The Importance of FMTVDM FRONTIER in Medical Research - ITIRD meets FMTVDM.

In 1980 when I first entered Medical College, the Dean of the College told us that 90% of what we would be taught, would ultimately be proven to be incorrect. He encouraged research scientists like myself to become actively involved in correcting those mistakes and improve medical diagnostics and treatments.

What is Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Disease?

One such example of mistaken medical information taught during my medical education included the number 1 cause of death world-wide, viz. coronary artery disease (CAD). Once thought to be merely the occlusion of blood flowing through the coronary artery lumen, research by the Director of the FMTVDM Consortium, Richard M Fleming, PhD, MD, JD, et al, revealed that it is the inability of coronary arteries to completely relax upon demand for increased blood supply to the heart, that is the true cause of angina and the physiologic demonstration of atherosclerotic CAD.

FMTVDM FRONTIER measures the underlying dysfunctional disease of coronary arteries. When combined with FMTVDM FRONTIER proprietary equations and A.I.² programs, the actual severity of this disease process, along with measurements of the amount of damaged, stunned, hibernating or normal heart tissue, can be measured and compared over time.

The consequence of treatments can be measured using serial FMTVDM measurements employed by FMTVDM FRONTIER.

Why is it so Critical to Understand The InflammoThrombotic Immunologic Response Disease (ITIRD) Process?

In conjunction with the research carried out by Dr. Fleming on CAD, investigations into the underlying causes of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease revealed multiple precipitating factors. Taken together these factors play different roles in difference diseases and have different effects in different people. Hence, one size does not fit everyone and it is critical to understand how these factors interact if we are to understand and treat health problems in different people. This work was first presented by Dr. Fleming at the 1994 American Heart Association Conference held in Dallas, Texas, USA.

The detailed theory originally known as "The Fleming Unified Theory of Vascular Disease" explains why heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus and a variety of other acute and chronic health problems occur. This theory was later renamed by Dr. Fleming to define the biochemical and biologic mechanisms involved; viz. Inflammation, Thrombosis, and the body's Immunologic response to offending causes producing the Inflammation and Thrombotic conditions.

Multiple factors described in the ITIRD Theory, factors which are not inclusive of all of the research data currently available and under investigation by FMTVDM FRONTIER, include:

• LDL Cholesterol: This low-density lipoprotein (fat and protein molecule) cholesterol—often termed “bad cholesterol”—is found in saturated fats.  It infiltrates and builds up inside the walls of arteries and triggers an InflammoThrombotic Immunologic reaction that can lead to heart tissue death frequently referred to as a heart attack or brain tissue death frequently referred to as a stroke.                                

  
  

• Triglycerides: Triglycerides are tiny globules of fat.  Triglyceride levels become elevated when excess amounts of saturated fats, calories, processed foods including sugars are consumed.  When this happens the blood can become cloudy with fat particles that then circulation throughout the body, including the heart, where damage can happen through the ITIRD process.

  
  

• Excess Weight: Excess body weight is associated with an array of other disorders that cause an ITIR including high cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, imbalanced hormones, low-fiber diet, and lack of exercise.  These are just some of the ways in which excess weight can cause heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and cancer.

  
  

• Homocysteine: Elevated homocysteine, an amino acid that increases with excess consumption of red meat and other animal-protein sources, acts like burning acid on your artery walls, creating injuries throughout the arterial system.  Once the artery is wounded, hordes of immune cells descend on the injury, making the vessel highly inflamed.  At the same time, homocysteine increases the blood’s tendency to form clots.  This combination of wounded vessel and blood clots are important steps in the creation of heart attacks, strokes and damage to other parts of the body. Increased homocysteine levels are also an indication that your immune system has or is failing. Homocysteine (Hcy) is frequently the first abnormal blood test seen in individuals developing a cancer. Unfortunately, too many people depend upon the measurement of these factors from blood specimens, or body weight, instead of looking at the tissue itself to determine if there is a problem. All too often failing to understand that measurement of weight and blood tests demonstrate the problem has already occurred.

  
  

• Oxidation: Antioxidants, found in vegetables, grains, beans, and fruit, halt the oxidation process that decays LDL particles and causes the immune system to spring into action.  The immune system then begins the plaque-formation process and causes inflammation. Oxidation - the brown discoloration - is what happens to an apple when it is cut open and left unprotected.

  
  

• Lack of Exercise: Moderate exercise is crucial to lowering levels of insulin, triglycerides, and fibrinogen, all of which are pro-ITIR substances.  Moderate exercise also reduces weight and strengthens the heart, promotes better circulation, and reduces the risk of cancer.

  
  

• Fibrinogen & Lipoprotein(a): Fibrinogen is a protein that increases the blood’s tendency to form clots.  Levels of fibrinogen increase when you eat a diet rich in fat and animal proteins.  As fibrinogen levels go up the blood forms more clots, and the risk of heart attack and other tissue damage increases significantly. Like fibrinogen, lipoprotein(a) - aka as Lp(a) which is influenced by genetics - is associated with blood clotting (thrombotic) and inflammatory, i.e. ITIRD changes.

  
  

• Growth Factors: Growth factors are substances that promote cellular growth.  They regulate the behavior of arteries, elevate fibrinogen levels, and trigger ITIRD reactions. Growth factors become elevated when we eat diets rich in red meat, dairy products, poultry, and eggs.  A diet based on plant foods dramatically lowers growth factors, promoting an improved relaxation of blood vessels, including the coronary arteries, thereby reducing the risk of heart attack.

  
  

• Cytokines and Leukotrienes: Cytokines and Leukotrienes (e.g. Interleukin-6; IL-6) are chemicals that help the cells of the immune system communicate as they spring into action.  These chemicals can also cause a wide variety of reactions in your system, including inflammation and constriction of blood vessels and arteries.

  
  

• Complement Cascade: Complement, a protein produced by the immune system, kills bacteria by poking holes in the cell membrane of the bacteria. Complement also attacks large and small arteries, often mistaking them for bacteria. The higher your inflammation, the more complement is attracted to your arteries. The more complement attracted to your arteries, the more holes poked in your artery walls.  The more holes, the more your ITIR.  In order to combat this vicious cycle, overall inflammation must be reduced. Complement can be increased by other infectious agents as well and damage other parts of your body; e.g. your lungs

  
  

• Infection: Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other infectious agents, are to the immune system what a red cape is to a bull. Immune cells thus attack cholesterol plaques like a herd of bulls, fueling inflammation, which then fuels the growth of the cholesterol plaque. As the plaque grows and inflammation increases, it can destabilize and rupture. This can create a blood clot which increases the chance of a heart attack.

  
  

• Direct Physical Damage: Any injury, e.g. to an artery wall triggers an immune or inflammatory reaction within the artery.  Most of those injuries come from levels of LDL cholesterol, homocysteine, and complement, but some come from medical procedures themselves. 

While it is important to understand the various etiologic causes, all of which play different roles in different individuals, it is more important to understand that merely measuring these factors in human blood, means we are looking for evidence of a problem long after the disease has started. In too many instances, the information is either too late or misleads us in our understanding of the severity of the problem.

The Immediate Measurable Consequence of ITIRD is Two Fold.

• FIRST, changes in tissue health, resulting from these various etiologic factors produce changes in tissue METABOLISM.

  
  

• SECONDLY, the result of this change in tissue METABOLISM requires INCREASED BLOOD FLOW to and from the tissue to address increased metabolic needs as well as removal of increased metabolic waste.

It is this very change in REGIONAL TISSUE METABOLISM and BLOOD FLOW that FMTVDM and FMTVDM FRONTIER measures.

The Importance of Our Paradigm Shift.

This paradigm shift in our understanding of what causes disease, and the ability to find and measure these changes, have not only opened up a FRONTIER of understanding for medical and scientific investigation, it has produced the potential to truly understand how to make people healthier and with that the ability to dramatically increase both the health and longevity of human beings.

A Bright Future Ahead.

The ability of FMTVDM FRONTIER to measure early changes in ITIRD, will for the first time, allow humanity to truly find disease earlier. Making it possible to use less costly and quite probably less toxic treatments, all associated with reduced health care costs, improved human productivity and enhanced quality of life.

As we continue to uncover the mysteries of the human body, FMTVDM FRONTIER will play a crucial role in shaping the future of science and medicine. This reshaping will begin with those nations included in the Select Nation Status component of FMTVDM FRONTIER.

Researcher examining FMTVDM FRONTIER data using advanced technology