I first learned of the nitric oxide pathway through friends' work in the cardiovascular system and the possibility of reversing cardiovascular disease. For them the exciting part was rapid promotions through the academic systems to Chairman of the Department of Medicine in one major University and Director of Cardiovascular Research at yet another.

For me, and my friendship with them, it was a wonderful moment to share with them as they achieved their life's dream of academic success. For me personally it was the beginning of the use of l-arginine to reverse my personal struggle with cardiovascular disease and continue a long productive career in metabolic medicine. This all culminated in the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998, which recognized the huge potential for health the understanding of the Nitric Oxide (NO) Pathway affords.

My story, "Dr. Joe, The Uncommon Doctor" www.theuncommondoctor.com tells what this has meant to me so far. I say so far because I will tell you the broadening scope of the power of this pathway and what it means to us all for the future.

Anti-aging is on everyone's tongue this year as the prime excitement from new research. The reversal of the arterial damage of cardiovascular disease is now recognized as reversal of the aging artery. What else might this involve?

Nothing is firm enough to know for sure but 85 review articles have been published in the last 7 years on the reversal of the following disorders.
" Cardiovascular disease
" Cardiomyopathies
" Age in general
" Hypertension of aging
" Saving the heart and kidney in disease
" Anti-inflammatory therapy
" Reversal of insulin resistance
" Erectile dysfunction in diabetes
" Heart failure
" Brain ageing

All sorts of therapies are being explored that influence the Nitric Oxide Pathway but the use of l-arginine as a "novel therapy" is being tested in virtually all of these.

I used l-arginine years ago when I was at UCSF to see if it would stimulate growth hormone when given by mouth. It did not. This is good because that means it will only make the eyes better in diabetes, not worse. When given by mouth it will likely help all these conditions.

Most likely, as some of the investigators are trying, we will just have to take a lot more to get all the good aspects of improving the Nitric Oxide Pathway.

Dr. Joe