Alcoholics Anonymous and reversing cardiovascular risk

Story: Ken is a concerned brother of Cal, who is a sick drunk who passed out and lying in the freeway. There are two sides to Cal’s personality; he is charming and loathsome, helpful and harmful, as is the case with most alcoholics. Despite Cal’s problems, his brother Ken still loves him and is afraid his brother will die if he does not do something. As a last resort, Ken calls AA and talks to Mr. Gary Potts who answers the helpline. Ken asks Gary to come help get his brother Cal off the freway. Gary meets up with Ken where his brother is lying. There is an urgency to get him out of the street. One obvious reason is that his brother might die; the other reason is that traffic flow is getting clogged and people are getting angry. Gary talks to Ken’s brother Cal and eventually convinces him that lying in the street is dangerous. As Cal comes to, he bonds with Gary because he realizes Gary just pulled him out of a dangerous spot in the road. Gary puts Cal into his car and drives him to a church where AA meets. Gary introduces him to 3 other AA mentors; Dale, Don and Dolly, and the AA director; Bis. The four of them lead Cal to his seat among other’s who look a lot like him. The 3D’s introduce Cal to the group. Bis, the AA director, invites and encourages Cal to participate. After time passes, Cal decides AA is a safe place and decides to stay and be a blessing rather than a curse.

Figure 1: Vitamin K2 summons help from MGP to bind to calcium molecules in crystals in atherosclerotic plaques. MGP will carry these leached molecules via the blood highway where binding with vitamin D3 promotes bone absorption of calcium. Bisphosphonates synergistically push this process along. This is how calcium can recycled from athersclerotic plaques, and move from being a curse to becoming a blessing by way of improved bone density. If it were not for K2 initiating this chain of events, dissolution of atherosclerotic plaques would not be possible. Up until now, it was accepted that once plaques are in place they are irreversible, but that is now known to be incorrect.

Key: The Road; blood vessels, Cal; calcium, Ken, brother of our alcoholic; K2: (ormenaquine), Mr. Gary Potts, AA helpline mentor; MGP, Bis, AA director; Bisphosphonates bone strengthener, Dale, Don, Dolly, rehabbed mentor volunteers; Vitamin D3, AA organization that meets in a church; bones, Theresa, Community Mental Health Counselor; Theracumin (powerful anti-inflammatory that prevents calcium adherence to vessels).

Recently, while watching YouTube for fun and recreation, I stumbled on what I thought was a ridiculous claim by a homeopathic physician. The claim was that vitamin K2 along with mega doses of vitamin D3 can reverse cardiovascular risk by rapidly disolving clot provoking atherosclerotic plaques. I remembered this when a family member had a severe stroke recently. It came to mind again while working with my patients who come in routinely for Coumadin surveillance. However, it was a girlfriend whose mother suffered multiple strokes and recently died that motivated me to dig further. She told me she had tried to take statins and stopped because she had poor tolerance. My girlfriends know I love them, so I'm writing this for her while hoping someone who needs this information will read it.

When I read research that might be of public benefit, I try to explain that benefit in understandable terms. It is important to clearly explain the “why" so readers will understand if what I’m talking about is tailored to their specific health needs. One caveat I use a lot is there must be a formally diagnosed issue (clinical, lab or imaging proof) if supplements are to be considered. The same holds true for the supplement vitamin K2 discussed here. I did find evidence that vitamin K2 is highly beneficial under certain conditions. Not everyone will need it, and I’m all for saving money on unnecessary supplements.

Now I hear some health care workers ask, “Doesn’t vitamin K lead to higher risk of clotting that can lead to cardiovascular accidents?” Coumadin is a blood thinner commonly prescribed for those who are at high risk of clotting. Vitamin K is used to reverse blood thinning effects of coumadin. Current research shows that coumadin actually inhibits recycling of vitamin K, thus depleting vitamin K stores while making it easy for plaques to grow. We also are now discovering vitamin K2 deficiency might be as rampant as vitamin D3 deficiency. I was surprised to learn that COUMADIN ALSO PROMOTES CALCIUM CRYSTALIZATION WITHIN THE VESSELS. While Coumadin does thin the blood and prevent strokes in the near future, it can in fact contribute to an increase in cardiovascular events in the distant future.

Studies are showing that vitamin K2 has high potential to be used as treatment or prevention of vascular calcification and cardiovascular “accidents”, especially in at risk populations. The only dietary sources for vitamin K2 are Japanese curd cheese and natto. Unless these foods are eaten in high volumes every day, a supplement is the only way to bump up blood stores to reverse calcium crystalized arteriol plaques. The studies below used 360mcg/day to get measurable atherosclotic plaque reversal. Please notify your provider whenever you contemplate adding supplements, especially if you are on coumadin. If they appear to be bothered by new information, hand them a copy of "Vitamin K dependent proteins and the role of vitamin K2 in the modulation of vascular calcification: A review." (El Asmar, Naoum, & Arbid, 2014).

Alert: As a side note to those on coumadin, it makes sense to switch to a Xa clotting inhibitor, such as Eloquis. It has the highest safety profile for anti-coagulation.

References

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