Homocysteine, once upon a time, was a lab value that was measured to assess your heart attack and stroke risk. It is not standard protocol to measure this anymore. As a matter a fact, nearly every patient or client who has tried to get their MD to run this number has either been met with a fight, or just plain “No!” They often hear, “That is old school. Nobody runs that anymore.”
I couldn’t disagree any more. Homocysteine is a huge deal! Let’s explore some of the reasons why Homocysteine is a highly important marker, as well as a few clinical observations I have made in regard to this value.
What is Homocysteine?
Homocysteine was, once upon a time, a lab value that was measured to assess your heart attack and stroke risk. It is an amino acid found in every cell of our body. Although normal lab range for homocysteine is less than 10.4 umol/L, when placed on the finer-tuned “functional scale,” we want it to be nearer to 6-7. That level is where it is both indicating and contributing to optimal function.
Homocysteine, when everything in the body is working as it should, is a precursor for some very important processes.
- Making glutathione. Glutothione is one of your body’s best antioxidants. It is crucial for detoxifying all of the environmental and chemical pollutants that we are exposed to every moment of the day. Without it, you become chemically sensitive and toxic.
- How your body processes sulfur.
- Creating SAMe, which makes important substrates for cellular and muscle health. SAMe also donates methyl groups to many enzymes through out your body, in order to make them work. When your cells are unhealthy, your muscles are inadequate, and your enzymes don’t work to break down things such as neurotransmitters, histamines, and many more, one could imagine how overall health declines greatly.
Thyroid Receptor Sensitivity
A thyroid receptor’s ability to bring active thyroid into the cell for use is a commonly overlooked dysfunction in thyroid metabolism. That means that, even if you had proper signaling, production, and conversion to the active form of thyroid hormone, it could still not be readily accepted into your cells for use. Having high homocysteine decreases your receptor’s sensitivity to the active thyroid hormone.
Heart Attack, Blood Clot, and Stroke Risk
Homocysteine rivals smoking cigarettes regarding risk factors for developing the vascular diseases above. It appears to damage the vascular endothelial cells (inner cells of the vascular tubes), which can create atherosclerosis. This is a problem because when you have damage to the endothelial cells, cholesterol catches onto those damaged areas and begins to form clots. It also oxidizes lipoproteins and inhibits angiogenesis (your body’s ability to make new vessels to supply blood to areas that aren’t getting enough.)
Brain Effects
High homocysteine has been implicated in age-related cognitive decline. Dementia! Many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, have been linked to high homocysteine. Memory impairment is strongly associated with high homocysteine levels. Ever noticed that your memory declines when you are under massive stress? I know I have! Of all the ways you DON’T want to go down as you age, I strongly believe dementia is amongst the scariest possibilities for nearly everyone.
How does Homocysteine creep higher than it should be?
Homocysteine rises above optimal levels in the case of genetic variants (MTHFR, MTR, MTRR, BHMT), vitamin and mineral deficiencies, stress, or consuming large quantities of meat and little to no veggies.
What is the one factor that most greatly influences your Homocysteine level?
Over the years, I have observed that a majority of my patients and Dr. Medel’s clients have entered our practice with high Homocysteine, either out of functional or lab ranges. Many have markedly improved levels upon a 3-month follow up. However, I remained troubled by Homocysteine levels that would not budge, in certain people. One day it hit me like a ton of bricks!
“Oh my gosh! Those are all of my CEOs!”
That wasn’t 100% true, as I had some people from different professions and walks of life with high Homocysteine that was resistant to lowering, but EVERY ONE of my CEOs had this problem. Myself included! These people eat lots of green, leafy vegetables. They are taking the vitamins and minerals to properly process Homocysteine. Sometimes, relatively aggressively! The ONLY factor that remains is stress.
The Experiment
As is customary for me, I once again used myself as a guinea pig to see how much stress impacted Homocysteine levels. I desperately needed to unload some stress, actually, so I was happy to participate with that aspect of the experiment. I hired on new staff, doubling the size of FLI’s prior team. This way, I was able to focus solely on patient/client care and not be doing 2+ other jobs, as well. I took on a paperwork day at the office so that when I was home with my family, I wasn’t internally stressing about all the paperwork I needed to get done between fetching juice for my son, running my daughter to activities, and holding my 9 month old.
During this 6 month experiment, I MAYBE took 3 B12 and Folate lozenges and no multivitamins, so that I can test how much of a difference stress has independent of any other factors. As it turns out, stress is a really big freakin’ deal! My homocysteine went from above 14 (a level that I start getting concerned for stroke or heart attack risk) to 7.5 (nearly in the “ideal” functional level of 6-7!!!) WoooHooo!
My point in sharing this information with you is this: great nutrition, a talented health management team, and all the will-power in the world aren’t enough to see you to your best self. This is why we have our lovely wellness coach, Christine, helping you along this journey. You HAVE TO learn to manage and control your stress levels. Take advantage of her expertise. (I know I do!) Make hard choices, if necessary. YOU are worth it and IT will be worth it. We love you all and want to see you living your best life. Every day.
With Love,
Dr. Rosario
