There have been careful experiments with guinea pigs, first attempted by the Canadian Willis in the mid 1950s.

Disease in guinea pigs occurs in weeks, the human form of the disease usually takes decades to develop. [1] While differences are to be expected in animal experiments, the lesions produced by these experiments are remarkable for their similarity to the human lesion. [2]

The Pauling/Rath vitamin C theory you are about to learn about makes sense. Animals, other than guinea pigs, manufacture their own vitamin C in the amount of several thousand milligrams every day. Humans, like guinea pigs and other primates, can not manufacture a single molecule of vitamin C in their bodies. [1]

1. Oxidized cholesterol in the blood,
2. Elevated levels and oxidized homocysteine in the blood, and
3. Vitamin deficiencies.

In our view, all competing theories must be able to explain:

1. Why occlusive cardiovascular disease does not occur in animals, and
2. Why infarction's in humans usually occur in the arteries at locations where the mechanical stress is a factor (blood pressure, arterial bending and stretching, etc.), rather than more randomly distributed throughout the body.

The early findings of Canadian doctors Paterson and Willis should not be forgotten.  This early research found that arterial tissue levels of ascorbate (vitamin C) are much lower in heart patients when compared with controls, and that ascorbate supplementation could reduce arterial deposits. This pioneering work should have been immediately followed up.

During the last decade, twice Nobel Prize winner Pauling, and his associate and heart researcher Dr. Matthias Rath, M.D., independently formulated their own assessment regarding the cause and nature of occlusive cardiovascular disease AKA heart disease. Rath and Pauling agree that heart disease is essentially a natural repair process that is started by a lesion; their theory explains the primary reason these lesions occur.

What we call atherosclerosis or human cardiovascular disease, a condition usually found in the arteries and not the veins, is a natural body healing process. A reaction to a slow form of scurvy. This process begins in blood vessels that are under the most mechanical stress, such as the walls of arteries near the heart. Over time, these arteries become structurally weak from insufficient collagen, a condition ultimately caused by inadequate vitamin C in the diet.

The oxidized cholesterol and homocysteine theorists have yet to satisfactorily explain the distribution of infarctions. They are usually close to the heart.

Nor do these theories explain why animals that produce their own vitamin C in large amounts are free from the same disease.

VITAMIN C AND HEART DISEASE A CHRONOLOGY

• 1941 Canadian cardiologist Dr. J. C. Paterson reports that more than 80% of his heart disease patients have low vitamin C levels compared to other patients.
• 1954 Dr. G. C. Willis shows that vitamin C supplementation can reduce arterial deposits. Makes first claim that atherosclerosis is reversible.
• 1960s Biochemist Irwin Stone and others recommend increased dietary vitamin C supplementation to improve health.
• 1967 Boris Sokoloff studies 1­3 gm vitamin C on 60 over age 60 with CVD. Not a single vascular event during the year long study period when 6­12 were expected.
• 1970 Dr. Linus Pauling publishes his first book on vitamin C.
• 1970s Vitamin C consumption in the U.S. rises by 300%. Mortality from heart disease decreases by 30% in the U.S. ­ the only country with a significant drop in heart disease fatalities.
• 1986 Dr. Pauling summarizes the evidence for vitamin C against heart disease and other diseases in his book "How to Live Longer and Feel Better", which becomes a bestseller.
• 1989 Dr. Rath and Dr. Pauling discover that optimum dietary vitamin C prevents the deposition of lipoprotein(a) in artery walls.
• 1991 Dr. Rath and Dr. Pauling publish "Solution to the Puzzle of Human Cardiovascular Disease". This scientific paper explains (a) that vitamin C deficiency is the direct and most frequent cause of heart attacks, (b) how plasma risk factors lead to atherosclerotic deposits in arterial walls, (c) why humans suffer from heart attack and stroke but rarely from failure of other organs, and (d) why animal species who are able to produce their own vitamin C in the body do not develop heart disease.
• 1992 Dr. Enstrom and colleagues (UCLA) show, in over 11,000 Americans, that increased intake of vitamin C reduces the death rate from heart disease by nearly half and prolongs life for more than six years.
• 1993 At age 92 Pauling tapes video lecture on Heart Disease.
• 1998 The Vitamin C Foundation submits grant proposal to U.S. National Institutes of Health to study Pauling's claim.

One important function of vitamin C is in the formation and maintenance of collagen, the basis of connective tissue, which is found in skin, ligaments, cartilage, vertebral discs, joint linings, capillary walls, and the bones and teeth. Collagen, and thus vitamin C, is needed to give support and shape to the body, to help wounds heal, and to maintain healthy blood vessels. Specifically, ascorbic acid works as a coenzyme to convert proline and lysine to hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, both important to the collagen structure. [Elson M. Hass, M.D. http://www.healthy.net/library/books/haas/vitamins/cvit.htm]

A 1997 American Heart Association press release reported on German studies that credit vitamin C in the blood stream with "almost completely reversing endothelial dysfunction" in smokers. In other words, ascorbic acid may prevent damage to the walls of blood vessels caused by smoking that eventually leads to cardiovascular disease.

The Life Extension Foundation reported on page 19 of the September 1997 issue:

"A study of 1,605 randomly selected men in Finland, aged 42 to 60 years, was conducted between 1984 and 1989. None of the men had evidence of preexisting heart disease. After adjusting for other confounding factors, men who were deficient in vitamin C had 3.5 times more heart attacks than men who were not deficient in vitamin C. The scientists' conclusion was that, "Vitamin C deficiency, as assessed by low plasma ascorbate concentration, is a risk factor for coronary heart disease." British Medical Journal (Vol 314, Iss 708, 1997)

According to the American Medical Association (May 1998) cholesterol lowering drugs are now being touted as beneficial -- for reasons other than lowering cholesterol!?! (The lay public doesn't realize this and thinks they are beneficial because they lower cholesterol.) The truth is that all the benefits cited, e.g. collagen formation, endothelial function, reduced inflammation, can be had without side effects, simply by taking vitamin C.

LIPOPROTEIN(a) "small a" LDL LOOK­ALIKE

This substance called Lp(a) is not found in most animals, coincidentally, its not found in the animals that manufacture vitamin C in their bodies. Animals, remember, do not generally suffer the same kinds of occlusive cardiovascular disease as humans. Although similar in composition to LDL (so-called "bad" cholesterol), the significance of this mysterious substance escaped most other researchers, until recently.

According to Pauling/Rath,

Scientist Pauling and Medical Doctor Rath performed careful laboratory experiments on animals in order to test their theory. They repeated earlier experiments which induced atherosclerosis in guinea pigs by restricting the intake of vitamin C to the U. S. RDA (adjusting for body weight). [1]

Unknown in Willis' time, Pauling and Rath carefully measured Lp(a) levels in the animals.

Over time, roughly five weeks in these animals, vitamin C restriction limits the animals ability to produce the protein collagen. Ultimately, the blood vessels lose strength, causing the lesions that result in the arterial healing process we call atherosclerosis.

Microscope pictures show that the animal lesions mimic the human form of the disease. Lp(a) levels in animals deprived of vitamin C were shown to rise as described in their 1994 U. S. Patent.

Animals in the control group that were fed the same, except for the addition of a human equivalent of 3 to 5 gm of vitamin C per day, showed no signs of atherosclerosis. Lp(a) remained low in these animals.

This experiment shows beyond a reasonable doubt that a single factor ­ too little vitamin C ­ causes Lp(a) based atherosclerotic plaques.

Note: If there are other experiments with guinea pigs that can reliably produce human-like atherosclerotic plaques (not fatty streaks) , i.e. by elevating homocysteine or cholesterol levels in the blood, when adequate vitamin C is added to the pigs diet, we would very much appreciate being supplied with references.

The subject of intense scientific scrutiny, Pauling and Rath's insight about the "missing link" in heart disease ­ the coagulating healing factor lipoprotein(a) ­ has been confirmed during a reevaluation of The Framingham Heart Study.

Dr. Pauling stated that, "if you have more than 20mg/dl of lipoprotein­(a) in your blood it begins to deposit plaques, causing atherosclerosis."

According to Dr. Rath, studies show that special diet does not influence lipoprotein(a) blood levels. Vitamin C and vitamin B3 (niacin) can lower blood levels of lipoprotein(a).

Furthermore, according to Dr. Rath, significant documentation attests that Vitamins belong to the most powerful agents in the fight against heart disease. This fact has been established by studies of thousands of people over many years. Here are some important results of recent clinical studies:

Vitamin C cuts heart disease rate almost in half (documented in 11,000 Americans over ten years)

Vitamin E cuts heart disease rate by more than one third (documented in 36,000 Americans over six years.)

Beta Carotene (provitamin A) cuts heart disease rate almost in half (documented in 36,000 Americans).

"No prescription drug has ever been shown to help prevent heart disease similar to these vitamins [e.g. vitamins A, C and E]. These results and those of countless other studies are so clear that anybody questioning the value of vitamins in the prevention of heart disease may safely be considered as uninformed. Matthias Rath, MD"

The Lp(a) Threat Can Be Neutralized ­ High Success Rate Reported Armed with knowledge as to how and why plaque forms in human arteries, Pauling devised what has turned out, at least empirically, to be a viable cure.

Based around their Lipoprotein(a) experiments and the Nobel discoveries concerning the "cholesterol­binding region," Pauling theorized that large amounts of an essential amino acid, lysine,  (in combination with vitamin C) would be therapeutically effective.

Quoting Pauling:

"Many investigators contributed to demonstrating that it is lipoprotein(a) that is deposited in plaques, not merely LDL, but Lp(a). If you have more than 20 mg/dl in the blood it begins to deposit plaques and causes atherosclerosis. The question then is: What causes Lp(a) to stick to the wall of the artery and form these plaques?

"Countless biochemists and chemists discovered what in the wall of the artery causes Lp(a) to adhere and form atherosclerotic plaques and ultimately lead to heart disease, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease. The answer is that there is a particular amino acid in a protein in the wall of the artery ­ lysine ­ which is one of the twenty amino acids that binds the Lp(a) and causes atherosclerotic plaques to develop. I THINK IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY" [Linus Pauling, 1994]

Furthermore, Pauling said,

 

"Knowing that lysyl residues are what causes lipoprotein­(a) to stick to the wall of the artery and form atherosclerotic plaques, any physical chemist would say at once that to prevent that put the amino acid lysine in the blood to a greater extent than it is normally. You need lysine, it is essential, you have to get about 1 gram a day to keep in protein balance, but we can take lysine, pure lysine, a perfectly non toxic substance as supplements, which puts extra lysine molecules in the blood. They enter into competition with the lysyl residues on the wall of arteries and accordingly count to prevent Lp(a) from being deposited, or even will work to pull it loose and destroy atherosclerotic plaques."

Dr. Pauling became convinced that this new understanding of cardiovascular disease would aid in the prevention of the disease and help doctors treat the condition, thereby, saving countless lives. In response to a question as to whether or not the new therapy of vitamin C and large amounts of the amino acid ­lysine could really reverse the atherosclerotic process?", Dr. Pauling replied:

 

"I think so. Yes. Now I've got to the point where I think we can get almost complete control of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes by the proper use of vitamin C and Lysine. It can prevent cardiovascular disease and even cure it. If you are at risk of heart disease, or if there is a history of heart disease in your family, if your father or other members of the family died of a heart attack or stroke or whatever, or if you have a mild heart attack yourself then you had better be taking vitamin C and Lysine." (dosages )

When Pauling and Rath demonstrated laboratory evidence that clogged arteries can be opened in vivo, they were awarded the first two U. S. Patent(s) for reversing heart disease without surgery in 1993 and 1994. (Note: Their first patent, # 5230996, was awarded for the cleansing/removal of atherosclerotic plaque from human organs during transplant surgery. The invention consists of dipping plaque coated human organs into a vitamin C and lysine (analog) solution. The plaque on the surface of the organ is melted away by the vitamin C/lysine solution.)

These patents are important because they establish Pauling and Rath as pioneers who first recognized the importance of Lp(a) as the primary risk factor for human cardiovascular disease.

Linus Pauling, PhD, and Matthias Rath, MD, are NOT listed in the references of vast majority of the 1100 Lp(a) medical research studies. IT IS AS THOUGH THE RESEARCH, DESCRIBED HERE, NEVER OCCURRED.

Currently, there are no drugs available for the Lp(a) problem.

As simple and safe as the Pauling protocol is, don't overlook Pauling's earlier published nutritional recommendations (e.g., the anti-oxidant Vitamins E, Vitamin A, and good amounts of the various B vitamins. See How To Live Longer and Feel Better 1986), as well as the cardiovascular nutritional recommendations of Brian Liebovitz, PhD, editor of the Journal of Optimal Nutrition. Dr. Liebovitz's recommendations include vitamin E, magnesium, carnitine and co-enzyme Q10. The cardiovascular recommendations of Hans A. Nieper, MD, include bromelain and mineral orotates. The most research into Nitric Oxide (NO) spawned a Nobel prize in medicine in 1998. Blood pressure is regulated by NO and Dr. Woodson Merrel, MD, recommends 3-6 gm of supplemental arginine, which like lysine, is an essential and non-toxic amino acid.

However, there are "drug free" solutions based on vitamin C and l­lysine!

A recent anecdotal report comes from an individual with a history of severe heart disease. He reports that his 55 mg/dl level of Lp(a) dropped to 11 mg/dl (80% reduction) in three weeks on a high dose of the Tower  Heart Technology vitamin C/lysine/ proline/carnitine/vitamin A/vitamin E product. He sent us a copy of his before and after Lp(a) blood assays which, one of several we have available. Medical doctors, such as Warren Levin, MD, of New York City, have noted similar blood changes in patients. Dr. Levin wrote to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) about this remarkable finding. His letter was not published.

At age 92, Pauling lectured on this important development.

Note:

The Pauling/Rath paper on this monumental development was submitted to the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences. After being first accepted, it was then summarily rejected.

Why hasn't this story been picked up by the mass media, especially health magazines such as Prevention?

There are no good answers to this question. (Why not ask them?) One answer may be pharmaceutical company advertising...

VITAMIN C DEFICIENCY AND HEART ATTACKS There is substantial evidence for the proposition that vitamin C deficiency is the root cause of heart attacks, a small portion of which is listed here. (An excellent bibliography can be found at the end of Pauling's book HOW TO LIVE LONGER AND FEEL BETTER.) Of course, people require different amounts of this important substance. In our experience over the past five years talking to heart patients about the Pauling therapy, it is rare to find a heart patient who consumes more than 2000 mg of vitamin C daily, although a few claim to take 3 to 4 grams (3000 to 4000 mg.) Most are not supplementing or take less than 500 mg daily. We have not spoken with a single person who has been diagnosed with heart disease and claims to take more than 8,000 mg daily. This observations has been backed up by study run by the Life Extension Foundation.

WHY NO PROOF?