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Lena Sanchez - Editor
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928-636-9425
Tuesday June 16, 2009

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 ASK LENA HEALTH Q & A EDITION!
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Trip was great just very tiring with so much going on but graduations are over for another year and now life can get back to normal. Well, almost normal as summer visitors are coming and going most of the summer and I get to see the Grand Canyon oodles of times as each one wants to see it, but otherwise life will be normal for in between times. Today's question is one that is coming in regularly these days but I chose only one to publish so read and learn how natural healing is safer and truly healing!

The answers to questions submitted to me each week come from my 20+ years as a Medical Office Nurse along with many years and ongoing education in nutritional and alternative treatment modes. Add that to many years of friendship with Dr. Wayne Garland, a very knowledgeable naturopath and herbologist, who many years ago, beat his cancer death sentence given by the traditional medical world, has helped along the alternatives path and hopefully help to give hope to those who need it... Also receiving a lot of study reports and try to ascertain if they are good or bad then report them to you, which has increased my knowledge along the way and I pass them on to you to use or not...

I am not a doctor or dentist and you should not think of me as one!! My years observing life and health of the many people/patients around me and the contradictions of the traditional medical world's idea of treating - prescription domino effect - while watching those same schooled methods that aren't relieving illness but creating far more health problems than they help. Those same medical professionals aren't telling people how to get healthy or how to prevent illness, which led me to look for something to change that premise for myself and those around me. In looking outside the Westernized medical profession I found and continue to find alternatives that really work to create health and longevity - when adhered to - beyond anything the traditional medical world can do...

Ask Lena Health Questions and Answers is for your information and education only and in some instances to give you a different perspective on a particular problem! My wish for you, in the use of the information gained here, is that you will apply it in a smart and safe manner in order to enhance your life and not harm it! Not to be used in place of your judgment but in  addition to... Even though I daily watch people become healthy with the information imparted here nothing works 100% of the time for 100% of people...

I have always felt that I had to know all sides to a problem and then make a decision for myself and I hope that will be your attitude as well! 

IF YOU HAVE A HEALTH QUESTION 
Mailto:lenasanchez@q.com?subject=QandAquestion

Be sure to give at least your first name, if it is a question you want answered in person feel free to give me a call at 928-636-9425

Thank you for your confidence and inquisitiveness! 
Lena

=> IN THIS ISSUE!

> QUESTION OF THE WEEK<
> THOUGHT FOR THE DAY<
> MOTIVATOR STEVE GOODIER<
===========================

QUESTION:
 
Hi Lena!
 
Thank you for being there for those of us with questions! I would like your views on Nattokinase.  I had a clot stroke last year and refused the recommended invasive testing, opting instead for 'wait and see'.  I was taking 81 mg. aspirin daily until I heard about Nattokinase a few weeks ago - I read it on your website - and opted to take the Nattokinase ever since.  I would like to know if you can one take too much Nattokinase?  Can it be taken together with aspirin?  What other measures would you recommend to prevent a major stroke?
 
Wayne
 
ANSWER:
 
Good question Wayne and you are to be congratulated on taking a stand for a healthy alternative as so many people haven't the courage to withstand the negative and erroneous information presented to them by their doctor. The traditional medical profession would have you believe there is no other alternative to their treatments. That is absolutely not true! You're question is only one of several I've received the last few weeks with almost identical question. Some have gone your way of changing and others wanting to know why they should.
 
Nattokinase will simply keep the blood thin without eating away at the arteries and veins as does Coumadin, Warfarin and other traditionally prescribed blood thinners?
 
Nattokinase is something I'm sure you've studied out quite well if you are using it but will need to be explained for those not in the know that read my ezine...Since this will be published in "Ask Lena Health Q & A" I will need to explain for the readers...

What Is Nattokinase?
 
Nattokinase (natto) is a potent fibrinolytic enzyme extracted and highly purified from a traditional Japanese food called Natto. Natto is a fermented cheese-like food that has been used in Japan for over 1000 years for its popular taste and as a successful remedy for heart and vascular diseases. Natto is produced by a fermentation process by adding Bacillus natto (a benefical bacterium) to boiled soybeans. The resulting nattokinase enzyme, is produced when Bacillus natto acts on the soybeans. While other soy foods contain enzymes, it is only the natto preparation that contains the specific nattokinase enzyme for keeping the blood at a natural thin consistency.
 
 The Discovery of Nattokinase
 
Doctor Hiroyuki Sumi had long researched thrombolytic enzymes searching for a natural agent that could successfully dissolve thrombus associated with cardiac and cerebral infarction (blood clots associated with heart attacks and stroke). Sumi discovered nattokinase in 1980 while working as a researcher and majoring in physiological chemistry at Chicago University Medical School. After testing over 173 natural foods as potential thrombolytic agents, Sumi found what he was looking for when Natto was dropped onto artificial thrombus (fibrin) in a Petri dish and allowed it to stand at 37 C (approximately normal body temperature). The thrombus around the natto dissolved gradually and had completely dissolved within 18 hours. Sumi named the newly discovered enzyme "nattokinase", which means "enzyme in natto". Sumi commented that nattokinase showed "a potency matched by no other enzyme."
 
Potent Thrombolytic Activity

17 blue ribbon studies have shown that nattokinase can promote healthy blood circulation and improve your overall health by thrombolytic activity!
 
The human body produces several types of enzymes for making thrombus (thickening blood), but only one main enzyme for breaking it down and dissolving it - plasmin. The body cannot produce sufficient plasmin when the organs are not functioning as they should due to a minerals and nutrient imbalance. The properties of nattokinase closely resemble plasmin. According to Dr. Martin Milner, from the Center for Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, what makes nattokinase a particularly potent treatment, is that it enhances the body's natural ability to fight blood clots in several different ways; Because it so closely resembles plasmin, it dissolves fibrin directly. In addition, it also enhances the body's production of both plasmin and other clot-dissolving agents, including urokinase (endogenous). "In some ways, Milner says, ?nattokinase is actually superior to conventional clot-dissolving drugs. T-PAs (tissue plasminogen activators) like urokinase (the drug), are only effective when taken intravenously and often fail simply because a stroke or heart attack victim's arteries have hardened beyond the point where they can be treated by any other clot-dissolving agent. Nattokinase, however, can help prevent that hardening with an oral dose of as little as 100 mg a day."
 
The Prolonged Action of Nattokinase
 
Nattokinase produces a prolonged action (unlike antithrombin drugs that wear off shortly after IV treatment is discontinued) in two ways: it prevents coagulation of blood and it dissolves existing thrombus.
 
Some doctors in Japan started prescribing natto instead of wafarin on an experimental basis. Some patients with retinal-vein-blockage-disease, a disease causing blood clots to occur in retinal veins and hemorrhaging in the retina , were instructed to eat natto twice a week, and had very positive results. (Yuhobika, March 1998 issue)
 
Professor Hiroyuki Sumi says brain infarction and myocardial infarction tend to occur around 10:00am on Monday mornings. So he says the most effective time to eat natto is during the Sunday supper. Since nattokinase enzyme is sensitive to heat and loses its effectiveness above 70 degrees C, eating raw natto gives the best protection.
 
Do not take aspirin or any blood thinner with nattokinase... Aspirin is a thinner and nattokinase is a natural thinner.  Natto is heavy in Vitamin K, which is one source of its thinning properties and could be bad news for anyone taking another blood thinner... Chemicals and natural foods do not mix well in our body either so we do not know fully what can happen when chemical thinning and natural merges...

There have been no reports of bleeding from eating too much nattokinase alone;
 
Nattokinase is not "foreign" to our body.  In that case, our body is able to selectively use Vitamin K for congealing blood, and pyrazine and nattokinase for preventing or dissolving blood clots as necessary. That may explain the reason there are no reports of natto causing uncontrolled bleeding.
 
BUT, as with anything else and to err on safe, overeating of good food can be just as bad as consuming bad foods and nattokinase is a food, so yes too much could possibly be bad but it would take an awful lot to achieve that bad result... You do not need to play the guessing game as your doctor (providing you have a doctor who will go along with your healthy choices) can track your results by ordering certain blood testing;  Not your normal PT that is done while taking prescription thinners! Both the efficacy and the prolonged action of NK determined by measuring levels of EFA (euglobulin fibrinolytic activity) and FDP (fibrin degradation products), which both become elevated as fibrin is being dissolved. By measuring EFA & FDP levels, activity of NK has been determined to last from 8 to 12 hours. An additional parameter for confirming the action of NK following oral administration is a rise in blood levels of TPA antigen (tissue plasminogen activator), which indicates a release of TPA from the endothelial cells and/or the liver. I only know a couple of doctor's who agree with this so getting one to test you could be next to impossible but if your doctor will order these tests when you ask you will know although I don't have them done nor does my husband because we are confident that we are not taking too much.
 
You didn't mention taking hypertensive medications as I know most people who have strokes either were already taking or end up on hypertensive and/or heart medications and then end up on cholesterol lowering medication.  If that is you I would like to suggest you go all the way healthy by adding natural blood pressure and cholesterol lowering herbal formulas that are working so great for so many. Dr. Garland's Circulatory Formula along with Liquid Balanced Minerals as these are doing wonders in the field of preventing stroke and heart disease as well as lowering blood pressure should you wish to add that to your daily supplements I would highly recommend it as does he in these types of cases... Practice safe medicine and get away from the chemical prescriptions that are creating more problems and unhealthy bodies... As for cholesterol; anything over 300 "may be bad for you" but it has not been proven to be a catalyst for strokes or heart disease, but if your blood looks creamy when the phlebotomist/nurse/doctor draws you blood for testing you really should lower your cholesterol... Dr. Garland has a great herbal formula Cholesteine Cholesterol that is doing that job in a healthy fashion...

You ask about other measures to preventing a stroke? Those would be the normal acts of staying healthy; Plenty of sleep at least 7 hours nightly, Exercise regularly, stay away from nutrient dead foods such as prepackaged and processed foods, learn how to handle stress and supplement to overcome the lack of nutrients in your foods today in to assure that your organs work to their best ability as long as possible!
 
I hope I didn't over answer your questions as I can sometimes do but it best covers all the others who inquired about Natto as well...
Lena
 

Preventing Heart Disease may only mean peanuts!

Peanuts seem to have a built-in safety mechanism for the heart. One recent study found that people who ate nuts five times a day cut down their risk of having a heart attack by 50 percent. Another study, of 40,000 postmenopausal women, found a connection between eating nuts and a lowered risk of heart disease.

The reason seems to be that peanuts contain resveratrol, the compound responsible for red wine's apparent ability to offset the heart-harmful effects of a high-fat diet.

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MOTIVATOR
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SUCKER DAY

I've never visited the town of Wetumka in Oklahoma (USA). But I understand the folks there celebrate a day every year when they laugh at themselves. They call it Sucker Day and they plan a town festival on the last Saturday of September to commemorate it.

It all started in 1950 when a man calling himself F. Bam Morrison arrived in Wetumka and persuaded local residents to put up the money to bring a circus to town. They did not know F. Bam, but he was a nice enough fellow and they trusted his word.

Merchants bought plenty of food, beverages, and souvenirs in preparation for the crowds of people who were bound to attend. And Morrison sold advance tickets. The townspeople were ecstatic at the thought of a circus in their very own village. Children could hardly sleep at night.

On the day the circus parade was to march down the main street, ecstasy turned into dismay when nothing happened. F. Bam had slipped quietly away in the night with any money he had left. There would be no circus. The good folks of Wetumka had been swindled.

It didn't take long for their disappointment to turn into amusement, however. Someone came up with the idea of holding a four-day celebration anyway. And why not? They had all the food and goodies. Calendars were cleared and, besides, everyone's heart was set on having a good time.

They called their party The Sucker Festival. In a display of good-natured fun, people celebrated the fact that they'd been conned, snookered and hornswoggled. And now Sucker Day is an annual event Wetumka - a good excuse to come together, to laugh and to have some fun.

We're going to be fooled sometimes. Especially if we easily place our confidence in people. But I?m not going to give up trusting just to avoid being had.

I've observed that some of the happiest people I know are far from being the most wary ? in fact, they are quite often open and trusting. These contented folks share at least two traits.

The first is that they are trustworthy. They are known to be honest and true to their word.

And the second trait these happy and satisfied people share is that they easily trust others. Sometimes their trust is misplaced, but they've discovered that the benefits of trusting usually outweigh the risks of disappointment.

I expect I'll get taken in plenty of times yet by friends and strangers I believed in. But I hope the next time I trusted when I should have been more cautious, I can learn from the good folks of Wetumka and laugh at myself.

Because I'd rather let others into my heart than shut them out. I'd rather be a sucker for a day than unhappy for a lifetime. And I'd rather believe there is goodness in most people, for that is the only way to find it.
....................
Steve Goodier Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com  is a professional speaker, consultant and author of numerous books. Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for his FREE newsletter of Life, Love and Laughter at http://LifeSupportSystem.com

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