Nitric Oxide - A Major Advancement in Cardiovascular Medicine
Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most important discoveries ever regarding the advancement of cardiovascular health, which includes the health of our blood vessels and endothelium. However, NO suffers from an identity crisis. If you asked a roomful of people what NO is, most would probably either have no idea, or think it is laughing gas you get at a dentist's office. Even many doctor's are not aware of the recent research regarding nitric oxide and how it can benefit your cardiovascular health.
Back in 1860, Alfred Nobel successfully caused nitroglycerin to explode. Six years later, he invented dynamite by using nitroglycerin as the active ingredient. Even back then, scientists knew that small amounts of nitroglycerin helped relieve chest pain (angina), but they didn't understand how it worked. They just knew that small doses relaxed the blood vessels, which allowed them to dilate. Ironically, late in Alfred Nobel's life, he developed angina and took nitroglycerin internally. He later died of a heart attack in 1896.
The discovery of NO did not come easily. Dr. Ferid Murad of the University of Virginia and later Stanford University discovered that cyclic GMP (guanosine monophosphate) was the "second messenger" for NO. A second messenger is a molecule that carries a message from the outside of a cell to the inside. When NO enters a cell, it activates an enzyme which produces the second messenger, cyclic GMP. In effect, Dr. Murad had solved the mystery of how nitroglycerin causes blood vessels to relax. He found that nitroglycerin released NO, which started a chain reaction resulting in relaxed blood vessels.
Prior to this time, NO was though of as a product of car exhaust, a toxic gas that was only available outside the body. At about the time that Dr. Murad made his discoveries, Dr Robert Furchgott, a pharmacologist at the State University of New York, and his assistant discovered that the endothelium produces a powerful vessel relaxant that helped smooth muscles in the arteries to relax. Dr. Furchgott called this substance "endothelium-derived relaxing factor," or EDRF.
When his research was published in 1980, there was a race around the world to uncover the identity of EDRF. This proved to be a very difficult process, as EDRF is extremely short-lived, lasting for only a fraction of a second in the vessel wall. In 1986, Dr. Furchgott and Dr. Louis Ignarro, of UCLA, independently of each other, provided evidence that EDRF and nitric oxide were the same molecule. The discovery of NO/EDRF was extremly important one. This led to all three men receiving the Nobel Prize for the discovery that nitric oxide could act as a signal to many cells in the body. The Committee at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where the Nobel Prize is awarded, said these three scientists had "elicited an avalanche of research activities in many different laboratories around the world." They also explained that this research had led to new treatments for heart and lung diseases, shock, and impotence. In the following video link, Dr. Ignarro explains about nitric oxide and the benefits it provides for your cardiovascular health. Be sure to watch his second and third videos, as well, which provide additional information on NO.
What Nitric Oxide Can Do For You - Most physicians trained in cardiovascular medicine are specifically concerned about the heart and how it's working, as opposed to the vascular system. Often, cardiologists concentrate on procedures such as angioplasties and putting stents in their patients, as opposed to preventive types of therapy that focus on increasing nitric oxide production, and improving the health of the endothelium.
The research of the three Nobel Prize-winning scientists showed that a healthy endothelium releases its own form of nitroglycerin, a powerful vasodilator and muscle relaxant that is essential for cardiovascular health. A healthy endothelium is like having a life-long supply of nitroglycerin, only much better. Nitroglycerin exposes your blood vessels to a blast of NO all at once, where endothelium produced NO is released specifically where it is needed. This NO production is controlled by nerve stimulation, circulating hormones, and the tissue served by the vessels. This research regarding cardiovascular health is shedding some much needed light on the importance of nitric oxide.
It is now known that eating the right foods, along with heart healthy supplements, and daily moderate exercise can have a dramatic effect on keeping your endothelium and blood vessels healthy. A healthy endothelium will produce the amount of nitric oxide that is necessary to keep your blood vessels smooth, like Teflon, as opposed to sticky, like Velcro.
If your endothelium produces the proper amount of NO, then you can eliminate cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high homocysteine levels. By having relaxed, dilated blood vessels, the rest of your body and organs will receive proper blood flow and the nutrients needed for optimal cardiovascular health.
