Regression of warfarin-induced medial elastocalcinosis by high intake of vitamin K in rats.

Blood Journal ^ | NOVEMBER 30, 2006 | Leon J. Schurgers , Henri M. H. Spronk , Berry A. M. Soute , Paul M. Schiffers , Jo G. R. DeMey

[ConservativeMind]

Abstract

Arterial calcification (AC) is generally regarded as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In rats, inactivation of MGP by treatment with the vitamin K antagonist warfarin leads to rapid calcification of the arteries. Both of the Vitamin K (VK)-rich diets decreased the arterial calcium content by some 50%. In addition, arterial distensibility was restored by the VK-rich diet. Using MGP antibodies, local VK deficiency was demonstrated at sites of calcification. This is the first study in rats demonstrating that AC and the resulting decreased arterial distensibility are reversible by high-VK intake.

Introduction

Arterial calcification is an important independent risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, and renal disease. Patients with arterial calcification have an unfavorable prognosis compared with patients with mild calcification. Therefore, the prevention or reversal of arterial calcification may lead to improved patient outcomes. For a long time it has been thought that calcification was a passive process and the end stage of cardiovascular disease. During the past 10 years, however, it has become clear that several osteoregulatory proteins, both stimulatory and inhibitory, are involved in the calcification of vascular tissue.

In our model, normal vitamin K1 in the diet was not capable of affecting arterial distensibility, whereas during the high–vitamin K diet (both K1 and K2) the vascular properties that were lost by warfarin-induced calcification were restored.

The animal model we used mimics arterial media sclerosis. Media sclerosis is particularly common in diabetes mellitus, end-stage renal disease, and aging. Notably, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. These patients often receive a high-calcium diet (to complex phosphate), vitamin D, and warfarin (to prevent thrombotic events). It was demonstrated, however, that each of these treatments is associated with an increased risk of arterial calcification.

[spokeshave]

Pretty sure Vitamin A is the only essential vitamin or molecule that has a toxic dose,

Don't eat Polar Bear liver....useful knowledge when the next ice age kicks in (shortly).

[Wuli]

The medical profession’s greatest ignorance seems to be the connections be dietary intake and cause or improvement of medical conditions. That ignorance ignores how the natural method of the body obtaining what it needs, for maintenance or improvement is through it’s natural intake process - diet. What is a dietary “supplement”? A natural substance added to the diet.

Your cardiologist would have done better service, to you and to themselves, telling you to go home and drastically increase your intake of Vitamin K. Why not do that? That does not require doctor’s prescription.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I’ve been on warfarin for the last 30 years with weekly and monthly monitoring of the clotting factor. No problems with it.

I’ve been warned to stay away from green vegies with high V-K as it increases the blood clotting factor.

So be careful with V-K.

[JohnnyP]

Super90 ingredients:

Vitamin C (as Ascorbyl palmitate) 10 mg, Vitamin K activity 2600 mcg, From: Vitamin K1 (as phytonadione) 1500 mcg, Vitamin K2 (as menaquinone-4) 1000 mcg, Vitamin K2 (as all-trans menaquinone-7) 100 mcg, Other ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, gelatin, glycerin, beeswax, purified water, maltodextrin, carob color.

I take Koncentrated K
https://www.k-vitamins.com/index.php?page=Home

K1 = 5000 mcg
K2 MK4 = 25000 mcg
K2 MK7 = 500 mcg

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***I also believe that Coumadin destroyed my teeth.***

I’ve been on warfarin or Coumadin for the last 30 years. I’m 73 and still have all my teeth.

But then, I was born on the High Plains where all that well water had natural fluoride in it.

[georgiabelle]

BTTT

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***didn’t see a list of high K vitamin foods***

Easy to find on line.

https://uihc.org/health-topics/warfarin-your-diet-and-vitamin-k-foods

http://www.amplahealth.org/wp-content/uploads/Vitamin_K_Food_List.pdf

[MayflowerMadam]

“Now I take Eliquis and all the iron leaves my body. Must take iron pills.”

Thanks for that! I started Eliquis early this week. I was wondering if taking iron with it is a good thing or bad thing, and didn’t find much info about it online. A couple days into it I felt “draggy” and wondered if there could be an iron issue.

Anyhow, it’s a scary drug, I hate it, will do it for three months, and then no more. If I die, I die. When I passed 70, I figured I’d done my time.

And the cost! What’s up with that, anyhow? I’d never taken drugs before, except an antibiotic now and then, and never reached my insurance deductible, so this was a rude awakening.

[null and void]

Start taking vitamin K, check back with us in 20 years.

You might also consider not telling half your brothers...

[MarMema]

Vitamin K only affects warfarin.

[ConservativeMind]

(Vitamin K) Drug-Nutrient Interactions Oral 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives such as warfarin are widely prescribed anticoagulants for the prevention of thrombotic disorders. These drugs function through the inhibition of a hepatic vitamin K-epoxide reductase. This enzyme reduces the coproduct of the λ-glutamyl carboxylase reaction, the vitamin K 2,3-epoxide, to the hydronaphthoquinone form of the vitamin, which is the substrate for the enzyme. The result is an acquired cellular vitamin K deficiency and a decrease in the synthesis of the vitamin K-dependent plasma clotting factors. Alterations in vitamin K intake can, therefore, influence warfarin efficacy, and numerous case reports of these occurrences have been reviewed (Booth et al., 1997a). Short-term, day-to-day variations in vitamin K intake do not appear to alter anticoagulant status, and there are few data on the extent to which long-term differences in dietary vitamin K intake modulate the response to warfarin. Lubetsky and coworkers (1999) studied a population of 46 patients with an estimated (by food frequency recall) median intake of 179 μg/day of phylloquinone. Patients with intakes greater than 250 μg/day were maintained at the targeted international normalized ratio with 5.8 mg/day warfarin, while patients with an intake of less than 250 μg/day of phylloquinone were maintained on a lower warfarin intake of 4.4 mg/day. These data suggest that alterations in vitamin K intake might influence warfarin dosage. As an effective warfarin dose varies widely within individuals, patients are closely monitored. Once a dose has been established, patients can avoid any complications resulting from variations in vitamin K intake by continuing to follow their normal dietary patterns. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK222299/?report=classic Translation: Take normal amounts of Vitamin K/K2 and your doctor will compensate for that amount with an initial change in warfarin. If you take large amounts, the same will happen. But by getting K/K2, you will still have K/K2 functionality, as your body still needs.

[ncpatriot]

I take Eliquis and I have way too much iron. Thus I did sleep study and now on CPAP. Hope CPAP reduces iron and blood pressure.

[ncpatriot]

lettuce, salad

[Moonman62]

Thanks for the info.

I suspect that genetics and calcium metabolism are involved. I’m good at putting calcium where it doesn’t belong rather than where it does.

But the K2 and possibly vitamin D seems to have fixed it.

Some people appear to have problems, others don’t:

https://www.drugs.com/answers/coumadin-ive-been-on-warafin-since-oct-2010-for-364400.html

[ncpatriot]

I’ve heard eliquis was terrible drug, but i have had two clots and my DNA shows i am prone to clots. So I don’t think I have a choice. I have thought about taking aspirin instead of eliquis as an alternative.

Do you know why it is considered bad? I’ve researched it but can’t find out the cons on this medicine. I guess I need to discuss with my doctor

[ConservativeMind]

The study placed calcium plaques in animals using a common blood thinner (bad side effect) that humans use. They then were able to remove 50% of those plaques in just another six weeks using Vitamin K2-MK4 (available in supplement form).

The expectation would be that full removal is possible with more weeks.

This, and more, is discussed in another thread I posted, here:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3803960/posts

[MayflowerMadam]

“Do you know why it (Eliquis) is considered bad?”

From what I’ve researched online:
Dizziness - could lead to vertigo
headache
fatigue
nausea / vomiting
constipation / diarrhea (???)
abdominal pain
toothache
rash / hives / itching
trouble breathing / shortness of breath
severe bleeding and liver damage
air travel and long car rides are dangerous

Caffeine: Some sites say coffee = good; some say coffee = bad. I’m going with the “coffee = good” one, because it’s a quality-of-life thing for me.

Food: Some sites say, “When taking Eliquis, avoid foods high in Vitamin K, e.g., large amounts of leafy green vegetables and some vegetable oils.

Some sites say, “There are no “watch-outs” for certain foods like green leafy vegetables when taking Eliqis. With Eliquis, you can continue eating the healthy foods you like.”

So which is it?

May need to avoid alcohol, cranberry juice and products containing cranberries, avoid eating grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice. (If alcohol is a negative, and cranberry juice is a negative, if you combine the two for a Cape Cod, do the two negatives = a positive? - Just kidding.)

After eight hours online the other day, I came to the belief — true or otherwise — that nobody knows for sure about a lot of this.

[Pride in the USA]

Interesting.

[Ragnar54]

In a similar vein (as it were), I was diagnosed as being in heart failure (average life expectancy of 5 years). I decided to follow the recommendation of Dr. Stephen Sinatra and maintain a COQ10 blood level above 3.5 mg/L. I got my level up to 4.5 and mentioned it to my cardiologist, who told me to stop taking it (ubiquinol) immediately.

I ignored that advice. After a few years, he told me that I was doing better than he had expected.

It has now been 12 years since diagnosis, and my heart is stable. I am usually able to bike 100 miles a week, unless it's a windsurfing week. I still take 400mg of ubiquinol daily.

[ConservativeMind]

For those who did not catch the Vitamin K thread that referenced this and other studies, it is available here:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3803960/posts?page=1