Angina and Parkinson’s Disease

Hello Dr. Dean: My mother wants to see if you can help with the following which concerns my father whos 82. My fathers health conditions: Angina. Has pacemaker and takes 75 mg aspirin. Heart is now fibrilating which is thought to be from Parkinsons drug Sinamet. His Dr. in England is suggesting walfrin for the fibrillating which my father is not happy to take. Dad has vascular Parkinsons. He has just been given new drug Madopar. Can you advise? Best wishes Philip

Philip I agree with you about the coumadin. I think your dad should stick with his aspirin although I think he should reduce the dose. 30-40 mg per day (i.e. about half what hes taking now) is best. Also add Turmeric. Turmeric will lower his fibrinogen another clotting factor. See my article about Turmeric and Fibrinogen in the VRP web site library as well as the short piece by Dr. Linda Fugate in the August 2002 newsletter. Additional anti-coagulant effect could be obtained by taking oral EDTA (as in VRPs Oral ChelatoRX). None of these substances will cause abnormal anti-coagulation (except perhaps aspirin in high doses). Coumadin on the other hand must be closely monitored. Consider also niacin and niacinamide. Start with low-dose niacin however to avoid flushing. Niacin should further reduce his cardiovascular risk factors (i.e. lower cholesterol raise HDL reduce lipoprotein (a)). Niacinamide on the other hand will not cause flushing. So start off with at least 500 mg and bump the dose up to 2-3 grams daily. This may help with the Parkinsons. Finally consider the pharmaceutical Metformin or VRPs AGEBlock to optimize insulin sensitivity and stabilize glucose and insulin levels. VRPs CardioRhythm may help with his arrhythmia. I realize this is a lot of pills and dont expect him to be able take them all. But those are some options that might be helpful. Ward Dean M.D.