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like any disease comes about as a malfunction of
one or more of your bodies systems. Much if not most of the
time this is a result of a slow degenerative process due to the
lack of adequate bodily supplies of the elements necessary for
normal function and rejuvenation of affected organs. Commercial
Farming and natural erosion has depleted global farmlands of most
essential elements therefore it is not wise to assume that your
diet contains enough of these elements for normal body function
and maintenance. See
Senate Document 264.
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ATHEROSCLEROSIS is a disease that can affect
people at any age, although it usually doesn't pose a threat until
people reach their forties or fifties. It is characterized by a
narrowing of the arteries caused by cholesterol-rich plaques of
immune-system cells. Key risk factors for atherosclerosis, which can be
genetic and/or environmental, include: elevated levels of cholesterol
and triglyceride in the blood, high blood pressure and cigarette smoke.
A protein called apolipoprotein E, which can exist in
several different forms, is coded for by a gene found on chromosome 19.
It is important for removing excess cholesterol from the blood, and does
so by carrying cholesterol to receptors on the surface of liver cells.
Defects in apolipoprotein E sometimes result in its inability to bind to
the receptors, which leads to an increase a person's blood cholesterol,
and consequently their risk of atherosclerosis.
Currently, a debate is raging over how the various mutated
forms of apolipoprotein E effect the body. As a result, many of the
treatments proposed remain in their experimental phase. While mice are
proving useful for modeling the human disease, a great deal of research
is still required before we can fully understand the mechanisms that
regulate the levels of lipoproteins - like apolipoprotein E - in the
blood.
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The
Whole Story