Exercise and Peripheral Arterial Disease

David, I have had two bouts with arterial or venal blockage just above my right ankle.  The first time I wound up in the hospital  for a week, and was put on Coumadin to thin the blood, for about six months.  That regimen was a real pain, with very limiting dietary restrictions, and weekly trips to the lab for blood tests.  Ugh! 

About a year after ending the Coumadin regimen, I started to get the same symptoms in my ankle again.  This time I was better prepared, because I had been taking a light dose of Nattokinase regularly.  So, I just doubled up on the Nattokinase, and WITHIN ONE DAY all symptoms disappeared. I continued the normally suggested dosage for a little while, and am now back to a lighter dose.

If you do a little studying on Nattokinase, you'll see that it's got some remarkable properties for thinning the blood, with NO SIDE EFFECTS, or dietary restrictions.  This old couch potato, that SHOULD do more exercising, but can't seem to take the time, is lot more comfortable knowing that Nattokinase will lessen the viscosity of the blood,  and lessen the risk of blood clotting.............Chandler

David:

I thought the purpose of strength training (resistance training, anaerobic training, weight training) was to increase the strength of the muscles.  Along with an increase in strength, the muscles become toned and increase in size.

When the muscles increase in size, the new muscle tissue needs adequate blood supply, so new blood vessels are formed (angiogenesis).

Dr. Jaff is saying that the damage to the endothelial layer of blood vessels is what we should be concerned with.  Your article doesn't go further into detail on this.  Why would too much stress on the endothelium be bad?  Isn't this stress part of what initiates angiogenesis?  If we're increasing the size of our muscles (growing new muscle cells in addition to increasing the size of each muscle cell -- hyperplasia and hypertrophy), don't the muscles need new blood vessels to supply them?

I'm 42 and have had type 1 (actually 1.5) diabetes for 3 years.  I do not have PAD now, and in addition to daily long-distance running, I enjoy moderate to heavy weight training.  But I'm ready to give that up if I'm doing more harm than good.

Kevin

Hi David

Dr R Bernstein's advocates continuous anaerobic excercise by tiring a group of muscles, and keeping them tired during the course of the exercise.  He writes that this is far more efficient than aerobic exercise at reducing insulin resistance.  Since reading Dr Bernstein's book I have followed his instructions and also increased my anaerobic exercises. It appears that this may put me at risk of Peripheral Arterial Disease!

Help!!

Regards

Chri