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Hello, everybody! My recent blood test showed increased blood viscosity: 6.2 (normal range being less than 4.5).

Aside from eating clean paleo, water (I already drink lots, lots, lots and lots of it), fish oil & multivitamin/mineral, do you have any suggestion regarding potential causes and cures?

For now, doctor prescribed my low-dose Dipyridamole for a month. I would also love to hear any thoughts on this.

Background: healthy 26 years old man, paleo for year and a half, weightlifting twice a week, yoga once a week.

Thank you very, very much!

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3 Answers

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You could be hypothyroid.

Factors that increase the fluidity of the blood protect against all of the thrombohemorrhagic conditions, and are especially protective against the estrogen-promoted cancers. Progesterone decreases the production of fibrinogen, and increases the volume of the blood and the flexibility of the red blood cells, increasing the ability of blood to flow freely, and it also decreases the leakiness of capillaries. Hypothyroid people (who tend to have low progesterone and high estrogen) are highly susceptible to heart disease and cancer, and have abnormally viscous blood. Hyperthyroid people have unusually fluid blood. Hypothyroidism increases the leakiness of capillaries, and decreases the amount of albumin in the blood. Albumin itself decreases the permeability of blood vessels.

In hypothyroidism and under the influence of estrogen, there is a chronic increase of free fatty acids, and the free fatty acids are an important factor in increasing the production of fibrinogen (Pickart), and in blocking fibrinolysis (Lindquist, et al.). If the body’s stores of fat are largely polyunsaturated fats, the free fatty acids will combine with the fibrin as it polymerizes, making the clots especially resistant to dissolution.

This is what ray recommends: Sugar and niacin to minimize the liberation of fatty acids, progesterone and thyroid to protect against estrogen and to avoid hypoglycemia (which increases adrenaline and free fatty acids and accelerates clotting), magnesium and gelatin (or glycine), to protect against intracellular calcium overload and hypoxia, and vitamin E and salicylic acid for antiinflammatory effects, are major nutrients that protect the circulatory system against clotting, bleeding, edema, and tumefaction. -http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/bleeding-clotting-cancer.shtml

What do you usually eat? I would definitely get rid of the fish oil.

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My thyroid is in perfect condition according to ultrasound. All the other tests are perfect with an exception of sliiightly lower magnesium (already added addtional supp targeting magnesium specifically), slightly higher lymphocytes and slightly higher total cholesterol (going to do an additional blood work to see it in detail). Ultrasounds of heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, thyroid are great. All blood work specific to kidneys & liver is fine: creatine, etc. Was your advice regarding fish oil only relevant in case of hypothyroid? Thanks! – John Dec 3 2011 at 15:35
I mostly eat veggies, meat, fish, eggs, berries, butter, sometimes coconut milk, white rice and rarely potatoes. – John Dec 3 2011 at 15:35
Fish oil is something all people want to limit imo. A body temp test will tell if you are hypothyroid, if its lower than ~97.6 after waking and ~98.6 after eating that's a pretty good indicator you are hypothyroid. – cliff Dec 3 2011 at 16:33
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We can't really know what is causing it, but it can never hurt to try some l-arginine to increase nitric oxide availability. It reduces blood viscosity during hyperglycemia, and I doubt you have hyperglycemia, but the take-away is that too little nitric oxide, sometimes caused by too little dietary arginine or other nitric oxide precursors can increase blood viscosity http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/95/7/1783.full

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Something else has to be abnormally high to cause higher viscosity. What else is standing out as abnormal?

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All the other tests are perfect with an exception of sliiightly lower magnesium (already added addtional supp targeting magnesium specifically), slightly higher lymphocytes and slightly higher total cholesterol (going to do an additional blood work to see it in detail). Ultrasounds of heart, kidneys, liver, stomach, thyroid are great. All blood work specific to kidneys & liver is fine: creatine, etc. Thanks! – John Dec 3 2011 at 15:32
Weird, there's got to be something in there causing the problem, guess they haven't ID'd it yet. GL! – Matt Dec 4 2011 at 1:23

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