Fat On Trial. Part 2

Is there an excess of fat imbedded in the artery wall itself? This proved to be a very difficult question to answer. A search through the medical literature disclosed that no one had reported any findings on this crucial question. We found that there were tremendous chemical problems blocking the answer to the mystery, but due to good luck and a brilliant chemical feat by our team, we discovered and reported the following facts. The coronary artery that is damaged by an attack of atherosclerosis has four times as much cholesterol and fat content as that of the person who dies of causes other than heart attacks. Subsequent to our findings, investigators both here and abroad corroborated our findings, tracking down the "killer" fat to his lair directly in the artery itself. We also noted that high blood pressure had the special effect of driving the cholesterol and fats into the artery wall with more speed and greater destructive-ness than would normally be the case. Many patients with high blood pressure were particularly prone to heart attacks and strokes because of the extensive destruction wrought in their arteries by these fats. This fact brings well to mind my patient, Mr. N., a 50-year old business executive, 40 pounds overweight, who had high blood pressure and angina pectoris. He complained of headaches and dizzy spells. He weighed 190 pounds and suffered from chest pain and shortness of breath on physical exertion or emotional excitement. After a loss of 40 pounds by our nutritional methods, his blood pressure became normal and his heart aches and dizzy spells disappeared. However, whenever he had his regular twice weekly, tense committee conferences at the factory, his blood pressure would rise. Strangely enough he discovered that if he ate any fatty foods before these tense business conferences he would develop angina or chest pain and would have to take a tablet of nitroglycerine to relieve the severe heart pain.

His nutrition-minded wife astutely decided to pack his lunches herself into his brief case, along with his business papers and documents. Instead of eating the usual restaurant meals with his business associates, Mr. N. was able, thanks to his wife, to eat an enjoyable, low-calorie, fat-free meal. His heart pains left him. The great fear of death or crippling illness that had constantly oppressed him and made his life miserable disappeared completely. Apparently, emotional stress at business would cause his susceptible blood pressure to rise. If fatty foods were eaten in addition, excess fat would accumulate in the blood and could be driven into the coronary artery blood stream of the heart. This would then produce the life-threatening heart pains of angina. The transformation in Mr. N., after diet, weight and nutrition were corrected, was truly remarkable. His entire facial expression (as well as his figure) was completely changed. In the place of a tense, pasty-colored, anxious-looking face was a cheerful, smiling, health-colored countenance. His step had become springy (and no wonder, with 20 pounds less to carry around), his walk buoyant, and his enjoyment and capacity for work enormously increased.

Are there other conditions that cause heart attacks and strokes? To find the answer to this question we studied the hearts and arteries of 600 hospital patients who had died of various causes. After years of analysis we were able to report that in 100 cases of accidental death the great majority of men and women studied showed some degree of fatty deposits in their arteries. This was true in cases of people as young as 20, indicating that fat is a killer that has no respect for age. He often begins his work very early in a person's life. In another 100 cases, diabetes was the cause of death; in another 100, underfunctioning of the thyroid gland was evident. In both instances, these patients showed excess cholesterol and fats in their blood, with a correspondingly high-fat content in their arteries. The degree of atherosclerosis of the heart and brain far outstripped that of any other condition, except one called xanthomatosis. This condition showed itself through fatty, yellow-white deposits in the skin around die eyes, hands, arms and legs. Whenever we found this condition, we also found that the arteries throughout the body, and especially in the heart, were most extensively damaged by fatty deposits. In patients who were thin and wiry throughout their lifetime, the occurrence of atherosclerosis was generally much less than in all other cases. Women before the age of 50 also proved to be much better protected against degenerative artery disease than men. After 50, however, women began to develop heart attacks and strokes with the same frequency as men. The conclusion was that female sex hormones played an important role in providing protection against the ravages of atherosclerosis. As soon as the change of life occurred in women, the protection of these hormones seemed lost; they then became the equals of men in suffering from heart attacks and strokes.

The role of the liver in protecting you from excess fats. We found that the liver manufactures protective chemical substances called phospholipids. These phospholipids in the blood help to ward off the effects of too much fat and help to protect you from heart attack. They suppress the damaging effects of cholesterol upon the arteries of the heart and brain. This encouraging fact was first discovered by Dr. Aaron Kell-ner and Dr. E. H. Ahrens, who conducted experiments on animals (and brought it to light). If your liver is not functioning normally and producing a sufficient quantity of these protective agents, you can find them in certain foods. Some foods that contain phospholipids in abundance are soybeans and the liver of calves, steers, lambs, and chickens. The Vitamin-B complex vitamins also have the ability to increase the blood phospholipids. Defatted soybean lecithin in particular is an ideal preparation for increasing these protective phospholipids in the blood. (See Chapter 5 for a full discussion of food supplements that can be wonderful fighters in the battle against excess fat.) These protective agents lower the blood cholesterol and bring about a better balance between the amount of phospholipids and cholesterol in the blood. The lowering in the amount of cholesterol protects you against the development of atherosclerosis.

Isn't there some medicine that will stop fat from causing heart attacks? Medical science has searched diligently for some new chemical or medicine that would provide the answer to this question. Some progress has been made, and the full answer will come in time. Here's what we have found out so far: In 1940 I developed an extract from the arteries of cattle. This extract was administered first, with success, to animals for a period of three years. Then for several years it was given to human patients suffering from heart and artery disease. I reasoned that if a weakness or deficiency existed in the wall of the damaged artery, then the administration of the healthy, vital substance missing in the artery might rejuvenate the diseased artery and restore its health. This same principle was used in the discovery of insulin.

Although the extract was effective, it had some drawbacks. One problem was that to be effective, it had to be injected daily for the duration of life. A group of research biochemists headed by Dr. N. T. Werthessen and specializing in atomic medicine studied the preventative and curative effects of the extract that I had developed. They used radioactive chemicals to trace the extract in the blood of experimental animals. It was found to be highly effective in preventing atherosclerosis. Nevertheless, I felt it was necessary to abandon the use of the extract, even though we had obtained remarkable results in the treatment of heart, brain, and other circulatory illnesses. The excessive costs of manufacturing and testing the extract, and the need to inject it daily, made its use impractical.