This could be very important info for men with PCa.
Followers of my posts will recall that control of abnormal coagulation is a key concern of mine, having experienced a double DVT in my left leg. Coagulation is altered in most cancers & increases the likelihood of blood clots & metastasis. In the U.S. doctors do not treat until there is a serious event. The D-dimer test is useful in determining whether or not there is a clot. If one presents at the ER with chest pain, a negative D-dimer result rules out a blood clot to the lungs.
The reason that D-dimer is not tested in cancer patients is that there is no low-risk prophylactic response. Warfarin, for instance, is only used when there is a life-threatening clot. An elevated D-dimer is not sufficient evidence & might be elevated for another reason.
I test D-dimer a few times a year. I use it to monitor that I am using an appropriate amount of nattokinase daily. Nattokinase dissolves fibrin. The body disolves fibrin slowly with plasmin. Nattokinase is similar to plasmin but the boost it provides can help one keep ahead of cancer clot formation.
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"The authors of this retrospective analysis evaluated coagulation parameters in 183 patients admitted with the severe novel coronavirus COVID-19. Median age at admission was 54 years, and 71.4% of non-survivors developed overt disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), with a median time from admission to DIC of 4 days. Only 0.6% of survivors developed DIC. On admission, non-surviving patients presented with higher D-dimer levels, prolonged PT, and aPTT compared with surviving patients.
"In patients with COVID-19 infection, the development of coagulopathy and overt DIC appears to be associated with a high mortality rate. Larger analyses confirming these findings and investigating both the pathophysiology and impact of correction of coagulopathy on mortality are warranted.
– Curtis Lachowiez, MD" [1]
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"Conventional coagulation results and outcomes of consecutive 183 patients with confirmed NCP in Tongji hospital were retrospectively analysed." [2]
"71.4% of non‐survivors and 0.6% survivors met the criteria of disseminated intravascular coagulation during their hospital stay."
"The present study shows that abnormal coagulation results, especially markedly elevated D‐dimer and FDP are common in deaths with NCP."
I suspect that there are men here with elevated D-dimer due to the action of plasmin on PCa-induced clotting. This suggests a greater mortality risk from COVID-19.
But we don't know whether people in the study already had elevated D-dimer. If COVID-19 caused the elevation, it did so only in a minority of patients.
We should just be aware that coagulation seems to be a factor in the majority of COVID-19 deaths, and that nattokinase users might do better than non-users. Dosage? Whatever brings D-dimer close to zero.
Having said that, the percentage of COVID-19 deaths is fairly low (estimates vary). I can't say whether or not we form a higher-risk demographic anomaly, however (gender, age, co-morbidity).
I was taking Nattokinase /serrapeptase for 3 weeks. My BP med Losartan was increased to 100 mg a day about a month ago.
I was shocked last week to see my platelet count dropped to 137000 . I have never had Platelet count below 240000. I checked my PSA and ALP and it came out 0.3 and 60. So this low platelet count can not be PCa related. I researched and found that Nattokinase can cause drop in platelets and higher dose of Losartan in some people can cause very big drop in platelets at times causing epistaxis or bruising.
Now, I am off both nattokinase and Losartan and plan to check Platelets in 2 weeks.
I haven’t been able to find this article, or any other info relative to COVID-19 being related to clotting problems. I did find that Curtis Lachowiez, MD, is at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Do you have a link, please?
"The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) needs to be assessed, and effective prevention should be carried out for high-risk patients. It is necessary to consider the possibility of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in patients with sudden onset of oxygenation deterioration, respiratory distress, reduced blood pressure. However, comprehensive analysis of disease state should be taken into the interpretation of abnormally elevated D-Dimer."
This is excellent and a timely caution for men on this website. Appreciated. I am taking Nattokinase as well as aspirin, therefore I will do a D-dimer test to see what coagulation status. Cheers, Phil
I wonder if the most of complements with properties against cancer such as curcumin, ginger roots, resveratrol, quercetin, garlic, pomegranate and much more ... are not sufficient to replace the blood thinners like warfarin and can help to avoid blood clots?
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