The Blood Test That Could Save Your Life…
The ancient Greeks believed that the heart was the seat of everything: emotions, the soul, life itself. Today, we know that the heart is part of a complex system but the basic truth remains: if the heart stops, life stops.
What if I told you that there is an inexpensive blood test that can show if you will need bypass surgery or an implantable defibrillator YEARS before any other symptom appears?
The test is the BNP Test: The Brain Natriuretic Peptide test. BNP is a hormone produced by the heart when it is working too hard for too long. The blood levels of BNP should stay quite low.
Research shows that people with a BNP level of over 400 pg/mL are EIGHT times more likely to die in the next 1-5 years than people with levels under 100.
This test is often ordered for patients who have already been diagnosed with coronary disease to make sure they are not going into heart failure. However, for up to 50% of men with heart disease, the very first symptom is sudden death. Waiting until heart disease is diagnosed by other tests could be too late. Additional studies show that even a slight elevation (over 80pg/mL) can mean a five-fold increased risk of death in the next year.
So, what does one do for an elevated BNP?
This is the great part…one of the best things you can do to lower your BNP is to take a high quality complete Vitamin E. Simple, right? Here’s the trick…most vitamin E supplements only contain synthetic alpha-tocopherol. When taken by itself, it can actually worsen the problem by depleting the other SEVEN necessary components of real Vitamin E.
Real Vitamin E is made up of four tocopherols and four tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). Not only will you improve your heart health by taking a complete vitamin E, you’ll also be lowering your risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease, preventing abnormal clotting, and improving blood sugar metabolism.
The best whole food sources of vitamin E?
- Spinach
- chard
- sunflower seeds
- almonds
- turnip greens
- peppers
- asparagus.
BNP is a great add-on test with your regular blood work. Please contact me for a requisition if you are interested in knowing your BNP levels.
In health,
Dr. G
