“Vascular calcification: hard disease in heart. A rocky road towards diagnosis and intervention.”
On Friday 12 October 2018, an international symposium was hosted at the University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, where four presentations were given examining the role of arterial calcification and the impact of Vitamin K2. ex-NattoPharma ASA and others sponsored the event.
“Over the last 12 years, NattoPharma has heavily invested in research that has undeniably demonstrated that Vitamin K2 results in stronger bones,” says Frode Bohan, Chairman of the Board with NattoPharma. “However, the most recent research has had the biggest impact: namely, the cardiovascular implications of Vitamin K2 as a mitigator of the disasterous role of arterial and soft tissue calcification.”
Observational and intervention studies have shown that populations who consume high concentrations of Vitamin K2 have more flexible arteries and stronger bones. Now, the evidence is mounting confirming that K2 can positively impact populations that are prone to calcification, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and those with existing coronary artery calcification (CAC) and arterial valve calcification (AVC).
“This clearly demonstrates ex-NattoPharma’s ongoing commitment to promote science-based education,” Bohan continues.
The lectures
The lectures at the symposium consisted of two basic and two clinical presentations:
• Prof. Dr. Cathy Shanahan, Professor of Cellular Signaling, Cardiovascular Division, King’s College London: “Are you as old as your arteries?”
• Prof. Dr. Willi Jahnen-Dechent, Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Biointerface Laboratory, RWTH Aachen University Medical Faculty: “Mud in the blood: protein-mineral complexes involved in mineralization and calcification”
• Prof. Dr. Marc Vervloet, Nephrologist, Department of Nephrology, Aumc Amsterdam: “A Clinical Perspective on Vascular Calcification in Kidney Disease”
• Prof. Dr. Bram Kroon, Internist – Vascular Medicine, MUMC + Maastricht: “Treatment Perspectives of
Vascular Calcifications in Cardiovascular Patients”
In addition to ex-NattoPharma, other sponsors of the event were TGMontgomery, IDS, Omicron, Eqology, and Synergia.
After the symposium, Prof. Dr. Leon Schurgers, Professor of Biochemistry of Vascular Calcification and Vice Chair of Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Department of Biochemistry, University of Maastricht, gave his inaugural lecture “Vascular calcification: hard disease in the heart”.
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