New ‘Tomato Pill’ Ateronon Prevents Atherosclerosis – Medical Breakthrough!
A leading stroke expert has welcomed the results of trials on a compound which offers people around the world the hope of combating atherosclerosis.
Peter Kirkpatrick, Consultant Neurovascular Surgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, said the launch of Ateronon, the natural supplement developed by Cambridge scientists, was an important breakthrough in the potential treatment of strokes.
Dozens of in-vitro studies and epidemiological research projects have shown that lycopene – found in the skins of ripe tomatoes – has the capacity to significantly reduce atherosclerosis. Lycopene is the potent antioxidant isolated for its health-promoting properties from the Mediterranean diet.
Until now, the problem has been how to manipulate the molecular structure of the compound to provide optimum absorption.
Researchers from Cambridge Theranostics Limited (CTL), a biotech spin-out company of Cambridge University, have now proved they have done it with their new Ateronon compound.
Peter Kirkpatrick said: “For many years now, we have been trying to identify agents that may protect us from the devastating effects of a stroke. Ateronon is an exciting safe agent that may prove to have a major impact on this disease. “
Results from their early trials involving 150 people with heart disease were made public for the first time at the British Cardiovascular Society annual conference in London on Monday (1 June), Ateronon is being referred to as the 'tomato pill' after being launched into the media today.
The Ateronon formulation combines lycopene with milk and soy-based proteins to produce a much smaller, and more bio-available molecule. The early studies have shown that Ateronon can inhibit the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to almost zero within eight weeks.
Large scale studies are now being undertaken at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, and at Harvard Medical School, in the expectation that they will demonstrate that the reduction of LDL oxidation is translated into improved heart and circulatory health –and improved survival rates.
The study was built on research originally carried out by the giant food multi-national Nestle, who were looking for a way to capture the therapeutic benefits of the tomato-derived compound lycopene.
After its launch to doctors this month, Ateronon will be made available direct to consumers through high street pharmacists from July onwards.
Dr Gunter Schmidt, a biologist and chief executive of CTL, said he is confident that once doctors had observed the benefits of Ateronon, they would instantly see the potential benefits.
He said: “We are extremely excited about Ateronon. We have 10 worldwide patents recognising its efficacy, but we want its capabilities to be taken very seriously by clinicians as well. We don’t want it dismissed as just another food supplement.”
An estimated 17.5 million people died from heart and circulatory diseases in 2005, representing 30% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.6 million were due to coronary heart disease and 5.7 million were due to stroke[1].
More than 117,000 people die each year in the UK from coronary heart disease. It accounts for one in five deaths in men and one in six deaths in women[2].
The four million people who take statins to help lower their cholesterol and chances of suffering a heart attack or stroke could benefit from using Ateronon. The product can be taken alongside statins.
Although cholesterol does put people at risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, half of all heart attacks and three quarters of all strokes occur in people who do not have raised cholesterol.
Alongside the development of Ateronon, Ivan Petyaev, a senior cardiologist and Medical Director of CTL, has invented an important new assay as a consequence of research from a project originally funded with a grant from the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
The BHF project was investigating the role of bacteria in the development of atherosclerotic plaque. It is known that Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria are always present in the circulatory systems of heart disease sufferers, and Petyaev has developed an innovation called the AtheroAbzyme kit, which detects antibodies to the bacteria.
The level of antibody activity is in direct proportion to the level of atherosclerotic activity, and the test can give an accurate picture of the progress of the disease – and most importantly, the effect of Ateronon in controlling it.
“What we have done is to develop a method of delivering something which is of known benefit, and a method of measuring what it is doing,” Dr Petyaev added.
For further information go to www.ateronon.com.
Ends
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June 9th, 2009 - 07:53
Hi,
Alhamdullilah, Thanks God, a creature called Ateron can save humanity.
God bles you all and will pay you in return