Nattokinase for lowering blood pressure

[rbstern]

One of the most intelligent guys I ever worked with took the snake venom. Been on it for years and probably still is (now retired). He coughed on a regular basis every single day and jokingly blamed it on the med. I could never for the life of me understand how someone so smart would allow themselves to be willingly prescribed a poison, pay for it, ingest it and then joke about its side effects. More than likely, simply eating correctly would have remedied his b/p along with other ailments. But doctor knows best right?

I realize folks are wound up about recent big pharma issues, but not sure why you'd denigrate a safe and effective drug that helps tens of millions of people. Yes, coughing is a side effect. I definitely get it from Lisinopril. It's annoying, but not awful.

All of the ACE inhibitor drugs are made synthetically. Big pharma doesn't have people running around the Brazilian jungle milking snake venom for their production line supplies. The drugs were developed from research informed by studying the venom's mechanisms of action. They don't actually use the venom as a source for the factory. They synthesize the relevant compounds.

Everything is a poison, under the right circumstances. You can be poisoned by an H2O overdose. You can hyperventilate yourself into ketoacidosis. After all, oxygen is a corrosive gas. You have to be careful with oxygen! Maybe stop using it until they make a lab version that's safer?

It's all just molecules. Nature spent hundreds of thousands of years perfecting that venom's mechanism for relaxing blood vessels, in the most comprehensive laboratory we have access to: The ecosystem. Copying the mechanism and putting it in a reliably effective pill form isn't something that should scare you. Aspirin was inspired by a chemical mechanism found in Willow bark. Last I heard, taking aspirin it doesn't turn you into a squirrel.

In the early days of electrification, some folks didn't want electricity in their homes because they thought it would leak from the wall sockets.

Don't be one of those.

 

[harrycalahan]

I realize folks are wound up about recent big pharma issues, but not sure why you'd denigrate a safe and effective drug that helps tens of millions of people. Yes, coughing is a side effect. I definitely get it from Lisinopril. It's annoying, but not awful.

All of the ACE inhibitor drugs are made synthetically. Big pharma doesn't have people running around the Brazilian jungle milking snake venom for their production line supplies. The drugs were developed from research informed by studying the venom's mechanisms of action. They don't actually use the venom as a source for the factory. They synthesize the relevant compounds.

Everything is a poison, under the right circumstances. You can be poisoned by an H2O overdose. You can hyperventilate yourself into ketoacidosis. After all, oxygen is a corrosive gas. You have to be careful with oxygen! Maybe stop using it until they make a lab version that's safer?

It's all just molecules. Nature spent hundreds of thousands of years perfecting that venom's mechanism for relaxing blood vessels, in the most comprehensive laboratory we have access to: The ecosystem. Copying the mechanism and putting it in a reliably effective pill form isn't something that should scare you. Aspirin was inspired by a chemical mechanism found in Willow bark. Last I heard, taking aspirin it doesn't turn you into a squirrel.

In the early days of electrification, some folks didn't want electricity in their homes because they thought it would leak from the wall sockets.

Don't be one of those.

I think you took my word “poison” and misunderstood. I use that term to generally describe most drugs. I realize theyre not milking vipers.

Until doctors, hospitals and other medical institutions start recommending changes in lifestyle and eating habits instead of shotgunning drugs as a first shot in the dark approach at “healing”, I guess I’ll be one of those. Whatever -that- is…

Drugs have their place. They should rarely be first when discussing general health.

 

[rbstern]

I think you took my word “poison” and misunderstood. I use that term to generally describe most drugs. I realize theyre not milking vipers.

Until doctors, hospitals and other medical institutions start recommending changes in lifestyle and eating habits instead of shotgunning drugs as a first shot in the dark approach at “healing”, I guess I’ll be one of those. Whatever -that- is…

Drugs have their place. They should rarely be first when discussing general health.

When I first noticed my BP climbing, was biking four or five times a week. My sister started getting increases in BP at a similar age, and she walks six or seven days a week; we have completely different dietary approaches. Mine is high protein+fat/low carb. Her's is more traditional low fat/high fiber. Didn't matter for either of us. BP went up when we respectively reached middle age. Genetics.

When I first went to the doc about my BP, had a really good conversation with her about it. She looked at my history and said, it was a matter of when, rather than if, for high BP. I told her I wanted to try and minimize the BP meds dose because I am active outdoors and felt like I could get enough exercise to help with the problem. She was completely onboard with that.

Yes, there are plenty of docs out there who write prescriptions first, ask questions later (if at all). But there are also plenty of good ones who ask questions and assess patients as individuals.

Find a good doc like you find a good mechanic.