know from bitter experience that this fact is the single thing that creates apoplexy in most people. Being overweight means that you live longer! How very dare you! You are a charlatan and a fool – a few even ruder names have been used.

Over the years I have read almost everything she ever wrote on the subject. Including this, succinct, passage from nearly 40 years ago: “After many years of neglect, the role of thrombosis in myocardial infarction is being reassessed. It is increasingly clear that all aspects of the haemostatic [blood clotting] system are involved: not only in the

However, if your blood is more likely to clot. Or, when it does clot, the clots are bigger and more difficult to shift, it means that any damage to the endothelium will be magnified. The cardiovascular disease process is accelerated. Which makes it a good idea to avoid things that make your blood significantly clottier (hypercoagulable).

If you can’t work it out, here is the answer that I prepared earlier. You can avoid developing diabetes, or reverse diabetes, by emptying out your glucose/glycogen stores. There are two ways to do this. • Burn up the stores • Don’t eat carbohydrates, as you will fill the stores straight back up again And that’s it.

Moving back to arteries, they have three main sections (and so do veins, although vein walls are much thinner): • Externa • Media • Endothelium (sometimes called intima)

was also fascinated by a German study, where the researchers looked at the benefits of yoga following a heart attack, in men. It was found that their systolic blood pressure could be lowered by up to 21 mmHg using yoga alone.197 Which is a damn sight better than almost any single blood pressure lowering medication.

“Adequate levels of endothelial NO are important to preserve normal vascular physiology—in the face of diminished NO bioavailability, there is endothelial dysfunction, leading to increased susceptibility to atherosclerotic disease.”

The glycocalyx is the first line of defence against endothelial damage. As we saw in Figure 10, it mainly consists of strands, or filaments, of glycoproteins (a mixture of glucose and proteins). It provides a strong anticoagulant layer and stops platelets and white blood cells sticking to the endothelium – and suchlike.

think I need to stop here before things get too technical, so I shall attempt to summarize the findings on Lp(a):