Mayo Letter Recogizes Homocysteine Significance

January 7th 2009 -
I have been warning audiences of the dangers of elevated levels of homocysteine for many years. A common response is, "Why should I listen to you when my doctor says there is no reason to check homocysteine levels?"

Physicians do not routinely check homocysteine levels because there is currently no drug available to lower the amount circulating in the body. If and when a drug is patented for this purpose homocysteine monitoring will become as routine as cholesterol checks.

The Mayo Clinic has just published a review of 26 studies of homocysteine levels, heart disease risk factors, and coronary heart disease (heart attacks) -Mayo Clin Proc 2008;83:1200-1212. The researchers found a 20 – 50% increase in heart attack risk for every 5 point increase in homoscysteine level. This was independent of other commonly accepted risk factors.

An accompanying editorial pointed out that B vitamins alone are ineffective in reducing the risk. They call for yet-to-be-developed pharmacologic therapies and combinations of methionine restriction, exercise, and use of betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase and N-acetylcysteine. In effect, the editorial recommends the use of the nutrient combination found in HCY Formula, which I developed several years ago, and which now has a proven track record of success in bringing homocysteine levels into a relatively save range of 7.0 or less.

The significance of homocysteine elevation goes well beyond heart attack risk, however. Because homocysteine levels rise as the body loses its ability to repair damage through a process called methylation, homocysteine is a direct indicator of the body's repair capacity. Nearly every degenerative disease known is accompanied by a rise in homocysteine. The same is true of complications of pregnancy.

For a more detailed discussion of homocysteine and methylation see Homocysteine: Repair and Maintenance.

Dale Peterson, M.D.

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