Heart patients rejoice: A revolutionary new drug has taken the medical world by storm. The makers of this ‘wonder pill’ prefer calling it a ‘natural dietary supplement’ that in itself contains all the benefits of the heart-friendly Mediterranean diet.
This news should come as a giant relief for millions of people around the world who suffer from chronic heart diseases. An estimated 80,000,000 people in the United States have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Heart and circulatory disease is the UK's biggest killer with the statistics indicating a toll of just over 193,000 people every year.
The secret ingredient: Many followers of Mediterranean diet have long explained the benefits of adopting a steady diet consisting of abundant plant foods, fresh fruit, olive oil, dairy products, etc. Tomatoes are especially used in abundance. Aside from being a delicious part of the cuisine, they are also known for their cancer-fighting properties and ability to behave as a blood-purifier and natural antiseptic.
Tomato skin contains an active ingredient called lycopene which is what gives the tomato its red colour. Lycopene is extremely beneficial as an anti-oxidant and can also fights cancer cells. Though this was a well-known fact, no real breakthrough was made in this direction due to the pigment’s inability to get absorbed in its raw form by the human body.
Recipe for success: ATERONON™, the brain-child of Cambridge Theranostics comprising of scientists from Cambridge University, tries to harness this powerful anti-oxidant for its pill. The lycopene used is supposedly obtained from the skins of the tangerine tomato. To simplify the process of absorption of lycopene, a compound formed using lycopene and whey proteins are used which reduces the size of lycopene molecules thus making them easy to absorb. The compound was developed Nestle and it is known as ‘lactolycopene’. One pill is supposed to provide the amount of lycopene equivalent to that from three kilos of tomatoes.
ATERONON™ could be advisable for heart-patients since lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that blocks the breakdown of fats in the blood. The compound in the pill will help retard the oxidation of LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in the body which is the major cause for arteriosclerosis and strokes.
The pill currently costs £34.99 and is available over-the-counter at drug-stores. Doctors and scientists are still critical of the effects of using this drug. However preliminary trials of a hundred and fifty patients in Cambridge yielded over-whelming positive results with reports claiming that ATERONON™ can reduce the damage due to bad cholesterol up to 90% in just 2 months.
The NHS currently spends more than £500 million a year on statins. Though these drugs may have contributed to a 30% overall fall in the risk of death due to high cholesterol levels, they however do not prevent the oxidation of LDL. And half of all heart attacks and strokes occur in people who do not have an elevated cholesterol level. This fact in future may necessitate the use of a supplementary drug like ATERONON™.
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