Care Plans Overview

WE DO NOT “TREAT” OR “CURE” ANY CONDITION. WE SUPPORT THE BODY TO ALLOW FOR MAXIMUM HEALING!

IF you are a smoker or you are not willing to change your lifestyle, please do not read any further because I will not accept you for care.

Dr. Michael Johnson has been in private practice since 1983 and he has helped thousands of patients regain their health. He started with functional medicine long before it was called “functional medicine” when it was called “nutritional therapy.”

In 1997, he started in the Carrick Functional Neurology program and he has been using functional neurology/brain-based exercises in his practice to help patients heal faster ever since.

He consults with DCs, MDs, DNPs, and DPMs nationwide on his private message board at www.txfibro.com and he is the author of two physical books, What Do You Do When the Medications Don’t Work—I Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Fibromyalgia, Migraine Headaches and Other Chronic Conditions, You Can Beat Thyroid Disorders Naturally! and several e-books.

Here Is How Our Protocols Will Help You…

1. Complete Blood Work: In order to get to the bottom or root cause of what is happening with your health, we do complete blood work with all of our patients. That includes a comprehensive metabolic panel, CBC with auto diff (to determine underlying toxins and infections), Lipid Panel, a Complete Thyroid Panel and we also check two other blood tests that no one else is testing… The NASH FibroSure Plus for an in-depth look at your liver function and the CD4:CD8 Ratio for an in-depth look at your immune system. We use the complete blood panel to check blood sugar, inflammation markers, liver function, kidney function, immune function, adrenal function, gut function, etc. with interpretation. We have found clinically that severe inflammation is one of the major reasons behind many health conditions.
2. High Stored Iron or Ferritin: Google “high ferritin and cancer” and you will see that high iron is a major contributor! We check your ferritin level which is your level of stored iron. High ferritin (aka Iron Overload and/or hemochromatosis) can lead to a host of other health issues. Stored iron or ferritin is different from circulating iron. You can have high stored iron or ferritin and still be anemic!
3. Hormone Testing: We need to get a DUTCH complete on you to not only check your hormone levels but more important, your hormone pathways. The DUTCH Complete™ is the most advanced hormone test, offering an extensive profile of sex and adrenal function and hormones and melatonin, along with their metabolites, to identify symptoms of hormonal imbalances. Easily collected in the comfort of your own home, samples are then sent to our lab to be processed. The DUTCH Complete™ is the most accurate test providing a complete assessment of hormonal health.

The Results Include

• Analysis of 35 different hormones: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, and cortisol along with their metabolites
• Daily free cortisol patterns to provide insight into adrenal insufficiency or symptoms of chronic stress
• Graphical representation of results and embedded video tutorials to assist in the hormone assessment to share with your medical provider
• DUTCH OATs: Oxidative stress marker – 8-Hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), melatonin (6-OHMS), and six organic acid tests (OATs) including markers for vitamin B12 (methylmalonate), vitamin B6 (xanthurenate), kynurenate, glutathione (pyroglutamate), dopamine (homovanillate), norepinephrine/epinephrine (vanilmandelate).

4. Home Therapies That Will Be Sent to You to Use Daily…

• A: LZR 20,000 Watt Red Light: Every day you will be using the LZR 20,000 watt red-light therapy (https://lzrultrabright.com/lzr-ultrabright-pro-20000-mw/) at home. If we are going to support your body, we need to be having you using home treatments daily! This is a $4000.00 red light and in my opinion, the best available on the market.
• B: Magnet Therapy: Daily magnetic therapy with bar magnets (2” x 4” x 1”) to help remove underlying toxins and infections. I tell patients that magnetic therapy is like acupuncture with magnets.
• C: Homeopathic Remedies: Removing underlying toxins and Infections: How we achieve successful outcomes with our patients where others have failed is by focusing on the removal of toxins and infections from your body. Toxins and infections in your body can cause inflammation and weaken your immune system. Along with the LZR red light, magnet therapy and neurology protocols, we use homeopathic remedies that I make specifically for you to remove the underlying toxins and infections.
• D: Functional Neurology/Brain Based Exercise Protocols: Most chronic patients are in a sympathetic, “fight or flight” survival mode. The specific functional neurology protocols that I have developed to remove those stressors that are locked in your nervous system.

5. Cheap, Inferior Supplements: Removal of cheap, inferior supplements from your system. Cheap, inferior B-vitamins are made from petroleum-based products and they are actually toxic to your nerves. The same with Vit D, cheap, inferior Vit D is made from sheep’s wool. Cheap supplements could be hurting your health instead of helping you!
6. Lifestyle Changes: You are going to have to make some changes and have some “skin in the game.” You need to change your diet… stop eating junk food, refined sugar and drinking soda. High fiber (vegetables and low glycemic fruit), moderate protein (grass-fed beef, free range chicken, wild-caught seafood), nuts and seeds are all important when you eat for energy. Cancer LOVES sugar! If you are a smoker, we will not accept you as a patient because you seriously need to get serious about your health first.
7. Weekly Check-in Calls: It’s important to stay in contact to answer any and all questions along with monitoring your progress so we will schedule weekly FaceTime, WhatsApp or Zoom.com calls.
8. Unlimited Texting: You will have Dr. Johnson’s personal cell number so you will have the ability to text him with any and all questions. Dr. Johnson attempts to respond as soon as possible. Texting is available to you at all times, 24/7.
9. Acceptance into Our Program: We not only have patients from all over the U.S. but we have patients from all over the world. We don’t accept all patients that present to our clinic. We offer 6,12,18 and 24 month programs so if you can afford it, our best recommendation is the 24-month program.

If you have any questions, please email Dr. Johnson directly at DRMLJ83@gmail.com.

Care Plans… 12, 18, and 24-Months

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the fact that everything except the weekly calls are provided upfront, there are no refunds. Once you are in, you are in and we get you better. There are also no itemized invoices provided for any reason. All of the care will be provided as described above. The only option to make payments is Care Credit. Care Credit offers a 24 month no interest plan in which they take a hefty part of our fee. If you have payments left at the end of 24 months interest free, many get a bank loan which will have a much lower interest.

Care Plan: 12-Month Program

The vast majority of chronic conditions take at least a year to correct. Care Credit offers many options including no interest plans up to 24 months.

$14,995.00… The 12-month program can be financed via CareCredit.

This program includes all homeopathic remedies to remove toxins and infections that weaken your immune system, pre and post lab tests, 20,000 watt LZR Ultrabright red light ($3999.00 online at www.lzrultrabright.com) emails, phone calls and complete support for 12-months. Please note: it does not include nutritional supplements. I keep supplements at a minimum.

Care Plan: 18-Month Program

Care Credit offers many options including no interest plans up to 18 months.

$18,500… The 18-month program can be financed via CareCredit

This program includes all homeopathic remedies, pre and post lab tests, 20,000 watt LZR Ultrabright red light, emails, phone calls and complete support for 18-months. Please note: it does not include nutritional supplements.

Care Plan: 24-Month Program

Care Credit offers many options including no interest plans up to 24 months.

$24,500… The 24-month program can be financed via CareCredit or MLend.

This program includes all homeopathic remedies, pre and post lab tests, 20,000 watt LZR Ultrabright red light, emails, phone calls and complete support for 24-months. Please note: it does not include nutritional supplements.

Due to the fact that we have to pay for everything upfront (LZR Red Light, All Labs, etc), we need payment upfront which is why we offer Care Credit financing. They offer a 24-month, no interest option or up to 60-months with interest.

Financing Options for Care with Dr. Michael L. Johnson / Johnson Wellness Institute / Apple Medical Clinic

Care Credit

Care Credit offers a 24-month, no interest option that many of our patients use. Please go to www.carecredit.com, apply for an account, fill out the attached Care Credit form and email it back to Dr. Johnson at DRMLJ83@gmail.com.

Advance Care

Advance Care offers 6-14 month no interest options. Please go to www.advancecarecard.com and select, “Apply Now.”

Choose credit status from Excellent, Good, Fair and you will be directed as to which product best matches your credit situation.

MLend

Go to www.mlendfinance.com and apply online.

We also accept credit cards, cash, and checks.

Lower Credit Scores Can Use…

MyMedicalFunding

Go to www.mymedicalfunding.com, select the amount and complete the online application.

Care Credit Payment Plans… For Our 12 Month Care Plans

12 Month Care Plan = $14,995.00

No Interest Payment Plans via Care Credit

• 6 Month No Interest (aka Deferred Interest) = $2500.00
• 12 Month No Interest (aka Deferred Interest) = $1250.00
• 18 Month No Interest (aka Deferred Interest) = $834.00
• 24 Month No Interest (aka Deferred Interest) = $625.00

Payment Plans with Interest via Care Credit

• 24 Month Reduced APR 17.9% w/monthly payments = $748.00
• 36 Month Reduced APR 18.9% w/monthly payments = $549.00
• 48 Month Reduced APR 19.9% w/monthly payments = $456.00
• 60 Month Reduced APR 20.9% w/monthly payments = $405.00

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Diet Guide

What Can I Eat?

What can you eat? A: an anti-inflammatory diet that includes… PRIMARILY SEAFOOD. Due to its DHA content, seafood is the most anti-inflammatory and pro-detoxifying food. Look for seafood high in DHA like salmon, tuna (just not too much due to mercury), halibut, whitefish, sardines, oysters, shrimp, crab, any vegetables, any low glycemic fruit, nuts and seeds. Keep meat to a minimum.

Yes

Fish/Seafood

(on the SASSI green list, of course!)

The oiler the better:

• Anchovies
• Angel fish
• Calamari
• Dorado
• Haddock
• Hake
• Kob
• Mackerel
• Mussles
• Prawns
• Salmon
• Sardines
• Scallops
• Squid
• Trout
• Tuna
• Whitefish

Drinks

• All teas (not milk)
• Coffee (with cream or butter, not milk)
• Sparkling water (with or without a lemon)
• Water

Veggies

Rule of thumb here is, if it grows above ground, it’s OK.

• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Cucumber
• Green beans
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Marrows
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Onions
• Peppers
• Pumpkin
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Sugar snaps/snow peas
• Tomatoes

Fruits

• Berries and/or fruit with a pit (cherries, peaches, etc)
• Coconut

Eggs

Any which way you like for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Real, local, organic eggs are definitely best, if you can find them.

Meat

“As for us possible, choose grass-fed or organic meats; enjoy the fat and the skin!”

• “Bacon,” Try to find charcuterie bacon. If possible, without nitrates and nitrites, and with the lowest carb content. (Which means the least sugar).
• Biltong
• Beef (grass-fed is anti-inflammatory)
• Chicken (free range)
• Duck
• Geese
• Lamb
• Pork
• Turkey
• All cured meats Cured with the least amount of sugar and without strange chemicals you don’t recognize.
• All sausages containing only meat and spices – avoid sausages with fillers like gluten, rusk, sugar and so on.

Sweet Things

• Erythritol
• Xylitol
• Stevia

Fats

• Animal fats
• Avocado Oil
• Beef tallow
• Butter
• Coconut cream
• Coconut milk
• Coconut oil
• Dripping
• Duck fat
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Ghoe
• Heavy cream
• Lard
• Macadamia nut oil
• Mayonnaise (home-made; make sure you use the right oils)

Seeds

• Chia seeds
• Flax seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds

Flour

• Almond flour
• Coconut flour
• Hazelnut flour
• Other nut flours

Nuts

• Almonds
• Brazil nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Macadamias
• Pecans
• Peanuts
• Walnuts

Dairy

(All full of fat)

While you are trying to lose weight, it may be better to cut out all dairy other than unsalted butter which by the way, is delicious in coffee!

• Blue cheeses
• Butter
• Cream
• Cream cheese
• Feta cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Parmesan cheese
• All other high fat cheese

Very Little Alcohol

• Brandy
• Champagne
• Dry red wine
• Dry white wine
• Rum
• Sparkling wine
• Tequila
• Vodka
• Whisky

Very Little

Sweet Things

• Black chocolate 70% and above cocoa content and only very occasionally
• Honey (no more than 1 tsp per day. Very occasionally), Use honey strictly for cooking, otherwise it will seduce you back into sugar craving in no time!

Nuts

• Cashews

Fruit

• All fruit other than berries

Veggies

• Butternut
• Carrots
• Sweet potato

Soya

• Organic soy sauce (only occasionally and only a tiny bit when cooking)

Never

Alcohol

• Anything labeled “lite”
• Beer
• Cider
• Cocktails
• Sugary liqueurs

Starches

• Bread
• Crackers
• Chickpeas
• Dried Beans
• Peas
• Parsnip
• Pasta
• Popcorn
• Porridge
• Potatoes
• Rice

Nuts

• Peanuts (they’re not really a nut)

Sweet Things

• Any artificial sweeteners
• Biscuits
• Cakes
• Chocolate
• Energy drinks
• Fizzy drinks
• Fruit drinks
• HFCS
• Ice cream
• Malt
• Sugar
• Sweets
• Syrup
• Veggie juices

Meats

• Lunch meats
• Processed meats

Grains (Gluten)

• All whole grains
• Barley
• Breakfast cereals
• Bulgur wheat
• Corn
• Couscous
• Mullet
• Oats
• Rye
• Rice
• Spelt
• Wheat

Dried Fruit

• All of it

Soya

• Edamame beans
• Tofu
• Any soya take foods – sausages etc.

Fats

• Canola oil
• Cottonseed oil
• Flaxseed oil
• Grapeseed oil
• Hemp oil
• Margarine
• Sesame oil
• Soybean oil
• Sunflower oil

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DUTCH Test Info

Dutch Test Information

Includes FaceTime/WhatsApp consultation to review the findings, receive recommendations, and a full written report from Dr. Johnson.

Watch This Video

DUTCH TEST: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY… https://www.tiktok.com/@drmichaelljohnson1/video/7320671336127319339

Watch These Videos Which Show You Before and After Dutch Test Changes

• DECREASE IN MALE ESTROGENS… https://www.tiktok.com/@drmichaelljohnson1/video/7542632300035558686
• AMAZING BEFORE AND AFTER DUTCH TEST CHANGES… https://www.tiktok.com/@drmichaelljohnson1/video/7548083729814654238

The DUTCH Complete™ is the most advanced hormone test, offering an extensive profile of sex and adrenal hormones and melatonin, along with their metabolites AND HORMONE PATHWAYS, to identify symptoms of hormonal imbalances. Easily collected in the comfort of your own home, samples are then sent to our lab to be processed. The DUTCH Complete™ is the most accurate test providing a complete assessment of hormonal health.

The Kit Is Sent to Your Home and It Includes

• Easy directions and filter paper collection strips
• Requisition form for patient information, pertinent supplements, medications, hormone replacement, and a health questionnaire
• Sealable return envelope

The Results Include

• Analysis of 35 different hormones: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, and cortisol along with their metabolites
• Daily free cortisol patterns to provide insight into adrenal insufficiency or symptoms of chronic stress
• Graphical representation of results and embedded video tutorials to assist in the hormone assessment to share with your medical provider
• DUTCH OATs: Oxidative stress marker – 8-Hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), melatonin (6-OHMS), and six organic acid tests (OATs) including markers for vitamin B12 (methylmalonate), vitamin B6 (xanthurenate), kynurenate, glutathione (pyroglutamate), dopamine (homovanillate), norepinephrine/epinephrine (vanilmandelate).

IF YOU CAN DO COMPLETE BLOOD WORK, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT ALONG WITH THE DUTCH TEST BECAUSE THE LIVER CLEARS, PRODUCES, REGULATES, AND REMOVES EXCESS HORMONES. The liver also converts thyroid hormone (inactive T4 to active T3) along with many other functions. Please see “Comprehensive Blood Work” below.

(ALL TESTING INCLUDES RESULTS, VIDEO REVIEW, AND REPORT WITH RECOMMENDATIONS)…

Pricing

• DUTCH TEST COMPLETE ONLY (no blood work) = $795.00
• DUTCH TEST COMPLETE (with you providing copies of your blood work) = $895.00
• (Just an FYI: I can get the exact same information from the Complete as what is on the Plus but some insist on the Plus. Dutch Test Plus Only (no blood work) = $1200.00)
• DUTCH TEST REVIEW OF EXISTING TEST (not over 12 months old) = $495.00
• BLOOD WORK = $795.00
• COMPLETE BLOOD WORK WITH DUTCH TEST = $1590.00
• COMPLETE BLOOD WORK WITH DUTCH TEST PLUS NASH AND CD4:CD8 = $2180.00

ALL INCLUDE REVIEW OF TESTS VIA VIDEO CALL, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND REPORT BY DR JOHNSON.

We will send you to a blood draw site near you. It takes 7-10 days to get the results back from the lab at which point, we will schedule you for a review with Dr. Johnson.

Complete Blood Work

1. Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP): This test will check your glucose levels, gut function, adrenal function, and liver function to name a few.
2. Complete lipid panel: This test will check your cholesterol, triglycerides, Chol/HDL ratio, HDLs, and LDLs.
3. CBC with auto differential: This test will check for underlying toxins (RBCs) and infections (WBCs) by checking your red and white blood cells.
4. Thyroid panel which includes ALL of the following: TSH, TPO (ATA) and TGB (ATG) antibodies. Every cell in your body has a receptor for thyroid hormone.

If the following tests are not on the CMP (every lab is different so please ask), they need to be run…

5. Magnesium (involved in over 3000 enzymatic reactions)
6. Transferrin
7. 25 OHD (aka. Vit D)
8. Copper and Zinc (Cu to Zn ratio is very important for your immune system)
9. TIBC (total iron binding capacity)
10. Vitamin A (Vit A to D ratio is vital to your immune response)
11. Ferritin (stored iron… inflammation marker)
12. C-RP or C-Reactive Protein (inflammation marker)
13. Homocysteine (inflammation marker)
14. Fibrinogen (inflammation marker)
15. GGT (liver enzyme that checks the toxic load of your liver)

Additional Blood Work Not Included and Charged Separately

• NASH FIBROSURE PLUS (an intense, in-depth look at liver function) = $495.00
• CD4:CD8 Ratio (in-depth look at the strength of your immune system) = $95.00

To Order

Please email Dr. Johnson at DRMLJ83@gmail.com and let him know if you just want the DUTCH test only, if you have your own blood work that you would like him to review, or Complete Blood Work with the DUTCH Test, and he will send you a credit card authorization.

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Importance of Blocking Blue Light

THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOCKING BLUE LIGHT AND PROTECTING OUR EYES!

(ie. WEAR BLUE LIGHT BLOCKING GLASSES!)

Blue light decreases REM sleep, increases blood sugar, decreases brain firing, lowers your DHA, and lowers hormone production.

Our eyes decide our metabolism—not our genes. The eye is the most important environmental organ. Through it, light timing determines which biochemical signals our body produces.

What is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)?

• “Supra” = above
• “Chiasmatic” = the optic chiasm (where optic nerves cross)
• “Nucleus” = like a control center made of neurons

It is a small cluster of neurons located above the optic chiasm in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus helps control: sleep/wake cycles, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, hunger, temperature, hormones…

The SCN is the master clock of our biology.

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of your cells. You are only as healthy as your mitochondria. Mitochondrial survival depends on FOUR environmental surfaces:

• Eyes
• Skin
• Gut Lining
• Lung Surfaces

These are the only interfaces where the external environment directly programs internal biology. Among them, the EYES dominate.

The eye is not a camera. It is a TIME-setting device. Inside the retina are neuropsin and melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells. These cells detect light wavelength and timing—not images. They send signals directly to the SCN without interpretation, emotion, or thinking. Just raw environmental truth setting the clock that controls hormones, metabolism, immunity, and mitochondrial energy.

This pathway is called the Central Retinal Pathway. It’s raw environmental truth deciding what chemicals get released—and whether our biology repairs or degenerates.

It tells the brain:

• Is it day or night?
• Is it summer or winter?
• Is energy abundant or scarce?

Leptin is NOT a fat hormone—it is a TIMING hormone. It tells the brain:

• Is it day or night?
• Is it summer or winter?
• Is energy abundant or scarce?

But leptin only works if the clock is correct. Nature places the SCN between the eye (light input) and the hypothalamus (metabolic control). The SCN acts like a customs officer:

Does this leptin signal match the light environment? YES = leptin sensitivity NO = leptin resistance

ON vs OFF—timing is everything. The SCN controls:

• Cortisol (morning ON)
• Melatonin (night OFF)
• Insulin sensitivity / Blood Sugar
• Thyroid signaling
• Sex hormones
• Autophagy (cell cleaning)
• DNA repair…

It flips the switch based on: wavelength, intensity, timing.

Morning sunlight (red, IR, blue) → SCN = ON → Cortisol rises → Metabolism activated → Mitochondria make clean energy

Night darkness (NO BLUE LIGHT) → SCN = OFF → Melatonin rises → Repair + autophagy + Immune surveillance

Artificial blue light at night = False sunrise signal

• Night hormones shut down
• Repair stops
• Inflammation rises…

This is not harmless! It’s catastrophic over time! It leads to: Disease, Obesity, Neurological Degeneration, Cardiac Issues, and everything in between.

Modern life is lethal because:

• Indoor living (no healing UV, red or infrared light and blue light at night)
• Screens at night (increased blue light)
• Sunglasses outside (blocks UV light to the retinal receptors)
• EMFs everywhere

Result:

• SCN never turns OFF
• Melatonin suppressed
• Leptin resistance
• Hunger increases
• Fat gain
• Immune failure
• Cancer risk rises…

As quoted on X – Light Me Away 12/15/25: “Disease is a circadian mismatch.”

When the SCN is broken:

• Immune timing fails
• Inflammation stays high
• Healing slows
• Drugs work worse, with more side effects…

That’s why environmental correction beats pharmacology long-term—and food. Straight from the source: “The eye is the most important metabolic organ you own.” “You don’t fix mitochondria with food, you fix them with TIME.”

And that is why our eyes determine the fate of our biology, long before genes ever do.

(Source: X – Light Me Away 12/15/25)

What can you do to help yourself?

• Order blue light blocking glasses from the link below AND wear them!
• Wear them when the sun goes down until you go to bed.
• Wear them when you watch TV. (All TVs are LED Blue Light)
• Wear them when you go to the grocery store, big box store or any store because they all contain high levels of LED blue light.
• STOP wearing sunglasses which block the retinal receptors.
• Get up and watch the morning sunrise with as few clothes on as possible so you get as much UV light as possible!
  • UVA = increases nitric oxide which opens up blood vessels so nutrients can flow.
  • UVB increases melanin to increase melatonin. (see “Melatonin Benefits” resource)

LUCIA EYES LINK FOR THE BEST BLUE LIGHT BLOCKING GLASSES… With blue light blocking glasses, you get what you pay for—so…

Lucia Eyes are the only blue light blocking glasses that I use and recommend. Here is my affiliate link: https://luciaeyes.com/?aff=21

I have 3 pair of Lucia Eyes prescription blue light blocking glasses and two pair of Lucia Eyes non-prescription blue light blocking glasses for reading. I wear them all of the time!

Watch this TikTok video that I posted a while back… “The #1 Factor in Health, Healing and Happiness!” https://www.tiktok.com/@drmichaelljohnson1/video/7574495928761978142

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Iron Overload Syndrome

IRON OVERLOAD SYNDROME

Iron oxidation (iron overload syndrome) is a VERY SERIOUS condition where there is too much iron in your system.

Too much iron leads to the loss of magnesium, which causes underlying inflammation and pain among other symptoms! ATP (the energy molecule in your cells) doesn’t work unless it is complexed with magnesium. Left uncorrected, it can lead to cancer.

Common symptoms if the condition advances include:

• Inflammation
• Chronic Pain
• Numbness
• Tiredness or fatigue
• Weakness
• Weight loss
• Abdominal pain
• High blood sugar levels
• Hyperpigmentation, or the skin turning a bronze color
• A loss of libido, or sex drive
• In males, reduction in the size of the testicles
• In females, reduced or absent menstruation

In time, the following conditions may develop:

• Cancer (Simply Google “iron overload and cancer” or “high iron and cancer”)
• Arthritis
• Liver disease or cirrhosis (permanent scarring) of the liver
• Enlargement of the liver
• Diabetes
• Enlargement of the prostate
• Thyroid disorders
• Heart disease
• Pancreatitis
• And other chronic health conditions like high cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease, etc.

FERRITIN BLOOD TEST A simple blood test known as a ferritin test is the first step to determine if you have high iron stored in your body. A normal FUNCTIONAL (not lab) ferritin level should be between 20-50.

Here are the links (in descending order of importance) to the supplements that will help you lower ferritin.

IF it doesn’t work, we may have to dig deeper! What do I mean by “deeper”? If your CBC with diff reveals underlying toxins and infections, they will need to be addressed for you to be healthy!

Please keep in mind that hematologists are CLUELESS on how to lower ferritin because all that they know are DRUGS and there isn’t a drug to lower it!

IF INTERESTED, I CAN EMAIL YOU LINKS FROM FULL SCRIPT AND OHS—just email me back and let me know…

• IP-6 (This is the ONLY one that I have found to lower ferritin. Take 2-3 per day and retest your ferritin in 6-8 weeks)
• ALPHA LIPOIC ACID: Take 2/day
• NAC: Take 2/day

Other possible supplements needed (not all):

• OPTI PARA (Contains Artemisia or wormwood to help lower ferritin) Link: https://drjsupplements.com/opti-para.aspx
• DIGESTIVE ENZYME PRO BLEND (digestive enzymes to help digest fats, carbohydrates and proteins…take 1-2 with each meal)
• ADRENAVEN (adrenal gland support…the adrenals are your stress glands…take 2/day)
• EFA (This EFA is PLANT BASED so it does not contain the mercury that are in all fish-based EFAs…take 2/day)
• OPTI METHYL B (liver support, the liver makes…)

INFLAMMATION MARKERS

• Homocysteine: normal 6-7
• Fibrinogen: normal not above 350
• Ferritin: optimal normal 50-70
• CRP: normal less than 1.0

HERE IS THE COMPLETE BLOOD WORK NEEDED TO ASSESS IRON OVERLOAD SYNDROME:

1. Serum Iron = 100 % Saturation <40%
2. Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) = 285ug/dL for women = 340ug/dL for men
3. Serum Ferritin = 20-50ng/mL (true marker for how much iron is in your body)
4. Serum Transferrin = 300mg/dL
5. Serum Copper = 100ug/dL
6. Serum Ceruloplasmin = ~30mg/dL metric = .35g/L
7. RBC Magnesium = 6.5mg/dL
8. Plasma Zinc = 100ug/dL
9. Hemoglobin USA = 12.5g/dL for women = 13.5g/dL for men
10. Vitamin A (retinol) active Vitamin A = Level should be 3x higher than your vitamin D
11. Vit D (25-OH) 15-30ng/mL Metric = 37.5-75nmol/L
12. RBC = 3.9-4.5
13. HCT = 39-55

Most of the above are in standard blood work (CMP, CBC with diff, Lipid Panel and Thyroid Panel).

What is not in the standard blood work are Serum Copper, Serum Ceruloplasmin, RBC Magnesium, Plasma Zinc, and Vit A.

THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO NOW… STOPS:

1. STOP Taking iron supplements, iron fortified foods, anything with ‘added iron’ –Iron shuts down copper metabolism
2. STOP Taking vitamin D3 supplements or ANY foods fortified with vitamin D –Vit D stops the liver’s production of ceruloplasmin. Start taking Cod Liver oil which contains the correct ratio of Vit A to Vit D.
3. STOP Taking calcium supplements –Calcium blocks Magnesium and Iron absorption
4. STOP Taking zinc supplements –Zinc will raise iron
5. STOP Taking molybdenum supplements
6. STOP Taking one-a-day multivitamins, pre-natals, etc.
7. STOP Taking B vitamins from a bottle (get them from food!)
8. STOP Using synthetic forms of ascorbate/ascorbic acid & citrate/citric acid –Disrupts Cu/ceruloplasmin bond
9. STOP Using high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) & artificial sweeteners –Lowers liver copper and raises iron in the liver
10. STOP Using industrialized omega-6 oils (e.g. soybean oil, canola oil, etc.)
11. STOP Using fluoride (e.g. in toothpaste, water, etc.) –Fluoride decreases magnesium.
12. STOP Using colloidal silver as an antibiotic –It lowers Cu status in the body
13. STOP Eating low-fat, high-carb, processed, refined foods –Fat is needed for proper copper absorption
14. LIMIT Exposure to environmental toxins, including unchecked blue light exposure and EMFs from electronic devices

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Melatonin Benefits

Watch This Video

“THE #1 FACTOR IN HEALTH, HEALING AND HAPPINESS!” Here is the link…. https://www.tiktok.com/@drmichaelljohnson1/video/7574495928761978142

Melatonin is an Immune Booster, Natural Anti-Inflammatory, Powerful Antioxidant/Detoxifier, Hormone and Genetic Balancer, Helps with Jet Lag, EMF Interference, Bio-Rhythm Restoration and Sleep! Do not take it as a supplement, watch the video above and make it naturally!

Melatonin is natural hormone produced by the pineal gland located in the center of the brain. Its secretion is inhibited by light and stimulated by darkness. Therefore, melatonin production peaks at night and is at its peak when you are 7-8 years old. Research shows that the body’s natural production of melatonin decreases with age (starting around age 30) and in times of severe stress.

It has received substantial publicity for its ability to promote natural sleep patterns, stimulate the immune system, decrease jet lag and its role as a powerful antioxidant. Unlike the synthetic products on the market, Melatonin contains a live source, bio-active melatonin.

Since melatonin is produced in the pineal gland, over time, the pineal gland will start to calcify. Calcification can be reversed and prevented by taking DAK1K2 available at www.drjsupplements.com. DAK1K2 will also remove calcifications from your arteries and return the calcium back to your teeth and bones where it belongs.

Extremely Powerful Antioxidant/Detoxifier

Melatonin is a highly effective free radical scavenger, being the only antioxidant to infiltrate the smallest spaces in the body where no other antioxidant has access. This is why melatonin is the BEST overall detoxifier of the body. Studies show that using melatonin during times of increased free radical production (such as stress, physical exertion, chronic health concerns, cancer etc.) can have a strong protective effect. Melatonin is readily absorbed and crosses the blood-brain barrier and the placenta, to enter the cells to prevent oxidative damage. The reduction of melatonin levels with age may be a factor in increased oxidative damage in elderly people.

Melatonin Strengthens and Increases Mitochondria

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of every cell in your body! The stronger your mitochondria, the longer you will live! Melatonin also increases telomere length. The longer your telomeres, the longer and healthier you will be throughout your life!

Best All Natural Anti-Inflammatory Available

Melatonin is the best all-around natural anti-inflammatory available today! This includes neuroinflammation associated with neurological disorders (MS, Parkinson’s, Stroke, etc.)

One of the major causes of inflammation in the body is NF Kappa Beta (NFkB). Melatonin inhibits production of NFkB!

Immune System Booster

Melatonin is hands-down the best immune system booster on the planet! There is NOTHING that I have found in over 40+ years of practice that works better.

Balances Hormones

Melatonin will balance hormones including decreasing high estrogen. High levels of estrogen have been shown to cause breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

It inhibits the enzyme that produces estrogen in the body.

Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) ratios are balanced with melatonin. Like estrogen, when LH is high, there is a greater risk of prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Melatonin stops the excess production of LH! Melatonin will bring LH levels to when you were 20-years old.

Balances Blood Sugar

Research studies have shown that dysglycemia (high or low blood sugar) is corrected with high dose melatonin. Melatonin also helps reduce sugar cravings.

Increases Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Naturally!

HGH is literally the “fountain of youth” and high dose melatonin naturally increases it.

Increases Bone Density

High dose melatonin has been shown to reduce the disastrous effects of osteoporosis.

Reduces High Blood Pressure (HTN)

There are over 75-million patients in the U.S. that suffer from high blood pressure or hypertension (HTN). High dose melatonin has been proven to reduce high blood pressure. Some HTN medications, like Propananol, have been shown to reduce your body’s melatonin levels.

Effective Cancer Therapy

Melatonin does not “cure” cancer but it helps the body function at maximum capacity to help the body heal itself. It supports the body to allow for maximum healing!

Melatonin will also help reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy!

Genetic SNP Healing

Melatonin helps to heal genetic SNPs or genetic variants. In a healthy body, DNA is proteins that are folded on top of one another. Genetic SNPs are basically proteins that have unfolded.

The more that your genetic proteins unfold, the higher your risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Protects against EMFs and 5G

Melatonin protects your body from the ill effects of EMFs and 5G.

Pain Relief

Melatonin has been shown to reduce chronic pain. It will be a very effective all-natural treatment for pain and hopefully help reduce the opioid epidemic created by Big Pharma and the medical profession.

Jet Lag and Travel Fatigue

Research indicates that melatonin is effective in rebalancing the de-synchronization of the body’s internal “time clock” due to air travel over time zones (jet lag). Typical symptoms of jet lag can include loss of appetite, irritability, gastrointestinal concerns, disorientation, difficulties concentrating, feeling mentally “off” and sleep disorders. Even world-class athletes, who sometimes travel over time zones to compete in athletic events such as the Olympics, have been studied to determine if melatonin can benefit them. Many top athletes take melatonin regularly to reduce the tiring symptoms associated with jet lag and travel.

Restful Sleep

The use of melatonin to promote restful sleep is well documented. Studies of oral melatonin in healthy adult volunteers showed that the time to sleep onset, stage-2, and REM sleep was decreased without affecting the percentage of time in REM sleep or alertness after waking. In addition, evidence also indicates improved sleep benefits for children as well. It is very important to sleep in as dark of a room as possible to allow the body to produce melatonin naturally!

Key Benefits

• The only live source, vegetarian-sourced melatonin. Not solvent extracted
• Promotes sound, restful sleep – especially when you are not on a normal sleep pattern
• Consider use in lymphoma, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer as well as Alzheimer’s
• Super anti-aging and longevity support – the only antioxidant small enough to penetrate otherwise “un-reachable” locations in the body
• Essential Antioxidant for cancer and chronic disease support
• Key molecule that helps regulate the body’s circadian rhythms for healthy hormonal cycling
• Famous for minimizing jet lag
• Major immune system support
• The best all-natural anti-inflammatory available
• Very important for people who have been chronically exposed to toxic electromagnetic fields, such as sleeping with the TV on or sleeping near a clock radio that is plugged in right next to the bed (high EMF stress to head fields). EMFs decrease melatonin production.
• Heavy-duty, long-term support for those who are exposed daily to powerful, unprotected electromagnetic field devices such as microwaves, cell phone towers, high voltage lines, etc.

Zero Side-Effects!

Melatonin has ZERO side-effects! Research has proven that even as high a dose as 43,000 mg, there are no side-effects. It should be noted that side-effects will occur with cheap grades of Melatonin that are full of excipients (binders, fillers, and glue that some companies use to make more profits!)

The Sunlight, Serotonin and Melatonin Connection – Excerpted from “Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation” by Andreas Moritz

The brain synthesizes an important neurotransmitter, serotonin, which relates to our well-being. It has a powerful influence on day and night rhythms, sexual behavior, memory, appetite, impulsiveness, fear and even suicidal tendencies. Unlike melatonin, serotonin increases with the light of day—with peak secretions at midday—and also through physical exercise. It is very interesting to note that over 95 percent of this extremely important neurotransmitter is actually made in your gut, not in your brain. This gut/brain connection shows how crucial eating good food and healthy digestive functions are for the overall well-being of both the mind and the body, and vice versa.

The increasing and decreasing levels of melatonin and serotonin indicate to the cells whether it is dark or light outside and whether they should be more active or slow down their activities. This intricate mechanism ensures that all physical functions are synchronized with the rhythmic changes that occur in the natural environment. This is known as “entrainment.” The health of each cell in the body depends, therefore, on the degree to which we allow the body to be in synchrony and harmony with the cycles of day and night.

Any deviation from the circadian rhythm causes abnormal secretions of the hormones melatonin and serotonin. This hormonal imbalance, in turn, leads to erratic biological rhythms, which can subsequently disrupt the harmonious function of the entire organism, including the digestion of food, cell metabolism and overall hormonal imbalance. Suddenly, we may feel “out of sync” or shaky and become susceptible to developing an illness, which could include a simple head cold, headache, depression or even a cancerous tumor. The pineal gland controls reproduction, sleep and motor activity, blood pressure, the immune system, the pituitary and thyroid glands, cellular growth, body temperature, and many other vital functions. All of these depend on the regular melatonin cycle, which, yet again, is controlled by our body’s ability to be in synchrony with nature’s rhythms. The amount of melatonin made available to the body in response to the darkness of the night depends on the concentration of serotonin secreted in response to the amount of natural light we are exposed to during the day. As daylight diminishes, serotonin is automatically broken down into melatonin.

If your body makes a good amount of serotonin from natural light, it will also produce sufficient amounts of melatonin during the nighttime, provided your eyes are closed. (When exposed to light, the pineal gland does not secrete melatonin in sufficient amounts). The pineal gland starts secreting melatonin between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. (depending on your age.) Unless you use stimulants such as caffeine or food at the time, melatonin naturally induces sleepiness or drowsiness.

The cycles of melatonin and serotonin depend on each other and are precisely controlled by our changing environment. By disregarding these rhythmic changes in nature and living against these unspoken laws, the body and mind move out of sync with one another.

Massive Research

Melatonin is supported by massive amounts of research! It has over 25,000 research papers on www.pubmed.gov. and Russell Reiter, PhD, the number one researcher on melatonin, has over 450 published papers alone! Reiter’s book, Melatonin: Breakthrough Discoveries that Can Help You Combat Aging, Boost Your Immune System, Reduce Your Risk of Cancer and Heart Disease, and Get a Better Night’s Sleep is available at Amazon.com.

The Only Melatonin That I Recommend Dosages…

MELATONIN (High dose melatonin is the best detoxifying agent for your body. Adults take two ½ droppers full per day and children, 2-4 drops per day) I can send you the direct script for it.

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Methylene Blue & Ivermectin Benefits

There are 3.73 MILLION research papers on Methylene Blue and 162,000 research papers on Ivermectin posted on Google Scholar.

I have a few listed at the end of this article. –Dr. Michael Johnson

Here is a great synopsis of Methylene Blue and Ivermectin from “Light Me Away” on X…

Why doesn’t the centralized pharmaceutical industry want us to know the power of Methylene Blue (MB) and Ivermectin (IVM)?

Because both hit at the root cause of cancer, COVID injuries, and chronic disease the same way; by restoring mitochondrial electron flow. When electrons move, disease loses its power. When we learn that, their business model collapses.

HOW?

Both repair broken electron flow in mitochondria (the core problem in cancer + chronic illness).

Both restore redox: meaning they raise the cell’s “battery charge.”

Both shift cells away from Warburg metabolism (fermentation) and back toward oxidative phosphorylation (normal mitochondrial respiration).

Both improve the quality of light inside cells (biophotons); which is how cells talk with each other and decide to live or die.

Both act as anti-inflammatory + anti-clotting agents at the mitochondrial level….

MB + IVM both help attack that root problem, not the symptom.

1. Both MB and IVM restore the mitochondrial electron chain
   Disease = electron loss.
   Healing = electron flow.
   When electrons stop flowing in mitochondria, the cell shifts into Warburg metabolism (fermentation). That is the metabolic signature of cancer and also severe viral injury. What exactly do MB and IVM do?
   Methylene Blue = accepts electrons. Its “grabs” stuck electrons and moves them forward in the chain (Complex I & III). It is basically a backup battery for broken mitochondria.
   Ivermectin = improves electron transport efficiency Ivermectin stabilizes ion channels, reduces oxidative stress, and restores redox potential; indirectly improving electron flow.
   Different molecules but same endpoint:
   More electrons moving = more life.
2. Both chemicals fix the cell’s oxygen problem. In cancer + COVID injuries, mitochondria often cannot use oxygen correctly.
   This causes: ROS or Reactive Oxygen Species (ie. free radicals) explosions inflammation clotting low ATP immune dysfunction
   MB increases NAD+/NADH balance + boosts oxygen use.
   IVM reduces inflammatory hypoxia and restores normal oxygen signaling.
   Again: restoring oxygen metabolism.
3. Both collapse the “Warburg Shield” of cancer cells. Cancer cells survive by: living without oxygen fermenting glucose blocking apoptosis (cell suicide) hiding from the immune system
   Both MB and IVM:
   –lower lactate
   –lower inflammation
   –increase mitochondrial membrane potential
   –“wake up” apoptosis signals (apoptosis is eliminating damaged cells to keep you health

“They both (Ivermectin and Methylene Blue) take cancer cells out of the Stone Age and back into the light”
–Dr. Jack Kruse

BECAUSE:
Pre-oxygen Earth = fermentation (Warburg)
Post-oxygen Earth = oxidative phosphorylation

Cancer is a time-machine back to fermentation. MB + IVM break that spell

4. Both restore biological coherence (light communication) Cells communicate using biophotons = light.
   When mitochondria are broken:
   –the signal is low quality
   –the wavelength is wrong
   –the immune system becomes blind
   –cancer grows undetected
   MB increases UV + blue biophoton emission (cleaner signal).
   IVM reduces IL-6 and inflammation, restoring coherence.
5. Both block spike protein & micro-clotting pathology For COVID injuries:
   Methylene Blue: improves blood oxygen reduces methemoglobin breaks down micro-clots.
   Ivermectin: binds spike protein reduces inflammation prevents “stickiness” in blood Different angles = same outcome: restore oxygen + blood flow = restore mitochondrial function.

Because cancer & severe COVID injuries share the same ROOT problem:

a collapsed mitochondrial redox. Fix the electrons, and their entire system falls apart. REDOX is the key.”

(Source: X – Light Me Away 11/12/25)

***NANO BLUE IS THE ONLY MB THAT I USE AND RECOMMEND. YOU CAN LEARN THE DIFFERENCE IN THE VIDEO THAT IS IN THIS LINK… https://www.optimalhealthsystems.com/products/optimal-nanoblue/#code=ohsbmjohnson

Here is the link for Nano Blue… https://www.optimalhealthsystems.com/products/optimal-nanoblue/#code=ohsbmjohnson

Methylene Blue Research (3.73 million research papers)

Here are a few of interest…

• Therapeutic Reviews of MB… https://journals.lww.com/americantherapeutics/abstract/2003/07000/methylene_blue.9.aspx
• MB and It’s Importance in Medicine… https://www.journalmeddbu.com/full-text/213
• Clinical Effectiveness of MB… https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d81e/8049afecf4f10fbbbb694a9f4b57764e97e3.pdf
• Molecular Mechanisms of the Neuroprotective Effect of MB… https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0006297922090073
• MB Protects Against Toluene-Induced Brain Damage… https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0006297922090073
• MB and Alzheimer’s… https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006295209003359

Ivermectin Research (162,000 research papers)

Here are a few of interest…

• Ivermectin Won the Nobel Prize in 2015… https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2015/press-release/
• Ivermectin… https://www.derm.theclinics.com/article/S0733-8635(02)00095-5/abstract
• Ivermectin Old Dog, New Tricks… https://www.cell.com/trends/parasitology/fulltext/S1471-4922(17)30062-4?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=1471-4922_201706_33_6_&elsca4=Cell+Press
• Ivermectin in Human Medicine… https://academic.oup.com/jac/article-abstract/34/2/195/743766
• The Life and Times of Ivermectin—A Success Story… https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro1048
• Mode of Action of Ivermectin… https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4612-3626-9_5

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Radionics

Radionics was founded by Dr Albert Abrams (1863-1924), a native of San Francisco, under the original name of ERA – Electronic Reactions of Abrams. This was in the same era as the discovery of radio transmission and many related electric phenomena. Therefore Dr. Albert Abrams naturally assumed that those effects he was observing when dealing with his patients were also electromagnetic in nature, and he therefore named them radionic.

How does it work?

Radionics is a method of sending precisely defined healing energy through the use of scalar waves to people, animals or plants, no matter where they are in the world. The name reflects the view of early practitioners that they were ‘broadcasting’ healing.

Practitioners use an instrument to both analyze and treat the physical and emotional weaknesses evident in the patient’s subtle energy field. Understanding this field requires extensive study. The instrument serves to focus the thoughts of the practitioner and many types are in use, varying in complexity from computerized machines to quite simple devices. Once the weaknesses in the subtle energy field have been identified specific healing treatments, usually coded in the form of numbers called ‘rates’ which represent the ideal energy states to be induced, are conveyed to the patient with the aid of the instrument.

What are Scalar Waves??

You do not need to be an Expert in Quantum Physics to understand Scalar Waves. Scalar Waves are a well-known phenomenon observed in Geology, Astrophysics and Hydrodynamics. They are often referred to as Longitudinal Wavs or Tesla Waves.

These Non-Linear, Non-Hertzian Waves can carry information. Amazingly, Scalar Waves can travel faster than the speed of light and do not decay over time or distance. Scalar Waves increases the Energy Level of every Hydrogen Atom; this can be observed on Spectograph Imaging. A Spectograph is a device that seperates light by its wavelengths and documents this data. Hydrogen bonds and hold DNA together so it can be postulated that Scalar Energy can promote profound balancing on a Cellular Level.

How is Scalar Energy Created?

Scalar Energy is generated when two Electromagnetic Waves converge from to opposite paths. When these Energy Vectors meet, the equal frequencies cancel each other out, leaving a Static or Stationary for of Energy and zero frequency. Scalar Energy does not flow like regular Electromagnetic Waves but occupies space and increases spatial mass. The Scalar Energy space is alive with checked and balanced energies. Scalar Electromagnetic Pairs create this balanced energy. This Longitudinal, Scalar Energy space has extraordinary properties that promote energy balancing.

The bottom line is this…Radionics helps you get better faster!

My experience with radionics…

We really dialed in radionics at my last homeopathic seminar. The Thursday after the seminar I woke up with a severe sore throat. I have had this happen in the past and when it did, I would have to cancel patients and it would take about a week to recover.

I decided to broadcast myself a homeopathic remedy using radionics. I did and within the next couple of hours, I noticed that I no longer had a sore throat.

Next, my right let had been bothering (pain and weakness) me for the past 6 weeks and I felt that my MS was flaring up. I decided the to broadcast a remedy to myself to help with my leg and I got the same result…the pain and weakness were gone in a few hours and they have not returned. It was at that point that I decided to use radionics with all of my patients. You don’t have to do anything. After I text you the new protocol each week, I will broadcast your

Homeopathic remedy to you via radionics.

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Statin & Cholesterol Research

STATIN RESEARCH

• STATINS ONLY LOWER RISK BY 1.3%… https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2790055
• STATINS DOUBLE RISK OF DEMENTIA… https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/62/supplement_1/102
• DEMASI STUDY RELATIVE RISK VS. ABSOLUTE RISK… https://maryannedemasi.com/publications/f/new-analysis-shows-statins-have-minimal-benefits
• RELATIVE RISK VS. ABSOLUTE RISK… https://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c4830.full
• VERY LOW LDL IS VERY DANGEROUS… https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/39/40/3641/5077833?login=false
• 1st Article…ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LDL AND MORTALITY… https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01738-w
• 2nd Article…ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LDL AND MORTALITY.., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4908872/
• A REAPPRAISAL OF THE LIPID HYPOTHESIS… https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(18)30404-2/fulltext
• WHY YOU GET MUSCLE PAIN AND WEAKNESS…ATLANTIC ARTICLE ON STATINS… https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/06/the-gene-that-explains-statins-most-puzzling-side-effect/674542/
• DO LIPID LOWERING DRUGS CAUSE ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION…. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11818357/

Dashing Hopes…Study Shows Cholesterol Drug Has NO Benefits!!!

It is a drug that reduces levels of LDL cholesterol, the dangerous kind, as much as statins do. And it more than doubles levels of HDL cholesterol, the good kind, which is linked to protection from heart disease. As a result, heart experts had high hopes for it as an alternative for the many patients who cannot or will not take statins.

But these specialists were stunned by the results of a study of 12,000 patients, announced on Sunday at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting: There was no benefit from taking the drug, evacetrapib. The drug’s maker, Eli Lilly, stopped the study in October, citing futility, but it was not until Sunday’s meeting that cardiologists first saw the data behind that decision.

Participants taking the drug saw their LDL levels fall to an average of 55 milligrams per deciliter from 84. Their HDL levels rose to an average of 104 milligram per deciliter from 46. Yet 256 participants had heart attacks, compared with 255 patients in the group who were taking a placebo. Ninety-two patients taking the drug had a stroke, compared with 95 in the placebo group. And 434 people taking the drug died from cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or a stroke, compared with 444 participants who were taking a placebo.

“We had an agent that seemed to do all the right things,” said Dr. Stephen J. Nicholls, the study’s principal investigator and the deputy director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide. “It’s the most mind-boggling question. How can a drug that lowers something that is associated with benefit not show any benefit?” he said, referring to the 37 percent drop in LDL levels with the drug.

Two other drugs in the same class as evacetrapib, known as CETP inhibitors, have also failed: One, which lowered LDL levels by only 20 percent, had toxic side effects. The other raised HDL levels but did not lower LDL levels at all. Cardiologists thought evacetrapib, a safe and potent drug, would be different.

“All of us would have put money on it,” said Dr. Peter Libby, a Harvard cardiologist. The drug, he said, “was the great hope.”

Evacetrapib acts by siphoning cholesterol out of HDL, a cholesterol-carrying scavenger protein, so the cholesterol can be discarded in bile. Statins, in contrast, pull cholesterol from the other major cholesterol-carrying protein, LDL, into the liver, after which it can be discarded. It seemed logical that evacetrapib, by ridding the body of cholesterol in HDL and lowering the amount of LDL proteins, would work to protect against heart disease.

Researchers have hypotheses, but no one is certain what went wrong. “It may be that the LDL level is less important than how it gets changed,” said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist at Hartford Hospital. “But we don’t know that.”

Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic added, “These kinds of studies are wake-up calls.”

Cardiologists still have high hopes for a new class of cholesterol drugs, known as PCSK-9 inhibitors, that cause LDL to plummet to levels never seen in drug treatments. One reason for their optimism is that these drugs have the same end effect as statins: They cause liver cells to draw out cholesterol.

These drugs are being tested in large clinical trials to see if their effects on LDL levels translate into reduced incidences of heart attacks, strokes and death. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the drugs based on their LDL-lowering effects for a number of patient groups, including those at high risk for heart disease who report painful muscle aches or weakness when they take statins.

The PCSK-9 inhibitors can cost more than $14,000 a month, while statins can cost just pennies a day, so determining what portion of patients are truly statin intolerant has become an important question.

A second study presented at the cardiology meeting on Sunday and published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed just how vexing the issue is.

The study, directed by Dr. Nissen and paid for by Amgen, a pharmaceutical company, included more than 500 people with extremely high levels of LDL cholesterol who had tried two or more statins and had reported aching or weak muscles so severe that they said they absolutely could not continue taking the drugs.

The participants were randomly assigned to take either a statin, atorvastatin or a placebo for 10 weeks. Then those taking a statin were switched to a placebo for 10 additional weeks, and those taking a placebo were switched to a statin. The result: Less than half of the patients seemed to be truly unable to tolerate statins, and complained of muscle pain only when they were taking the drug. A quarter of the patients reported muscle problems with a placebo. And nearly one in 10 had muscle issues with both the statin and the placebo.

That indicated that 57 percent of patients actually could tolerate statins. Researchers then randomly assigned the remaining 43 percent to take either Amgen’s PCSK-9 inhibitor, evolocumab, or another cholesterol-lowering drug, ezetimibe, which is often taken by statin intolerant patients but has never been shown to reduce heart disease risk when taken without an accompanying statin. The patients tolerated both drugs.

The statin tolerance results were not a total surprise. Smaller studies had indicated that most patients who said statins caused muscle aches actually could tolerate the drugs. But this was the largest such study and raises a real question about how to treat patients who are at high risk of heart disease and say they cannot or will not take a statin because of intolerable side effects.

“We don’t know how to assess these patients,” said Dr. Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado. No lab test can pick out the truly statin intolerant from those who feel pain in their muscles that may be caused by something else.

“That is a major, major problem,” said Dr. Thompson, the cardiologist at Harford Hospital, who led a smaller study that came to a similar conclusion about statin intolerance.

Dr. Daniel Rader, a cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, would like to give patients who say they cannot tolerate statins a clinical trial in which the patient is the only participant. He would give the patient either a placebo or a statin for a few weeks and then switch the pills. That way the doctor and the patient could get an idea of whether the patient’s muscle pain was really caused by statins.

Wendy Todd, a patient of Dr. Daniel Soffer, also of the University of Pennsylvania, was surprised after she entered a statin intolerance study. She had already tried at least three statins, including atorvastatin, the one being tested, but always developed flulike symptoms and cramps in her legs so painful she could barely walk.

But she had no such effects when she took atorvastatin during the study, without knowing if it was the drug or the placebo. She was astonished, but accepted that she was not actually intolerant to the drug. She began taking it when the study ended. It does not bother her now.

Ms. Todd said she liked Dr. Rader’s idea about an individualized trial for patients like her.

“I would opt for that,” she said.

Rethinking Heart Health

ANJULA RAZDAN · SEPTEMBER 2016

Think you know what makes for a healthy heart? Think again. New research and progressive practitioners are looking beyond cholesterol for answers.

When it comes to matters of the heart, the statistics are dire: Cardiovascular disease is the top cause of death in the United States and around the globe. Americans spend more than $300 billion annually on the costs of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. And experts say the situation will only worsen as baby boomers age.

We’ve known for years that cardiovascular disease is largely preventable, yet its incidence has skyrocketed even as we have dutifully heeded the advice of leading professional organizations like the American Heart Association, cutting back on dietary fat and increasing our use of cholesterol-lowering drugs.

It’s no wonder, then, that many observers are making alarming predictions about the future of heart health. “Unless current trends are halted or reversed,” a 2004 World Health Organization report noted, “over a billion people will die from cardiovascular diseases in the first half of the 21st century.”

Among more progressive-minded health practitioners, however, it’s not all gloom and doom. Armed with a different approach to heart disease, many forward-thinking doctors are looking beyond overall cholesterol numbers to prevent — or even reverse — heart disease.

“We’re missing the big picture, which includes looking at more than someone’s total cholesterol,” says Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, a functional-medicine cardiologist in La Jolla, Calif., and president of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. “After all, studies have shown that 80 percent of the time, people who have heart attacks have the exact same total cholesterol as people who never have a heart attack.

“So, that takes us back to what really causes cardiovascular disease — or chronic disease of the vascular system — and it’s multifactorial: It’s the food choices you make. It’s the toxins you’re exposed to. It’s the way you respond to stress and tension. It’s all of these things. But the big misnomer is, ‘Oh, it’s just my cholesterol.’”

Guarneri is not alone in her view. There are a growing number of experts taking a new approach to preventing and treating cardiovascular disease by looking at multiple contributing factors. We asked a handful of them to address the primary myths about heart health — and to explain the progressive protocols that are helping to create a new paradigm of heart care.

Myth #1: High cholesterol is the root cause of cardiovascular disease.

Since the 1950s, when a scientist named Ancel Keys cherry-picked data to support his hypothesis that saturated fat was the main driver of heart disease, we have blamed cholesterol for all our cardiovascular woes. Physicians have urged patients to adopt low-fat diets and take statins to lower cholesterol levels. But this is blaming the messenger.

“Elevated cholesterol is a symptom,” says P. Michael Stone, MD, MS, a family physician in Ashland, Ore., and a faculty member at the Institute for Functional Medicine. He believes the notion of cholesterol as cause is “the biggest misconception surrounding cardiovascular disease.”

“The big focus of the American Heart Association for the last 50 years has been cholesterol, but if it is elevated, there is a root cause for that elevation,” he says. “The answer is not as simple as a low cholesterol level.

“The best approach is to figure out what is driving abnormal or unbalanced cholesterol numbers.”

Guarneri, Stone, and others believe the future of heart-disease prevention and treatment lies not in mere symptom management — lowering cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar via pharmaceuticals — but in identifying the underlying causes of those symptoms. They predict that this approach will transform the way we assess, prevent, and manage cardiovascular disease.

“Understanding the root causes can help you identify and recognize the five patterns we know impact and increase the risk of cardiometabolic syndrome: inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin dysfunction, autonomic dysfunction, and endothelial dysfunction,” says Stone.

In other words, inflammatory conditions, free radicals, high blood sugar, stress overload, and blood-clotting problems all contribute to heart disease. The problem can’t be reduced to the butter on your toast.

In many cases, dietary sources have little to do with elevated serum-cholesterol levels. Rather, the body begins to produce more of the substance on its own to handle an increased demand. For example, when chronic inflammation begins to lower testosterone production, Stone says, the body produces more cholesterol (a key precursor to testosterone) to revive the hormone.

Likewise, an autonomic nervous-system problem can also raise cholesterol production: The body produces more cortisol when it’s in fight-or-flight mode, and it requires more cholesterol to do so.

Sure, there are some people who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol, Stone says, but they are fairly rare. Most of the time, elevated cholesterol is a response to something else occurring in the body. When we erase the symptom instead of digging for the root cause, we’re ignoring the fact that high cholesterol can also be an immune response.

“If you’re having trouble getting your LDL levels down, that might mean you have an underlying infection. So when we crash somebody’s LDL with statins, are we inhibiting their innate immune system?” Stone asks. “You look at all this and think, ‘What are we doing by willy-nilly treating a number and not looking at root cause?’”

In addition, Stone emphasizes that normal cholesterol levels do not mean no — or even, low — risk. In fact, 25 percent of people who have heart attacks have low cholesterol, he notes, while 25 percent of people with high cholesterol do not have plaque or heart disease.

“It raises the question: Is cholesterol the right marker to check — and is it the best marker to be checked?” asks Stone. “And the resounding answer is that it is a marker, but it’s not the best marker.”

Myth #2: LDL cholesterol is bad.

When rating types of cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) are “good,” and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are “bad” — right?

Not exactly. While many doctors swear by the standard lipid panel to measure the overall levels of HDL and LDL in the blood, many progressive-minded practitioners use advanced tests to identify the actual number and detailed characteristics of lipoprotein particles. “I expect within five years these advanced tests will be standard,” Stone says.

These tests allow practitioners to identify patients with “normal” cholesterol numbers who might still be in danger, as well as patients with high numbers who might be fine — or have things other than high cholesterol to worry about.

A typical lipid panel shows the LDL volume, not the specific number of particles. A high LDL volume may indicate that the particles are big, fluffy, and harmless.

But a low LDL volume can be misleading. It may be made up of tiny, dense particles that are vulnerable to oxidation. This increases inflammation, which in turn can trigger the cycle that leads to a heart attack.

“It’s those tiny LDL particles that have a higher risk of squeezing between the cracks of the lining of the blood vessels, causing plaque,” explains functional-medicine internist Yousef Elyaman, MD, IFMCP, founder and medical director of Absolute Health, a primary-care practice in Ocala, Fla.

“The plaque eventually gets thicker and thicker, and at some point it can pop. When it pops, the body tries to fix it, forming a clot, and that can cause a heart attack or a stroke.”

Two people might have identical LDL-cholesterol levels of 70, which is considered optimal by conventional standards. But in one person the particles could be large and harmless, while in the other the particles could be tiny and dangerous.

“So you have one person with an LDL level of 70 that’s low risk and another person with an LDL level of 70 that’s very high risk,” Elyaman says.

How can someone prevent or reverse the formation of small, dense LDL particles?

Again, it all depends on the underlying cause of oxidation, which can vary from person to person.

“I’ll have patients who say, ‘Oh, the L in LDL stands for lousy cholesterol,’” says Guarneri. “And I say, ‘No, that’s not true. It’s what happens with that cholesterol that matters — does it get oxidized? That’s when it becomes a problem for causing vascular disease.’

“So many factors can lead to oxidative stress, including air pollution; insulin resistance; exposure to toxins like lead, mercury, and cadmium; and infections like herpes, chlamydia, and hepatitis.

“No one is addressing this. Instead, most doctors tell people to eat fat-free or low-fat food,” Guarneri notes.

As for “good” HDL, which clears LDL cholesterol from your system, it is generally protective. But levels can be too high.

“Sometimes elevated HDL levels above the 80s could point to dysfunctional HDL,” says Shilpa P. Saxena, MD, a functional-medicine family physician who runs the SevaMed Institute in Lutz, Fla. “This means that the HDL particles may not be cleaning efficiently enough, and thereby are creating an increased supply of HDL particles that still don’t work.”

“It’s very tricky,” Elyaman explains. “HDL may be high due to a higher cholesterol burden, but it may also be highly elevated and protective.” In other words, a high HDL number can indicate that you have plenty of internal janitors on staff cleaning up any oxidized particles of LDL; it can also mean the HDL janitors are slacking on the job.

In order to differentiate, Guarneri uses an advanced lipid panel to measure HDL2b, the most protective, large, and buoyant form of HDL.

Knowing the precise composition and size of the HDL and LDL molecules helps doctors identify those patients with normal numbers who may still be at significant risk for cardiovascular issues.

“The case that shocks you most is the 50-year-old who has total cholesterol of 140, their HDL numbers are borderline, their LDL numbers are fine — and they have an acute myocardial infarction and a five-vessel bypass because they have severe cardiovascular disease,” Stone says.

Myth #3: Eating cholesterol and saturated fat raises blood-cholesterol levels.

For decades, we’ve been fed the diet–heart hypothesis, which suggests foods rich in cholesterol and saturated fat (think butter, eggs, full-fat yogurt, and red meat) raise our blood-cholesterol levels. But the case for low- and fat-free diets is unraveling.

In 2013 the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology acknowledged that there was not enough scientific evidence to support the idea that limiting dietary cholesterol lowered serum-cholesterol levels. And earlier this year, the federal government reached a similar conclusion in its 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, reversing 50 years of warnings about cholesterol and stating it is “not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

“I love that: ‘not a nutrient of concern.’ What an unceremonious death for the tarnished reputation of dietary cholesterol!” writes Mark Hyman, MD, director of the Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in his latest book, Eat Fat, Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health.

The government also softened its guidelines on reducing overall fat intake after it was shown that many people who adopt a low-fat diet simply replace the fat in their diets with unhealthy refined carbs and added sugars, which compensates for the missing flavor and satisfaction.

“Low-fat diets have had unintended consequences, turning people away from healthy high-fat foods and toward foods rich in added sugars, starches, and refined grains,” notes cardiologist and Harvard Medical School professor Dariush Mozaffarian, MD. “This has helped fuel the twin epidemics of obesity and [type 2] diabetes in America. We really need to sing it from the rooftops that the low-fat diet concept is dead. There are no health benefits to it.”

Although Hyman applauds the fact that numerous mainstream organizations are abandoning the low-fat message, he points out that many health experts still cling to two scientifically unsupported ideas about fat: first, that saturated fat causes heart disease and, second, that vegetable oils are heart healthy.

Multiple studies in recent years have shown that it’s refined carbs and sugars — not saturated fat — that tend to drive abnormal cholesterol and heart disease, largely because they contribute to insulin overload and systemic inflammation, Hyman notes. Meanwhile, saturated fats can have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health, especially when consumed in the context of a low-carb, high-fiber diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

“Dietary saturated fat raises the good kind of LDL (light, fluffy LDL) and raises HDL (the ‘good’ cholesterol),” he explains.

Some experts think polyunsaturated vegetable oils are a heart-healthy alternative to saturated fats. But Hyman warns against consuming these highly refined and processed oils (think corn, sunflower, and safflower oils) because they are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Their components quickly become rancid, which can lead to oxidized cholesterol in the body. And oxidation is the primary driver of small, dense, dangerous LDL.

His advice on where to find truly heart-healthy fats? Get polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats from whole foods such as fish, nuts, seeds, and avocados. And don’t fear the saturated fats in butter, meat, chicken, and eggs.

Myth #4: Statins save the lives of healthy people without heart disease.

Statins are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States, and the number of Americans taking them swelled after the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued new guidelines in 2013 that expanded the parameters of who qualified for treatment. The controversial advice elicited protest from many corners of the medical world.

“I think if we go with the American Heart Association’s current guidelines, we are absolutely missing the mark,” Guarneri says. “The guidelines would place 87 percent of men and 54 percent of women between the ages of 60 and 75 on statin therapy. Talk about a multibillion-dollar business.”

Rita Redberg, MD, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and the editor of JAMA Internal Medicine, wrote a pointed critique in the New York Times, arguing that the shift in guidelines was not based on data showing the benefits of lowering cholesterol and would primarily benefit Big Pharma.

And what the drug companies don’t advertise, adds Guarneri, is that otherwise-healthy people on statins continue to have heart attacks. “People have lost sight of the big picture because cholesterol is an easy target: ‘You just take a pill; we lower your cholesterol,’” she says.

And then there are the side effects. Several studies have linked long-term use of statins to increased risk of cancer, diabetes, and even cognitive impairment.

“Statins are overused and overpromised in primary prevention,” Redberg says, adding that lifestyle changes such as giving up smoking, adopting a healthy diet, and exercising are much better at reducing the risk of heart disease. “People should understand the risks and limited benefit in an informed discussion before deciding if statins are right for them.”

There are cases in which statins are warranted, Elyaman says. “If someone already has heart disease, then we know that individual has gotten to the point where she is high risk — that plaque that’s formed can pop at any second. If she’s not willing to make any lifestyle changes, then statins may be in order,” he explains.

“But I think we have to get the message out to all of those people on statins who don’t have heart disease that they don’t need to be taking them.”

Another way statins can backfire: Once people are on the medication, they often feel less of an urgency to make lifestyle changes, says Elizabeth Frates, MD, a physician and health-and-wellness coach in the Boston area with expertise in lifestyle medicine.

They mistakenly believe that the drug “allows them to eat processed foods or eat unhealthy foods. They feel that their medicine gives them the superpower where they don’t have to worry about their lifestyle anymore,” she explains.

Meanwhile, doctors also underestimate their patients, says Elyaman. “There’s this misconception among many doctors that patients aren’t willing to make lifestyle changes. Well, if you don’t believe that your patients are going to make lifestyle changes, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“I’ve actually heard physicians tell their patients, ‘You know, you should probably eat a healthy diet and exercise, but you’re probably not going to do that. I know I’m not going to do that. So go ahead and take this pill.’”

Donald Hensrud, MD, who directs the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program in Rochester, Minn., thinks that lifestyle changes in diet and nutrition, exercise, and resiliency can make the difference when it comes to cardiovascular disease. “With lifestyle, people underestimate just how powerful it can be,” he says.

Saxena agrees. Doctors should trade their “to statin or not to statin” focus for an approach that goes beyond mere cholesterol numbers to identify and address the root causes of cardiovascular disease.

“We need to make a big U-turn in the way we live,” she sa

8 Ways to Prevent Heart Disease

Cardiovascular disease is preventable for most people, says functional-medicine physician Shilpa P. Saxena, MD. “A lot of people think, ‘Oh, it runs in my family so I am doomed to it,’” she says. “But terrible lifestyle choices can also run in families.”

The root causes of heart disease will vary from person to person. Recent studies have linked stress, environmental pollutants, and even the state of your microbiome to increased cardiovascular risk. But everyone can benefit from making positive adjustments to their nutrition, fitness, stress-management practices, and sleep habits.

The key, says Saxena, is modifying and leveraging lifestyle changes so that we don’t have to rely solely on medications and procedures.

These tips from our experts on the best lifestyle changes can help you take a proactive approach to preventing — or even reversing — heart disease.

1. EAT MORE WHOLE FOODS.
   Adopting a “food first” mentality is key to preventing heart disease, says cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, president of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. Make the switch to higher-quality whole foods and anti-inflammatory spices. (For more on spices, see “5 Healing Spices.”) And stay away from processed foods that can drive up blood sugar.
   Guarneri recommends a Mediterranean-style diet but notes that there are other protein-rich, plant-centered ways of eating; she says the key is in knowing what to avoid. “We know trans fats are bad. We know simple carbs are bad. We know refined sugar is bad,” she says.
   Yousef Elyaman, MD, IFMCP, recommends starting off simply: Eat half a handful of nuts every day, two servings a week of fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids but low in mercury (like wild-caught salmon), and six servings of colorful vegetables and two servings of fruit a day.
2. GET OFF THE LOW-FAT BANDWAGON.
   Low-fat diets generally replace fat with sugar and refined carbs to compensate for lack of taste, which can lead to problems with insulin regulation, notes Saxena. Embracing healthy fats helps stabilize blood sugar and appetite. Mark Hyman, MD, director of the Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, adds that long-maligned saturated fats like coconut oil can actually lower inflammation.
   Still, it’s critical to eat plenty of vegetables and avoid refined carbohydrates, because “saturated fats cause inflammation only in the context of two things: low levels of omega-3 fats and high levels of carbohydrates,” Hyman writes in Eat Fat, Get Thin. While Elyaman agrees that healthy fats can be beneficial, he adds that there are some people who have the APOE4 gene, known as the Alzheimer’s gene, who may do worse on a high-fat diet. “It’s not one-size-fits-all,” he says.
3. TIME YOUR MEALS.
   Once you’ve improved the quality and quantity of your diet, says Saxena, aim for optimal timing: “Avoid late-night eating and consider intermittent fasting.” Many experts agree that eating your biggest meal at midday is best, as is adhering to an “eat light after dark” policy whenever possible.
4. RIGHTSIZE MEALS AND PORTIONS.
   Saxena says it’s important not to overeat. Focus on filling up on vegetables; use smaller plates so you’re not tempted by an abundance of food.
5. GO BEYOND CARDIO.
   Cardio exercise has the best reputation when it comes to heart health, but most experts agree it’s not enough by itself. Saxena recommends strength training to build muscle. “By optimizing your muscle mass, you can increase longevity, fight illness, and prevent injuries — all of which are equally important for total body health, inside and out,” she says.
   Elyaman agrees that there are benefits to both cardio and strength training, and adds that, from a cardiovascular point of view, “you get more bang for your buck with high-intensity interval training. It helps clear out old mitochondria and stimulate new mitochondria.” (For more on interval training, go to “Steady-State Cardio Vs. High-Intensity Interval Training.”)
6. QUIT SMOKING.
   Smoking raises triglycerides in the blood, increases platelet “stickiness,” and leads to thickened and narrowed blood vessels — all risk factors for heart disease. If you smoke, quitting is one of the most direct ways to improve your heart health.
7. MANAGE YOUR STRESS.
   Saxena recommends techniques like mindfulness, meditation, prayer, and deep breathing to increase the “cool, calm, connected healing state of the body.” This is critical for heart health, she says, because the autonomic nervous system, which controls our stress response, “is strongly connected to optimal function of the cardiovascular and metabolic systems of your body.”
   Our fight-or-flight stress hormones are important in helping us manage acute situations, Guarneri explains, but they backfire over the long term. “If you got hit by a car tomorrow and you were bleeding in the street, you would want those hormones because they would say, ‘We’re bleeding. Raise the heart rate, raise the blood pressure, raise the aldosterone to conserve salt and water.’” But, she adds, when these stress hormones are flowing constantly, “the platelets get stickier. The coronaries constrict. The blood pressure goes up. The heart rate goes up. The heart-rate variability goes down.” These factors all put heart health at risk. (For more on managing daily stress, see “The Cortisol Curve.”)
8. NURTURE POSITIVE CONNECTIONS.
   Relationships with family, friends, and others can go a long way toward improving — or undermining — overall health. A study presented in 2014 at the American College of Cardiology symposium identified that being in a happy marriage predicts lower risk of cardiovascular disease; another 2014 study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior conversely found that being in an unhappy marriage leads to higher risks to heart health.

Testing for Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Getting the right tests is a big part of preventing, assessing, managing, and even reversing cardiovascular disease. Conventional medical wisdom tends to look at traditional metrics like cholesterol and blood-pressure levels, age, gender, family history, and whether or not you’re a smoker.

Progressive-minded docs look at those variables as well, but they dig deep for other cardiovascular risk factors, including inflammation, imbalances in blood sugar and insulin, and oxidative stress, which affect things like cholesterol and blood pressure.

Looking to measure your overall cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk? Here are some tests to consider in partnership with your healthcare provider.

• Advanced Lipid Tests: Unlike the standard lipid panel, advanced tests like the NMR Lipid Profile or the Cardio IQ Lipoprotein Fractionation look at the all-important particle size of LDL and HDL. “You should have less than 1,000 total LDL particles and no more than 400 small particles (although ideally you shouldn’t have any!),” notes Mark Hyman, MD, director of the Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, in his new book, Eat Fat, Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health.
• High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Test: This marker of inflammation is a big clue to your overall CVD risk. “When your inflammation is high for whatever reason — maybe it’s certain foods you eat, or gut dysbiosis, or the presence of pro-inflammatory visceral fat — it can cause the walls of our blood vessels to become leaky and inflamed as well, which makes it a lot easier for the tiny, dense LDL cholesterol particles to squeeze through the cracks and trigger the cycle of plaque buildup,” says functional-medicine internist Yousef Elyaman, MD, IFMCP, the founder and medical director of Absolute Health, a primary-care practice in Ocala, Fla.
• Glucose and Insulin-Tolerance Test: Insulin resistance can cause elevated lipids and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. “Your fasting sugar should be between 70 and 80 mg/dl and your one- and two-hour sugars should be less than 120 mg/dl,” Hyman notes.
• Hemoglobin A1c Test: In order to identify CVD risks early, notes Hyman, it’s a good idea to do this test, which measures average blood sugar over the previous six weeks, as well as the above glucose- and insulin-tolerance testing. “Anything over 5.5 percent is high,” he notes.
• Homocysteine, 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 Tests: These tests measure levels of key heart-protective nutrients. “Your homocysteine measures your folate status and should be between 6 and 8 micromoles per liter,” Hyman states.
• Oxidized LDL Test: This test measures the amount of oxidized LDL in the blood. When small, dense LDL particles become oxidized or rancid, they can trigger the process that leads to heart disease.
• Lp-PLA2 Test: Both Elyaman and integrative cardiologist Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, a functional-medicine cardiologist in La Jolla, Calif., recommend this test, which measures an enzyme that contributes to inflammation and atherosclerosis.
• Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (CIMT) Test: This high-resolution ultrasound test identifies plaque in the arteries in your neck, which is associated with cardiovascular-disease risk. “We want to know how inflamed your major vessels are and how much plaque you are creating, so we look at your carotid arteries, which highly correlate with what’s happening in the heart vessels,” says P. Michael Stone, MD, MS, a family physician who practices functional medicine in Ashland, Ore., and a faculty member at the Institute for Functional Medicine.

If I Ran the American Heart Association…

In an ideal word, how should the American Heart Association (AHA) tweak the way it assesses and manages cardiovascular disease? We asked some of our experts for their opinions. Here’s what they said.

“If the AHA had more comprehensive guidelines on how to use lifestyle as medicine, patients would benefit greatly. Providers should be guided to assess someone’s specific cardiac and metabolic risks, prescribe a personalized diet/exercise/stress/sleep/smoking cessation plan of care (based on their specific risk factors, etc.), and implement therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) with proven behavior modification strategies. Much of chronic disease, including heart disease, would be reduced and/or prevented.”

— Shilpa P. Saxena, MD, a family physician who runs the SevaMed Institute in Lutz, Fla.

“I would love to see the AHA advocate for the concept of healthy communities — sidewalks that we can walk on, neighborhoods that we don’t have to worry we’re going to get mugged in, healthy farmers’ markets, encouragement of people coming together, walking programs, cooking programs. This is not going to happen one-on-one in the physician’s office.”

— Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, a functional-medicine cardiologist in La Jolla, Calif., and president of the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine

“[The AHA should recommend that] anybody with a family history of stroke and early heart attack, no matter what your lipids are, you should have them subfractionated to see what is driving your lipids.”

— P. Michael Stone, MD, MS, a family physician who practices functional medicine in Ashland, Ore., and a faculty member at the Institute for Functional Medicine

“They need to advocate for a change in the way we reimburse doctors. Physicians practice what they get paid to do. So, the real issue is changing reimbursement so that practitioners get paid to counsel patients on how to lead healthy lifestyles. I think with these changes, traditional physicians and healthcare practitioners will stop relying on medications for these chronic conditions — cardiac disease, diabetes, obesity — and they will start feeling confident in their ability to empower patients to adopt healthy habits.”

— Elizabeth Frates, MD, a Boston-area physical medicine and rehabilitation physiatrist and health-and-wellness coach with expertise in lifestyle medicine

“If you look at the current guidelines, they only give you a six-month window of dietary and lifestyle changes. What I wish the AHA would recommend is to really, really dig into that six-month window and put a real focus on sustainable modifiable lifestyle changes instead of just basically saying, “Tell them to eat healthy and exercise, and when that fails, put them on a statin.”

— Internist Yousef Elyaman, MD, IFMCP, the founder and medical director of Absolute Health a primary-care practice in Ocala, Fla.

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Vaccination Information

Here is my opinion and I have stated it on all of my videos…

“Seek out all of the information that you can get your hands on. Review it with your spouse and decide what you would like to do with your child. Ultimately YOU are responsible for your child.”

TWO WEBSITES:

Go to www.NVIC.org This is the site for The National Vaccine Information Center AND www.learntherisk.org.

BOOKS:

Get the books….

• How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor!
  By Robert Mendelhson, MD.
• Turtles All the Way Down: Vaccine, Science and Myth
  by John Green
• Dissolving Illusions by Suzanne Humphries
• The Moth in the Iron Lung by Forrest Maready

VIDEO:

• 1986: The Act…Full Documentary is on Hulu
• 1986: The Act (on YouTube)… https://www.youtube.com/@TheAct-bf2zq
• The Moms Know the Truth: Segment #1… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jPFSIjECss
• VAXXED (Documentary on Netflix)

Best,
Dr J

P.S. I spend hours each day answering emails like yours at no charge. Please consider donating to our Patreon OR Go Fund Me to help others receive care. Go to the top of my Profile Page, Click on “Linktree/DRMLJ,” then Click on the “Dr Michael L Johnson (Dr J) Patreon” OR “Help Us Heal Others” Go Fund Me tab. I have a video on “Help Me Help Others” at the top of my page.

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