The Endothelial Health Program

The neuroprotective lifestyle program I created for Jeff in 2008, and would share with university researchers, grew out of a year of in-depth study; plowing through pubmed, and reading every book on the history and etiology of MS I could find at my public library or on the internet.

I call it The Endothelial Health Program, and it changed our lives. 

I am happy to see there are many more published papers on PubMed years later.  Finally, the discussion of endothelial health is becoming mainstream, and the Nobel Prize winning science of Nitric Oxide (EDRF) is reaching doctors' offices.

Highly regarded MS and Alzheimer's researchers are now actively looking at the endothelium, nitric oxide and hypoperfusion in neurodegeneration, and encouraging other researchers to do the same.  This gives me great hope.

Although multiple sclerosis (MS) has traditionally been viewed and researched as an immune-mediated demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the human central nervous system (CNS), its highly complex pathogenesis clearly includes a significant vascular inflammatory component and many therapeutic approaches achieve benefit by direct or indirect effects on cerebrovascular endothelial cells.
link to research

Substantial evidence suggests that the neurodegenerative process is initiated by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) caused by ageing and cardiovascular conditions. CCH causes reduced oxygen, glucose and other nutrient supply to the brain, with direct damage not only to the parenchymal cells, but also to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a key mediator of cerebral homeostasis. BBB dysfunction mediates the indirect neurotoxic effects of CCH by promoting oxidative stress, inflammation, paracellular permeability, and dysregulation of nitric oxide, a key regulator of regional blood flow
link to research

The Endothelial Health Program is not a diet,  or a "don't do this" approach.  It's not about following specific rules.   It's proactive.   It's about living in a way which reverses damage and protects the six trillion endothelial cells inside every human body.
Why?   Because these cells maintain the health of all your organs and your immune system.

The endothelium is actually your largest organ.  It is the lining of 60,000 miles of blood and lymph vessels, and it communicates with all of your other organs.  It is also the interface between your immune system and your vascular system, and is what controls the blood brain barrier and keeps harmful plasmic particles out of delicate brain tissue.  It controls how much blood, oxygen and nutrition your neurons receive. Maintaining endothelial health is neuroprotective.  link to recent pub science from Columbia University

This communicative lining is made up of trillions of endothelial cells, and if these cells become damaged or die, this vital, protective network disintigrates.   This is a problem in ALL diseases of neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's,  and dementia.   PubMed now has hundreds of scientific papers on endothelial dysfunction and each these diseases.   But endothelial cell death and dysfunction can be reversed.

I had been hugely inspired by Dr. John Cooke's book, The Cardiovascular Cure,  Link to book  and reached out to him.  That's how Jeff and I originally connected with Stanford University.   The information was out there,  I was just compiling and connecting the heart to brain health.    This is a complete lifestyle, a new way of looking at rising rates of neurodegenerative disease as a result of our westernized, industrialized lives.  It was an attempt to reverse cell-damaging practices that had become part of our modern routines, and to return to our inherent nature, to allow for balance and healing.

It was an attempt to connect the heart and brain, to understand the vascular connection to MS.  And I did it for Jeff.



The basic tenets of the lifestyle program are:

1.  Movement.  Daily cardiovascular pursuits are essential and healing. Shear stress, created by an active heart pumping flowing blood over endothelial cells, maintains their integrity by increasing nitric oxide release.  Inactivity allows endothelial cells to die.

2.  Stress reduction. The acts of deep breathing, the practice of meditation, yoga, prayer, all reduce endothelial cell damaging cortisol and increase healing, vasodilating nitric oxide.

3.  Liver health. Decreasing liver damaging toxins--like alcohol, plastics exposure, chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, drugs--and increasing liver protecting flavonolignans (like silymarin) and antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables, maintains endothelial cell health.

4.  Vitamin D/UV ray increase. Skin makes vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from the sun. Because of sunscreen and our indoor lives, many people are not receiving enough of this potent hormone.  And our circadian rhythm is affected.  Vitamin D creates endothelial cell health by increasing nitric oxide.  UV rays release nitrates from the skin, creating vasodilation. 

5.  Sleep.  Sleep deprivation creates endothelial dysfunction and cell death.

6.  Eating whole, organic foods.  Eating a diet of whole foods (unprocessed foods; foods that retain the natural state) provide ample levels of nutrition, vitamins and antioxidants. Antioxidants bind with free radicals to minimize the damage they cause to the endothelium.  Vitamins B and C are hugely protective of endothelial cells.  A lack of B vitamins increases homocysteine, which kills endothelial cells.

7.  Eating healthy fats   Increasing omega 3 (DHA) fats found in fish, olives, flax seed, avocados, walnuts, etc.  and decreasing transfats and highly saturated animal fats improves endothelial cell health. 

8.  Probiotics and gut health.  The endothelial cells of the gut's lining communicate with the rest of the body and rely on "good" bacteria.  

9.  Essential minerals.  Magnesium, calcium and zinc are all important in the preservation of endothelial cells.

10. Anti-inflammatory food sources, spices and herbs. Curcumin, Salvia, Ginko, and Garlic are all shown to decrease inflammation and regulate blood viscosity, preventing hypercoagulation, allowing for better shear stress.  Proteolytic Enzymes, both serrapeptase and nattokinase, are enzymes which reduce inflammation and pain and help blood viscosity by regulating clotting. Bromelain, found in pineapple, is one of the best anti-inflammatory substances known.

11.  Reducing glucose and gluten.  Sugary baked goods, simple breads, pastas and snack foods are damaging to endothelial cells. 

12.  Smoking cessation.  Please quit...smoking kills endothelial cells.

13.  Laughter, joy, community, purpose, loving relationships.  All of these things increase nitric oxide and improve endothelial health.

That's it.  Simple, right?  Yes and No.  It took our family a couple of years to utilize all of the strategies.  Jeff was NOT thrilled that I changed our meal plans.  He was resistant at first, but after the first several months of MS disease stability, he embraced his new life.  

And then he went even further.  Jeff has added his own twist on endothelial health by incorporating neuroplasticity.  He has become an expert in the dictum of "use it or lose it."  He got back on his bike, back on skis, back to composing, conducting, performing and public speaking.  The things that had become challenging, like balancing or staying up all day, became an activity to face head on and in doing so, rewire his brain.   Receiving his venoplasty treatment at Stanford allowed for increased perfusion of his brain and healing.  But he kept that shear stress going by remaining active and engaged.   His grey matter looks normal on MRI, and he's had remyelination of MS lesions.  He is my hero.

This model for health is called "a systems approach." as opposed to a mono-therapeutic approach utilized by pharmaceutical companies.  It is much more expensive and difficult to clinical trial a lifestyle when compared to a singular drug or supplement,  but it can be done.  UCLA recently published on a systems approach in disease reversal in Alzheimer's.   https://www.aging-us.com/article/100690/text    My dream would be to fund a gold standard clinical trial of this program.  Maybe someday.

What's ahead?  God willing, more of this.   We have no idea of what tomorrow may bring, but we consider the gift of this lifestyle program to be our message of hope. 

So please, share the program.  Try it out, let me know how you're doing.  Always work with your own physician, to modify the program to suit your individualized needs.  I don't have a book to hand you, but I think that's OK.  I was given this direction as an answer to prayer, and will continue to share it for free.

Be encouraged, 

Joan

bounty from our organic garden---full of colorful phytonutrients (nutrients from plants!)

hiking provides UV ray exposure, calming nature, and exercise