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Resveratrol may decrease the risk of heart arrhythmias

Jan 23, 2006

In this study arrhythmias were triggered in the hearts of rats and guinea pigs. A group of each animal was given Resveratrol supplementation before the induction of the heart arrhythmia. The Resveratrol significantly decreased the ability of the toxic chemicals to cause a heart arrhythmia and the higher the dosage of Resveratrol the better the protection. Resveratrol shortened the length of time the animals suffered with san arrhythmia when it did occur and Resveratrol decreased the incidence of ventricular tachycardia (racing of the ventricle) and decreased the death rate due to arrhythmia. The study is published in the February 24th, 2006 issue of the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

This is a much more useful study than is readily apparent. The COX-2 enzyme is active in many diseases. It is linked to decreased survival in cancer and increased ability of a tumor to metastasize because COX-2 and PGE2 allow the tumor to create its own transport system of blood vessels. COX-2 is active in cancers of the breast, colon, skin, bladder, esophagus, and pancreas. COX-2 plays a major role in inflammation and it also causes brain damage in Alzheimer's disease. COX-2 is involved with menstrual pain and other inflammation related conditions, but its best known role is in arthritis and joint damage.

In hardening of the arteries the cells lining blood vessels do not function properly (endothelial dysfunction). This blood vessel wall malfunction is characterized by a decrease in nitric oxide - a neurotransmitter that allows the blood vessels to open and blood vessel walls become incapable of relaxing and opening properly for improved blood flow - a condition known as vascular resistance. In healthy men Cocoa polyphenols improve the production of nitric oxide, improve the ability of blood vessels to open properly and improve blood flow. These researchers then prove that it is the Cocoa polyphenols that improved the flow of blood by demonstrating this effect on constricted rabbit blood vessels simply by applying purified cocoa polyphenols. Giving humans Cocoa polyphenols on a daily basis causes a healthy-daily supply of blood vessel wall relaxing neurotransmitter activity according to human research. The research and review was performed at the Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis, and at the Division of Cardiology, Pulmonology, and Vascular Health, Heinrich-Hein University in D?sseldorf, Germany and appears in the January 17th, 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.