this website information as the most reliable info source as of this date. [
www.pureprescriptions.com]
Dosing –recommendations – Take 3 SoftGels daily. For best results, take additional SoftGel at bedtime.
(Remember that the risk of stroke or MI is higher during the early morning hours before awakening because levels of PAI-1 are low and clotting is easier then. (Plasmin Activator Inhibitor-1). So it's smart to always take a bedtime dose.
Caution: Nattokinase should be avoided by those on blood-thinning drugs and those with bleeding disorders. Nattokinase does contain soy because it is extracted from the food called ‘natto.’ Nattokinase should not be used by persons with bleeding disorders, malignant disease, recent history of stroke, active peptic ulcer disease, suspected aortic dissection, or recent surgery or trauma.
Blood Tests to Identify Inflammation
There are several blood tests to help identify contributors to inflammation and are discussed
in the post titled:
Sticky, thick blood and the risk of stroke or MI
[
www.afibbers.org]
….which is a follow-up to the original post from 2002 titled:
Red Flags to Beat the Odds -
PREDICTING YOUR RISK FOR HEART ATTACK OR STROKE –THE SILENT SYMPTOMS
[
www.afibbers.org]
For a general search on the topic of
thick, sticky blood go here:
[
www.afibbers.org]
Five pages and 140 posts on this topic. Start with page 5 first to get into the initial background and then move forward to present time.
A descriptive explanation on the importance of systemic enzymes by Dr. William Wong, who helped me learn more on this topic:
When systemic enzymes are taken, they stand ready in the blood and take the strain off of the liver by:
Cleaning excess fibrin from the blood and reducing the stickiness of blood cells. These two actions minimize the leading causes of stroke and heart attack causing blood clots.
The blood is not only the river of life, it is also the river through which the cells and organs dispose of their garbage and dead material. Enzymes improve circulation by eating the excess fibrin that causes blood to sometimes get as thick as catsup or yogurt, creating the perfect environment for the formation of clots. All of this material is supposed to be cleared by the liver on its "first pass", or the first time it goes through but given the sluggish and near toxic or toxic states of everyone's liver these days that seldom happens. So the sludge remains in the blood waiting for the liver to have enough free working space and enough enzymes to clean the trash out of the blood. This can take days, and in some cases, weeks!
Other popular and highly effective enzymes include Zymessence, VitalZyme, Wobenzyme N, Rutozym.
And, another excellent, informative report by Life Extension report by William Falloon of Life Extension Foundation…offered January, 2017 – titled,
The Greatest Threat to Longevity.
[
www.lifeextension.com]
Please take the time to read through this wealth of information on adverse clotting as it is an extremely important issue for Afibber Awareness.
Healthy regards to all,
Jackie
Also:
I’m adding more relevant links from previous posts related to elevated blood viscosity and stroke risk. Also,
here is a blog segment from a series of reports by Philip Miller, MD, on
A Natural Anticoagulant Regimen worth noting. Dr. Miller discusses the various natural alternatives to prescription anticoagulants and mentions Nattokinase, ginkgo, fish oil, vitamin E which supports what’s been mentioned here. Dr. Miller’s report was also published in Allergy Research Group’s Focus newsletter.
By Philip Lee Miller, MD.
[
blog.antiaging.com]
Part 1
[
blog.antiaging.com]
Part 2
[
blog.antiaging.com]
Part 3
[
blog.antiaging.com]
Silent Inflammation – Risk Marker for Stroke, Heart Attack & Much More
[
www.afibbers.org]
Earthing or Grounding The easy and economical way to eliminate platelet aggregation.
There are many archived posts on this topic. Check this search result for links
[
www.afibbers.org]
Specific to platelet aggregation and blood viscosity, Integrative Cardiologist, Stephen T. Sinatra, MD, FACC, FACN, CNS
has offered numerous reports online. In his book,
The Sinatra Solution – Metabolic Cardiology, he
details on the benefits of grounding. I recall seeing a video clip where he shows before and after photos
of platelets clumped together and then separated by grounding in an experiment he did with colleagues.
Dramatic change. It’s important to eliminate electromagnetic radiation sources (EMR’s) wherever possible
starting with the bedroom since that’s an area where you will be exposed continually for the duration of sleeping hours.
He recommends removing all sources, cell phones, computers, TVs, and using a grounding or earthing pad or sheet.
One report online out of many [
heartmdinstitute.com]
Here’s a pdf copy of the book,
Earthing by Clinton Ober, Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., Martin Zucker
[
www.rivendellvillage.org]
Page 173 -
Earthing – Natural Blood Thinner… and p. 188 is the dark field microscopy photograph of blood platelet cells, clumped before grounding and separated, after. Graphic proof.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2017 10:26AM by Jackie.