Definition Of Homocysteine
First of all, what is homocysteine? Homocysteine is an amino acid found in our blood. It occurs naturally in your body as it processes protein. When you injest the essential amino acid, methionine, it must be broken down into non-essential amino acids. Homocysteine is used in many important steps your body takes to break down methionine into non-essential proteins. At the end of the cycle, it is used to re-combine the "left overs" from this process back into a little methionine. This entire process takes a lot of energy. Your body gets this energy from vitamins and other nutrients.
If you don't have enough quality nutrition, especially if you are vitamin B12 deficient, either because you are not getting enough B12 vitamins from the foods you eat or because your body is unable to adequately absorb them, the methionine is not re-combined and homocysteine escapes into your bloodstream. If it does, the it will eventually become toxic and will damage your arteries and brain cells. The outcome of this toxicity is two-fold:
1. Endothelial cell injury - infarctions (stroke and or heart attack).
2. Neuronal injury - degenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia). Elevated Level of Homocysteine And Heart Health
For many years, clogged arteries were thought to be the cause of heart disease, but the clogging itself only comes about as a result of the damage caused by high levels of homocysteine. You see, when the it travels through the arteries, the damage it causes is not unlike a burn or scrape on your arm or leg. When you get scratched in a visible area, you can see the area as it scaps over and heals. Your body tries to heal the inside of your arteries in a similar way. But the calcium that is placed over the wounds caused by homocysteine is rather sticky, and it collects fat and cholesterol until the artery is eventually clogged. Don't ignore your cholesterol, it's still very important for you to monitor your cholesterol intake.
Other factors can increase homocysteine in your blood, including your genetic background, certain drugs, aging, hormonal changes such as menopause, smoking, how little you exercise, diabetes and high blood pressure. You can't control all these things, but you can do something about your lifestyle choices and how much sublingual vitamin B12 you take. The American Heart Association strongly advises patients at high risk for heart disease "to be sure to get enough folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12 in their diet". The exact ingredients found in sublingual vitamin B12.
