Guest blog by Dr. Frederick Vagnini, MD, FACS, Heart, Diabetes & Weight-Loss Centers of New York

If you’ve recently listened to me on the Res-Q HealthLine radio shows, I recently indicated that there were four silent killers. But now, due to expanded research and more and more problems coming through my centers in New York, I have expanded them to eight.

First of all, what is meant by a silent killer? Well, it’s simple. It’s something you don’t feel until a heart attack occurs, or until you fracture a bone, or you have a stroke. These silent killers include:

1. High blood pressure: Many times you could have a blood pressure of 200 and you don’t feel it.
2. High cholesterol and triglycerides: There’s typically no pain in the arteries. Unless you get your lipids checked, you’re not going to realize that your arteries are clogging up.
3. Inflammation: Inflammation is the backbone of pathophysiology for cardiovascular disease and aging, which is very prevalent in Western culture. It can be anything from a swollen toe to inflamed arteries, the latter of which you cannot feel.
4. Oxidative stress: Damage from free radicals and oxidative stress is when the body’s antioxidant system becomes overwhelmed. Oxidative stress accelerates the aging process.
5. Blood glucose: Another silent killer is blood glucose. Many people are coming into my office with 200-300 blood-sugar levels. They don’t feel a thing.  But they are pre-diabetic or diabetic and they have been doing damage to their bodies for many years before they even realize it. High blood-glucose levels can not only lead to diabetes, but also eye disease, blindness, kidney disease, nerve disease or death.
6. Glycation: (sometimes called non-enzymatic glycosylation) is something that accelerates heart disease, cellular damage and aging, and it is simply a problem with glucose that adheres to proteins lipids and DNA to create something called “Advanced Glycation End Product” (AGE)
7. Telomere shortening: Telomeres are the tips of chromosomes and when they shorten you have progressive aging. What happens to accelerate this aging process is inflammation and oxidative stress.
8. Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis is a bone disease that leads to an increased risk of fracture. It is another silent killer simply because you don’t feel your bones weakening until you’ve lost four inches of height.

What can we do to prevent these silent killers from leading us into cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and accelerated aging? Well, I developed a protocol in my Centers based on the following:

• Diet: a modified, low-carbohydrate Mediterranean diet
• Exercise: Any exercise is good; cross training is the best, which is when you do a combination of resistance training with aerobics.
• Stress reduction: Stress reduction is critical. It’s one of the leading factors that influence degenerative diseases and especially cardiovascular disease.
• Supplements: The right supplements can combat high triglycerides, high cholesterol, high blood pressure oxidative damage, high blood sugar, arthritis, weight reduction, diabetes, fatigue, and basically all of the degenerative and cardiovascular problems.
• Pharmaceuticals: Medical drugs are prescribed when necessary.

Prevention Through Supplements & Nutrition
Years ago, I developed a program called Cardio Nutrition, and that is simply a program, along with diet and exercise, in which we use supplements. Here’s a list of some of the “silent killers” and what Res-Q products will work best to combat them.

High Cholesterol/Triglycerides:

•  L-D-L less (red yeast rice)
•  Res-Q LDLx2 (polycosanol) with or without niacin
•  Res-Q 1250, which is primarily a triglyceride-lowering agent
•  Res-Q Land ’n’ Sea Fiber is excellent for lowering lipids
•  Res-Q Multi, as it has 300 milligrams of garlic
•  Res-Q HDL+ (raises your good cholesterol)

When it comes to cholesterol we also worry about the oxidative damage and we have a number of antioxidants including Res-Q Multi, Res-Q CellPower (CoQ10), Res-Q Resveratrol, Nature’s Shield Superfoods and Nature’s Shield Leg & Vein Support, which all protect the LDL against oxidative damage.

Hypertension/ High Blood Pressure:

• Res-Q Multi vitamin, which has taurine, hawthorn berry, garlic and L-carnitine
• Res-Q Orosine
• Res-Q 1250
• Nature’s Shield Smart Cal (with vitamin D3)
• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q Multi
• Res-Q Land ‘n’ Sea Fiber
• Res-Q Mg (magnesium)
• Res-Q CellPower (CoQ10)
• Nature’s Shield Leg & Vein
• Res-Q Sleep

Oxidative Stress

• Res-Q Multi
• Res-Q Mega Acai
• Res-Q Land ‘n’ Sea Fiber
• Res-Q CellPower (CoQ10)
• Nature’s Shield Leg & Vein
• Res-Q Resveratrol
• Nature’s Shield Superfoods
• Res-Q Sleep

Glucose Levels:

• Res-Q Land ‘n’ Sea Fiber
• Res-Q 105MAX (specifically designed to lower blood sugar)
• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q 1250
• Nature’s Shield Superfoods
• Res-Q Resveratrol

Telomere shortening:

Research now shows that an omega-3 supplement can prevent telomere shortening

• Res-Q 1250
• Res-Q Calamarine
• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q Multi

Osteoporosis:

• Nature’s Shield SmartCal is great for osteoporosis
• Res-Q 1250
• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q Multi

Inflammation:

• Res-Q 1250
• Res-Q Calamarine
• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q Multi
• Res-Q CellPower (CoQ10)
• Res-Q Orosine (repairs at the cellular level)
• GlycoMarine

Glycation:

• Res-Q 1250+
• Res-Q 1250
• Nature’s Shield Superfoods
• Res-Q Resveratrol
• Res-Q Multi

Weight and Digestion:

• Res-Q All Essential Enzymes
• Res-Q Probiotic
• Res-Q Land ‘n’ Sea Fiber
• Nature’s Shield Weight Control
• Res-Q Trim System