#1

Another interesting article for the NY Times…

Of particular encouragement to this community of N-1 experimenters and bio-hackers,

His studies showed that a B vitamin deficiency could cause hardened arteries. It took the medical profession more than a decade to catch up.

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#2

I read his book, but the New York Times won’t let me read the article for free. It’s ok, I understand it costs money to write articles.

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#3

Was trying to access myself. Found the transcript of an interview below.

Some choice quotes:

LEM: What studies finally put homocysteine on the map?

McCully: The population study from the Harvard School of Public Health that showed increased heart attack risk with high homocysteine levels involved approximately 14,000 U.S. physicians. The Framingham Heart study showed that as vitamin B6 and folic acid decline, homocysteine levels rise. In their subsequent publication, they showed that this was correlated with thickening of the wall of the artery. So with these landmark studies, it begins to be proven that abnormal homocysteine metabolism is applicable to the population as a whole, rather than just to the rare genetic disease of homocystinuria by which this whole field was discovered.

LEM: Does fish oil lower homocysteine?

McCully: Yes. My colleagues and I showed this effect in men with high blood lipid levels. Olive oil, on the other hand, has no effect on homocysteine levels.

LEM: How does aging affect homocysteine?

McCully: Aging slowly elevates the homocysteine levels. This is a complex subject that needs more study. But we are beginning to understand that in aging there is a progressive abnormality of methionine metabolism. Studies have shown that at the same time S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) declines, homocysteine increases. Over the age of 65 there is a risk of elevated homocysteine levels that is attributable to the aging process as shown by several different epidemiological studies.

LEM: You haven’t said anything about trimethylglycine (also called “TMG” or “betaine”). Does the betaine pathway not also contribute to the breakdown of homocysteine?

McCully: Yes. Recent studies in children with enzyme deficiencies suggest that betaine can increase adenosylmethionine in the brain. Another factor that you haven’t mentioned is choline. Choline is the precursor of betaine. It is, I think, another alternative that should be explored in relation to elevated homocysteine. Choline has beneficial effects on brain function, such as learning and memory.

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#4

Thanks for finding that. I read his book when it came out, the guy really took one for the team. Thanks Kilmer! I take homocystex now and last week my homocysteine was 8, up from 7 a year ago. A few years ago it was 5 and I was worried it was too low. I use the homocystex plus which has TMG. I’ve always had a lot of fish oil, but recently upped it.

Book basically says heart disease is multifactorial and not just a consequence of having too much cholesterol. That was enough at that time to get him fired. Might still be.

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