Nattokinase Without Coumadin:

Case Histories from Martin Milner, N.D.

Case 1 – Peripheral Vascular Disease

Case 1 is a female patient with an array of health problems including advanced peripheral vascular arterial disease. Her iliac artery was bypassed surgically due to full occlusion in 1999 with current occlusion of her popliteal artery. As a result, she was experiencing severe intermittent claudicating bilateral calf and thigh pain, worse at night and with exertion. She experienced cramps and pains throughout the night disrupting her sleep for years. Many therapies were unsuccessful in resolving her debilitating pain. She has a long history of using intravenous EDTA once monthly for five years and then once weekly for the last year without improvement. She is an avid and conscientious consumer of health supplements, having taken for many years an array of nutrients, none of which, in combination with intravenous EDTA improved her intermittent claudication. She began taking nattokinase in July of 2002, taking 2 caps 2x daily on an empty stomach. Within two weeks she reported that the heaviness and achiness on exertion in her left leg had improved 50-70%. Her muscles in her calves began to reduce in achiness and within 1-2 weeks she was sleeping through the night with no pain. After taking nattokinase for over 6 months, she had experienced only two episodes of waking at night with leg pain. She has reported no side effects throughout the course of therapy. In addition, with her history of mild hypertension, severe peripheral vascular arterial disease, and left atrial enlargement, she probably has some pulmonary hypertension and micro embolization in her lungs which has been helped significantly with nattokinase.

Case 2 – Pulmonary Emboli with Headaches

Case 2 is a 64 year-old female with a history of five prior episodes of pulmonary emboli (clots in the lungs), apparently due to lower extremity venous thrombi that mobilized into her lungs. The last episode was in 1977 with no new occurrences since vein stripping, which was performed in 1977. With her history, a possible chronic coagulation disorder aggravating her other conditions was suspected. Her other related conditions included migraine headaches and a long-standing seizure-like disorder. She began taking nattokinase 2 caps 2x daily upon rising and before bed in January of 2003. This reduced her headaches from 2-3x weekly to none for the first 30 days. When the first headache did occur in late February of 2003, she developed the pre-migraine symptoms of nausea and visual changes without ever developing head pain.

Case 3 – Fibromyalgia with Headaches

Case 3 is a female with a long standing history of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, persistent leg cramps, varicose veins, hypothyroidism, chronic migraines, GERD, colitis, mild osteoporosis, some degenerative disk disease (L 4-5), osteoarthritis in one knee, obesity, hypertension, aluminum and arsenic toxicity, severe adrenal insufficiency and food allergies. She has taken supplements extensively for many years. She began taking nattokinase in January 2003, 2 caps 2x daily on an empty stomach, and then increased to 3 caps 2x daily in April 2003. After starting nattokinase her energy improved with complete resolution of her headaches and improved varicose veins. This is extraordinary in a patient who has attempted a wide array of headache medications with no response.

Case 4 – COPD, Shortness of Breath, Pulmonary Microembolization with Pulmonary Hypertension, Essential Hypertension

Case 4 is a 49 year-oldfemale with chronic fatigue, shortness of breath and stress - related illness. Patient is obese with a variety of cardiovascular conditions including heart palpitations, high blood pressure, Type IV Hyperlipidemia, Syndrome X, COPD with 30% airway obstruction, pulmonary hypertension, and reports swelling in feet. After taking nattokinase 2 caps 2x daily for 2.5 weeks, patient’s breathing was dramatically improved as well as her fatigue. Patient is also able to walk around the block at a medium pace with no heavy breathing at all. She is also now able to grocery shop, and is even starting to walk longer distances wearing small ankle weights.

Case 5 – Peripheral Vascular Disease, possible TIA and DVT

Case 5 is a 63 year-old male with possible DVT and passive embolization, who reports a sensation of tightness in his legs and felt like he was standing for hours yet wasn’t. He developed a suspected deep vein thrombus (clot) on physical examination, and was also blowing out bloody granules from his nose for three days. These bloody granules were of concern in assessing possible pulmonary microemboli. He also reports a history of pain in right leg, which was diagnosed as an inflamed vein, phlebitis. He also has possible transient ischemic symptom complex including cold nose, numbness around lips, cold upper extremities in paroxysms, intermittent cold tingling in his hands, face and feet. Reported coldness in hands, feet and back of head over into his face with a loss of sensation in hands, left foot slight loss of sensation. Patient began nattokinase, 2 caps 2x daily and all of the above symptoms resolved after one week.

Martin Milner, N.D., is President and Medical Director of the Center for Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon; Professor of Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Medicine, National College of Naturopathic Medicine; and Medical Director of the Heart & Lung Wellness Rotation & Residency Program in Portland, Oregon.