Hi Owen,
I was writing you when I received your e-mail. Thank you so much for writing and the support!
I have been taking LEF Super-K for a long time. I also believe it is a good product. I did see your wife's calcium score on the Vit C Foundation website -great!. Rob suggested I contact you directly as my situation is evidently somewhat unique in that my Cor Art Disease presents differently than the majority of others. I have read your excellent book along with an abundance of other reference material.
I failed the EKG part of a routine treadmill stress test. No past history of symptoms, and no physical signs/symptoms during or after the stress test. Scored over 13 METS, indicating excellent heart functional capacity. The provider stopped the test due to the abnormal EKG reading, bit I felt fine. I reached 104% of my calculated age heart rate, with no adverse physical symptoms.
Age 59 and exercised routinely for many years, good diet. No previous knowledge of heart problems or potential blockage. Cardiologist recommended a heart CT scan with contrast dye vice an angiogram. I was not familiar with the calcium score test at the time, so I did not ask. I go to Walter Reed as I am active duty. The cardiologist did not mention that test. The CT was not invasive and he was somewhat optimistic there would be no significant findings. There are cases where athletic, apparently healthy individuals with strong hearts show depressed S-T segments on the EKG during testing (suggestive of coronary artery blockage) ...for some reason. CT scan or angiogram follow ups then show negative for blockages. That was not my case and we were surprised.
Heart CT (with injected dye) revealed at least 3 blockages in at least 3 arteries, possibly 4. Blockages ranged between 30% and 70%, but I do not yet have a copy of the report (November). Cardiologist stated blockages were too elongated for stents, so by-pass surgery (and high dose statin, aspirin and BP Medes) was 'best' option, and soon. I am still wrestling with this news as I feel well, and now told I should NOT exercise. Only walk as part of my daily duties in the office. I am still not taking any Meds. Overall lipid profile is generally excellent.
However, LP(a) test for the first time in Oct 2013: 300 (Not good)
I started 3 servings/day of Cardio-C on 19 December. With additional Vit C throughout the day, I am up to 12,000mg/day without any GI disturbances or signs of diarrhea. Still increasing daily. I am also taking additional supplements and vitamins recommend in your book and/or per related sites. Also started Vit E tocotrienols. I have been taking supplements for years, but obviously not enough Vit C.
Cardiology wants me to follow up with an angiogram to verify extent of blockages and to get better visualization of the other blockage to assess the extent. Guess the CT scan had limitations, after all. Angiograms is apparently the gold standard.
Is the calcium score test invasive, and with high radiation? I fear any further testing will just validate to them the need for invasive medicine.
I am pushing back on further invasive testing and procedures at this point. I feel pressured by them, but they are just following what they (conventional medicine) know, but I know there are alternatives they do not accept. I have also migrated to a near Vegan diet based on several well studied pioneers in nutrition and heart disease reversal. Really scary so I am trying to cover all the bases. Also, trying stress control and some meditation.
Still working on enrolling in the forum, but I truly appreciate your writing and offering any immediate suggestions. My goal would be to stay with this Vit C+ protocol for 6 mos to a year, along with any further suggestions from you, and then request another non-invasive treadmill stress test to see if the EKG shows normal.
Thanks again, Owen. I appreciate so much what you have done and are doing for so many people.
Sincerely,
B
Will digest and respond.
Added
Hopefully johnwen will have some idea what is going on but since you do have blockages, you would appear to be going down the right track (following Linus Pauling's advice of high dose vitamin C and lysine.)
These are not the only nutrients Pauling (and others) recommend. Reminder to reread Chapter 7 of PMWL - http://practicingmedicinewithoutalicense.com/protocol/excerpt_chp7.pdf
I doubt your Lp(a) is really 300 - but perhaps the units are nmol/l (70 normal) rather than mg/dl - because the FDA allows testing labs to guess, I mean calculate Lp(a). If it is elevated, then vitamin C and lysine (and before the bypass) proline are appropriate according to Pauling as "Lp(a) Binding Inhibitors". Keeps the plaque in check, and according to Pauling, can reverse it.
Glad you are on vitamin k - I made an assumption that it was a high calcium score. I wasn't recommending that procedure. You are a first here, with this kind of presentation - bad EKG before a heart attack.
The E for heart disease (Unique-E from A C Grace) is alpha and gamma tocopherols by the way.
High dose statins is probably the worst advice, and aspirin is a close second. Try to delay the angiogram to give the therapy enough time to work - it is a good test and should show the therapy is working.
if you haven't reached vitamin C tolerance at the level, you may be taking only half the vitamin C you need. You might consider adding liposomal on top, as it seems to be at least as effective as intravenous, and if your C intake is too low for you as an individual, this is easy to take and will help.
After the plumbing is fixed, you can probably resume normal activities, but until them, I think it is prudent not to test those blockages. Dr. Thomas Levy MD, JDs book STOP AMERICA'S #1 KILLER is aimed at fellow cardiologists, but it does clearly explain why advanced blockages aren't easy to erase and why they are dangerous (fragile capillaries develop inside these unstable plaques, which can break leading to a clotting event leading to a heart attack.) If for some reason this protocol does not reverse your blockages, a bypass operation has extended the lives of a lot of people.
But given your previously low vitamin C intake, I think things will turn around. Don't stop, keep at it and let us know what happens. Your retinas (eye pictures) can also be used as a diagnostic. I have not communicated with Dr. Bush for awhile, but he charges a consulting fee to examine your eye photos for CVD. The pictures can be obtained at Sams Club for $7 as an addition to their normal eye exam and put on a flash drive.