Sunday, July 27, 2008

Health Nugget - Wayne's Story‏

Wayne was a classmate of mine in both high school and college. We ran track and spent a lot of time together when we were young. About 10 years ago, Wayne came into my office and complained of just not feeling well. He said his heart felt like it was jumping out of his chest. I put him in the hospital and consulted a cardiologist. Wayne had developed cardiomyopathy (severely enlarged heart) due to a viral infection he had suffered a month or two before. His heart was very weak and his ejection fraction (measurement of the heart's ability to contract) was only 17% (normal is 50 to 70). He was placed on the heart transplant list because his ejection fraction improved by only 4 or 5 points even with all the medication he took.

I placed Wayne on the aggressive nutritional supplement program I recommend for this disease, which includes high doses of a nutrient called Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is essential for the creation of energy within the cell, especially the heart muscle. Clinical research has shown that patients with heart failure and cardiomyopathy quickly become depleted in CoQ10 within their heart muscle because of their weakened state. Dr. Peter Langsjoen, a biochemist and cardiologist, had shown in several clinical trials that when patients supplement with CoQ10, nearly 85% of them have a significant positive clinical response. Wayne's ejection fraction went back to 58% within 4 months, and he was taken off the heart transplant list and returned to work. I have personally been involved with over a dozen patients with cardiomyopathy who have now been removed from the heart transplant list. They are not cured. However, as long as they take their aggressive nutritional supplement program and CoQ10, they are able to provide the fuel source their heart requires to compensate for its weakened state.

Source: Dr. Strand Health Nuggets (newsletter@Bionutrition.org)