Just Ask Terry

Terry is happy to provide his opinion on diet and nutrition, supplements and lifestyle choices. This information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to replace the advice of your physician and is not to be considered medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you have any concerns please contact your physician directly.

Q. Dear Terry, “My husband just had his first TIA so I have been really concerned and reading a lot on this problem. TIAs are thought to be the precursor to a major stroke and since they don’t know where the ‘mini-stroke’ was because the body tries to repair them quickly…would nattokinase be appropriate to “eat up” any clots that might be forming? I’ve read the cautions…anywhere it would truly be beneficial, the literature says “avoid”. Is that just because a clinical trial doesn’t show support for what we know the nutrient can do? I hear it is common for doctors to use blood thinners with this condition. And the second part of the question…would CoQ10 help/benefit with TIAs specifically? I know it’s good for brain function, heart health, immune etc, etc, etc but could it help for TIAs? What supplements might be useful? Thank you for your help. I have always been a huge fan of yours!” — Linda H, Fresno, CA

A. Dear Linda, I am sorry your husband is having health problems. “TIA” stands for transient ischemic attack, which means blood flow is temporarily cut off to a small area of the brain. Regarding your husband’s TIA: you are right to be concerned, because while TIAs generally resolve on their own fairly rapidly, they are an indicator that conditions are ripe for a stroke. Some things that contribute to TIAs are high blood pressure, blood clots, and atherosclerosis. You are right–it is very common that a doctor might use warfarin (Coumadin) to thin the blood and prevent blood clots. Important things to address are to make sure his blood pressure is as healthy as possible, vascular walls are strong, flexible, and resilient, and support healthy heart function. If he plans to incorporate supplements into his routine, we recommend he discuss with his physician to make sure there is no specific reason not to do so and to make sure all his health care providers are in the loop. That said, omega 3 fatty acids may be very important for him. However, it has been noted that high doses of omega 3s can help warfarin/Coumadin do its job too well—this is called potentiating the activity of the medication. Many people successfully combine both, as omega 3s can be crucial for healthy heart, brain, and blood vessel function. The way they do this is via monitoring of how “thin” his blood is. When placed on one of these medications, doctors check the blood frequently to make sure they have the blood thinning activity exactly where they want it. They then adjust the medication accordingly. So if the doctor is in agreement, he could take a vectorized omega 3 fatty acid extract from salmon (which differs greatly from a fish oil), and the doctor would check his blood and get the medication dosage where he wants it. However, it is important that once his medication is adjusted, he NOT CHANGE his diet or approved supplements suddenly, as this can have a negative impact. If he wants to discontinue use of an omega 3 product, he needs to let his doc know so he can take this into account. Pyridoxal 5 phosphate, or P-5-P, in a formula with magnesium would likely be a very good choice for this gentleman. As for nattokinase, you are right—this is something of a “clot buster” when taken in higher dosages. Therefore, it can be difficult to take at the same time as prescription blood thinners, as it is even more “thinning” than omega 3s. I think your idea of using CoQ10 is right on target. It supports brain and cardiac function, and has a mild impact on lowering blood pressure in some people, so this would be a very good thing. However, in this case, I would suggest the ACTIVE form of CoQ10, which is ubiquinol. Plain CoQ10 is called ubiquinone, and it has to be converted to be useful in the body. The older we get, the less able we are to convert, and there are also several diseases that interfere with CoQ10 conversion. Some good brands of ubiquinol are Mercola, Jarrow, Enzymatic Therapy (they list it as “ActivLife Q10” but that brand is ubiquinol) and I think Blue Bonnet has one, too. I hope this helps answer your questions. Good luck with your husband, and please convey to him our best wishes for good health. Thank you for being such a solid supporter the work we do in educating on natural medicine. I appreciate it!

Healthy regards!

Terry . . . Naturally