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06.07.2023

Chondroitin keeps heart patients alive | The Morrison study

Two days ago we wrote about a recent Spanish epidemiological study, in which users of supplements containing chondroitin had fewer heart attacks than non-users. American cardiologist Lester Morrison was already aware of the protective effect of chondroitin decades ago. That's why he treated his patients with it. With success, according to his scientific publications.

Study
In 1973, Morrison published an article in Angiology to which 120 of his patients had contributed. Sometimes they had high blood pressure, sometimes angina, sometimes they had a heart attack in the past. All subjects received regular treatment. Half of the patients also received chondroitin.

This table tells you more about the subjects.

Morrison treated the subjects for 6 years. For the first 3 months they received 10 grams of chondroitin daily, divided over 3 intakes. Then he usually reduced the dose to one and a half grams per day, again divided into 3 intakes. During the last 15 months of the treatment period, most subjects received an even lower dose.

A more precise description of Morrison's dosing schedules can be found below. Click on the figure for a larger version.

Results
The chondroitin group performed significantly better than the other group. In the chondroitin group, 4 subjects died of a heart attack. In the control group there were 14. Supplementation with chondroitin thus reduced the risk of death from a heart attack by a factor of three.

Mechanism
In his article, Morrison discusses his previous research, in which he tried to unravel the mechanism of action of chondroitin in experiments on animals and humans.

Morrison had discovered, among other things, that chondroitin inhibits the formation of blood clots. In addition, Morrison discovered that vascular walls absorbed less cholesterol by administering chondroitin. This suggests that chondroitin repairs damaged vessel walls. The body probably uses the administered chondroitin as a raw material for vessel walls.

Source:
Angiology. 1973 May;24(5):269-87.

More:
Chondroitin supplementation reduces the risk of myocardial infarction by about forty percent 04.07.2023

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