Managing the risk of stroke is the front-and-center concern for most afib patients. And, of course, most of us are taking blood thinners in the hopes of doing just that.
A recent article in The Healthcare Blog points out that taking warfarin can reduce the risk of stroke by about 10%. The doctor who wrote the blog advocates the use of aspirin for patients who have a low risk of stroke.
It seems the truth might be a little more nuanced.
But that’s the least of the risks to consider. The reason for aspirin or warfarin anticoagulation is to prevent clots and thereby embolic strokes. Both work, warfarin better than aspirin, but neither agent works perfectly. However, when aspirin fails the stroke is likely to be an uncomplicated embolic stroke; a blood clot blocks a vessel in the brain causing damage to the brain downstream by depriving that area of the brain of oxygen-carrying blood.
Most recover partially or fully from embolic strokes. But when the blood is thinned by warfarin, there is a risk of bleeding into the damaged brain converting a simple embolic stroke into a catastrophe with little likelihood of recovery.
So what are we to make of these seemingly conflicting bits of advice?
It looks like aspirin doesn’t do much to prevent stroke, but it can lessen the severity of stroke, offering you something that is easier to survive, easier to recover from, and less severe. Warfarin reduces your risk of stroke…but if you get one anyway you could be in big trouble.
Thus, if you are at a low risk for stroke in the first place aspirin might just be the right choice. However, if you have a high risk of stroke then you’ll want to prevent that stroke with something a little stronger than aspirin, even if the stroke could be more severe if it happens anyway.
At least, that is how I took it when I looked at these articles side-by-side. Do you agree?
Dr Hans Nieper also mentioned the following in The Curious Man.
1 Germany’s number one choice for Cardiac Arrhythmia is
Potassium-Magnesium Aspartate
protect and arrest tissue destruction
improve liver function and
detoxify digitalis drugs eg Digoxin given to heart patients
2 Selenium + Glutathione
Combined can inactivate free radical,
remove heavy metals eg lead,
anti-viral agent, anti-cancer agent
prevent heart damage – benefit the heart’s natural pacemaker system
reduce heart rhythm disturbances
Selenium toxicity — blood serum <150-160 mcg/l
3 l-Carnitine + Vit B1
improve combustion of fatty acids
move energy to the heart muscles
clean up fatty deposits in the heart
reduce cholesterol deposits from vascular system
4 Bromelain – Pineapple extract
Nature's anticoagulant for blood clots
dissolve existing blood clots
clean blood vessels and cells
regress angina pectoris
unmask surface antigens of malignant cells —
remove cell coating of malignant cells
Teckwah
Hi I am teckwah from Perth Australia
According to the late Dr Hans Nieper of Germany , Bromelain, an pineapple enzyme extract is his choice. This natural, harmless substance dissolves already-existing clots and cleans blood vessel walls and cells. He reported it can be used to dissolve the outer coating of cancer cells so they can be exposed and destroyed by the body’s own defence system. It can lessen chest pain or angina pectoris.
He also mentioned about Chelation Therapy with EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid) as well as using Ozone. He credited Dr Steven Taussig of Honolulu Hawaii who is responsible for a very large amount of research on Bromelain.
I have copied the above information from his book:
The Curious Man on Preventing and Treating Cardiovascular Disease Chapter 6 — pages 72 – 75.
Teckwah:
Thanks for the comments. I’ve heard of Bromelain for afib before in the sense that it helps digest food. Some afibbers have their episodes triggered by various digestive issues, this is typically called vagal afib. I’ve heard of these types of affibers who respond well to digestive enzymes such as Bromelain. However, I’ve never heard of Bromelain being used to clean blood vessel walls. Very interesting…thanks for sharing!
Travis