http://www

http://www.functionalmedicineuniversity.comHow to Stop or Slow Down Stroke Damage

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.I can remember like yesterday, a dear friend in the prime of his life suffered a massive stroke. My wife and I went to the hospital every day for a few weeks and watched the medical team work to keep him alive. I will say that there is a time and place for appropriate medical intervention.My friend did survive only to be left blind and paralyzed on the right side of his body.Life has not been same since his stroke.I prayyou never ignore any of the early warning signs of stroke, such as sudden dizziness, severeheadache, loss of vision, inability to speak or evennot knowing where you are, or sudden uselessnessof a limb.On the positive side, there are a growing number of people who have made a 90% to 100% recovery by correcting their biochemistry via the results found in doing a timelyCardio/ION test.The sad fact is these people are in the minority simply because traditional medicine does not look at human biochemistry as it relates to stroke recovery.As it now stands in standard medical care thrombolytic therapyis the only treatment for ischemicstroke.The most commonly used drug for thrombolytic therapy istissueplasminogen activator (T-PA).T-PA works best to help people with strokes caused by clots (ischemic strokes) when it is given right away after stroke symptoms begin.Ideally, one should receive thrombolytic medications within the first 90 minutes after arriving at the hospital for treatment.Unfortunately a 2008 paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine stated that due to its narrow therapeutic window andcomplexity of administration, only3-5% of patientsbenefit fromplasminogen activator (T-PA) therapy.The paper further commented that the current treatment for stroke patients is simplynotenough to give good results.A viable and medically documented answer that sadly is not addressed for the stroke victim is the recommendation ofDHA (docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that is in cod liver oil).Yes, you read that right.A recent study showed thatwhen they created strokes in experimental animals,if they gave DHAthiscut the size of theinfarct (the area of brain that is damaged) by upto 77%!In other words the brain's area of strokedamage was only one quarter of its original size.

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.functionalmedicineuniversity.com/public/startquote.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

Giving DHA cut the size of the infarct (the area of brain that is damaged) by up to 77%!--Now that is amazing!Now there is something you MUST know to make this effective and that is DHA needs to be givenwithin five hours of the stroke.If you want to take a pro-active role in your cardiovascular health it would be wise to have your fatty acids checked by your physician.What you want to see is yourdocosahexaenoic acid levels in the5th quintile

This study emphasized the significance of doctorsgiving as little as 500 mg of DHA as soon as someone is diagnosed with a stroke.This amount not only cut thearea of damage by three-fourths, but speeded up recovery and improved many other parameters, suchas reducing the amount of swelling in the brain, andmuch more.You need to know that the accumulation of phthalates (plastics), statin drugs, chemotherapy as well as calcium channel blockers (high blood pressure medication) all damage DHA conversion in the body.If you have any friends hospitalized with sudden stroke,make sure doctors give them DHA within five hours,which maycut the size of brain damage 77%!Of course don't forget to protect yourself with the benefit of DHA.To be quite honest, if you want to do something good for yourself and really take a pro-active role in your cardiovascular health ask your doctor to order aCardioIon Test.The fatty acid test is part of the CardioION test.Click Hereto read more information about theFatty Acid TestClick Hereto read more information about theCardioIon Test

References:Belayev, et al, Docosahexaenoic acid therapy of experimentalischemic stroke, Transl Stroke Res, 2:33-41, 2011Lukiw WJ, et al, A role for docosahexaenoic acid derived neuroprotectin D1 in the neural cell survival and Alzheimer's disease, J ClinInvest 115:2774-83, 2005Ward RE, et al, Docosahexaenoic acid prevents white matter damage following spinal cord injury, J Neurotrauma 27:1-12, 2010Belayev L, et al, Robust docosahexaenoic acid mediated neuroprotection in at model of transient focal cerebral ischemia, Stroke 40:3121-6, 2009Leyden P, Thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke -- -- not a moment to lose, New Engl J Med 359:1393-5, 2008Bazan NG, Neuroprotective D1-mediated anti-inflammatory and survival signaling in stroke, retinal degeneration, and Alzheimer's disease, J Lipid Res, 50: S400-5, 2009Akbar M, et al, Docosahexaenoic acid: a positive modulator of Akt signaling in neuronal survival, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:10858-63, 2005Rogers Sherry, Total Wellness, Prestige Publishing, November 2011Mukherjee PK, et al, Neuroprotective D1: a docosahexaenoic acid derived docosatriene protects human retinal pigment epithelial cells from oxidative stress, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:8491-6, 2004

Before starting any treatment Dr. Grisanti recommends that you have thorough knowledge of the science of functional medicine. Visitwww.FunctionalMedicineUniversity.comto find practitioners thoroughly trained in functional medicine. Look for practitioners who have successfully completed theFunctional Medicine University's Certification Program (CFMP).

Functional medicine embraces the totality of the regulatory functions of the body. It encompasses all of the biophysical, biochemical, enzymatic, endocrine, immunological, and bioenergetic regulatory capacities. Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.