In the words of 1998 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Louis Ignarro,
“Nitric Oxide deficiency can contribute to nearly every disease of our times”.

Ever heard of Viagra? Nitro-glycerine? Few people haven’t. However most people don’t realize these are Nitric Oxide drugs, increasing Nitric Oxide production and release in the vasculature of specific tissues and blood vessels. With over 82,000 recent studies to its credit, Nitric Oxide (NO), a chemical messenger molecule, has become the hot topic in research science, boasting the largest concentration of living Nobel Prize winners anywhere. This newly discovered player in the health marketplace, Nitric Oxide, specifically deficiency thereof, appears to play a key role in growing diseases and conditions to include High blood pressure (Hypertension), Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Impotence, Infertility, Alzheimer’s and Cancer. Further “modern” diets and lifestyles, low in organic vegetables/fruits and high in stress and pollutants, both tax and limit Nitric Oxide production.

For over 100 years many have benefited from nitric oxide therapies, having no idea Nitric Oxide was the mechanism. Perhaps the most famous therapy was and is Nitro-glycerine, used for over 100 years by those to include Alfred Nobel (who used it for his angina pains). In 1992 Science Magazine called Nitric Oxide “Molecule of the Year”. In 1998 Dr’s. Furchgott, Murad, and Ignarro were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology for discovering the role of Nitric Oxide in cardiovascular regulation. Other nitric oxide therapies include the administration of NO gas via mask inhalation for premature infants with impaired respiration.

What is nitric oxide?

Nitric Oxide (not to be confused with Nitrous Oxide, or “laughing gas,” a separate molecule with different chemical behaviour), is produced internally by humans and other animals from precursors like amino acid arginine (NO therapy is also called L-Arginine Derived Nitric Oxide or ADNO therapy). These precursors are converted by enzymes called NO syntheses into Nitric Oxide. The three syntheses known at this time are Endothelial (think cardiovascular), Neuronal (think brain-nervous system), and Inducible (think immune system). Imagine three of the most complex communications systems (wired and wireless), and what might happen if that communication system suffered a breakdown.

Are there Nitric Oxide supplements?

If you scan the shelves of health food shops, you’ll find products which claim to increase NO, but which often use large amounts of L-Arginine. Many of these supplements are targeted at body builders; given arginine is also a precursor to human growth hormone (HGH). Unfortunately it was in the body builder arena that the negative effects of large doses of arginine (10-30 grams per day), to include renal dysfunction in diabetics, and accelerated herpes breakouts in herpes sufferers, were discovered.

In the 1990s, nutritional scientists developed a nitric oxide pathway delivery system called Hemoxide, brought through the American FDA (Federal Drug Administration) in 1997. In human studies, Hemoxide, over placebo and Arginine alone, produced 1-4 hours of Nitric Oxide using less than 1 gram of Arginine, via the discovery and integration of other nutrient cofactors. It was classified a prescription-only medical food until 2001, when it was granted over-the counter-status. When the lead scientist visited England last year to present his findings and applications to the Royal Veterinarian Society, the audience shortly became standing room only.

Hemoxide contains two types of nutrients incorporated into a lock and key design: (1) L-Arginine and other molecular building blocks for Nitric Oxide production and (2) nutrients to stimulate and regulate Nitric Oxide production. The goal is to enable the body to produce more normal amounts of NO through its own natural processes. Hemoxide’s whole food inspired intricacy facilitates passage of nutrients directly into the bloodstream. This is why users are advised to take the product on an empty stomach.

A sister product called Hemoxide II is also available for use in diabetic patients. It contains Gymnema Sylvestre, used for centuries in India for diabetes and glucose regulation problems. Hemoxide II was championed by the late Dr. Joseph Juliano, a leading endocrinologist, who used the product to treat his own diabetes for two years before joining the scientific team behind Hemoxide and Hemoxide II. Both products, and others using this nitric oxide delivery system, are now available in the US and the UK through Healthy Edge Solutions.

Endothelial NO (eNOS): High Blood Pressure and Diabetes

The vascular system is a vast blood and nutrient transportation system ranging from minute capillaries to large arteries, all driven by the pump called the heart. The more open the “roads” the easier blood and nutrients flow. Endothelial Nitric Oxide “signals” the roads to open, often referred to as vasodilation. Lack of vasodilation is related to conditions to include hypertension, cardiovascular disease, erectile dysfunction, infertility, poor wound healing, and diabetes. Many end complications of diabetes arise from poor NO production with a host of studies pointing to a glucose-dependent abnormality in NO production. In light of this, arginine supplementation appeared to make sense. However, complications arose in diabetics (particularly kidney dysfunction), from high intake of arginine (in excess of 5-6 grams per day). Using less than one gram of arginine per three-capsule dose, options like Hemoxide II may open the door for safer diabetic NO.

Neuronal (nNOS) and Inducible (iNOS) Nitric Oxide

Without neuronal Nitric Oxide (nNOS) there would be no brain cell to brain cell communication. This means no thoughts, memories, emotions, or fantasies. It is common for users of Viagra and similar drugs to report improvement in sexual performance but little increased sexual desire or fantasy. Given these drugs are focused more so on eNOS versus nNOS production this makes sense. Perhaps the most elusive form of Nitric Oxide, Inducible, which signals the immune system, is already proving promising for Cancer research, particularly in leukemia. Sometimes NO news is good news!