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Avoid Deadly Blood Clots with Two Natural Extracts

The AHA! Team — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 05:27:07 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 900,000 Americans could be affected by venous thromboembolisms (blood clots) every year – with roughly 100,000 dying from them. Believe it or not, the simple act of sitting – for long periods – may be hazardous to your health. The American College of Cardiology reports that sitting at a desk for more than four hours a day increases the odds of deep vein thrombosis by a frightening 48 percent. Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein located deep in the body. In a life-threatening complication, the clot may break loose and make its way to the lung, leading to a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. Fortunately, recent research shows that you can combat DVT – safely and effectively – with the help of two natural extracts. Blood clots affect close to one million Americans According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 900,000 Americans could be affected by venous thromboembolisms (blood clots) every year – with roughly 100,000 dying from them. In fact, the risks of prolonged sitting are so pronounced many are calling sitting “the new smoking.” In truth, Western medicine offers few real solutions. Anticoagulant medications prescribed by conventionally trained doctors can feature serious side effects – along with the risk of hemorrhage or uncontrolled bleeding. However, recent research shows that two natural substances, French maritime pine bark extract, and nattokinase, can break down small clots before they grow – and even stop them from forming in the first place. Both can inhibit clotting, improve microcirculation in the legs, and increase the elasticity of blood vessel walls. What are the symptoms and signs of a blood clot? Unfortunately, about half the time, there are no apparent signs of deep vein thrombosis. When symptoms occur, they tend to develop suddenly – and can include swelling, fatigue, tenderness, and pain in the affected leg. Reddened skin, otherwise discolored skin, and warm skin on one or both legs can also be warning signs. A previously invisible vein that suddenly becomes visible is also a red flag that may indicate a possible blood clot. Call your doctor if you notice any of these warning signs – especially if they develop suddenly. Of course, aging can make you more susceptible to blood clots – especially when living a sedentary lifestyle. Being obese, smoking cigarettes, having surgery, and taking oral contraceptives can also raise your risk. French maritime pine bark extract: A powerful natural vasodilator Pine bark extract, also known as pycnogenol, is rich in beneficial polyphenols, including procyanidins and phenolic acids. With potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, pine bark extract dilates blood vessels and reduces blood platelets’ stickiness, making them less likely to form clots. French maritime pine bark extract also increases the activity of an enzyme that generates beneficial nitric oxide in blood vessels. Several studies have demonstrated that pine bark extract is especially effective in preventing blood clots from forming after prolonged sitting. French maritime pine bark extract has also been shown to help reduce post-thrombotic syndrome, a common DVT complication in which blood collects in the affected leg and causes swelling, discoloration, and leg ulcers. In a year-long study, French maritime pine bark extract was found to be at least as effective as compression stockings in treating post-thrombotic syndrome. Not only did no new cases occur in the participants who took pine bark extract, but leg and ankle swelling was significantly decreased when compared to the compression stockings group. Researchers concluded that pine bark extract may have significant long-term protective effects following a thrombotic event. Another plus for French maritime pine bark extract is that compliance was better in the pine bark group. Researchers noted that taking the extract was not as “bothersome” to the participants as wearing the compression stockings, especially in warm weather. Nattokinase: A potent protector made from soy Nattokinase is a proteolytic enzyme made from soybeans fermented with a specific bacterium, Bacillus subtilis. It helps to prevent clotting by breaking down fibrin – the main protein found in clots – and also breaks down fibrinogen, the precursor to fibrin. It achieves this without causing side effects or undesirable bleeding. Nattokinase, combined with pine bark extract, has produced impressive results in studies. In a randomized, placebo-controlled human trial published in Angiology, passengers on a lengthy overseas flight were given either a placebo or a nattokinase and pine bark extract combination. The combination prevented each and every passenger who took it from experiencing DVTs. While there were zero DVTs in the supplement group, 5.4 percent of the passengers in the placebo group did experience DVTs. In contrast to the supplement group, passengers in the placebo group experienced a 12 percent increase in leg swelling during the flight – while supplemented passengers actually enjoyed a 15 percent reduction. The conclusion is that nattokinase and French maritime pine bark extract helped to prevent deep vein thrombosis in people who spent long periods sitting – thereby reducing the threat of sudden death from pulmonary embolism. If you must sit at a desk for prolonged periods, experts recommend getting up every hour and walking around for at least five to ten minutes to prevent blood from pooling in your legs. If interested, we suggest you discuss nattokinase and pine bark extract supplementation with your holistic healthcare provider. And, if they don’t know about these substances – find a doctor who understands the value of natural remedies. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov Lifeextension.com Globalhealing.com NIH.gov NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Sitting More Linked to Increased Feelings of Depression, Anxiety

AHA Publisher — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 08:00:30 +0000

Iowa State University via Newswise – AMES, Iowa – As people adhered to stay-at-home orders or self-isolated during the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, daily commutes turned into shuffles between the bedroom and the living room. Clicking Zoom links erased time spent walking to meeting rooms, and Netflix spilled into time otherwise dedicated to the gym. In short, a lot of people suddenly became more sedentary during the onset of the pandemic. Recently published research found people who continued to spend a higher amount of time sitting between April and June 2020 were likely to have higher symptoms of depression. A closer investigation into this association could play a role in helping people improve their mental health. “Sitting is a sneaky behavior,” said Jacob Meyer, assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University and lead author of the paper. “It’s something we do all the time without thinking about it.” As the director of the Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory at ISU, Meyer and his team look at how physical activity and sedentary behaviors are related to mental health, and how changes to those influence the way people think, feel and perceive the world. “In March 2020, we knew COVID was going to affect our behavior and what we could do in lots of weird, funky ways that we couldn’t predict,” Meyer said. To get a snapshot of those changes, Meyer and a team of researchers received survey responses from more than 3,000 study participants from all 50 states and the District of Colombia. Participants self-reported how much time they spent doing activities, like sitting, looking at screens and exercising, and how those behaviors compared to pre-pandemic times. Using standard clinical scales, they also indicated changes to their mental wellbeing (e.g., depression, anxiety, feeling stressed, lonely). “We know when people’s physical activity and screen time changes, that’s related to their mental health in general, but we haven’t really seen large population data like this in response to an abrupt change before,” Meyer said. Survey data showed participants who were meeting the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines (i.e., 2.5-5 hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week) before the pandemic decreased their physical activity by 32%, on average, shortly after COVID-19-related restrictions went into effect. The same participants reported feeling more depressed, anxious and lonely. Meyer and his fellow researchers published their findings in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health last year. Meyer’s latest paper in Frontiers in Psychiatry served as a follow up to see whether the participants’ behaviors and mental health changed over time. Participants filled out the same survey each week between April and June. “In the second study, we found that, on average, people saw their mental health improve over the eight-week period,” Meyer said. “People adjusted to life in the pandemic. But for people whose sitting times stayed high, their depressive symptoms, on average, didn’t recover in the same way as everyone else’s.” The participants who continued to spend a large portion of their day sitting experienced blunted mental health improvements. Meyer emphasized that finding an “association” between sitting and mental health is not the same as saying more sitting causes depression. He said it’s possible people who were more depressed sat more or that people who sat more became more depressed. Or there could have been some other factor that the researchers did not identify. “It’s certainly worthy of more investigation,” Meyer said, adding that monthly survey data from June 2020 to June 2021 are intended to become publicly available soon. “I think being aware of some of the subtle changes we’ve made during the pandemic and how they might be beneficial or detrimental is really important as we look to the other side of pandemic life.” Meyer said both starting and stopping a habit is very difficult, even when someone wants to change their behavior. But he hopes more people will recognize that even a little bit of movement can improve their mood and mental health, and try to find ways to build it into their day. Meyer recommended people take breaks when sitting for long periods of time. “If you’re no longer walking down the hall for in-person meetings, you can still incorporate that break from sitting by taking a short walk before and after your Zoom call,” Meyer said. People working from home can try walking around the block before and after the workday to mimic their pre-pandemic commute, which Meyer said can benefit people physically and mentally, and help add structure to the day. Researchers at Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin and University of Limerick contributed to this research. To read the original article click here.

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