Entry for February 03, 2008

I’m really happy about getting results with SAM-e and the other thing I’ve noticed? The vibration has stopped since I started taking it. So is it because I found the root cause or is it because it has a calming effect on the body?

Entry for February 02, 2008

SAMe Is Essential For Brain Function

SAM-e (S-Adenosylmethionine) is an amino acid derivative that has been clinically proven.  Found in all living cells, SAM-e is also called activated methionine (an essential amino acid) since it is formed by the combining of ATP with methionine. The body makes SAM-e from the amino acid methionine and the cofactor vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid.

SAMe is the primary methyl donor available in the brain. Some of the biochemicals essential for proper nervous system function that benefit from SAMe include epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. Transmethylation in the brain includes actions upon the phospholipids that are the primary components of all cell membranes.

Supplementation with SAMe improves the body’s ability to manufacture phospholipids for use in the brain and helps keep neurotransmitters in balance.

Animal studies show that SAM-e increases levels of serotonin, but not the same way as SSRI or tricyclics work. They prolong the effect of a neurotransmitter by blocking its reuptake after it ferries a signal across the gap from one nerve cell to the next.

SAM-e, by contrast, appears to actually build neurotransmitters by donating part of its own chemical makeup, a methyl group. A common currency in metabolic processes, methylation also feeds the fats that stabilize nerve cell membranes and the receptors on them, making brain cells more responsive to a broad array of operations.

 I love this article for the comparison between Sam-e and Paxil (SSRI drug). I wonder if the neurologist knew this? Probably not. Who am I kidding?

After my discovery a few months back with the active form of B vitamins for better absorption, I’m always interested in supplements with higher absorption rates and SAM-e is no exception. A few days after taking SAM-e and there is a definate WOW factor. Once again, overnight my eyes feel stonger and my skin is so smooth and fantastic!

I think it’s safe to say the amino acid test is very accurate with a low level of methionine. Now if I can only find the other ones…

Entry for January 31, 2008

Methionine – Allergy Fighter

Claims for methionine in medicine were initiated by Adelle Davis (1970), who suggested that methionine was deficient in toxemia of pregnancy, childhood rheumatic fever and hair loss. Today, we see a more defined role for methionine as a treatment for some forms of depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease.

Methionine is one of the essential amino acids needed by humans and higher animals; bacteria can make it from aspartic acid. Some methionine may be absorbed from the bacteria of the gut flora under starvation conditions. The average human needs about 10 mg/kg of methionine and cysteine or as much as 700 mg a day of methionine. This minimal daily requirement is significantly less than the optimal need for methionine.

Methionine-deficient diets in experimental animals result in impaired growth and elevated blood spermidine. Normal methionine metabolism depends on the utilization of folic acid which can be elevated in the serum of methionine deficient patients. Some foods are rich in methionine. A cup of low-fat cottage cheese can contain up to a gram of methionine. Most cheeses contain 100 to 200 mg per ounce.

Methionine supplements lower blood histamine by increasing the breakdown of histamine. It is also a useful treatment for copper poisoning and for lowering serum copper. Methionine’s three major metabolic roles are as methyl and sulfur donor and a precursor to other sulfur amino acids such as cysteine and taurine.

Methionine supplementation is unusual because the D, L form is probably more effective than just the L form. This is probably due to D-L salt formation. Methionine is well absorbed in the brain where it is converted into SAM, which can increase adrenalin-like neurotransmitters in the brain. Methionine, the methyl donor, may produce active brain stimulants and degrade blood histamine. Methionine supplementation has been particularly useful in depressing the high histamine type (histadelia). It has been found to be more effective than MAO inhibitors in depression.

Methionine is a useful adjunct therapy in some cases of Parkinson’s disease, because it can stimulate the production of dopa. Methionine may be of value in acrodermatitis enteropathica, a rare disease of zinc deficiency. Methionine, like other sulfur amino acids, protects against the effects of radiation.

Methionine supplementation may help patients with heroin addiction, who often are unusually high in histamine and have a low pain threshold. Detoxification and withdrawal from barbiturates or amphetamines may also be assisted by methionine. Methionine may be useful for patients with chronic pain and is thought to lower blood cholesterol.

At present, we use methionine for patients with high blood histamine, depression, high copper, high cholesterol and chronic pain, allergies and asthma. Measurement of plasma levels is useful for guiding therapy. Doses of 1 to 2 g of methionine can raise plasma methionine levels 2 to 4 times above normal.

There are usually small elevations in other amino acids. We have had one case where taurine levels were raised as high as the methionine levels and other cases where taurine was not significantly elevated. Elevated levels of taurine, a methionine metabolite, are a hidden benefit of methionine therapy. These elevations may be the basis of methionine’s therapeutic effects.

Entry for January 31, 2008

So now I discover a link between SAM-e and melatonin.

SAM-e Is Necessary for Melatonin

One of the most exciting things about SAMe is that it is melatonin’s daytime equivalent. The natural synthesis of melatonin during the night is dependent on the synthesis of SAMe during the day. SAMe is necessary for the biochemical reaction that converts serotonin into melatonin. (Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that drugs like Prozac elevate). SAMe and melatonin are entwined in a circadian rhythm that see-saws back and forth as the sun rises and sets. SAMe is melatonin’s other half: when melatonin levels shoot up at night, SAMe stays low. But during the day, when melatonin falls, SAMe levels climb. Without adequate SAMe during the day, neither melatonin nor serotonin can be synthesized. And both are dependent on light and dark.

One of the most fascinating animal studies on SAMe and melatonin was published in the Journal of Neurochemistry in 1995. Researchers demonstrated in great detail the perfect orchestration that occurs between levels of SAMe and melatonin. The so-called “nyctohemeral” rhythm (pertaining to both day and night) was documented almost minute-by-minute. Data were translated onto graphs showing the see-saw relationship between melatonin and SAMe (Fig. 1).

Both melatonin and SAMe are controlled by an internal “clock” that knows lightness from darkness. In the evening, about 30 minutes before sunset, levels of SAMe shoot up to their highest level. They stay there for about an hour, and then suddenly drop. When this happens, melatonin kicks in. Melatonin increases for four hours, while SAMe drops. Five hours into the night, melatonin hits its high, and SAMe hits its low. Melatonin stays elevated until three hours before sunrise, when it abruptly falls. Meanwhile, SAMe builds up. Five hours into the day (around 11:00 A.M.), SAMe reaches its peak level again, then begins a gradual descent until evening.

Serotonin levels follow roughly the same pattern-higher during the day and lower at night. It appears that the serotonin synthesized during the day is used at night to make melatonin. SAMe is absolutely crucial for the natural synthesis of melatonin because it donates a methyl group molecule to the enzyme that converts the acetylated form of serotonin to melatonin.

Melatonin is not traditionally though of as a hormone that effects mood, but it does. When melatonin levels are low, you tend to wake in the wee hours in a panicked state, even if things may be generally okay in your life. You will wake fearing the worst about the least important things or feeling depressed for no real reason. Melatonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan, which also makes serotonin. It’s production in the brain requires methionine and SAMe.

What a fantastic article. Off to the health food store looking for SAM-e!

Entry for January 31, 2008

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about lecithin and methionine lately and I came aross something called s-adenosyl methionine with a link to the adrenals and how it can be effected by methionine and riboflavin deficiencies. This sounds all too familiar…

Methionine is also used by the body to manufacture SAMe, also known as S-adenosyl-methionine or S-adenosyl-L-methionine. SAMe is found in every cell in the body. SAMe has been shown to be effective as a treatment for osteoarthritis and associated joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation.

It is important to note that dietary supplements of methionine do not appear to elevate SAM-e levels or have the same effect on mood states found with SAM-e. Doses of 200-600 mg per day may be effective in elevating mood and treating mild depression.

Highest concentration of SAM in body (in order):
1) Adrenal gland
2) Pineal gland

“Deficiencies of any of the active coenzyme forms of vitamins B2, B6, B12 and folic acid will disrupt SAMe production, and conversely diminished SAMe production will impair conversion of folic acid and B12 to their coenzyme forms.

Entry for January 25, 2008

Happy with the fantastic results with my eyes after taking Lipoic acid but disappointed about still having the vibration, I decided today to start taking Lecithin. Everything I’ve read about Lecithin seem to suggest that it would be extremely beneficial to the nervous system and it supplies the body with methionine.

Lecithin is essential not only for tissue integrity of the nervous and glandular system in all living cells, but has been regarded as also the most effective generator and regenerator of great physical, mental and glandular activity. Shattered nerves, depleted brain power, waning activity of vital glands, find in lecithin, especially in the cellular structure of the nervous system and endocrine glands a source of dynamic energy.”

Lecithin is the most abundant of the phospholipids. It is a fatty food substance, which serves as a structural material for every cell in the body. It is an essential constituent of the human brain and nervous system. It forms 30 per cent of the dry weight of the brain and 17 per cent of the nervous system.

Lecithin is also an important component of the endocrine glands and the muscles of the heart and kidneys. It makes up 73 per cent of the total liver fat. Nervous, mental or glandular overactivity can consume lecithin faster than its replacement.

The body uses methionine to derive a brain food called choline. Therefore, choline or lecithin (which is high in choline) should be added to the diet so that the supply of methionine is not depleted. Beans are low in methionine but rich in lysine; and, since most grains are low in lysine and rich in methionine, combining beans and grains will give a full complement of amino acids.

Entry for January 24, 2008

Today I thought I’d make a short list of the amino acids that had very low levels in the test so I can focus on these one at a time:

1-Threonine
2-Aspartic acid (Aspartate)
3-Methionine
4-Glycine
5-Asparagine (Made from 2-Aspartic acid)
6-Isoleucine

Below is a quick overview of each amino acid and the best source of food to eat.

Asparagine: Asparagine is needed to maintain a balance, preventing over nervousness. Aspartic Acid and Asparagine have high concentrations in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that plays the main role in short-term memory, while the hypothalamus is involved in the biology of emotion, and serves as a neurological gate between the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Asparagine deficiency could be a contributing cause of fatigue and immune system stress including autoimmune disorders, infections and severe allergies. Asparagine is most commonly found in poultry, dairy, eggs, fish, lactalbumin, legumes, meat, nuts, seafood, seeds, soy, whey, whole grains, and beef.

Aspartic Acid: Aspartic Acid is a non-essential amino acid, existing mainly in the form of its amide, asparagine. It also performs an important role in the urea cycle and helping to transport minerals. Aspartic acid is a nonessential amino acid which is made from glutamic acid by enzymes using vitamin B6. The amino acid has important roles in the urea cycle and DNA metabolism.

Aspartic acid may also be a significant immunostimulant of the thymus and can protect against some of the damaging effects of radiation. Involved in immune system function by enhancing immunoglobulin production and anti- body formation. Calcium and magnesium deficiencies. Because of this association, low aspartic acid levels should lead the clinician to test for calcium and/or magnesium deficiencies. Aspartic Acid can be easily converted to glucose when demand for glucose exceeds supply. Aspartic acid plays an important role in the citric acid cycle, or Krebs cycle, during which other amino acids and biochemicals, such as asparagine, arginine, lysine, methionine, threonine, and isoleucine, are synthesized. Aspartic acid is found in high levels throughout the human body, especially in the brain, sprouting seeds, oat flakes, luncheon meats, sausage meat, wild game, avocado, asparagus.

Glycine: Glycine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, especially in the spinal cord. High concentrations of glycine are found not only in the muscles, but in the skin and other connective tissues as well. Almost 1/3 of collagen, which keeps the skin and connective tissue firm and flexible, is composed of glycine. (High amounts of Glycine are also found in gelatin, which is a form of denatured collagen). Without glycine the body would not be able to repair damaged tissues; the skin would become slack as it succumbed to UV rays, oxidation, and free radical damage, and wounds would never heal. Sources of glycine: High protein food contains good amounts of glycine and is present in fish, meat, beans, and dairy products.

Isoleucine: Nitrogen balance in adults. L-Isoleucine is a branched chain amino acid found in high concentrations in muscle tissues. Food sources include almonds, cashews, chicken, chickpeas, eggs, fish, lentils, liver, meat, rye, seeds, and soy protein.

Methionine: Methionine is a precursor for the other sulfur amino acids, cystine, taurine, and glutathione. Methionine plays a role in cysteine, carnitine and taurine synthesis by the transsulfuration pathway, lecithin production, the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and other phospholipids. Methionine helps reduce histamine levels, which are amino acids that control dilation of blood vessels and influence brain function. Methionine is essential for the formation of healthy collagen used to form skin, nails, and connective tissue, and helps reduce the level of inflammatory histamines in the body. People with conditions linked to excessive histamine production, such as arthritis and chronic allergies, may benefit from methionine supplementation. Food sources include beans, eggs, fish, garlic, lentils, meat, onions, soybeans, seeds, yogurt.

Threonine: Required for formation of collagen. Needed by the gastrointestinal tract for normal functioning. Threonine is an important component in the formation of protein, collagen, elastin and tooth enamel. It is also important for production of neurotransmitters and health of the nervous system. Threonine is one of the immune-stimulating nutrients (cysteine, lysine, alanine, and aspartic acid are others), Threonine is found in most meats and fish, dairy foods, eggs, wheatgerm, bananas, carrots, nuts, beans and seeds. Rich sources of threonine include meats, dairy foods and eggs. Wheat germ, many nuts, beans, and seeds, and vegetables contains some small level of threonine.

Entry for January 23, 2008

And here’s someone who has suggested a revision to the Budwig Diet. Fascinating reading…

The Budwig Diet Revision

Germany’s Dr. Joanna Budwig is widely credited for discovering that 2 simple food items, cold-pressed flax seed oil and low-fat cottage cheese, will cure or prevent many forms of cancer and a long list of other degenerative diseases including cardiovascular diseases and skin diseases. But the 50-year old “Budwig Diet” is long in the tooth and newer data has emerged that shows where we can improve on it.

Sulfur-rich protein and calcium in the “Budwig protocol” is provided by cottage cheese. Because many people can not take “dairy”, lets look more closely at the cottage cheese. Human milk is higher in whey and much lower in casein than cow milk or goat milk; casein is the main protein in cheese and cottage cheese. Caseins differ somewhat; cow milk contains a lot of alpha-casein, which because of its different properties is the main cause of milk and “dairy” indigestion in humans. Beta lactoglobulins in cow milk can also be problematic as allergens, and cow milk also contains more alpha s1-casein than goat milk. All of this explains why many people find goat milk less problematic than cow milk.

Cottage Cheese vs Whey Protein

The Budwig Diet revision uses undenatured whey instead of cottage cheese. Undenatured whey contains the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine compounds including cystine. Methionine is transformed into cysteine by the liver. Cellular cysteine is the rate-limiting factor in production of glutathione, the body’s master antioxidant and detoxifier. Glutathione is crucial to life; it’s involved in ATP energy generation, immune system support, liver and other organ support, reducing toxin load and oxidative stress, and importantly, it shrinks tumors when levels are maintained. Cottage cheese doesn’t boast those benefits; in fact it’s only a sulfur amino acid source.

Entry for January 23, 2008

Here’s another interesting article I came across while googling about treating cancer with an alternative approach. I don’t have cancer but I always find these kind of articles so incredible because we never hear about them in the mainstream media. Is it true? And does it work? Who knows…

Budwig Diet

The Flaxseed (Linseed) oil diet was originally proposed by Dr. Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist and expert on fats and oils, in 1951. Dr. Budwig holds a Ph.D. in Natural Science, has undergone medical training, and was schooled in pharmaceutical science, physics, botany and biology. She is best known for her extensive research on the properties and benefits of flaxseed oil combined with sulphurated proteins in the diet, and over the years has published a number of books on the subject, including “Cancer–A Fat Problem,” “The Death of the Tumor,” and “True Health Against Arteriosclerosis, Heart Infarction & Cancer.”

Dr. Budwig found that the blood of seriously ill cancer patients was deficient in certain important essential ingredients which included substances called phosphatides and lipoproteins, while the blood of a healthy person always contains sufficient quantities of these essential ingredients.

She found that when these natural ingredients where replaced over approximately a three month period, tumors gradually receded, weakness and anemia disappeared and life energy was restored. Symptoms of cancer, liver dysfunction and diabetes were alleviated.

Dr. Budwig then discovered an all natural way for people to replace those essential ingredients their bodies so desperately needed in their daily diet. By simply eating a combination of just two natural and delicious foods not only can cancer be prevented but in case after case it was actually cured. (These two natural foods, organic flax seed oil & cottage cheese) must be eaten together to be effective since one triggers the properties of the other to be released.)

After more than 10 years of solid clinical application, Dr. Budwig’s natural formula has proven successful where many orthodox remedies have failed. Dr. Budwig’s formula has been used therapeutically in Europe for prevention of: cancer, arteriosclerosis, strokes, cardiac infarction, stomach ulcers (normalizes gastric juices), Prostate (hypertopic), arthritis (exerts a favorable influence), eczema (assists all skin diseases), and even immune deficiences.

Thousands have been helped by her protocol. Testimonials can be found for almost every type of cancer and tumors, even late stage. Dr. Budwig has assisted many seriously ill individuals, even those given up as terminal by orthodox medical practitioners, to regain their health through a simple regimen of nutrition. The basis of Dr. Budwig’s program is the use of flaxseed oil blended with low-fat cottage cheese.

Dr. Johanna preaches against the use of what she calls “pseudo” fats – “hydrogenated,” “partially hydrogenated” and even “polyunsaturated.” The chemical processing causes the oils to become a harmful substance deposited within the body. The heart, for instance, rejects these fats and they end up as inorganic fatty deposits on the heart muscle itself. They end up blocking circulation, damage heart action, inhibit cell renewal and impede the free flow of blood and lymph fluids.

Science has proven that fats play an important role in the functioning of the entire body. Fats (lipids) are vital for all growth processing, renewal of cells, brain and nerve functions. Our energy resources are based on lipid metabolism. To function efficiently, cells require true polyunsaturated, live electron-rich lipids, present in abundance in raw flaxseed oil.

Lipids are only water-soluble and free-flowing when bound to protein; thus the importance of protein-rich cottage cheese. When high quality, electron-rich fats are combined with proteins, the electrons are protected until the body requires energy. This energy source is then fully and immediately available to the body on demand, as nature intended.

Budwig claims that the diet is both a preventative and a curative. She says the absence of linol-acids [in the average western diet] is responsible for the production of oxydase, which induces cancer growth and is the cause of many other chronic disorders.

The theory is: the use of oxygen in the organism can be stimulated by protein compounds of sulphuric content, which make oils water-soluble and which is present in cheese, nuts, onion and leek vegetables such as leek, chive, onion and garlic, but especially cottage cheese.

It is essential to use only unrefined, cold-pressed oils with high linolic acid content, such as linseed, sunflower, soya, poppyseed, walnut, and flax oils. Such oil should be consumed together with foods containing the right proteins otherwise the oils will have the OPPOSITE EFFECT, causing more harm than good.

The best combination is cottage cheese and linseed oil. The linseed should be freshly ground. Carbohydrates containing natural sugar, such as dates, figs, pears, apples and grapes, can also be included in the diet. Honey is also beneficial. She feels most of the synthetic vitamin A preparations are bad because they contain oxidation products, but much carotene as pro-vitamin A (from carrot) is consumed. Vitamin B from buttermilk, yogurt, and natural yeast is beneficial.

A person requires daily about 4 oz. of cottage cheese mixed well with 1.5 oz. of linseed oil. A blender or egg beater works fine. The mixture an be sweeten with honey or otherwise flavored naturally. Fresh fruits can be added.

Entry for January 23, 2008

What a fantastic article… I’ve been down this road!

THE PERILS OF BEING A PATIENT

How to Survive Conventional Medicine with Your Health Intact

by Helke Ferrie

Everyone will sooner or later consult a doctor. That encounter may save your life dramatically in emergency medicine, or lead you into a living hell if chronic disease and cancer are involved. For chronic disease, modern medicine offers drugs derived from complex synthetic chemistry, drugs which are purposely designed to control symptoms and ensure loyal “consumers” until death – usually from the side effects (one of which is chemically induced nutritional deficiency). Indeed, package inserts clearly state “this drug does not cure”. The word cure has become a four-letter word in modern medicine. This symptom-control approach to medicine is provided by well-trained, well-intentioned licensed practitioners.

Having personally experienced medicine at its best and at its worst, these are no hyperboles. Human systems are essentially labyrinths; medicine is no exception. As in the Greek myth, when entering such a system one better have Ariadne’s thread, as the hero Theseus did when seeking out the subterranean monster, the Minotaur, to find the way back out. The Minotaur in our lives is illness, a monster that paralyzes through fear, and heroes are heroes because they conquer their fear – after that, slaying the monster is not necessarily a big deal. Being a hero isn’t all that difficult. Anyone who employs critical thought in the face of authority already is a hero.

YOUR DOCTOR

Doctors who practice “conventional” medicine are fundamentally handicapped by a medical paradigm that accepts most diseases as idiopathic (of unknown cause). In truth, there is no such thing. If doctors tell you that you have an incurable disease they cease to be scientists, whether they know it or not. Don’t believe them. Educate them. And if they won’t listen, fire them.

Conventional thinking equates labels with reality. For example, the labels “cancer”, “multiple sclerosis”, or “diabetes” are descriptive terms that identify the differences between them as seen by the doctor and experienced by the patient. Description is of little help when you want a cure. All of these diseases are ultimately caused by the same thing – heavy metals, nano-bacteria (mercury amalgam fillings and root canals), common pesticides, chronic vitamin D deficiency, or long-term nutritional deficiencies from a diet of processed and nutrient-devoid foods loaded with antibiotics, synthetic flavouring and preservatives. While it is true that cancer is defined by abnormal cell growth, multiple sclerosis is characterized by the disintegration of the nerves’ myelin sheaths, and diabetics are deficient in insulin, the patient needs to understand what caused their disease in order to regain health: no cause, no cure.

Science has proven exhaustively that every disease is caused by some kind of identifiable challenge to the body’s defences, primarily the liver and the immune system (e.g. bacteria, viruses, parasites, radiation, systemic electro-magnetic interference, stress-induced hormonal imbalances with toxic consequences, environmental or pharmaceutical toxins causing organ damage or genetic interference which result in the malfunctioning of vital enzymes, and more). Every disease state is in theory (and also in practice) curable by making the immune system and liver into the patient’s allies through removing that harmful cause and fueling the body with those nutrients that have become deficient.

Synthetic drugs are never nutrients and always increase toxicity. A disease is never a drug deficiency, but always accompanied by serious nutrient deficiencies. The fact that a toxic trigger can cause cancer in one person and diabetes in another is certainly of “academic” interest, and some day we may know why – but who cares?

This confusion between a useful cause-based diagnosis and a descriptive label leads often to lethal “cognitive traps”, as Dr. Groopman explains in his fascinating book How Doctors Think. At autopsy, he reports, at least 15% of diagnoses are proven to have been wrong, which is why the patient is dead. He cites research showing that 80% of serious doctor-caused harm to patients can be explained by a “cascade of cognitive errors”, all stemming from not having listened carefully to the patient and hastily plugging the patient into diagnoses.

When showing my physician husband this book, he snorted, “Most don’t think.” His respect for conventional medical practice got its first shock when, a few weeks after completing his specialization exams, he ran into one of his most intelligent colleagues. When he asked his friend about his current reading, expecting to discuss new research, his friend answered: “Now I am studying the fee schedule.”

MEDICINE’S DARK SIDE

Since the 1970’s, money interests have steadily taken control over how governments run health care systems, how doctors practice, and how medical research is conducted. Last November, I attended an event at the University of Toronto; the guest speaker was Dr. Richard Smith, who until recently was editor of the British Medical Journal (for 25 years), one of the “Big Five”. His brilliant discussion of the phantom world that medical journals have become was as disturbing as his admission that he was unable to stop this corrupting process. He confirmed what editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, Marcia Angell and Jerome Kassierer, had reported in their own recent books about their failed battles against the dominance of financial interests and the fraudulent research these interests require to profit from sick people.

When asked if one could trust any leading medical journals, Dr. Smith laughed out loud and exclaimed: “No!” And how should patients protect themselves from doctors acting in good faith on this mostly fraudulent research? Dr. Smith replied, “Patients have to understand that they are actually in a bogus contract with the doctor. The patient thinks the doctor can fix my problem. That is a very powerful fantasy! Patients need to invest time and energy in researching [their problem] and be smarter than the doctor. Nowadays that is possible!” And he recommended the internet-based open-access medical journals which are free of advertising and Big Pharma interference.

Because of a relentless push to produce patentable, lucrative symptom-control drugs, researchers around the world have concluded, after combing through 9.4 million research papers at the US National Library of Medicine in 4,000 journals, that “the vast majority of published research… is false.” (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 17, 2007). As for mandatory continuing medical education, Nature reported on September 22 last year that these conferences are basically “re-allocated marketing events” controlled by the funding pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. On January 7 and 8, CBC reported that the Health Canada warnings about adverse events associated with prescription drugs are generally ignored by doctors: “We cannot open the letter for them. We cannot make them read them,” the HC spokesperson said.

BASIC SURVIVAL TIPS

It is charitable and proper to forgive those who sacrifice their profession and their patients by functioning as drug-pushers, for they know not what they do. But it is vital that patients know that only those doctors who determinedly think outside the box will listen carefully and dare to go for a genuine “cure”.

Patients can’t wait until medical schools and journals are reformed and profit ceases to dominate medicine. You need to take charge. Ask your doctor if he or she sees drug reps and point out that they are neither patients nor medically trained, so you – the patient – expect equal time. Always hold your doctor to the current standard of practice as published on the websites of the licensing colleges:

Never accept an antibiotic unless the target bacteria has been identified through appropriate lab tests and it is certain your infection is not caused by a virus, which antibiotics can’t kill. Antibiotic resistance is possibly the greatest health threat in the world today – caused mostly by careless prescribing and their prophylactic use in food-producing animals.

Always treat pain, chronic or acute, to the fullest extent as it is now internationally recognized as the 5th vital sign and must be treated with the drugs that work best for you and in the individually necessary dosage.

C) Always demand a full explanation (diagnosis, treatment, drugs prescribed, dangers of that drug etc.) because informed consent is the law governing medical practice, and if necessary point that out.

Always ask if the drug prescribed is still under patent protection. If it is, ask to see the current CPS (Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties) to check for Health Canada warnings (the older the drug, the safer it generally is). Insist on a generic equivalent or substitute if available, as the Canadian Medical Association guidelines expects of doctors. This applies even to drugs handed out in a hospital: you are entitled to this information.

ADVANCED SURVIVAL TIPS

While discussing this article with my husband, he suggested that it is vital, when consulting a doctor, “never to use a conventional diagnostic term”. If you say “I am so depressed”, sixty seconds later you will have a prescription and be headed for Antidepressant Hell, because you have just pushed a well-worn button. To find out what awaits you on those drugs, spend a couple of hours surfing the net by typing in search words such as “SSRIs + adverse events” or “+ legal actions”.

Should you ever be tempted to take a drug you see advertised on American television (unavoidable since Direct to Consumer Advertising (DTCA) of drugs is permitted in the US), clear your brains as fast as possible by surfing the net for information on DTCA. Those are probably the deadliest drugs on the market and most were created to target diseases invented by the pharmaceutical industry to create a new market niche.

Should your doctor offer you enrollment in a drug trial, remember that doctors get paid big bucks for such recruitments. Guy Faguet, author of The War On Cancer, spent his life as a leading researcher with the US National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. He describes drug trials as nothing less than human toxicity tests. (As an aside, note that he disapproves of mammography, and PSA tests for prostate check-ups, because of their unacceptably high false positives!) On September 27 last year, the New York Times published salient details of the US Department of Health report on drug trials. The Inspector General concluded that “in many ways, rats and mice get better protection as research subjects than do humans.”

If you are taking a synthetic drug, consult the nutrient depletion handbook by the American Association of Pharmacists, and Dr. Cass’ excellent book. They spell out which essential nutrients are depleted by every prescription drug. Supplementing those nutrients is the logical thing to do and is guaranteed to reduce side effects and may even get you off the drug altogether.

How do you know what is a bad drug? Google the World Health Organization’s Essential Drugs List; not a single patented drug is on it. It does not include cholesterol-lowering drugs, antidepressants and the like. Then there is the excellent newsletter Best Pills Worst Pills published monthly by Ralph Nader’s organization, Public Citizen, which has successfully challenged the FDA on many dangerous drugs and got them off the market. A quick internet survey on the number of law suits filed against a drug provides the most informative warning.

To me, any drug that carries a Health Canada advisory or an FDA black box warning is unacceptable, no matter the disease, because they have been found to interfere with cell repair, damage the immune system and the liver, and decrease vitally important hormone activity. I prefer to be my body’s friend instead. For every conventional and usually toxic treatment, there exists a non-toxic alternative – every one of which was developed by mainstream medical research. Your doctor is not trained to look for alternatives and drug reps don’t discuss them. Doctors are always astonished to learn that they exist and are science-based. In fact, never before in the history of medicine have we had this much choice.

Descartes (1590-1650) started us on the path of scientific thinking, which is both a habit and a method of antiauthoritarianism. Descartes taught that “systematic doubt” should be “the guiding principle for action” – a matter of life and death for patients. Uncritically accepting external authority of any kind is always the beginning of suffering because then you have “squandered [your] resistance for a pocket-full of mumbles”, as Simon and Garfunkle famously put it. If anybody wonders if this article comes close to practising medicine without a license, I better make it clear that my aim was to suggest everybody should treat, with determined and polite doubt, all those who practice medicine with a licence.

Entry for January 22, 2008

Woke up with the vibration.

Entry for January 21, 2008

Woke up with the vibration again…

Entry for January 20, 2008

Woke up this morning with the vibration. Not sure what I’ve done differently except for taking Lipoic acid over the past few days.

Entry for January 18, 2008

Found this article about lecithin which makes so much sense for me it’s unbelievable. Unbelievable how I and many others had missed it. Nobody ever mentioned it and yet it seems so obvious.

Lecithin: A Must for Every Man

“It’s been found to be an essential constituent of the human brain and nervous system and also of the endocrine glands and the muscles of the heart and kidneys. Nervous, mental, or glandular over activity can use up lecithin faster than it is replaced. Then you become irritable, exhausted, and impotent.”

“A lecithin deficiency causes all of that and more. The drained vitality of the cerebrospinal fluid must be replenished. A nervous breakdown can result from lack of lecithin, as any really well-informed physician would tell you.”

“Could it be a lack of lecithin that causes Jerry’s nervous exhaustion?” asked Julie.

“It not only could be,” I said. “It very likely is just that. A lecithin deficiency is a common condition today, especially among men. The nervous strain associated with competitive business, often combined with the mental insecurity of a distasteful job or an unhappy home life, uses up lecithin in a man’s body faster than it can be produced.”

Lecithin added to the daily diet helps overcome nervous exhaustion, headaches, insomnia, brainfog, and nutritionally caused impotence, sterility, and senility.

“Lecithin,” I went on, “is a component of the nervous system, making up about 17 per cent of it. That’s why, if the body’s own supply of lecithin decreases—which it does as we grow older or work under stress, or for various other reasons —lecithin must be added to the diet, or the nervous system inevitably breaks down.”

Many of your nerve fibers are surrounded by a sheath of somewhat fatty substance, the myelin sheath. This protective sheath is rich in lecithin, which nourishes your nerve cells and supplies them with motive force. In lecithin deficiency, the fatty sheath is depleted, and we know some of the results: fatigue, irritability, brainfag, sexual decline, nervous exhaustion, or even a complete breakdown.

We know the importance of choline and inositol in our diet, and that lecithin is a rich, natural source of both. Lecithin also possesses a high phosphorus content, and phosphorus has a soothing effect on the nerves.

The nerve tissue is especially rich in lecithin in the morning. But during the course of the day nerve strain reduces the supply.

Lecithin has been suggested as a sexual aid. It was used in Germany 30 years ago as a restorative of sexual powers, for glandular exhaustion and nervous and mental disorders. Seminal fluid is rich in lecithin. Because of its loss from the body, it’s need for men is regarded as specially great.

Entry for January 17, 2008

I’ve been researching methionine lately and here’s a link to lecithin which the Naturopath suggested.

An essential amino acid, methionine is not synthesized in the body and so must be obtained from food sources or from dietary supplements. Good food sources of methionine include beans, eggs, fish, garlic, lentils, meat, onions, soybeans, seeds, and yogurt. Because the body uses methionine to derive a brain food called choline, it is wise to supplement the diet with choline or lecithin (which is high in choline) to ensure that the supply of methionine is not depleted.

Lecithin is a phos-phorized fat (a compound of phosphorus, fat and nitrogen) which is an important ingredient of the tissues in your nerves, brain and endocrine glands. Your nervous system, for instance, uses lecithin to aid in generating nerve electricity. When your nerves are plentifully supplied with lecithin, your body abounds in nervous energy; and when the supply of lecithin get low, as it does at the end of the day, your nerve energy decreases, and you say you are ‘tired and sleepy.’ A serious deficiency of lecithin in the diet can bring on a nerve exhaustion that is characterized by a chronic fatigue which rest does not alleviate. Lecithin is also important for your brain, since your ‘organ of thinking’ contains approximately 28 per cent of this substance, that is, provided you are sane. The brains of persons suffering from serious mental illnesses contain less than half this amount of lecithin.

Sounds like taking lecithin is more important than methionine!

Entry for January 13, 2008

HOLY COW!! I wake up with a brand new set of eyes. I don’t know how else to describe it other than I can definitely feel that my eyes are stronger this morning. Looks like the test results are accurate! I’ll need to take a closer look at Methionine when I get a chance.

I love it when I discover something like this. I had never really heard or understood the importance of Lipoic acid before yesterday. Thank you Dr. Google once again!

Entry for January 12, 2008

I’m still researching the amino acids and I tried a bunch of different health food stores today looking for the top five that I am low in.  Glycine was one of the amino acids I had found on my own back around October 2007. I guess I didn’t take it long enough and I’m sure I still have some around. I’ve read about the effects of Methionine here and there but never tried it directly. As for the other ones: Threonine, Aspartate, Asparagine, nobody seems to have them. Wonder why? They are part of the standard amino acids.

I’ve been messing around with the protein drinks and various amino acids for a while now so I thought I’d go in a slightly different direction and start with Lipoic acid. I’m excited after doing the research on it. I’ll start with the standard dosage of one capsule, three times a day. Meanwhile I’ll keep researching the other amino acids and see how they can effect other nutrients within the body.

I’m a little disappointed that the Naturopath didn’t offer anything extra or a plan to deal with the amino acid deficiencies. I suppose it was my direction to do the test and not hers. I asked for the test and luckily she went along with it.

Let’s see where it leads…

Entry for January 11, 2008

I’m going through the results one amino acid at a time. I start with methionine and here’s a perfect reason why I love using Dr. Google for research.

Lipoic Acid

Features & Benefits

• Water and lipid-soluble antioxidant
• Promotes normal nerve function
• Promotes healthy pancreatic function
• Helps maintain healthy eyes

Gets its two sulfur atoms primarily from the sulfur-containing amino acid methionine. For this reason, a methionine deficiency can reduce the body’s ability to make lipoic acid.

Nerves: Protection of neurons (nerve cells) appears to be a major role of lipoic acid. In humans, amounts of 400-800 mg of ALA daily have been shown to promote healthy nerve function. The first study (known by its German initials DEKAN) involved 39 people given 800 mg lipoic acid orally and 34 people given placebo for four months. The people taking lipoic acid showed a significant improvement in heart rate variability, an objective measure of the autonomic nerves serving the heart. This improvement was significant compared to the control group. There were no notable changes in adverse symptoms between the two groups. Oral doses under 600 mg daily have not been effective for nerve health in several studies.

Eyes: Lipoic acid may also help maintain normal pressure of the fluid in the eye, according to one human study. A group of 19 people given 150 mg of lipoic acid orally for one month were shown to have a significant improvement in visual function compared to a control group treated with placebo. A dose of 75 mg daily was not effective in this study. Oxidation within the lens of the eye may contribute to declining clarity of vision with age. Lipoic acid has been shown to protect animal lenses from such damage. Human studies have not yet been performed confirming this benefit.

Nowhere in the eight page report is there any mention of something called Lipoic acid and the Naturopathic didn’t mention it either. If it helps with healthy nerve function and healthy eyes then this is something I have needed for a very long time. More research needed…

Entry for January 10, 2008

 

I raced home from work today to get to the Naturopath on time. I’ve been wondering about these results for weeks now. I have my own theories on what my deficiencies are but I’ve wasted enough time and money guessing. I’m really hoping that I can sit down, read this report and get on with it.

She hands me the report and she reviews it page by page. The first page has the essential and non-essential amino acids and my level of each one. I have five amino acids on the low end of the scale: Methionine, Threonine, Aspartate, Asparagine and Glycine.

After the first page of amino acids, it groups them together to create different markers based on their role in the body.

Gastrointestinal Markers, Magnesium Dependant Markers, B6, B12 and Folate Dependant Markers, Detoxification Markers, Neurological Markers and Urea Cycle Metabolites.

After that, it has a page that provides a supplimentation schedule and another section called presumptive needs / implied conditions. The last three pages go into detail for each identified deficiency and explains the possible causes.

Very details and a little overwhelming. I’m a little disappointed that the Naturopath doesn’t offer anything more than just reading the report. I suppose it’s a no brainer to start supplementing the ones that I am low in but she doesn’t mention it. In a way I’m glad because I’d like to do some research on what all this means and review what I’ve already tried and come to my own conclusions. How do I know it’s accurate? I looks just like the hair analysis and that was a complete waste of time.

As we finish up the report, she mentions that my level of Phosphoethanolamine is lower than normal and suggests trying Lecithin. I’ve never come across it in my research although they consider it to be a nonessential amino acid. Here’s the summary from the report and I’m beginning to think this test is very accurate:

Phophoethanolamine, a nonessential phosphorous bearing amino acid, is low in this urine specimen. Phosphoethanolamine is derived from dietary sources and is also formed endogenously from serine via phosphorylation of ethanolamine. When ethanolamine is high or normal and phosphoethanolamine is low there is a presumptive need for magnesium (magnesium dependent kinase). Phosphoethanolamine is a precursor of phosphotidyl choline, choline and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. If low phosphoethanolamine results in low acetylcholine, and there is insufficient choline from dietary lecithin, there may be depressed activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (eg. decreased peristalsis, ability to sweat), and poor memory and cognitive function. Low phosphoethanolamine is usually the result of magnesium deficiency or protein malnutrition.

Wow! That last line really hit a home run with me. I need to take all this information back to Dr. Google to see what I can find.

Entry for January 07, 2008

Received an email from my Naturopath tonight and the results from the amino acid test are in!! I arrange for an appointment on Thursday evening.

CAN”T WAIT!