Day: October 11, 2022

• Abnormal blood clotting was one of the first mysterious health effects to emerge in the COVID pandemic, first, as an effect of the natural infection, and later, as a side effect of the COVID jabs. By mid-March 2021, 20 countries had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID shot, either in full or in part, following reports of deadly blood clots

• In December 2021, a team of international scientists detailed the mechanism behind the AstraZeneca jab’s propensity to trigger blood clots. The shell of the vector — a weakened chimpanzee cold virus — in some people acts like a magnet and attracts platelets. Your body mistakes these platelets as a threat and produces antibodies to fight them, resulting in dangerous blood clots

• Israeli researchers have also linked the Pfizer jab with a rare blood clotting disorder

• A Swedish study found two doses of the COVID jab were 43% protective against Omicron infection at week 4. By week 14, protection had dropped to zero. Effectiveness against COVID-related hospitalization remained around 80% until week 25, but dropped to 40% by week 40. Using one statistical analysis method, COVID jabbed Swedes had a higher risk of death or hospitalization from COVID roughly a year after receiving their second dose

• A recent case report links the COVID shots to lethal myocarditis (heart inflammation) and encephalitis (brain inflammation)

Abnormal blood clotting was one of the first mysterious health effects to emerge in the COVID pandemic, first, as an effect of the natural infection, and later, as a side effect of the COVID jabs.

By mid-March 2021, barely four months after the rollout of the COVID injections, 19 European countries plus Thailand1 had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s injection, either in full or in part, following reports of deadly blood clots.2 3

Contrary to the Moderna and Pfizer shots, the AstraZeneca jab uses a viral vector — a genetically modified and supposedly noninfectious chimpanzee cold virus — to deliver double-stranded DNA for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into your cells.4

Earlier that month, The Defender had reported5 U.K. data showing the AstraZeneca jab was responsible for 77% more adverse events and 25% more deaths than the Pfizer shot. Around that same time, doctors at Oslo University Hospital also announced that the blood clotting disorders experienced by some recipients of the AstraZeneca shot were in fact caused by the injection.6 A March 18, 2021, article in Science Norway read, in part:7

“‘Our theory that this is a powerful immune response most likely triggered by the vaccine, has been confirmed,’ says professor and chief physician Pål Andre Holme … ‘In collaboration with experts in the field from the University Hospital of North Norway HF, we have found specific antibodies against blood platelets that can cause these reactions … the chief physician explains …

When asked to clarify why he says ‘most likely’ in the quote, Holme confidently responds that the reason for these rare cases of blood clots has been found.

‘We have the reason. Nothing but the vaccine can explain why these individuals had this immune response,’ he states. [Norwegian national newspaper] VG also asks how Holme can know that the immune response is not caused by something other than the vaccine.

‘There is nothing in the patient history of these individuals that can give such a powerful immune response. I am confident that the antibodies that we have found are the cause, and I see no other explanation than it being the vaccine which triggers it,’ he responds.”

In early December 2021, a team of international scientists published a paper8 detailing the mechanism behind the AstraZeneca jab’s propensity to trigger blood clots. As reported by the Daily Mail at the time:9

“A team of international experts, involving researchers from AstraZeneca, say that in a very small number of cases — about one in 100,000 in the UK — the vaccine can set off a chain reaction which leads to the body confusing its own blood platelets for fragments of virus …

They found that the shell of the vector vaccine — the weakened cold virus used to teach cells how to neutralize COVID — sometimes acts like a magnet and attracts platelets, a protein found in the blood.

For reasons the scientists are still probing, the body then mistakes these platelets as a threat and produces antibodies to fight them. The combination of the platelets and the antibodies clumping together leads to the formation of dangerous blood clots …

Essentially, after being delivered into the body adenovirus binds with a specific protein in the blood, known as platelet factor 4 (PF4), which is normally used by the body to promote coagulation in case of injury.

Using incredibly detailed images of the adenovirus in the vaccine the scientists demonstrated the adenovirus in the Oxford-AstraZeneca is negatively charged, and could attract positively charged proteins like a magnet.

The researchers believe that in a case of ‘mistaken identity’ the body’s immune system considers this platelet cluster as threat and releases antibodies to attack it, clumping together to it and triggering potentially life threatening blood clots. This condition is called vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).”

The following graphic was published in the Daily Mail to illustrate the potentially deadly chain reaction.

As for how long the risk of blood clotting remains is unknown. In mid-September 2022, the American Heart Association reported that the risk of abnormal blood clotting remains elevated nearly a year after natural infection:10

“People who got COVID-19 had a higher risk of dangerous blood clots for close to a year later, according to a large new study11 on the aftereffects of a SARS-CoV-2 infection …

COVID-19 was linked to a sharply increased risk of blood clot-related issues — including heart attack and stroke — immediately after diagnosis compared to people who never had COVID-19 [and] … that risk remained higher for some problems up to 49 weeks later …

Researchers found that the first week after a COVID-19 diagnosis, the risk of an arterial blood clot — the kind that could cause a heart attack or ischemic stroke by blocking blood flow to the heart or brain — was nearly 22 times higher than in someone without COVID-19. That risk dropped sharply, to less than four times higher, in the second week.

‘Between 27 and 49 weeks, there is an approximately 30% increased risk for arterial clots,’ [senior author, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Bristol, Jonathan] Sterne said. ‘But the elevation is greater for longer’ for clots in veins, which include deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, when a clot travels to the lungs.

In the first week after a COVID-19 diagnosis, the risk of such venous problems was 33 times higher. By the third and fourth weeks after diagnosis, the risk was still about eight times higher. And between 27 and 49 weeks later, the risk was still 1.8 times higher than in somebody who had never had COVID-19.”

If the risk of blood clotting remains high for nearly a year after natural infection, it seems reasonable to suspect the risk is dramatically elevated far longer in those who got one or more COVID shots, as their bodies are now producing the toxic spike protein internally, and there’s no known off-switch.

We still do not know how long the human body continues to produce spike protein after a COVID jab. And, while AstraZeneca was singled out as the main culprit of blood clots, Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA jabs are no safer in this regard.

As early as June 2021, Israeli research suggested there was a link between the Pfizer shot and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), which is very similar to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia or VITT. A list of distinguishing features between the syndromes can be found on UpToDate.com.12 As reported by The Defender:13

“Scientists with the Institute of Hematology at Shamir Medical Center said they began researching the possible link after reports of a sudden increase in TTP across Israel — four cases detected in one month compared to two or three cases per year. TTP is an autoimmune disorder that causes blood clots to form in small blood vessels throughout the body …

The medical team said they found a ‘chronological connection’ between vaccination and the onset of TTP symptoms. They stressed this occurred in both new patients and in patients with pre-existing TTP whose disease had been in remission but flared up soon after getting the vaccine …

As The Defender reported in April, U.S. regulatory officials were alerted as far back as December 2020 that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — like AstraZeneca and J&J COVID vaccine — could pose similar risks of blood clots.”

Even before the rollout of the shots, experts warned that blood clots and cardiovascular problems were predictable. Among them were Dr. Patrick Whelan, a pediatric specialist, who in a letter14 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that the shots could “cause microvascular injury and blood clots throughout the body including the brain, heart, liver and kidneys, in ways that were not assessed in the safety trials.”

He pointed out that studies looking at the natural infection had found that “viral proteins appear to cause tissue damage without actively replicating virus,” and if that was true, he suspected the spike protein produced in response to the jabs might also cause the same kind of damage. Today, ample evidence points to Whelan’s suspicions being correct.

Studies are now also coming out with evidence that the shots may be causing antibody dependent enhancement (ADE), and that they kill heart and brain cells. Starting with the ADE evidence, a Swedish study,15 using data from the entire Swedish population over the age of 12, a total of 9,153,456 people, found that two doses were 43% protective against Omicron infection at week 4. By week 14, protection had dropped to zero.

Effectiveness against COVID-related hospitalization remained around 80% until week 25, but dropped to 40% by week 40. While these data are highlighted in the abstract, a more intriguing finding remains buried in the text that few take the time to read. As reported by investigative journalist Alex Berenson:16

“Based on one statistical analysis [cubic spline method] vaccinated people had a HIGHER risk of death or hospitalization from COVID roughly a year after receiving their second dose. The charts — b and d below — show that vaccine protection against death and hospitalization begins to decline slowly after about five months and then plunges about nine months …

This data provides real-world evidence of possible vaccine-caused ‘antibody dependent enhancement.’ In ADE, vaccines cause our immune systems to produce antibodies that help a virus or other pathogen to attack us …

(The top chart shows the relative risk of infection, hospitalization, intensive care, and death by week after two vaccine doses. The red line marks zero effectiveness; when the blue line falls below it, it is suggesting vaccinated people are at higher risk of infection.)”

When they used another statistical method called standard polynomial regression, the shots remained moderately effective against hospitalization and death over time, falling to 45% protection against death around nine months, after which the effectiveness mysteriously started trending upward again.

According to Berenson, the lead author of the paper did not endorse either method as superior to the other. When asked for comment, Dr. Yiyi Xu told Berenson they “need more data to know which finding might be correct,” and that, at present, “the estimation is quite uncertain for both analyses.”

Another recent paper17 links the COVID shots to lethal myocarditis (heart inflammation) and encephalitis (brain inflammation). As reported by Steve Kirsch:18

“The paper is entitled: ‘A Case Report: Multifocal Necrotizing Encephalitis and Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccination against COVID-19.’ It was published yesterday, Oct 1, and … already has over 100,000 views of the abstract and over 6,000 views of the full text.”

The report details the case of a 76-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who died three weeks after receiving his third COVID shot. His first injection was the AstraZeneca jab, received in May 2021, which was followed by two doses of Pfizer in July and December 2021 respectively.

Autopsy confirmed his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but it also revealed several unexpected conditions contributing to his death, including:

• Aspiration pneumonia

• Systemic arteriosclerosis

• Acute vasculitis (vascular inflammation) in both the brain and the heart

• Multifocal necrotizing encephalitis (meaning tissue death all over the brain)

• Chronic cardiomyopathy (heart disease), and

• Mild acute lympho-histiocytic myocarditis (a rare form of myocarditis that occurs wen lymphocytes, white blood cells, enter and inflame the heart muscle)

Testing for SARS-CoV-2 antigens (spike and nucleocapsid proteins) revealed the inflammation was in response to spike protein only, particularly in the endothelial cells of small blood vessels. As noted by the authors:19

“Since no nucleocapsid protein could be detected, the presence of spike protein must be ascribed to vaccination rather than to viral infection. The findings corroborate previous reports of encephalitis and myocarditis caused by gene-based COVID-19 vaccines.”

Kirsch goes on to cite other evidence showing the COVID shots can kill, including a report20 titled “On COVID Vaccines: Why They Cannot Work, and Irrefutable Evidence of Their Causative Role in the Deaths After Vaccination,” written by Drs. Sucharit Bhakdi and Arne Burkhardt.

“Of the 15 bodies their team examined — all of whom had died seven days to six months’ post-jab — 14 (93%) were found to have been killed by the COVID shot.

Bhakdi and Burkhardt claim to have developed a way to test for spike protein in human tissue, and say they’ve found spike protein in the tissues of people who have been injured and/or killed by the jabs.

Of the 15 bodies their team examined for this report — all of whom had died seven days to six months post-jab — 14 (93%) were found to have been killed by the COVID shot.21 The video above reviews their findings. All 14 had clear evidence of the body attacking itself, including the heart, with fatal consequences.

If you got one or more jabs and suffered an injury, first and foremost, never ever take another COVID booster, another mRNA gene therapy shot or regular vaccine. You need to end the assault on your system. The same goes for anyone who has taken one or more COVID jabs and has had the good fortune of not experiencing debilitating side effects.

Your health may still be impacted long-term, so don’t take any more shots. When it comes to treatment, there are still more questions than answers, but many of the treatments that worked against severe COVID-19 infection also seem to ameliorate adverse effects from the jab. This makes sense, as the toxic, most damaging part of the virus is the spike protein, and that’s what your whole body is producing if you got the jab.

Two doctors who have started tackling the treatment of COVID jab injuries in earnest include Dr. Michelle Perro (DrMichellePerro.com), whom I’ve interviewed on this topic, and Dr. Pierre Kory (DrPierreKory.com).

Both agree that eliminating the spike protein your body is now continuously producing is a primary task. Perro’s preferred remedy for this is hydroxychloroquine, while Kory typically uses ivermectin. Both of these drugs bind and thereby facilitate the removal of spike protein.

As a founding member of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), Kory helped develop the FLCCC’s post-vaccine treatment protocol called I-RECOVER. Since the protocol is continuously updated as more data become available, your best bet is to download the latest version straight from the FLCCC website at covid19criticalcare.com22 (hyperlink to the correct page provided above).

In previous articles, I’ve also covered a number of treatments and remedies that can be helpful for COVID jab injuries, such as:

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, especially in cases involving stroke, heart attack, autoimmune diseases and/or neurodegenerative disorders. To learn more, see “Hyperbaric Therapy — A Vastly Underused Treatment Modality.”

• Time-restricted eating — Kory believes there may be ways to boost the immune system to allow it to degrade and eventually remove the spike from your cells naturally, over time. One of the strategies he recommends for this is TRE (time restricted eating), which stimulates autophagy, a natural cleaning process that eliminates damaged, misfolded and toxic proteins. Another strategy that can do the same thing would be sauna therapy.

  Most people eat more than 12 hours a day, which is a recipe for metabolic disaster. The ideal window for most everyone is 16 to 18 hours of continuous fasting with the least meal at least three hours before bed. If you are overweight, shoot for 18 hours of fasting each day; if you’re of normal weight, 16 hours.

• Lower your omega-6 intake — Linoleic acid is consumed in amounts 10 times above the ideal in well over 95% of the population, and contributes to massive oxidative stress that impairs your immune response. Seed oils and processed foods need to be diligently avoided. You can review this previous post for more information.

• Pharmaceutical grade methylene blue, which improves mitochondrial respiration and aid in mitochondrial repair. At 15 to 80 milligrams a day for those suffering from long-haul COVID could go a long way toward resolving some of the fatigue many suffer post-jab. Methylene blue is actually the parent molecule for hydroxychloroquine and has been used to treat malaria since 1890.

  It may also be helpful in acute strokes. The primary contraindication is if you have a G6PD deficiency (a hereditary genetic condition), in which case you should not use methylene blue at all. To learn more, see “The Surprising Health Benefits of Methylene Blue.”

• Near-infrared light, as it triggers production of melatonin in your mitochondria23 where you need it most. By mopping up reactive oxygen species, it too helps improve mitochondrial function and repair. Natural sunlight is 54.3% infrared radiation,24 so this treatment is available for free. For more information, see “What You Need to Know About Melatonin.”

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Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked.

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. The subscription fee being requested is for access to the articles and information posted on this site, and is not being paid for any individual medical advice.

If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.

• Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is a blockbuster blood thinning medication that’s been prescribed more than 80 million times in the U.S. alone

• The drug may have been approved based on manipulated data, including a now-retracted paper by Temple University researchers that concluded Xarelto “could have a healing effect on hearts”

• The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry are investigating five more Xarelto papers by the Temple University team

• The U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI)also requested in September 2020 that Temple University investigate a number of Xarelto research studies

• As a result, Temple University is looking into 15 Xarelto papers published from 2008 to 2020, which received grant money from the U.S. National Institutes of Health

Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is a blockbuster blood thinning medication that’s been prescribed more than 80 million times in the U.S. alone.1 But the drug, which is manufactured by the Janssen Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson, may have been approved based on manipulated data.

The research in question was published by researchers with Temple University in Philadelphia. In August 2022, The Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC) retracted a paper2 that concluded Xarelto “could have a healing effect on hearts.”3

In addition to the retracted research study, the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry are investigating five more papers by the Temple University team.4

The U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI), which oversees research integrity activities on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, including oversight of research misconduct inquiries and investigations,5 also requested in September 2020 that Temple University investigate the research.

As a result, Temple University is also looking into 15 papers published from 2008 to 2020, which received grant money from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.6

The JACC Journals Ethics Board voted to retract the Temple University study after a reader raised concerns about several Western blot images that were used. Western blotting is a technique used to detect the presence of a protein extracted from cells or tissue.7

The editorial board requested a response from the researchers, and they sent original images as a replacement. Initially, the journal published a correction in September 2020, but according to JACC:8

“The correction raised further concerns about the image data. After an external evaluation, the decision to retract the paper is based on concerns regarding the splicing and/or duplication of Western blot images … None of the apparent splices were indicated in the arrangement of the figures.”

The retraction, however, is only the beginning. Of the 15 Xarelto papers being investigated by Temple University, nine were supervised by Abdel Karim Sabri, a professor at the university’s Cardiovascular Research Center. Sabri’s colleagues, Steven Houser, a former president of the American Heart Association and senior associate dean of research at Temple, is an author of five of these studies, along with another four studies being investigated.

In 2021, Houser filed a lawsuit to stop Temple University’s inquiry and denied falsifying data or engaging in scientific misconduct. According to Reuters, Houser believes “Temple sought to discredit him and steal his discoveries.”9

A Temple spokesperson told Reuters that it’s still reviewing the allegations. However, the lack of standardization in misconduct reviews is glaring. Even though the research is subject to fraud investigations, Janssen Pharmaceuticals was reportedly unaware of the inquiries or the study retraction by the JACC.

Meanwhile, the journals that have published the research studies being reviewed for misconduct have not published any “expressions of concern,” which inform readers that there may be reason to doubt the results. Further, five of the studies have been published in American Heart Association (AHA) journals where Houser acts as a senior advisory editor. Reuters reported:10

“The AHA said it had not been notified by the U.S. agency or by Temple about their inquiry, and that it does not view itself as responsible for investigating further. The AHA said it had issued a correction of data on one paper at the authors’ request. The paper was the sole study under scrutiny that listed Houser as supervising researcher.”

An analysis of NIH grants by Reuters revealed that Houser received close to $40 million in NIH funding while Sabri received nearly $10 million.11 A separate Reuters investigation revealed in June 2022 that NIH spent at least $588 million on research into whether heart stem cells could regenerate human hearts.

In 2013, the government became aware of misconduct in the field; a leading researcher, Dr. Piero Anversa, was accused — and later found guilty — of fabrication of data and “deliberately misleading record-keeping.”12 According to Reuters:13

“Yet federal money has continued to flow to test the proposition advanced by Anversa — that adult stem cells can regenerate or heal hearts. Over two decades, federal and private grants have streamed into research labs despite allegations of fraud and fabrication against Anversa and others in the field, Reuters found. Meanwhile, no scientist has credibly established that Anversa’s regeneration hypothesis holds true in humans, according to researchers and a review of medical literature.

Since 2001, the U.S. National Institutes of Health spent at least $588 million on such heart research, Reuters found in an analysis of government data. More than $249 million, about 43% of the total, has been awarded since March 2013. By that time, the federal government had been informed of the fabrication allegations against Anversa, according to documents and interviews with sources familiar with the matter.”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where Anversa’s lab was located, agreed to pay back $10 million to NIH, which is only about one-fourth of what the lab received for Anversa’s heart stem cell research.14 It’s unknown whether Temple will be required to return federal funding for the research retracted by the JACC.

Xarelto is taken to thin the blood to prevent blood clots and strokes. However, it can trigger deadly bleeding, an adverse effect that consumers weren’t adequately warned about. The episodes were serious and common enough that, in 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Andexxa to act as an antidote to stop bleeding caused by Xarelto.15

About 25,000 lawsuits were filed against Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, which jointly sell Xarelto, claiming that the companies failed to warn patients about the drug’s potentially fatal bleeding risks. Although they did not admit liability, the companies agreed to pay $775 million to settle the lawsuits in 2019.

Further, in 2016, a blood testing device was recalled that was used in Xarelto’s ROCKET-AF clinical trial, which provided “the primary data to support the 2011 approval” of the drug. The device, which was later found to be faulty and capable of generating inaccurate results, was used in the Xarelto trial to monitor warfarin therapy in the control group.16

Although the FDA concluded that the trial results were not affected by the faulty monitoring device, the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Xarelto lawsuits questioned whether the study’s results were skewed.17

If you’re taking Xarelto, you should know that a nationwide population-based cohort study published in 2021 found that, compared to other direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), Xarelto was associated with higher rates of gastrointestinal bleeding.18

Specifically, compared to Eliquis (apixaban), manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Xarelto was 46% more likely to cause gastrointestinal bleeding. According to lead study author Dr. Arnar B. Ingason with the University of Iceland, Reykjavik:19

“We had this theory that rivaroxaban would have potentially higher risks of GI bleeding because it’s given as a once-daily dose, compared to the other two drugs, which are given twice daily. Theoretically, this should cause greater variance in drug plasma concentration, making these patients more susceptible to bleeding.”

A 2016 study found similar results, noting, “In a population-based study of patients receiving DOAC agents, we found apixaban had the most favorable GI safety profile and rivaroxaban [Xarelto] the least favorable profile.”20

Dr. Neena S. Abraham, who led the 2016 study, told TCTMD, “I don’t think further investigation is needed on this topic. The data from the last four years overwhelmingly show that rivaroxaban is most likely to cause gastrointestinal bleeding. This finding is consistent among all age groups.”21

Blood clotting has been described as the basic underlying pathological process that causes all heart disease. In almost everyone, the process of endothelial damage and blood clotting is an ongoing process, which means that problems only occur when the damage/blood clotting process occurs faster than the repair process, at which point you will end up with plaque buildup.

This thickens the arterial wall, forcing blood flow through a narrower gap. When a large blood clot forms on top of an existing plaque in this already narrowed area, you can end up with a heart attack or stroke.

In my interview with Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, a board-certified family physician and author of the book, “The Clot Thickens: The Enduring Mystery of Heart Disease,” he details solid strategies for lowering your thrombotic risk. Here’s a short-list of examples covered in far greater depth in the book, as well as some of my own recommendations that I bring up in the interview:

• Avoid unnecessary use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen — While they effectively inhibit inflammation, they can cause platelet aggregation by blocking COX-2. In other words, they activate your blood clotting system, making blood clots more likely.

• Get plenty of sensible sun exposure — Sun exposure triggers NO that helps dilate your blood vessels, lowering your blood pressure. NO also protects your endothelium, and increases mitochondrial melatonin to improve cellular energy production.

• Avoid seed oils and processed foods — Seed oils are a primary source of the omega-6 fat called linoleic acid (LA), which I believe may be far more harmful than sugar. Excessive intake is associated with most all chronic diseases, including high blood pressure, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes. LA gets embedded in your cell membranes, causing oxidative stress, and can remain there for up to seven years. Oxidative linoleic acid metabolites (OXLAMs) are what’s causing the primary damage, including endothelial damage.

• Lower your insulin and blood sugar levels — Simple strategies to accomplish this include time-restricted eating, eating a diet high in healthy fats and low in refined carbohydrates, significantly restricting your LA intake and getting regular exercise.

• Address chronic stress, which raises both blood sugar and blood pressure, promotes blood clotting and impairs your repair systems. Cortisol, a key stress hormone, reduces endothelial cell production.

• Quit smoking.

Xarelto, in particular, is often prescribed for people with certain types of atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is an abnormal, often rapid, heart rhythm that occurs when the atria, your heart’s upper chambers, beat out of sync with the ventricles, the heart’s lower chambers. It’s a common symptom in those with heart failure or heart disease but can also occur on its own.

Oxidative stress and increased ROS can play a role in the development of AFib. Conversely, scavenging of ROS and a reduction in oxidative stress have been shown to be an essential part of keeping the heart functioning normally.22 Toward this end, CoQ10 has been found to help improve AFib.23 For older adults, ubiquinol, the reduced version of CoQ10, is more readily absorbed.

Another option for those looking to avoid Xarelto’s risks — as we await the findings of the broadening inquiries into potential research misconduct — is lumbrokinase, a complex fibrinolytic enzyme extracted from earthworms. As noted in the Institute for Progressive Medicine, this represents a potentially safer option for thinning your blood naturally:24

“Generally, we are better off with blood that clots less easily … Individuals at high risk of forming clots, such as those with atrial fibrillation, are often treated with blood thinners like aspirin or stronger agents like Coumadin … All of these agents, however, present a significant risk of bleeding, and may themselves cause brain hemorrhage, urinary or gastrointestinal bleeding.

Lumbrokinase … reduces coagulation by lowering blood viscosity, lowering the activity of clotting factors including fibrinogen, and degrading fibrin, a critical factor in clot formation. It has a stronger effect on reducing blood viscosity than other enzyme preparations.”

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Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked.

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. The subscription fee being requested is for access to the articles and information posted on this site, and is not being paid for any individual medical advice.

If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.