Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
Interesting research -
Resveratrol - a compound found in red wine and nuts - can be used to develop new drugs to treat a common heart condition, scientists have found.
An international research team led by medical scientists at the University of Alberta has shown that new medications based on resveratrol can help treat a common heart-rhythm problem known as atrial fibrillation.Atrial fibrillation is the most common abnormal heart rhythm problem affecting 1 in 200 people. It carries a fivefold
increased risk of stroke, as well as an increased risk of heart failure and death.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Peter Light and his
colleagues discovered that new resveratrol-based drugs they created
that were used in the lab, helped regulate electrical activity in the heart
by inhibiting irregular electrical currents, and by reducing the length of
abnormal heart-rhythm episodes.These new medications targeted multiple activities in the cell, whereas current medications for heart rhythm problems target just one or two specific areas.The team is now working on advancing their drug design.
Light expects that clinical trials with the advanced drug design will
start within the next three to five years."We are at the next stage of developing a new oral medication for atrial fibrillation that patients could take on a daily basis to prevent this condition from occurring," said Light.
"We are improving the medication's solubility, absorption, how it is metabolised and how long it stays in the blood stream," Light added.
Few medications are currently on the market to help treat atrial fibrillation effectively and those medications may have many serious side effects. Since resveratrol is a natural product, researchers hope the new drug would be better tolerated by the body.
The study was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology and can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.12409/pdf
opsyn
Resveratrol - a compound found in red wine and nuts - can be used to develop new drugs to treat a common heart condition, scientists have found.
An international research team led by medical scientists at the University of Alberta has shown that new medications based on resveratrol can help treat a common heart-rhythm problem known as atrial fibrillation.Atrial fibrillation is the most common abnormal heart rhythm problem affecting 1 in 200 people. It carries a fivefold
increased risk of stroke, as well as an increased risk of heart failure and death.
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Peter Light and his
colleagues discovered that new resveratrol-based drugs they created
that were used in the lab, helped regulate electrical activity in the heart
by inhibiting irregular electrical currents, and by reducing the length of
abnormal heart-rhythm episodes.These new medications targeted multiple activities in the cell, whereas current medications for heart rhythm problems target just one or two specific areas.The team is now working on advancing their drug design.
Light expects that clinical trials with the advanced drug design will
start within the next three to five years."We are at the next stage of developing a new oral medication for atrial fibrillation that patients could take on a daily basis to prevent this condition from occurring," said Light.
"We are improving the medication's solubility, absorption, how it is metabolised and how long it stays in the blood stream," Light added.
Few medications are currently on the market to help treat atrial fibrillation effectively and those medications may have many serious side effects. Since resveratrol is a natural product, researchers hope the new drug would be better tolerated by the body.
The study was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology and can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.12409/pdf
opsyn
So what do we do? We try to find a reason for what happened to us and hope for grape therapy. I'm at the point where I feel common sense in how we treat our bodies can only be helpful, but it is no miracle cure once we have afib. They say they are many causative factors or associations with afib. But they all seem to have a few commonalities: they stress the heart, they seem to make changes at the cellular level, they may affect or be the result of improper hydration and improper chemistry, they may involve inflammation, they may result from physical heart problems or heart disease, and atrial stretch and scarring have a role. It seems our hearts have been "hammered" by a variety of things and our hearts have been altered.
Anyway, here is some information on resveratrol. -petey
Resveratrol is a member of a group of plant compounds called polyphenols. These compounds are thought to have antioxidant properties, protecting the body against the kind of damage linked to increased risk for conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes, but other sources include peanuts and berries.
Because resveratrol is thought to have so many health benefits, it's not surprising that a number of manufacturers have tried to capitalize by selling resveratrol supplements. Most resveratrol capsules sold in the U.S. contain extracts from the Japanese and Chinese knotweed plant Polygonum cuspidatum. Other resveratrol supplements are made from red wine or red grape extracts.
Recommended Related to Heart Disease
Recognizing Heart Attack, Stroke, and Angina
Doctors call it the "Hollywood heart attack": a middle-aged man breaks into a cold sweat, grimaces, and clutches his chest-just like in the movies. Trouble is, in real life, heart attack symptoms don't always announce themselves so dramatically. More often they are insidious and puzzling, such as unexplained fatigue or abdominal discomfort, and many people wait for hours before seeking help. Big mistake, doctors tell WebMD. The ability to quickly spot signs of heart attack, angina, and stroke...
Read the Recognizing Heart Attack, Stroke, and Angina article > >
Ads touting resveratrol supplements on the Internet promise purchasers everything from weight loss to a healthier, longer life. The question is, do resveratrol supplements really deliver on those promises, or are they nothing more than marketing hype?
Benefits of Resveratrol
Resveratrol has gained a lot of attention for its reported antiaging and disease-combating benefits. Early research, mostly done in test tubes and in animals, suggests that resveratrol might help protect the body against a number of diseases, including:
Heart disease. Resveratrol helps reduce inflammation, prevents the oxidation of LDL "bad" cholesterol, and makes it more difficult for platelets to stick together and form the clots that can lead to a heart attack.
Cancer. Resveratrol is thought to limit the spread of cancer cells and trigger the process of cancer cell death (apoptosis).
Continue reading below...
Alzheimer's disease. Resveratrol may protect nerve cells from damage and the buildup of plaque that can lead to Alzheimer's.
Diabetes. Resveratrol helps prevent insulin resistance, a condition in which the body becomes less sensitive to the effects of the blood sugar-lowering hormone, insulin. Insulin resistance is a precursor to diabetes.
Rodent studies suggest that resveratrol might even help against some of the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle and lead to increased longevity. Resveratrol-treated mice fed a high-calorie diet lived longer than similarly fed mice not given resveratrol. Resveratrol protected mice fed a high-calorie diet from obesity-related health problems by mimicking the effects of caloric restriction.
Resveratrol has also been linked to prevention of age-related problems such as heart disease and insulin resistance. Researchers believe that resveratrol activates the SIRT1 gene, a biological mechanism that seems to protect the body against the harmful effects of obesity and the diseases of aging.
Side Effects
Because there have been very few studies conducted on resveratrol in humans, doctors still can't confirm any benefits, and they don't know what effects these supplements might have on people over the long term. So far, studies have not discovered any severe side effects, even when resveratrol is taken in large doses. However, resveratrol supplements might interact with blood thinners such as warfarin (Coumadin), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin and ibuprofen, increasing the risk for bleeding.
Like other supplements, resveratrol isn't regulated by the FDA, so it's difficult for consumers to know exactly what they're getting when they buy a bottle, or whether the product is actually effective. There also isn't any specific dosage recommendation, and dosages can vary from supplement to supplement.
The dosages in most resveratrol supplements are typically far lower than the amounts that have been shown beneficial in research studies. Most supplements contain 250 to 500 milligrams of resveratrol. To get the equivalent dose used in some animal studies, people would have to consume 2 grams of resveratrol (2,000 milligrams) or more a day.
The bottom line: Until more high-quality research is available, experts say they can't recommend resveratrol supplements for antiaging or disease prevention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4lWVi9biXg
As seen in this video the early research focused on sirtuins and aging, while a lot of the subsequent published researched focused on heart health. Some of this heart health research was found to be falsified in 2012.
Its good to see that the research in resveratrol is still continuing and hopefully one day it will be one of the tools we use to prevent and possibly treat afib.
By the way I found the following quote from the Dr. Oz website:
"You can further protect your body from the harmful effects of inflammation by taking a resveratrol supplement. Resveratrol is a compound found in plants such as the Japanese knotweed, blueberries, peanuts, red grape skins, and others. While resveratrol has been recommended for fighting the physical effects of aging, a brand new study shows it reduced inflammation of the heart in the study's participants by 26%. Taking one 500 mg capsule of resveratrol daily with food will help you maintain a strong, healthy heart."
I did find a study on rats showing that "resveratrol significantly increased the bioavailability of diltiazem due to the inhibition of both the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4-mediated metabolism and the efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the intestine and/or liver. Based on these results, if these results would be confirmed in clinical experiments, the dosage of diltiazem should be readjusted when diltiazem is used concomitantly with resveratrol"
opsyn