I have atrial fib.and my doctor wants to put me on coumadin.I want to resist this approch.I heard fish oil and ginkgo biloba thins the blood just as well.Any suggestions?
The "rat poison" approach does thin the blood, so to speak, and based on their clotting measure (INR) very little else provides the equivalent therapeutic benefit.
I myself would not go on coumadin - 0ther than possibly for a few days after a heart attack. I think that people who can tolerate a large daily dosage of vitamin C do not require as much, and it also isn't as dangerouls (remember, clotting when there should be clotting, e.g., after an artery or vein rupture, will keep you from internal bleeding.)
After reading Dr. LEvy's STOP AMERICA'S #1 KILLER livonbooks.com one learns the reason they give drugs like coumadin to heart patients. It is a little complicated, but the coronary arteries can become thickened to the extent that they develop their own
system of capillaries. Capillaries that would not normally be so close to the heart. These capillaires like veins, are weak and subject to rupture from the high pressure near caused by the heartbeat.
When a capillary ruptures, the same sequence of blood clotting events occur that can cause a blockage and heart attack .
So these drugs are really only necessary in older, advanced plaques, that have developed a system of small capillaries that may rupture. If you decide to take coumadin, that you should read our forum and take 150 MICRO grams of a good vitamin K2 to help avoid the side effect of rapid soft tissue calcification.
In all cases, vitamin C to bowel tolerance (or more as Lypo-C if your tolerance is low) is warranted. This strengthens the blood vessles making the reputure less likely in the first place.
As far as safe substitutes - anything that prevents the blood from clotting is going to present some potential danger.
owen
p.s. as far as the atr. fib, make sure that you are getting at least 300 mg of a good magnesium and 200 mg of CoQ10, along with your vitamin C.