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Combating Cardiovascular Disease: The Search for Dr. Weston Price’s Factor X
Recently, considerable research has emerged from the laboratories of Drs. Dyerberg and Bang (Lancet,. September 1, 1979, p.433) indicating that the surprisingly low mortality from cardiovascular disease among Eskimos eating their traditional high-fat diet may in fact be due to a high concentration of an anti-antherogenic substance found in the fats themselves. Search for this substance has revealed that the oils of cold water mammals and fish, staples of the Eskimo diet, are high in a specific unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) of the Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid family, such as 17-3 icosapentaenoic acid. This particular material can prevent the adhesion of platelets to one another, thus stopping spontaneous thombus (blood-clot) formation. Research now indicates that this particular UFA is a selective precursor to prostaglandin-like materials, called prostacyclins, which exhibit anti-aggregatory properties for platelets in humans. Coincidentally, the particular UFA in question is found in high concentration only in selective foods that have also been associated with a high concentration of the yet unnamed and unidentified substance which Dr. Weston Price labelled "Factor X". Bang and Dyerberg suggest that these UFA, when enriched in the platelets of individuals consuming large quantities of this oil food, are converted by the vascular wall tissue to an anti-aggregatory prostacyclin, which then may prevent thromotic disorders, including myocardial infarction.