Heart Disease is still the number one killer in the United States. Every 42 seconds someone has a heart attack. In the United States we are obsessed with total cholesterol and the low density lipoproteins ( LDL) or bad cholesterol. While there are excellent studies and treatment options for your bad cholesterol, there are other treatment modalities. One is the use of nitric oxide ( NO )
Your own body makes nitric oxide in the arteries. It is a vasodilator which means it opens up your arteries. More than 50 % of the nitric oxide in our bodies come from the amino acid, arginine. The blood vessels convert arginine to nitric oxide through an enzyme called nitric oxide synthetase ( NOS)
Some people cannot convert the arginine. This is because of a substance called dimethylarginine ( ADMA) ADMA binds the NOS so arginine cannot be converted to nitric oxide Therefore those with a low Arginine/ADMA ratio would have atherosclerosis. You can get this ratio tested by your physician
I avoid giving patients a lot of arginine as it is a fuel source for viruses as herpes simplex. I sometimes give the precursor to arginine called Citrulline. Nitric oxide levels go down after the age of 60. We lose our ability to make nitric acid as we age.
Until tomorrow