HYPERCOAGULATION

Causing: Heart Attack, Stroke, Muscle and Joint Pain, Fatigue, Brain Deterioration

by Walter Last

Hypercoagulation is an increased tendency of the blood to form obstructive fibrin fibres and clots. The tendency to excessive clot formation is also called thrombophilia or thromboembolic disease. Clots can lead to infarction or tissue death from blocked blood supply. Clots in the lungs are called pulmonary embolism, in the heart muscle it causes a heart attack, in the brain a stroke, in the legs ulcers and deep vein thrombosis.

However, many of the less dramatic conditions result simply from increased fibrin production and tiny clots in capillaries. One can often see small red or brown spots, the size of a pinhead, on the abdomen, or there may be capillary spiders. They are not doing much damage in the skin, but they are also in the brain, in muscles, bone marrow etc. In addition fibrin obstructions can build up in blood vessels similar to clogged-up old water pipes.

No surprise then that as we get older we forget where we put our keys or glasses. But sadly it often gets worse progressing to dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Also many other brain and organ functions are affected, and in addition also muscles and cellular energy production. The eyes and ears are especially sensitive to obstructions in the blood circulation. It has also been shown that metastasis formation in cancers depends on hypercoagulation.

Fibrin is a sticky protein fiber. It naturally cross-links to make platelets stick together and form blood clots for sealing wounds to stop bleeding. The problem is that fibrin also starts cross-linking when non-bleeding inflammations are present as with cardiovascular disease. Commonly such inflammation is triggered by microbes and toxins in the blood.

The resulting excess of cross-linked fibrin forms micro-clots that block blood flow in capillaries, it also sticks to the walls of blood vessels and narrows their opening, and it causes blood cells to clump together. Sticky blood appears to be a precondition for cholesterol to start clogging up arteries, and it is also a common factor leading to high blood pressure.

Clumping can be seen with live blood analysis when erythrocytes aggregate, sometimes looking like many coins sticking together in a column-like manner (rouleaux formation). Such clumped blood does not flow freely like healthy blood, and cannot move through capillaries so that many organs become starved of nutrients.

A partial list of conditions caused or triggered by hypercoagulation reads like a Who is Who of diseases:

Arthritis, atherosclerosis, autoimmune diseases, bone necrosis, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic fatigue/CFS, chronic infections, deep vein thrombosis, dementia, depression, diabetes, eye diseases, fibromyalgia, heart attack, high blood pressure, infertility, Lyme disease, menstrual problems, metabolic syndrome, migraine, osteonecrosis of hips, knees and jaws, pulmonary embolism, stroke, tinnitus, and varicose veins.

Which one or which combination of these conditions develops as a result of hypercoagulation depends on inherited or acquired weaknesses and co-factors. While some blood clotting disorders are inherited, most hypercoagulation problems are due to pathogenic microbes. It is the usual chain of events: antibiotics and other drugs cause intestinal dysbiosis with overgrowth of Candida, mycoplasmas and other microbes. These produce Leaky Gut Syndrome, with allergens and microbial toxins leading to chronic inflammation of the blood vessels as well as overgrowth of the blood with Pleomorphic Microbes. Another frequent cause of chronic inflammations are surgery and Dental Problems, especially due to microbes involved with root-canal fillings and infected gums. Therefore, a permanent solution requires the intestines to be sanitised and the microbial invasion brought under control as with the Ultimate Cleanse.

However, this only stops further degeneration. It does not automatically clean out the already obstructed blood vessels. Clots, micro-clots and fibrin obstructions need to be dissolved, and dead or dying tissues replaced or invigorated. This is a long-term process requiring a strong commitment to healthy living. The remedies described in the following have been shown to be of great benefit in cleaning out obstructed blood vessels. I believe that it is best to experiment with all of them.

Always start with low doses and increase gradually. Reduce again if and when there are any healing reactions or unexplained symptoms, afterwards gradually increase again. Observe your reactions and become the health expert for your body. Generally move dosages up and down in cycles rather than remaining at constant levels, and also try different combinations of remedies. Further, hypercoagulation is made much worse by high blood fat levels and clogging up of arteries with oxidized cholesterol and calcium. There is more information on improving your blood circulation at Cardiovascular Disease. Another important factor is periodic cleansing as in Fasting and Cleansing. By far the best long-term strategy is to adopt the Health Improvement Program which includes all of these different steps.   

There are several useful remedies as described in the following. My favorites are DMSO, nattokinase and Serrapeptase, Olive Leaf Extract, wearing a magnet, and the occasional niacin flush.

DMSO

DMSO is an amazing remedy. Among its wide range of healing properties are many that are very useful in reducing hypercoagulation and its after-effects: It is an all-round microbicide effective against bacteria, fungi, mycoplasmas and viruses, It improves the immune system and reduces allergies, It is strongly anti-inflammatory with good antioxidant properties, It blocks pain when rubbed onto affected muscles or joints, It improves blood circulation by inhibiting formation of blood clots and hypercoagulation, it even dissolves newly formed clots, It dilates blood vessels and improves the function of the heart, and It efficiently transports molecules across cell membranes and moves through the blood-brain barrier.

Pure DMSO is not toxic and generally very safe but some precaution needs to be taken. For instance when applying DMSO for transdermal treatment the skin should be clean and free of undesirable chemicals, such as from commercial lotions or sunscreens. DMSO can be used on its own and applied over inflamed, stiff or painful muscles or joints, or over troublesome organs, or it can be used to carry remedies or nutrients through the skin into the body.

To avoid skin irritation apply DMSO only in diluted form at 70% or less. Some products on the market are already diluted. For common use you may make a treatment solution, e.g. in another glass bottle, by diluting full strength DMSO. To make it about 70% mix 2 parts of 100% DMSO with 1 part of water, and for a weaker solution (50%) mix equal parts of DMSO and water. If you also add other dissolved remedies, such as Magnesium Oil, Glycerine, MSM or Lugol's, then you can count this as part of the water.

Be careful, the solution gets warm when mixing DMSO with water, and while it does not harm the skin, spills may damage painted or plastic surfaces. Depending on the degree of pain or inflammation DMSO may be applied several times during the day over the area of discomfort. The effect may be felt within minutes.

To dissolve congestions and prevent hypercoagulation it is best to apply DMSO topically over the site of the problem, and also use some orally, best at a time when taking supplements to aid with their absorption. A combined oral and topical daily dosage of 30 ml may be the upper useful long-term maximum, but usually much less is used due to developing odour problems (garlicky smell) and loose bowels. Depending on any microbial problem some sulphur or garlic smell may also be noticed as mouth or skin odour. This may be controlled by using a weak solution of non-acidified MMS/sodium chlorite to gargle or spray the skin. For further DMSO information see MSM and DMSO.

Niacin Flush

Niacin is the acid form of vitamin B3. In amounts of 50 mg or more it causes the capillaries in the skin to dilate, making it look red and flushed, and feeling warm and prickly. This is excellent to clean the capillaries, remove residues and rejuvenate the skin. This is called a niacin flush. It lasts for about 30 to 60 minutes, starts soon after ingestion at the head and slowly works its way down towards the legs. The flush may be strongest where the skin was previously damaged as from a sunburn. Take niacin in a drink either on an empty stomach or with a small amount of food present.

Sensitive individuals will flush already with 50 mg, those with insensitive skin may need 100 mg or more. After using niacin for several days increasing amounts are needed to produce a flush. Therefore you may gradually increase the dose up to several hundred milligrams to continue flushing once a day. After two or three weeks you may then interrupt niacin use for one or two weeks to re-sensitise the body and start again with a low dose. Alternatively you may take it only every other day or twice a week and keep flushing for a much longer time. During a flush the skin will more easily absorb any remedies. Therefore it is good to rub something beneficial onto the skin just before flushing.

Olive Leaf Extract

Olive Leaf Extract (OLE) is mainly recommended and used for its excellent antimicrobial effects but in addition it has a wide range of other healing properties. Many of these combine to make it an effective remedy for reducing damage from hypercoagulation and improving blood circulation. The main effects as shown in scientific publications are as follows:

•  OLE has strong anti-inflammatory properties, it suppresses inflammation by mopping up free radicals and enhances the activity
   of immune cells.

•  It reduces blood cholesterol levels and inhibits the oxidation of  low-density lipoproteins (LDL) that cause cholesterol plaques in
   arteries and atherosclerosis

•  It lowers elevated blood pressure by dilating blood vessels and also inhibits excessive platelet aggregation.

Other beneficial effects are strong anti-cancer activity by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells and promoting self-destruction of cancer cells; it is protective of brain and nerve functions; it has an anti-aging effect by increasing the life-span of cells; it protects the skin from radiation damage (especially UVB), and it also has anti-rheumatic and anti-diabetic effects.

Most of these positive effects have been found to be due to Oleuropein, the main active ingredient in OLE - see Oleuropein in Olive and its Pharmacological Effects. I do not know how beneficial fresh liquid OLE are compared to concentrated Oleuropein powders in regard to treating hypercoagulation. As antimicrobials fresh extract seem to have a beneficial effect despite much lower oleuropein concentrations due to a wider range of active ingredients.

Dried olive leaf has about 30 - 90 mg of oleuropein/gram. As a tea simmer 10 to 20 grams of dried leaves in 1 liter of water for 1 -2 hours, top up, strain and refrigerate, and drink 3-5 cups daily. However, it is bitter and you may use it instead as powder stirred in juice, even if it is probably less effective.

Therefore extracts in powder form are now commonly used. You may stir half a teaspoon in water or other non-protein liquid two or three times daily and take before meals (oleuropein may be inactivated by high amino acid levels). The normal retail form is as 500mg capsules. In this case you may use up to 6 to10 capsules daily. Commercial liquids commonly contain only 4 mg of oleuropein per ml. In powder form olive leaf extract commonly has 200mg of oleuropein per gram.

Fibrinolytic Enzymes

Nattokinase, originally from natto, fermented soy traditionally used in Japan, may be the most effective fibrinolytic enzyme. It is commonly available as capsules with 2000 FU or units of fibrinolytic activity. The normal maintenance dose is one capsule each before breakfast and dinner, best in a non-protein drink or followed by some fruit.

However, to clean already clogged blood vessels and dissolve clots a high dose of up to 12 spaced-out capsules have been used for several months or until the blood circulation sufficiently improved. As a high dose it may be used as 2 or 3 capsules 3 or 4 times daily before meals and bedtime. A common warning is not to use nattokinase by individuals with blood-clotting disorders leading to excessive bleeding, or when using blood-thinning drugs such as warfarin.

Serrapeptase originally derived from silkworms, may be somewhat less effective in dissolving clots but it also dissolves other dead tissue, such as scar tissue, adhesions and cysts. Commonly used are 20,000 to 80,000 units/capsule but even 250,000 units/capsule are available. Take on an empty stomach. It may be taken together with nattokinase.

Bromelain breaks down all kinds of unwanted protein residues. Activity tends to me measured as Gelatine Dissolving Units or GDU, commonly 2000 GDU/gram. Take up to 6000 GDU daily in divided doses on an empty stomach, preferably separately from nattokinase and serrapeptase (e.g. 20 minutes later) as these could be digested by bromelain and papain.

Removing Soft Tissue Calcifications

With increasing age our bones tend to become softer as calcium moves out and accumulates in soft tissues, such as blood vessels, on the outside of joints, in muscles, brain and glands. This causes not only inflammation, pain and rigidity but also arteriosclerosis, heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, cataracts and loss of memory, or basically the same conditions caused by hypercoagulation. The underlying cause tends to be an underactive thyroid and overactive parathyroid glands due to chronic Candida, mercury problems, and deficiencies of boron and magnesium. To prevent or reduce soft tissue calcification it is essential to control microbes and parasites as with The Ultimate Cleanse, and use sufficient magnesium and boron as from borax. However, most effective for heavy calcifications seems to be sodium thiosulphate, especially if used with or after fibrinolytic enzymes to prevent hypercoagulation and clean the blood vessels. This often also results in rapid pain relief.

Sodium thiosulphate (or thiosulfate = STS) is an antioxidant, fungicide, alkalizer and chelator of heavy metals. It is officially recommended for chelating mercury in accidental spills. Medically it is used to treat cyanide poisoning and other toxic substances, and also to protect normal cells from the side effects of chemotherapy. In suitable amounts it dissolves soft-tissue calcifications and removes excess calcium with the urine. It does not seem to react with and lower normal blood calcium. However, it is chemically reduced by some types of microbes to the same odorous compounds as DMSO, and therefore it is advisable to take only one or the other, or both in smaller amounts and mainly topically.

Medically it is mainly used in intravenous drips but may also be given orally. It is generally considered to be non-toxic. Intestinal absorption is poor as STS is decomposed by stomach acid and intestinal microbes. To improve absorption fill it into capsules and take with sufficient fluid on an empty stomach up to three times daily, drink more afterwards or eat some fruit. It may be taken together with nattokinase and serrapeptase, or with bromelain. Take this continuously or periodically as required for sufficient improvement.

However, the better way of absorption is transdermally with DMSO. Dissolve 1 level teaspoon of STS in 2 teaspoons of water and then add 2 teaspoons of DMSO. Rub this onto the skin once or twice a day, especially over areas of calcification. You may also combine oral intake with transdermal applications.

Using too much STS may cause diarrhoea; it may also produce the same unpleasant sulphur smell as DMSO. If this causes a problem reduce the intake or use only STS or DMSO. Initially light headaches or other symptoms may develop due to mercury being chelated. In this case try taking a small amount of chlorella to bind the mercury. STS appears to penetrate intestinal biofilm, and helps to eliminate Candida and other microbes. It also tends to improve sleep, and as a sulphur compound, improves detoxification and tissue regeneration.

STS is commonly used as crystals of the pentahydrate with 5 molecules of crystallisation water. It is available on the Internet for aquarium supplies, or as swimming pool chemical, as it is used to de-chlorinate tap water. For an instructive soft-tissue scan before and after thiosulfate therapy see http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/1/6/1161/F1.expansion.html.

Toxic Metals

Accumulations of toxic metals, and especially mercury from dental amalgam fillings and vaccines, are a major problem with many diseases, and also have been shown to cause or aggravate hypercoagulation. Use oral chelation to reduce this toxic load. Sulphur compounds are needed to detoxify the liver. If these are not well tolerated, add a molybdenum supplement. One of the strongest metal chelators is alpha lipoic acid (also called thioctic acid), which has the rare ability of being able to cross the blood-brain barrier to pull mercury out of brain cells. It may be combined with milk thistle (extract) to activate the liver.

Sodium thiosulphate can remove mercury from other organs. In combination with DMSO it may also be able to remove mercury from the brain. Chlorella (cell broken powder) prevents re-absorption of expelled metals from the intestines. Further helpful are MSM, N-acetylcysteine, alpha-tocopherol, and ascorbic acid. Oleuropein in olive leaf extract can chelate excess iron and copper. In addition EDTA could be absorbed under the tongue for oral chelation but I am not fond of doing so as it indiscriminately removes also essential trace minerals which need to be replaced.

You may also try the Klinghardt Neurotoxin Elimination Protocol. Easier to use is the Cutler Protocol (see also Mercury Detox). Alpha lipoic acid is used for 3 days and 2 nights every 3 hours during the day and every 4 hours during the night, and this is repeated once a week or fortnight. Each dose may be from one quarter to 1 mg/kg body weight. During detoxification health problems may temporarily increase. I believe that by using additional sodium thiosulphate, and possibly chlorella and DMSO, a strict schedule as in the Cutler Protocol is less important. Preferably use mercury chelation only after fungal problems such as Candida are under control.

Magnet therapy

A small magnet taped over an artery has been shown in Live Cell Microscopy to reduce hypercoagulation and clumping, and dissolving rouleaux formations. The more freely flowing blood has resulted in significant improvements existing problems. A recommended way of doing this is by taping a dot magnet with the south-pointing pole towards the skin over the artery at the thumb side near the wrist of the right arm. There is no time limit for how long to apply this, experiment to see if you can feel a difference. Keep the magnet away from magnetic strips as on credit cards. More convenient and less hazardous for credit cards is wearing the magnet on a Velcro strap at the inside of the right ankle (posterior tibial artery), then it only needs to be removed before exposing the foot to water.

Carbon dioxide Therapy

Carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by cells is required for red blood cells to release oxygen into tissues. In addition CO2 relaxes tissue and especially blood vessels to help flushing them clean. The combination of both of these actions improves poorly oxygenated skin and blood vessels. The skin then looks flushed; connective tissue becomes tighter and more elastic. This method is being used with CO2 face masks which you can make yourself or buy over the Internet.

CO2 therapy is the only method shown to heal "diabetic foot", a condition where foot or leg ulcers become gangrenous for which the only conventional solution is foot or leg amputation. A Japanese team has shown that diabetic foot can be healed with CO2 micro-bubbles, see: http://www.iasj.net/iasj?func=fulltext&aId=48581.

For ulcers, gangrene and other leg wounds the foot or leg may be immersed in a large bucket of water with a handful of garden or agricultural dolomite at the bottom. Then slowly over the course of an hour add about half the volume of dolomite as citric acid crystals. Occasionally stir the slurry at the bottom. It may be hard to see the developing micro-bubbles but they can usually be felt. Dolomite has the advantage that it reacts only slowly and supplies beneficial magnesium.

Alternatively you may sprinkle several tablespoons of washing soda (sodium carbonate) in the bucket and then add citric acid at a very slow rate so that bubbles develop at a reasonably steady rate. When no more bubbles develop after adding citric acid then add again a larger amount of washing soda followed by a slow addition of citric acid. Do not sprinkle washing soda on the skin; it becomes hot as it dissolves. Washing soda reacts much faster than dolomite but more slowly than sodium bicarbonate. It helps if citric acid has been exposed to moisture so that it clumps together and dissolves more slowly.

Another possibility is to tie a large plastic bag below the knee and fill the bag with CO2 gas from an outside source (e.g. CO2 bottle). Preferably wet the skin beforehand. Generally several months of daily use are required to heal leg ulcers.