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WDDTY e-News Service - 20 March 2003

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 15:21:55 -0000

 

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST No.27 - 20 Mar 03

SPECIAL NOTE:

 

Please feel free to email this broadcast to any friends you feel would

appreciate receiving it.

 

 

 

 

 

CANCER SURVIVAL: Is this a breakthrough supplement?

 

Because cancer is too often an intractable condition, it attracts more than its

fair share of therapies that claim a cure or improvement.

 

One such therapy is the immune enhancer MGN3, which comes with some impressive

evidence to support its claim.

 

Its claim is simple: take this supplement and you will live longer as a cancer

patient.

 

The evidence is taken from a study of 200 patients with a variety of terminal

cancers. They were evaluated for 18 months and, over that period they were given

MGN3 plus conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy, or conventional

therapies alone. Nearly 60% of those in the MGN3 group survived the 18 months,

compared with just 34% of those in the conventional treatment group.

 

The study, carried out by Dr Kihachiro Takahara at the Sano Surgical Clinic in

Japan, is the latest of several trials into the supplement as a cancer therapy.

All the trials indicate that MGN3 can dramatically increase the number of

‘natural killer’ cells, those that form the immune system’s front-line defences.

Takahara’s study showed that those patients whose natural killer cells increased

40% by taking MGN3 recorded an 81% survival rate.

 

MGN3 is a manufactured supplement comprising rice bran with Shiitake mushroom

extract, and it’s been clinically proven to boost B and T-cell activity, and

heighten cytokine production.

 

It is manufactured by LaneLabs in the USA, whose website is: http://

www.lanelabs.com.

 

(Source: Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, 2003;235: 22).

 

 

 

 

PARKINSON’S: A supplement to slow its progress

 

There’s plenty of evidence around to suggest that Parkinson’s disease can be

slowed, certainly in its early stages. High doses of vitamins C and E have both

been proven to be beneficial—but we do mean high doses if they are going to have

an effect, and way beyond the levels being dreamed of by the EU regulators. To

have an effect, you’d need to take 3,000mg a day of vitamin C and 3,200 IU a day

of vitamin E.

 

Another supplement that may slow Parkinson’s is the coenzyme Q10. It was tested

at a daily dose of 300, 600 and 1,200 mg against a placebo and, perhaps not

surprisingly, the highest dose was the most effective at slowing the disease.

 

Those in the placebo group saw their disease worsen by 12 points, as measured on

a rating scale, over 16 months, while those taking 300 mg of Q10 saw their score

worsen by 8.8 points, the 600 mg group by 10.8 points, but the 1,200 mg group by

just 6.7 points, nearly half that of the placebo group.

 

It would be interesting to see the effect of combining Q10 with vitamins C and

E—provided we can buy the potency.

 

(Source: Archives of Neurology, 2002; 59: 1541-50).

 

 

 

MISCARRIAGE: How it can be treated

 

Some women suffer repeated, early miscarriage, even at a relatively young age.

They often have similar nutritional profiles: they can have elevated plasma

homocysteine levels, often twice the upper limit of normal, and low RBC and

plasma folate concentrations are also common.

 

So how can this problem be treated? One way is folic acid and B6

supplementation. It was tried out in one study on 25 women, aged between 20 and

37 years with no children and with a history of between three and five

miscarriages.

 

Each was given 15 mg a day of folic acid and 750 mg a day of B6 for one month.

Within three months, 22 of the 25 had become pregnant and, of those, 20 had

successful pregnancies to full term. Three months after the births, the folic

acid dose was reduced to 5 mg a day, and B6 was discontinued. Nine additional

pregnancies, which all went to full term, were subsequently announced.

 

(Source: Fertility and Sterility, 2001; 75: 823-5).

 

 

 

DRUG ALERT: Counterfeit drugs on the horizon

 

It could be the ultimate in placebo drugs. Procrit (epoetin alfa), an

injectable drug for treating anaemics, is being copied and sold to hospitals and

pharmacies.

 

The packaging looks authentic enough—but the contents are pure water. The scam,

which is happening in the USA, has come to the attention of the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA), who are concerned that the counterfeiters are not working

in a sterile environment, and so the water could be contaminated.

 

Quite how the counterfeiters are getting in on the supply loop is unclear, and

the FDA doesn’t know if other drugs are also being replaced by water.

 

A sudden drop-off in the rate of drug adverse reactions may provide the clue.

 

(Source: FDA web site).

 

 

 

READERS’ CORNER

 

A victim of medicine’s closed shop?

We received an intriguing email from one reader, a junior doctor who has been

suspended from his position at a hospital. His crime? Apparently he blew the

whistle on what he saw as disturbing practices at the hospital. He added insult

to injury by leafleting visitors to the hospital to highlight his plight.

 

His story is not unique. Other junior doctors who do not toe the medical line

have found their lives being made unbearable or, in our correspondent’s case,

losing their job.

 

As a result, very little light ever escapes from the tight, clam-like world of

medicine, while those who care too much find a new career.

 

 

 

 

Mercury and fish oil:

Past Enews have voiced concerns about fish oils that may be contaminated with

mercury. One reader tells us that Pharma Nord’s Bio-Fish oil is sourced from

the North Atlantic and the South-East Pacific rather than the North Sea where

mercury contamination is high. Pharma Nord then purifies the fish to ensure

there is no contamination from pesticides or heavy metals. That’s what they’ve

told her, and that’s what she tells us, so we’re passing on the information for

your consideration.

 

 

Listen to Lynne

On the radio: Hear Lynne McTaggart on Passion the new DAB Digital Radio Station

focusing on your health and your environment –

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_main.asp. On demand: Select and listen to any of

Lynne's archived broadcasts on Passion -

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_archive.asp.

 

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