Physician Interview: William Salt, M.D., and Edwin Season, M.D., on

Transcription

PRO HEALTH’S CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME & FIBROMYALGIA NEWSLETTER
2004 VOLUME XIII, NO.1
YOUR PURCHASE
FUNDS RESEARCH
In
this
issue...
• Physician Interview: William Salt, M.D., and Edwin Season, M.D., on Treating Fibromyalgia
1
• Physician Interview: Richard Shames, M.D., on Treating Thyroid Dysfunction, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
1
• Research and Drug News Briefs
2
• Interview with Dale Guyer, M.D., on Insulin Potentiation Therapy for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia Patients
4
• Healing Chronic Illness at Home: Oxygen, Ozone, Sauna and Detoxification for Lyme Disease, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and MCS
9
Physician Interview: William Salt,
M.D., and Edwin Season, M.D.,
on Treating Fibromyalgia
Physician Interview: Richard
Shames, M.D., on Treating Thyroid
Dysfunction, Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome and Fibromyalgia
William B. Salt II, M.D., is
board-certified in both internal
medicine and gastroenterology.
He received his M.D. degree from
The Ohio State University in
Columbus, Ohio, in 1972, where he currently holds an
appointment as Clinical Associate Professor in Medicine.
He trained for five more years in internal medicine and
gastroenterology at Vanderbilt University Hospitals in
Nashville, Tennessee, where he also served as a Chief
Resident in Medicine.
Edwin H. Season, M.D.
Richard Shames, M.D., graduated Harvard and
University of Pennsylvania, did research at
the National Institutes of Health with Nobel
Prize winner Marshall Nirenberg, and has
been in private practice for twenty-five years.
In addition to his medical office work, he has been a
member of the Clinical Faculty of the University of
California Medical Center in San Francisco, a founding
member of the American Holistic Medical Association,
a participant in the Carl Menninger Foundation, and a
member of Who’s Who in California as well as nationally.
Dr. Shames has published a number of health-related
books and is well-known for his prominence and
pioneering work in the holistic field. His newest book is
“Thyroid Power.”
William B. Salt II, M.D.
Edwin H. Season, M.D., is board-certified in orthopedic
surgery. He received his M.D. degree from The Ohio
State University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1971, followed by
internship at the University of Virginia. He then returned
to Ohio State for his residency and upon its completion,
taught orthopedic surgery as an assistant professor in
The Ohio State University College of Medicine from 1976
to 1980.
Karilee Shames R.N., Ph.D., is a Clinical Specialist in
Psychiatric Nursing and a Certified Holistic Nurse.She
has maintained a private practice in collaboration with
Dr. Richard Shames for twenty years, specializing in
comprehensive treatment aspects of energy-depletion
illnesses.
Before we begin, I (Dr. Salt) must issue a disclaimer.
I am a gastroenterologist, which is a subspecialty of
internal medicine in digestive and liver disease. I became
interested in fibromyalgia, because up to two thirds
of patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders
- and irritable bowel syndrome in particular - also suffer
with fibromyalgia. Science is confirming that these
conditions share a common link, which is a disturbance or
“dysregulation” in the central nervous system and in the
connections between brain and body.
ImmuneSupport.com: Dr. Shames, please provide a
little background on how you came to specialize in the
treatment of thyroid problems.
Dr. Shames: I first was amazed at how important thyroid
was during undergraduate training at Harvard. I was in
a biochemistry class when the professor told us that
all the energy reactions in the body depend on the
presence of thyroid hormone. This surprised me, but was
later confirmed in medical school when the professors
in anatomy class called the thyroid “The True Master
Gland”, not the pituitary.
The reason that the digestive tract (or gut) is so
commonly involved in this dysregulation is that there
are two brains in the body and they are connected. One
is the brain within the skull and is part of the central
nervous system, or CNS. There is a second brain in the
lining of the gastrointestinal tract called the enteric
nervous system, or ENS.
The professor explained that the pituitary is simply a
relay station for brain signals. The thyroid however,
secretes the hormone that allows DNA to be read, AND
Dr. Jack Wood, a renowned physiologist at The Ohio
Continued on page 4
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Research and Drug News Briefs
dietary supplement, NT Factor™ (NTF). In addition, they
determined whether mitochondrial function, as defined
by transport of the redox dye Rhodamine-123, could
be reduced in aging subjects with mild to moderately
severe fatigue, and whether that could be reversed with
NTF supplementation in concert with improvement in
fatigue scores. Participants with mild to moderately
severe fatigue, who fulfilled the entry requirements
were admitted to the study when their fatigue could not
be explained by an obvious clinical condition. Twenty of
the respondents (mean age = 68.9 +/- 4.18) completed
the first part of the study on NTF for 12 weeks, and 16
of these subjects who agreed to discontinue the product
also completed a wash-out period for an additional
12 weeks. Fatigue and mitochondrial function were
determined every four weeks during the study. There
was a time-dependent reduction in overall fatigue in
moderately fatigued subjects (P < .001) but not in mildly
fatigued subjects.
Milnacipran Clinical Study Demonstrates Effective
Treatment of Fibromyalgia Pain is Distinct from
Treatment of Mood
In December 2003, Cypress Bioscience announced data
from its Phase II Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) study
demonstrating that treatment with milnacipran was
equally effective in reducing pain for both depressed
and non-depressed patients. However, the response rate
in patients treated with placebo was considerably lower
in non-depressed patients than in those patients who
met criteria for major depression at the time of entry
into the trial. These data indicate that the therapeutic
benefits of milnacipran observed in the study are a result
of its analgesic (pain elimination) properties, rather than
secondary to its ability to improve mood. Milnacipran is
currently being evaluated in a Phase III program for the
treatment of FMS, a complex widespread pain syndrome
that affects an estimated 5 million to 11 million
Americans.
Mitochondrial function at four and eight weeks of NTF
use in moderately fatigued subjects increased by 15% and
26.8%, respectively, and restored mitochondrial function
to levels similar to those found in healthy young adults.
No further increase was noted between 8 and 12 weeks.
Post-NTF there was a slow redevelopment of fatigue and
a fall in mitochondrial function in moderately fatigued
subjects, indicating that continued use of NTF may be
necessary to maintain lower fatigue scores and maintain
mitochondrial function. The dietary supplement with NTF
reduced moderate fatigue and increased mitochondrial
function in aged subjects but had no effect upon mild
fatigue expression. (Source: Journal of Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome, Vol. 11(3) 2003, pp. 23-36. Read the complete
abstract at http://www.ImmuneSupport.com/library/
showarticle.cfm/id/5179).
Milnacipran is a novel dual-acting agent that acts on two
key neurotransmitters in the human body, norepinephrine
and serotonin, which are involved with the central
modulation and processing of chronic pain. Previously
announced data from the Phase II study provides
evidence that milnacipran may be an effective treatment
for the pain and other symptoms associated with FMS
such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, and depression. “The
patients in the Phase II study who were treated with
milnacipran exhibited superior pain relief compared to
the placebo-treated patients,” noted Jay D. Kranzler,
M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the board and chief executive
officer of Cypress. “The fact that milnacipran worked
equally well for both non-depressed and depressed
patients, whereas the non-depressed patients had a
lower placebo response rate than the depressed group, is
important to our understanding of FMS. It suggests that
the pain experienced by these patients is not directly
related to their mood. The effective treatment of FMSrelated pain is therefore distinct from the treatment
of the patients’ depression.” (Read the complete
study at http://www.ImmuneSupport.com/library/
showarticle.cfm/id/5251/).
Topical Geranium Oil Proves Helpful for Easing Chronic
Neuropathic Pain
In 1992, geranium oil (the active ingredient in Neuragen™
PN) was tested in a multicenter, monitored, placebocontrolled study for safety and efficacy in the treatment
of post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). This is a chronic
neuropathic pain condition caused by an outbreak of
shingles (Herpes zoster). The study design applied one
treatment per day in a single-blinded, randomized,
prospective, balanced crossover study of five groups of
six patients each (30 patients total). Five treatments
were tested: 100% geranium oil, 50% geranium oil
with mineral oil, 10% geranium oil, 0% geranium oil
(placebo), and Zostrix (capsaicin 0.025%) as a positive
control. Spontaneous and evoked (allodynia) pain were
measured on two scales (5 point category scale and visual
analog scale) several times during the hour following
application. The trial was conducted at two centers:
National Pain Institute, CA and Pennington Research
Phospholipid Supplement Restores Mitochondrial
Function and Reduces Moderately Severe Fatigue in
Clinical Study
Decreased mitochondrial function is a characteristic
of aging and fatigue. Researchers recently determined
whether mild to moderately severe fatigue in a group of
aged subjects (mean age > 60 years), as defined by the
validated Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), could be significantly
improved by use of a glycophospholipid (phospholipid)
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Institute, LA.
vaccine directed toward these viruses could be
indicated.” Also, an antiviral agent called pleconaril,
“acting during the early phases of the viral cycle, could
also be useful in muscular diseases clearly associated
with enterovirus.” This is being tried in some cases of
heart-muscle enlargement, Pozzetto said, but “it is
too early to answer for muscular diseases.” (Source:
Journal of Medical Virology, December 2003. Read the
article at http://www.ImmuneSupport.com/library/
showarticle.cfm/id/5285/).
The results are statistically significant, and showed that
better than 3 out of 5 patients reported effective pain
relief. Geranium oil began relieving pain within 5 to
15 minutes and relief was still increasing at the end of
one hour. Pain returned to baseline by 24 hours. Side
effects from geranium oil were minor and no different
than mineral oil. Geranium oil was determined to
be a safe and rapidly effective topical treatment for
the pain of post-herpetic neuralgia. (Source: Origin
BioMedicinals, Inc., 2003. Read the article at http://
www.ImmuneSupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/
5041/).
Free Radicals and Antioxidants in Primary
Fibromyalgia: An Oxidative Stress Disorder?
The role of free radicals in fibromyalgia is controversial.
In this study, 85 female patients with primary
fibromyalgia and 80 age-, height-, and weight-matched
healthy women were evaluated for oxidant/antioxidant
balance. Malondialdehyde is a toxic metabolite of lipid
peroxidation used as a marker of free radical damage.
Superoxide dismutase is an intracellular antioxidant
enzyme and shows antioxidant capacity. Pain was
assessed by visual analog scale. Tender points were
assessed by palpation. Age, smoking, body mass index
(BMI), and duration of disease were also recorded.
Malondialdehyde levels were significantly higher and
superoxide dismutase levels significantly lower in
fibromyalgic patients than controls. Age, BMI, smoking,
and duration of disease did not affect these parameters.
We found no correlation between pain and number
of tender points. In conclusion, oxidant/antioxidant
balances were changed in fibromyalgia. Increased free
radical levels may be responsible for the development of
fibromyalgia. These findings may support the hypothesis
of fibromyalgia as an oxidative disorder. (Source:
Rheumatol Int. 2003 Dec 20. Read the abstract at http:
//www.ImmuneSupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/
5269). HW
Virus Seen in Muscles from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Patients
A persistent enterovirus infection in muscles may be
to blame for some cases of chronic fatigue syndrome
and others with chronic inflammatory muscle disease
(including fibromyalgia), a French team reports. They
detected genetic material (specifically RNA) from
enteroviruses in 20 percent of muscle biopsies from
patients with chronic inflammatory muscle diseases
and 13 percent of patients with fibromyalgia/chronic
fatigue syndrome, but not from healthy volunteers. The
findings favor a persistent infection involving defective
viral replication as a cause of these conditions. “The
persistence of defective or infectious enteroviruses is
well established for a lot of organs,” Dr. Bruno Pozzetto
from the University Hospital Center of Saint-Etienne,
France, told Reuters Health. Such infections have been
documented in the heart, with possible involvement in
heart enlargement; in pancreatic cells, possibly linked to
juvenile diabetes; and in the central nervous system in
association with a syndrome that afflicts aging survivors
of polio, the researcher explained. “However, the link
between these diseases, as well as chronic inflammatory
muscle diseases, and viral persistence is not clear,” he
said.
Pozzetto and colleagues investigated the presence of
enterovirus in skeletal muscle biopsies from 15 patients
with chronic inflammatory muscle diseases, 30 patients
with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome, and 29
healthy subjects to test their hypothesis that skeletal
muscle may play host to persistent enteroviral infection.
Three patients with chronic inflammatory muscle disease
and four patients with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue
syndrome were positive for enterovirus RNA, the team
reports in the Journal of Medical Virology. None of the
muscle biopsies in this study contained a particular
viral protein, the researchers note, which “suggests
a defective viral replication.” It is too early to derive
implications for treatment from these results, Pozzetto
said. However, he noted that so-called Coxsackie B
viruses seem to play a key role in persistent muscular
infections. “To prevent this persistence, an inactivated
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Salt, M.D., Season, M.D., continued from page 1
Interview with Dale Guyer, M.D.,
on Insulin Potentiation Therapy
for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome &
Fibromyalgia Patients
State University calls the ENS “the little-brain-in-thegut.” The CNS and ENS closely resemble one another,
because they both develop from the same embryonic
tissue. Later, they take different developmental
paths, but they continue to have similar nerve tissue
and neurochemical communication receptor sites.
All of the neurochemicals in the CNS are also found
in the ENS (e.g., serotonin). The two brains function
independently and interdependently and mutually
influence one another. The brain affects the gut and the
gut affects the brain.
Dale Guyer, M.D., is a holistic family
physician and Director of the Advanced
Medical Center in Zionsville, Indiana,
where patients are offered a unique blend
of traditional and alternative therapies
incorporating a mind-body-spirit approach
for a variety of health issues, including
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia.
This is the mind/brain-gut connection, and when there
is malfunction of the connection, functional symptoms
that result in functional diagnoses, such as irritable
bowel syndrome can occur.
HEALTHwatch (HW): In a previous article we discussed
a promising novel therapy called Insulin Potentiation
Therapy (IPT) for the adjunctive treatment of Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia Syndrome
(FMS). Dr. Guyer, could you please explain again to
our readers what IPT is and the rationale for its use in
treating CFS/FMS?
I believe that people are overwhelmed and confused by
information - and much of it is misinformation - about
their problems and that it is difficult for them to find
comprehensive, contemporary and scientifically-based
information that can be translated into knowledge
(since information and knowledge are not the same).
Dr. Guyer: In its simplest description, IPT uses a low
dose of insulin to amplify or potentiate the activity of a
drug or nutrient with which it is administered. This can
be a significant advantage when using any pharmaceutical
with potential side effects such as chemotherapy
medicines. In this instance a low dose (about 1/10 the
usual dose) of the drug can be given since its activity is
modified by insulin (information is available about this
treatment at www.IPTQ.com.) Although IPT has been
used to treat many medical conditions, to my knowledge
we are the first to be using this method to treat CFS/FMS.
Furthermore, even if doctors shared a common
understanding of functional symptoms and disorders
(and they do not), most generally do not have sufficient
time to provide adequate patient education and assist
patients to help themselves.
With this in mind, I have invited a well-respected
musculoskeletal specialist to coauthor the answers
here. Ed Season, M.D., is an orthopedic surgeon with
a special interest in helping people without surgery.
He is my coauthor in the book, “Fibromyalgia and the
MindBodySpirit Connection.”
The interesting thing is that this adjunctive inclusion
(IPT) has had success in recalcitrant cases where other
approaches have yielded negligible results, which has
been an encouraging finding. As we are all aware, there
remain many who suffer with CFS/FMS who have really
tried everything, in terms of comprehensive therapies,
but have had marginal success. I have found for many
that we have treated, IPT has really been the ‘icing on
the cake’ that has propelled them over the unwellness
hump.
ImmuneSupport.com: You have described fibromyalgia
(FM) as a functional illness. Please explain what that
means for patients seeking appropriate treatment.
Bill Salt, M.D.: The medical term, “functional” refers
to a disturbance in how the body works. Medical tests,
such as X-rays, endoscopy, and blood tests either fail to
explain the symptoms or show findings that are not the
cause of the problem. All too commonly, a functional
diagnosis leads to patient - physician misunderstanding,
with the patient either thinking or saying, “Do you
mean that the problem is all in my head?” We will
examine this premise later in the interview.
HW: This sounds promising. At this time how many
patients have been treated with IPT and what
approximate percentage has clinically improved?
ImmuneSupport.com: Many of our readers are confused
by the sometime classification of fibromyalgia as an
autoimmune disease. Do you think FM is an autoimmune
disorder?
Dr. Guyer: To date we have treated about 45 patients
using IPT as an adjunctive therapy. Most will, over
time, receive anywhere from 3-12 treatments depending
on individual need. Of these patients I have felt like
there were about 2-3 people in whom I had not seen
any favorable response. (They had only 2 treatments,
however.) Otherwise, I would estimate about 80%
Bill Salt, M.D.: No. On the website of the University of
Michigan Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center (http:
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of patients treated with IPT experience a significant
functional improvement.
Dr. Guyer: Yes, that is an individual variable. Most will
notice a significant boost with 2 or 3 treatments, but
others will take 6 or 7 before noticing a clinical change.
//www.med.umich.edu/painresearch/index.htm),
Dr. Dan Clauw and colleagues discuss the differential
diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia may present
similarly to a number of disorders or concurrently
(at the same time) with other disorders - such as
autoimmune disorders - that may confuse the diagnosis.
Unlike fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases include
inflammation of the synovial membranes that line the
spaces between bones and joints and secrete a thick,
lubricating fluid.
HW: These results seem very promising, especially
given the fact that this initial group of patients were
non-responders to other forms of therapy tried (both
conventional and alternative.) Are you now starting to
use this treatment as an initial therapy with your other
CFS/FMS patients?
ImmuneSupport.com: In addition to the primary
symptom, pain, fatigue, refreshing sleep and IBS are
common problems for FM patients. How do you go
about treating these symptoms - do you utilize both
traditional and alternative therapies? If so, what has
worked best for most patients in your experience?
Dr. Guyer: Yes. To date I am finding this approach even
more promising with “typical” CFS/FMS patients.
Bill Salt, M.D.: We take the position that the most
important aspects of treatment include helping
patients understand that, 1) their symptoms are real
and not imagined, 2) science is revealing the reality
of alterations and disturbances in the brain/body
connection to account for them, 3) there can be a
cognitive belief and spiritual dimension to health,
coping and healing, 4) self-care - including exercise
and healthy diet - are very important, and 5) there are
medications that may be helpful in the management of
predominant symptoms.
HW: It seems that for some patients, there is a direct
correlation between the total number of treatments they
receive and the degree of improvement.
HW: What are the patient criteria you have observed
that tend to be associated with an increased likelihood of
improvements?
Dr. Guyer: Generally the pattern I have seen is that
the typical IPT candidate would be a patient who tends
to feel exhausted and flu-like most of the time. In
addition, their mood may tend to be on the depressed
side. Laboratory analysis will generally show elevated
viral antibodies, or they may have a positive PCR test
demonstrating chronic viral infection, such as EBV, CMV,
HHV-6, and others.
ImmuneSupport.com: You emphasize a mind-bodyspirit approach to treatment. Please explain this
approach a little and describe how its benefits exceed
those of traditional medicine alone.
HW: How would you describe the typical response of the
patients treated?
Bill Salt, M.D.: The last century has brought remarkable
advances in biomedical technology and treatment.
As a society, we have come to expect that effective
treatments and cure should be available for many to
most medical conditions. Yet, most of the symptoms,
syndromes, and illnesses that people experience
cannot be explained by organic disease identifiable by
currently available medical tests and the biomedical
model of illness, disease, healing, and health.
Dr. Guyer: The patient reports, from a symptom
perspective, include a generalized improvement in mood
(sometimes even euphoria), a significant improvement in
energy levels and the ability to do things they would not
generally have been able to previously accomplish. Also,
a decrease in overall body pain. As you might expect
these real world improvements have been the most
satisfying for the patient and myself. When a mother can
take her children to Disney World on vacation for the first
time, it is a transformative experience and increases the
individual’s faith in their own health potential. Secondly,
we see positive changes on lab analysis including
resolution of positive PCR results and in antibody levels
of viruses returning to normal. Additionally, immune
system abnormalities will usually return to normal range.
Most of these medically unexplained “functional”
symptoms and illnesses are related to medical
labeling (medicalization) of functional symptoms as
functional syndromes (e.g., fibromyalgia and irritable
bowel syndrome), stress and the stress response,
the emotional brain and emotional distress, negative
thinking and beliefs, and unhealthy lifestyle choices
and behaviors. These factors also cause or contribute
to serious diseases, such as insulin resistance syndrome
(metabolic syndrome X).
HW: Could you discuss some individual cases in a little
detail which you have treated lately?
The mind, brain and body, and gut cannot be
Dr. Guyer: This could help personalize the approach and
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Guyer, M.D., continued from page 5
give your readers a real sense of the human character
and results of this treatment. A first patient is John. I
initially saw him in 1999 for CFS and he had previously
been to a number of other health care providers. We
worked nutritionally with him for some time with good
results, but he was unable to get over the “hump”(i.e.,
he had a 50-60% improvement, but did not return to a
baseline state of health).
separated. There is a scientific and neurobiologic basis
of this Mind/Brain-Body Connection that is common
to all healing traditions. Understanding homeostasis
(internal stability), the stress response, the emotional
brain, distinctions between treatment, cure, and
healing, the placebo response, and our innate capacity
for self-healing represents the intersection and
convergent common ground of ancient, traditional,
complementary, alternative, and Western biomedical
approaches to health, disease, illness, and healing.
He lives here in Indianapolis and works as a T.V.
production technician at a local station. He has had
about 12 treatments over all. Initially his EBV antibody
was 25 times higher then normal and as you might
expect he felt tired and flu-like all of the time. After
six treatments he improved about 80%. The additional
benefit with John was that his mental focusing and
concentration came back and even comprehension of
mathematical skills which have helped in his vocational
obligations considerably. John also has mentioned a
profound improvement in mood (no depression) and selfconfidence.
Finally, empiric and scientific evidence continues
to confirm that there is a spiritual dimension to the
Mind/Brain Body Connection and that spirituality can
be beneficial to health. In this regard, an inclusive
term is the Mind/BrainBodySpirit Connection and
MindBodySpirit medicine.
ImmuneSupport.com: For many people - and for FM
and CFS patients, stress can mean triggering a flare up
of their symptoms and a subsequent setback in healing.
What is your advice for managing stress when you are
living with a chronic illness like FM and/or CFS?
HW: So, the insulin has a therapeutic effect as well, in
that it has been used historically to treat depression.
Bill Salt, M.D.: Every one of us - doctors included!
- must have a self-care plan. There are many paths to
coping and healing, but our suggestions include,
Dr. Guyer: Yes, the concept is similar, but obviously much
less invasive, completely controlled and without side
effects. One of our other IPT patients, Jan, who works
in the pharmaceutical industry, has told me she feels like
the insulin therapy seems to “clear her body out” of all
the negative feedback. Somewhat like what happens
with a computer that is malfunctioning and resumes
function after being rebooted. She also improved
significantly.
• Learn all that you can about the Mind/BrainBodySpirit
Connection.
• Accept that emotional feelings, such as anxiety,
depression, and negative thoughts can be triggered
through the stress response and that they can aggravate
and worsen your symptoms. Medical treatment is
available, but you should know your options.
HW: When Dennis Schoen, our CEO, visited your office in
Indiana he met Dan, who was feeling great after just two
treatments that week.
• Reduce your allostatic load (bad stress response)
through the consistent application of:
Dr. Guyer: Dan is from Illinois and had worked as a
chiropractor, but he had been out of work for several
years due to CFS.
- various relaxation techniques, such as breathing
exercises, progressive relaxation, meditation, yoga
and hypnosis
HW: How is he doing now?
- positive thinking and recognition of the harmful
effects of negative thinking (cognitive behavioral
techniques)
Dr. Guyer: Like Dan mentioned to Dennis, he had done
wonderfully after just two treatments and he is now
back at work. Still he plans to return to our office in
February for additional treatment. Overall, Dan had an
exceptional response and with a little fine tuning I would
expect he could regain normal function.
- endurance (aerobic) exercise and stretching
- healthy eating (it is usually more important to focus
upon overall healthy eating than upon avoidance of
suspected food and dietary triggers)
HW: And you had a case from New York – a patient who
had mixed viral infections and Babesia.
- achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
- obtaining adequate and restorative sleep
Dr. Guyer: Yes, James was a young man who competed
on his school’s crew team. Unfortunately, he no longer
- avoiding unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, heavy
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had been able to participate in crew because of CFS. In
addition he would experience cyclic periods of a very
high fever and severe headaches. His lab analysis did
show antibodies for Babesia, and a PCR test showed
mycoplasma pneumoniae and HHV-6 A.
alcohol consumption, high demand/low control
stressors, and social isolation
• In order that you can work efficiently and effectively
with doctors and other health professionals, learn
about medical treatment options that may be helpful.
However, the beauty of IPT is that it can be used to
amplify any other types of treatment with which it is
administered. Often we administer supplements such
as Transfer Factor, NT Factor and intravenous vitamin
therapy or bio-oxidative therapy along with IPT. In this
case with James, we combined IPT with IV peroxide and
ozone (MAH) with very good results. He is back to school
now and doing well. I might add we have maintained
him on NT factor and MycoPlus and he has not had
headaches or fevers in a year now, his functioning is back
and his labs have normalized.
ImmuneSupport.com: What natural approaches for
managing FM do you feel are most effective?
Bill Salt, M.D.: Developing a self-care plan, which
includes cognitive - behavioral therapy (positive
thinking and understanding what fibromyalgia is and is
not), exercise, healthy eating, and stress management.
ImmuneSupport.com: What do you think of the newer
pain drugs for FM - such as Ultracet and Milnacipran?
Bill Salt, M.D.: Rather than focus upon specific drugs,
we prefer to underscore the fact that scientists and
physicians are working very hard to develop medicines
that help to relieve symptoms of functional disorders,
such as fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome.
But remember to respect the symptoms. All healing
traditions teach that symptoms mean we are out of
balance.
HW: Do you think IPT can help a variety of illnesses?
Dr. Guyer: Yes, I have even seen a case of a patient with
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (being treated for CFS)
whose liver functions have returned to normal! Initial
results in a disease process such as this are encouraging.
Primarily, much of the experience of IPT is with cancer
treatment. But, there is also considerable historical
usage with a broad array of medical problems ranging
from chronic back pain, asthma, arthritis, autoimmune
problems and depression, to name a few.
I (Dr. Salt) experience all of the symptoms of
fibromyalgia during periods of high stress, most
commonly when “on call” at the hospital with an 80
to 90 hour work week and much sleep interruption
by phone calls and emergencies. I work very hard on
self-care to reduce the harmful effects of the stress
response. Symptoms can also reflect other imbalances:
emotional distress - including depression and repressed
anger, and spiritual and existential issues - such as
questions about life meaning and purpose. Life is a
journey, and symptoms are guideposts.
HW: What are the adjunctive treatments you are finding
useful with these and other patients?
Dr. Guyer: I must say I have really come to like NT
Factor. I have been using this for almost all of our
patients and I have found that it works wonders for
energy levels especially if given at higher doses until you
start to get the fatigue reduction results. Additionally,
MycoPlus has been a great addition since I am finding
many patients with CFS have coexisting mycoplasmal and
nanobacterial infections that are noted on PCR testing.
ImmuneSupport.com: Self-care for FM patients is
crucial in the successful management of the disease. If
you had to choose one single piece of advice to give FM
patients along these lines, what would it be?
HW: You mentioned using cellular extracts with great
success recently. Are you still finding good results with
these additional therapies?
Bill Salt, M.D.: Regular endurance exercise.
Final Comment:
Dr. Guyer: Definitely. I would say using the Live Cell
Therapy has been an enormous boon with our CFS/FM
patients. Generally, we use Atrium Biologics products
orally which I believe Pro Health will soon be carrying,
and in addition, I have been using injectable Live Cell
Extracts from France and Germany.
The concept that functional symptoms and syndromes
- such as fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome
- are linked to stress and emotion, does not imply that
there is nothing wrong and the problem is imagined or
“all in the head.” The symptoms and suffering reflect
real illness and can be associated with significant
impairment of life functioning and even disability.
While emotional feelings and distress - such as anxiety
and depression - may be generated through the same
Mind/BrainBody Connection dysfunction, can contribute
HW: Thank you again for keeping us updated on the
cutting-edge treatments you are successfully using in
your practice. We look forward to future treatment
developments and follow-ups to the continued use of the
Continued on page 8
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Guyer, M.D., continued from page 7
therapies you have discussed here.
to the symptom experience and illness, and can require
treatment, the fundamental problem is not psychiatric
and is “not all in the head.”
Dr. Guyer: As always, I am happy if what I can share
helps and encourages those with CFS/FMS. We both have
seen that often many patients get discouraged by their
doctors and the medical profession in general. If there
is any single piece of advice I could give, it would be to
keep the faith and keep searching with an open mind.
Your answers are out there and all it takes is persistence
and faith, and always trust your intuition. I have found it
to be the most successful guide in my work with patients.
They generally have a sense of what is the “right” path of
healing for them.
The book “Fibromyalgia and the MindBodySpirit
Connection,” by William B. Salt II, MD and Edwin H.
Season, MD can be obtained by calling (614) 445-4949.
It is also available in bookstores and on the Internet
at www.parkviewpub.com, www.amazon.com, and
www.barnesandnoble.com. HW
HW editor’s note: I encourage any patients who have
undergone IPT treatment (as with any other traditional
and alternative therapies tried) to share their experience
with other patients on our message boards and chat
rooms in the community area of ImmuneSupport.com,
at http://www.ImmuneSupport.com/chat/. If you
are interested in learning more about IPT and Dr.
Guyer and the Advanced Medical Center, please visit:
www.daleguyermd.com. HW
Shames, M.D., continued from page 1
releases the mitochondria for the lion’s share of every
cell’s energy. This information was tucked away until
well after medical school, when my wife Karilee had
a recurrence of her Hashimoto’s problem at the birth
of our second child. I was amazed to see how many
symptoms - and how much mischief - could be caused
by a malfunctioning thyroid gland. Karilee was so
exhausted she couldn’t get out of bed! We have been
doing the “thyroid dance” ever since. In fact, all 3 of
our children tested positive for thyroid at puberty.
ImmuneSupport.com: What are some of the primary
symptoms of thyroid dysfunction?
Dr. Shames: There is a huge list of possible thyroid
symptoms. Some people have one or more, some have
many. They can be anything from fatigue, depression,
overweight, dry hair, skin and eyes; low blood pressure,
high cholesterol, aches and pains for no reason, and a
whole host of female problems, including bad periods or
PMS, infertility, difficult menopause, low libido (in men
also) as well as constipation...and the list goes on.
www.ImmuneSupport.com
ImmuneSupport.com: Do you treat any Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome and/or fibromyalgia patients? With both types
of patient, whose symptoms frequently overlap, thyroid
and adrenal problems are common and cause very low
energy as well as adrenal burnout in some cases. Please
describe how you go about diagnosing thyroid problems
in CFS and FM patients and how you treat them.
Your CFS & Fibromyalgia Health Resource
• Chat rooms
• Message boards
• Doctors & support group listings
Dr. Shames: I see both kinds of situations regularly in
my San Rafael, CA office. There appears to be a wide
overlap; one thing is quite common between them. Both
of these medical conditions are intimately involved with
thyroid and adrenal dysfunction. I treat them by first
isolating for a thyroid problem, and treating that first.
Then, once thyroid is as stable as we can get it, I check
for and treat adrenal imbalance.
• Hundreds of specialty products
• Thousands of articles & abstracts
• Much more!
Many people are frustrated in dealing with the
hormonal balance difficulty because they don’t
Continued on page 9
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Healing Chronic Illness at Home:
Oxygen, Ozone, Sauna and
Detoxification for Lyme Disease,
Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome and MCS
isolate and treat the thyroid issue first. Thyroid is
somewhat prominent and preemptory, it is primary
among the endocrine glands, since it is the gas pedal
for everything else. If you try to treat the adrenal
imbalance first, in my experience, you can make the
system further imbalanced, more difficult to diagnose
properly, and success becomes more elusive.
By Jill Neimark with Byron White, N.D.
There is one situation, however, where thyroid and
adrenal rebalancing need to take place concurrently.
This occurs when the adrenal balance is severe and
co-exists in tandem with a thyroid imbalance. In these
situations, the procedure is to correct the thyroid a
little, then correct for adrenal a little, then go back
and correct a bit more for thyroid, then a bit more
with adrenal corrections. The reason for this dual
upward titration is that treating either one of these
insufficiencies can “unmask” and exacerbate the
insufficiency symptom of the other.
Jill Neimark is an author and journalist who writes
frequently on health and science for national
publications. Ms. Neimark is also a lyme patient. Byron
White, N.D., is a naturopath who suffers from lyme
disease and employs a variety of home-based therapies
to successfully manage chronic illness.
Three and a half years ago, on a pleasant June
afternoon, my life plunged off a cliff into free fall. I
walked in a Connecticut garden and twelve days later
had a big bull’s-eye rash on the back of my knee and
a classic case of lyme disease. Even though I went on
antibiotics at once, I slid into a nightmare of ill health.
Antibiotics stemmed, but did not kill, the infection. As
the spirochete relentlessly invaded my nerve tissue, I felt
as if electronic buzzers were being pushed incessantly
throughout my body. I suffered from vertigo, terrible
thirst, and incredible pain in my neck and back. I was
also crushed by a fatigue so profound I figured if it lasted,
I’d eventually waste away and die.
Most of the time, however, this is not the case. Even
if low thyroid and low adrenal coexist, frequently
correction of the thyroid alone will then throttle the
rest of the body, including the adrenal gland, back into
some semblance of normal function. Thus, many CFIDS
and FM sufferers get a jump-start on their recovery
process via careful and rigorous thyroid treatment first.
To accurately diagnose a thyroid problem is crucial. We
cannot simply rely on TSH and or Free T4 blood tests,
even though this is the industry standard. Instead, we
need to do a more complete panel of blood tests, which
would include Total T3, Free T3, and thyroid antibodies.
In addition to blood tests, we must also include the
equally important basal body temperature evaluation,
and family history. For more details, I recommend that
anyone with CFS or FM look at this issue very carefully.
The details of diagnosis and treatment are clearly
defined in our book THYROID POWER: 10 STEPS TO
TOTAL HEALTH (HarperCollins, 2001).
Thus began an odyssey that has not yet ended although
I am improving steadily and without using antibiotics.
In the course of research, I met and befriended a
knowledgeable naturopath who suffers from lyme
himself, Dr. Byron White. Together we have put together
an approach to healing therapies that you can do at
home—all of which should be monitored by your doctor,
of course. These therapies are intended to restore
oxygen to hypoxic cells, kill pathogens, help detox the
liver, colon and entire body, and use hyperthermia to
improve immune function and metabolism and help the
body sweat out toxins. These profound healing therapies
employ both age-old naturopathic techniques and stateof-the-art modern tools, and they are ideal for the
chemically sensitive who cannot tolerate drugs.
What is often missed, especially in CFS or FM
patients, is the critical four columns of a “temple
of diagnosis” (see visual of this on our website
www.ThyroidPower.com in cartoons for step 3) that
includes using signs and symptoms, family history,
associated conditions AS WELL AS blood testing.
A hand-tailored approach in our own homes allows us
to move from illness to health slowly, carefully, and
with needed rest and ease. “It is important to fit the
treatment to the person and not the person to the
treatment,” explains Dr. White. Each person’s body goes
through a natural building and detoxification cycle as it
heals.
ImmuneSupport.com: Do you use any alternative
therapy methods for improving thyroid function in
patients?
Dr. Shames: Absolutely - this is a critical part of how I
work. I have been involved in holistic medical care for
almost 30 years. I often use relaxation therapies and
hypnotic techniques, and teach them to my patients. I
also send them to receive a great variety of therapies,
HEALING AT HOME: THREE ESSENTIAL POINTS
Before you begin a healing journey, it’s important to
know that:
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Neimark, White, N.D., continued from page 9
1) No matter how bad it gets, you can get better.
2) Patience is key, because each body is different, and
you must allow yourself time for trial and error,
and for cycles of improvement as well as mistakes
and setbacks. Think of yourself on a treasure hunt,
picking up clues along the way.
3) If possible, seek therapies you can do at home in your
own time, and on your own schedule, while listening
to your body’s responses and discussing them with a
trusted medical practitioner who will be your guide in
healing.
depending largely upon a number of factors, such as
what they believe has been helpful, their ability to
pay, etc. I recommend massage, energy healing or
touch therapies, nutritional therapies, biofeedback,
visualization and imagery, yoga, chi gung, and lots of
fun and healthy exercise when they feel better! These
are selected individually depending on who practices in
the various areas.
In fact, I provide thyroid coaching for people over the
phone, and have the opportunity to “meet” people
from all over the US and beyond. I help them to gather
the proper materials and family history, seek the best
possible testing (some is home-based, such as saliva
testing), then learn to advocate better for better
health care from their providers. I also do my best to
help people from various locations to connect with
practitioners in their area who are more open and
“thyroid-friendly”.
HYPERBARIC OXYGEN:
Restoring The Entire Body
The first therapy that both Dr.
White and I use is hyperbaric
oxygen. We both own portable
hyperbaric oxygen chambers
that have made a significant
difference in our health. These
home chambers are approved
by the FDA, are available by
prescription from your doctor, and pressurize to low, safe
levels—4.5 psi, or about 10 feet below sea level. They
are often called “mild” hyperbaric oxygen chambers.
With the use of an oxygen concentrator and a medical
pass-through, they can increase tissue oxygen levels up
to 400%.
Karilee, who is a holistic nurse, and I have been
teaching seminars to health practitioners on Thyroid
Power, so we are continuing to develop our practitioner
database for various alternative and complementary
therapies, as well as for physicians. We have also been
moving more in the direction of home-based testing,
so those whose pocketbooks or physical situation (or
beliefs) allow them to work with these less medical,
less standard, and less approved methods. Some people
are having tremendous success using saliva and urine
testing for thyroid and other concerns.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatments trigger a marked increase
in the ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria,
help new blood vessels grow, saturate tissues with
healing oxygen that helps stop damage from toxins and
inhibits the growth of anaerobic bacteria. They also
improve brain function. One specialist in mild hyperbaric
therapy, Gunnar Heuser, M.D., Ph.D., found that using
these chambers, circulation and blood flow improved
in the brain (using specializing scanning imagery), after
only ten sessions. Rhett Bergeron, M.D. offers mild
hyperbaric for patients in his two clinics outside Atlanta,
Georgia. Most individuals with chronic illness suffer from
hypoxia, he notes. “I have found that patients respond
extremely favorably to the hyperbaric treatments,” says
Dr. Bergeron. “Mild hyperbaric has been shown to be just
as effective as treatments at greater pressures and the
patients like how it makes them feel.”
ImmuneSupport.com: How do you believe Omega-3
fatty acids and multivitamin supplements support and
promote optimal thyroid function?
Dr. Shames: The thyroid is the gas pedal for your body’s
energy flow, but you need fuel and spark for the gas
pedal to accomplish anything. Fuel would be optimal
nutrients, and supplements add the spark.
There are certain steps in the production and utilization
of thyroid hormone that require specific nutrients in
quantities that many people do not have. For instance,
let’s consider the conversion of inactive T4 in the
body. T4 is made by thyroid gland and transported
in bloodstream or taken by synthetic pills, but is
inactive in the body. It has to be converted to T3 . This
conversion of T4 to T3 is dependent on a 5’ (prime)
deiodinase enzyme. It turns out this enzyme is selenium
dependent, so without selenium, it is hard to get active
thyroid hormone.
The first hyperbaric chamber in medicine was made
by a British physician in 1662. However, hyperbaric
treatments just recently became available for home
use in a portable chamber. I learned about portable
chambers through Lance Brubaker, who was diagnosed
with lyme in 1990 and now works with Dr. Bergeron. I
had benefited from hyperbaric at much higher pressures
in clinics, but the cost was prohibitive, and I hated
having to relocate to get my treatments, and I never
was able to take off enough time to make a long-lasting
Omega-3 fatty acids are helpful for inflammation (and
thyroiditis has inflammation in the production phase).
The omegas help to reduce this inflammation. Also,
the receptor site on the lipid protein layer of the cell
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difference in my health.
surface seems to be enhanced with the addition of
omega fatty acids to the diet. A good multivitamin
provides a variety of the other nutrients known to be
just as crucial, such as selenium, in other pathway
bottlenecks. Thyroid status is controlled at seven
different hierarchical levels in the body; this is more
control than any other process, and taking key vitamins
and co-factors will help to ensure proper function at
each level.
According to Lance, at his sickest, “I literally couldn’t
walk 200 feet without passing out. I had countless
disassociated symptoms, some life-threatening.” In
1994, he shut down his business and built his own home
hyperbaric chamber. “I did hyperbaric three times
a week for two months, and two times a week after
that for two years. I also added in a low temperature
sauna protocol, and did a lot of cleansing and detox.”
Today, Lance is fully recovered. Last summer, at Lance’s
invitation, I visited Dr. Bergeron’s clinic, tried just two
sessions in the portable chamber and was delighted
to feel improvement in energy and muscle strength,
as well as lessening of the buzzing static that seems
to accompany lyme, and that author Amy Tan (who
suffers from late stage lyme) has called, “Dolby digital
syndrome.” (I also got a look at Lance’s old chamber,
which sits like a proud relic in his garage, a testament to
his ingenuity and pure guts, as the thing is built out of
butane tank and submarine hatch and has no windows.
Today he has a state-of-the-art portable chamber in one
of his extra bedrooms and still uses it if he feels a cold
coming on or wants a tune-up.)
ImmuneSupport.com: What traditional medicine
approaches do you use to treat patients with thyroid
problems?
Dr. Shames: When practicing only using traditional
medicine, I use thyroid hormone pills, and I monitor
the results with blood tests and basal temperatures.
This standard approach, when combined with the
alternatives mentioned above, is your best shot at full
thyroid recovery.
ImmuneSupport.com: Do you think there is frequent
misdiagnosis in the CFS patient population that could
prevent thyroid problems among these patients from
being properly treated?
Before my home chamber I was suffering excruciating
headaches that I call “lymegraines”—they were
clobbering me once or twice a week. Since getting my
chamber last July, the headaches have vanished. My
energy, digestion and sleep are improved. But perhaps
the greatest benefit is how I feel in the chamber: as if
all my neurons, which had been unhitched and cut and
were just dangling and doing the jitterbug, have been
reconnected and are working properly. I even drift off
to sleep at times. So, oddly, it has become my favorite
place—a kind of womb of feel-good safety. I use my
chamber about twice a week.
Dr. Shames: Absolutely! Many of the thyroid symptoms
are wrongly considered to be part of the CFS problem.
Also many of the symptoms are similar. In fact, some
people don’t have a thyroid problem until they have
the immune system compromised from CFS, then the
thyroid can go downhill. The thyroid is easy to treat
compared to many aspects of CFS and FM, so it should
be handled first.
ImmuneSupport.com: What issues are you addressing
in your new book?
Dr. Shames: In our upcoming project, we are moving
beyond strict thyroid care into a more holistic approach
to thyroid, adrenal, and reproductive hormone balance.
My response to the chamber is typical, according
to Dr. Ignacio Fojgel, M.D., Founder & Head of the
Complementary & Integrative Medicine Department at
Maimonides University in Argentina, and Chief of the
Hyperbaric Medicine Unit there. “The action of pressure
on the autonomic nervous system has never been given
its due attention. Many people sleep during the session
or become relaxed and peaceful. Parasympathetic upregulation occurs, and a relatively high parasympathetic
tone is needed for most healing processes to happen.” In
fact, in chronic illness, the sympathetic nervous system
is often dominant and can trigger nervousness, agitation,
hyperactivity, sleep difficulties, and dysregulation of
hormones and neurotransmitters. Hyperbaric treatment
helps restore balance.
After 30 years of practice, we have come up with
a step-by-step process to work with these issues,
and to help people uncover the roots of their health
issues, one step at a time. We believe in slow, careful,
methodical care that allows us to unpeel the layers of
your condition, addressing them carefully and moving
slowly enough that we don’t unmask other related
conditions, thereby further muddying the waters.
While we know that most people in our society are
accustomed to fast food and fast medicine, we believe
these underlying difficult to diagnose energy problems
must be addressed carefully for optimal results.
Barbara Kris, a 60 year old from North Carolina, suffers
from post-polio syndrome and lupus, and nearly died
a year ago from necrotizing fascitis, pneumonia and
heart failure. Daily home treatments with hyperbaric
ImmuneSupport.com: What is your advice to patients
struggling with debilitating fatigue?
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oxygen, along with alternative therapies like chelation
and glutathione, have brought her back to a normal life.
“People tell me it’s miraculous. A year ago the weakness
in my legs was so bad I couldn’t get up from a chair, and
my doctor tells me without the hyperbaric treatments
I would probably have lost my hand. I am thoroughly
grateful and I would not be without my chamber.”
Dr. Shames: My heartfelt advice to people struggling
with CFS or fibromyalgia conditions is to do everything
possible for diagnosis and treatment of a possible
co-existent thyroid insufficiency. This will make
the remedies and procedures for CFS and FM more
effective, and more long-lasting.
We’re not saying that CFS or FM are really being
misdiagnosed; there are indeed some people who are
truly thyro-compromised and diagnosed with CFS;
when they are treated for the underlying thyroid
problem, many of their symptoms, sometimes all of
them, improve. For most others, however, the thyroid
problem co-exists with the CFS/FM syndromes, and can
help people to begin to feel better, so they then are
more able to address the other more complex concerns.
Our Bottom Line: Remember - YOU CAN STILL BE LOW
THYROID, EVEN WITH NORMAL TESTS. Treat the thyroid
first!
With a home chamber you can calibrate your treatment
to your schedule and need. You can also do treatments
over a period of months and years, rather than a brief
stay at a clinic. “When I first began hyperbaric,” says Dr.
White, “I started with very low pressure and no additional
oxygen. I was severely deconditioned from illness and
twenty minutes was all my body wanted. As my body
began to function at a higher level, it began to push out
excess carbon monoxide. One of the things your body will
do when it gets more oxygen, and thus more energy, is to
begin to detox.” Over a period of months he built up to
higher pressures and added in more oxygen, and watched
neuropathic pain slowly vanish, while fatigue, balance
and memory problems improved.
Richard Shames, M.D., and Karilee Shames, Ph.D.,
R.N., are the authors of THYROID POWER: 10 STEPS
TO TOTAL HEALTH (HarperCollins 2001) now available
in paperback. This book can be purchased at
www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and at
bookstores. HW
There are other methods that may increase oxygen
levels although the honest truth is, they are not nearly
as powerful as they do not push oxygen into the tissues.
Still, we know of one lyme patient who breathes in
oxygen through a cannula while increasing his circulation
by sitting in a hot bath. For those who are well enough,
light exercise on a treadmill or stationery bicycle while
breathing in oxygen is also helpful. Finally, one bedridden
patient took an oxygen supplement called DiOxychlor
along with a supplement called nattokinase, which
helps clear fibrin from the blood and allow nutrients
to access cells more readily. She noticed improvement
after combining the two supplements (today, with many
alternative therapy interventions she is 90% improved).
fungidical, protozoacidal and virucidal. In short, it
is a strong germicide. It also oxidizes toxins, certain
metals, and pesticides—breaking them down so the
body can excrete them (with help from naturopathic
techniques which we will explain shortly). Ozone works
as a free-radical. Our own neutrophils, which kill
pathogens, actually manufacture ozone, according to
recent research by the Scripps Institute. "Neutrophils
are very small cells, but they are very nasty microbicidal
agents," says Bernard Babior, professor at The Scripps
Research Institute (TSRI) and an expert in neutrophils,
which he has been studying for over 30 years. "An active
neutrophil kills a bacterium in only a few seconds, using
at least a dozen and a half mechanisms." Apparently the
neutrophils feed singlet oxygen (01) to antibodies, which
convert it to 03 and use it to poke holes in pathogens and
kill them.
OZONE: Killing
Pathogens and
Oxygenating Cells
Although at times
I feel evangelistic
about my chamber,
I know it is not a
silver-bullet. In
fact, there is no
silver bullet in
chronic illness,
because it is a
multisystemic
breakdown. Usually a person with CFIDS, fibromyalgia,
lyme, lupus, or any such chronic disorder has a number of
chronic infections and toxic overload.
“I tested positive for h. pylori four years ago and was
suffering from gastritis and severe abdominal pain,”
recalls Dr. White. “I drank four glasses of ozonated water
daily for a month and my symptoms cleared up. When
I was re-tested I was negative.” Dr. White also utilizes
ozonal, ozone pumped through olive oil, in order to treat
sinus and bronchial infection. This is considered safe to
breathe.
A great pioneer in ozone therapy is chiropractor Saul
Pressman, of Vancouver. He grew up on a farm and
unwittingly poisoned himself with pesticides several
Another oxygen therapy that both Dr. White and I use
is ozone, or 03. Ozone is known to be bactericidal,
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times. “I developed fibromyalgia so bad that by age 33
I had to go on all fours to go up and down stairs,” he
recalls. Adopting a naturopathic approach, he learned
he had celiac disease and eliminated all gluten products,
which improved his health. He also began to use ozone.
Today he is completely healthy. “Now I am 50 and run up
stairs two at a time.”
time from the most recent to the oldest symptoms.
Carlos LeClair considers himself well today: he has had
no symptoms of lyme disease in the last two years.
Ken Gullan, Director of the Institute for Research
Integration (IRI) in San Diego, CA, has used ozone
saunas for 18 months to eliminate asbestos poisoning
from three years when he worked for a mining business
in Africa. When he began the saunas, he had mild
prostatitis, athlete’s foot, fatigue, and above all, over
450 fatty tumors called lipomas all over his body. “I used
to joke that I looked like a bunch of grapes in a pair
of pantyhose.” The lipomas were probably the body’s
attempt to safely surround asbestos fibers with fatty
tumors. “Initially I got a really bad rash. It seemed like
I couldn’t detox any other way than out through the
skin.” Today, his prostatitis is gone, his athlete’s foot has
disappeared, and he has about 160 lipomas left. “I’ve got
an incredible amount of energy now, I believe that is the
biggest overall benefit.”
In Saul’s world, ozone is forever—rather than diamonds,
for the story his wife told me is half fairy-tale and half
healing odyssey. Years ago, Sherri-Lee Pressman had
chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia so extreme she was on
disability. “I couldn’t lift my arms for the pain. I’d take
a shower and be so exhausted I had to lie down and rest
for an hour.” Determined to get well, she worked with a
naturopath and over time recovered about 75%, returned
to work, and met Saul Pressman. Three weeks later, for
Christmas, he gave her an ozone generator. “I was really
blown away,” she recalls. “I knew what it meant to him.”
Another three weeks passed and he asked her to marry
him; he also suggested she take time off and really heal
herself with ozone. “I used it every day. It was intense,
and it often made me feel like I had the flu, but I kept at
it. I wanted to completely heal so I could get pregnant.”
Slowly but surely she recovered total health, her chronic
yeast infections vanished, robust good energy returned,
and today they have a healthy daughter.
I myself am at the beginning of my ozone therapy
experiment. I have tried the sauna four times and found
myself in an energized and peaceful state afterwards. I
am about to embark on a more regular protocol, hoping
that by combining it with my hyperbaric oxygen chamber,
I will provide my body with a truly powerful two-pronged
healing therapy that allows my cells to breathe (oxygen)
and helps them kill pathogens (ozone).
Ozone can be taken into the body through insufflation
(gas that is infused for a few minutes either into the
ear, the rectum, or the vagina), by ozonating water and
drinking it, by ozonating olive oil and applying it topically,
by using a funnel to ozonate a specific part of the body,
or by using an ozone steam sauna, which is perhaps the
most powerful method. These saunas utilize a fiberglass
steam cabinet where you sit comfortably inside the
cabinet up to your neck, with your head in the open air.
HYPERTHERMIA:
How Saunas Can
Heal
A third very
powerful modality
that can be
carried out at
home is sauna
therapy. Human
exposure to toxins
has dramatically
increased in the
last century, and
their residues
can be reduced through sauna therapy. In addition,
sauna increases circulation and improves lymph flow. By
allowing the body to eliminate toxins through the skin,
sauna therapy helps the liver, kidneys, and bowel. As
you sit in the sauna, your body temperature goes up,
mimicking the natural fever response—which boosts the
immune system.
Carlos LeClair, a 73-year-old living in Florida, is convinced
that ozone saunas eliminated his lyme disease symptoms
when 24 months of antibiotics did not. Like many who
use ozone saunas, he developed a rash. It is thought
that the rash is part of a detox reaction, since continued
use of ozone results in fading of the rash, according to
Pressman. LeClair agrees. “I am absolutely convinced
that the itchiness and rash I experienced, mainly on
my chest, was due to an interaction of the ozone with
toxins in my body. The rash was gone after eight months
of ozone saunas. When I had completed twelve months,
twice a week, I decided to do a 30-minute sauna every
day for ten days, just to make sure that I had finished
off the lyme bug. By the sixth consecutive day of ozone
saunas I woke up to find a 3-inch diameter bull’s-eye
rash over my left kidney.” The bull’s-eye rash is unique
among rashes and diagnostic of lyme disease all by itself.
In naturopathic parlance, this bull’s-eye would be called
‘retracing’—an illness peels back symptomatically over
Sauna therapy can be done at home. Dr. White has a top
of the line Healthmate Far Infrared Sauna, while I have
a very inexpensive near infrared bulb sauna designed by
naturopath Larry Wilson. Others use far infrared heat
lamps. Although there is much debate about the benefits
ImmuneSupport.com
13
1.800.366.6056
of different types of saunas, and the depth that various
forms of infrared penetrate into the body, we feel that
most forms of sauna, used carefully, are helpful. Infrared
saunas are easier to tolerate because they tend to heat
the body and not the air, allowing people to tolerate
much longer sauna time and achieve the same results. As
mentioned previously, Lance Brubaker melded hyperbaric
and sauna therapy to heal himself. “Spirochetes don’t
like pressure, oxygen, or heat, so I offered them all
three,” he recalls. Tissue oxygen levels remain elevated
for hours after a hyperbaric chamber session, and the
infrared sauna heat increases circulation and stimulates
the immune system. The two can be synergistic.
so dizzy, am using my walking frame less and managing
to stay vertical for hours every day. I also had a blood
test and the nurse used an adult needle and managed to
get a whole vial of blood. This is one of the best things
I’ve done for my health in years. I am feeling a lot more
optimistic about getting well. My stamina is much better
and I'm managing to do all sorts of things I haven't felt
like doing for years. I am recommending it to many other
chronic lymies and CFS patients, who are being told there
is nothing they can do about their neurally-mediated
hypotension. The bulb sauna is working wonders for me.”
The length of time spent
in the sauna varies with
each individual. Most
chronically ill individuals
should start with about
10 minutes, and see how
that impacts them over
the next 24-48 hours. I
overdid my sauna therapy
in the beginning, staying
in for 45 minutes and
experienced an increase
in muscle pain as a
result. After Dr. Wilson
performed hair mineral
analysis on me he advised
me to reduce my sauna
to 20 minutes every other
day.
Building the body up and detoxifying at the same time
are crucial to successfully improving a person’s health.
“It is common to find people with chronic illness that
have compromised ability to detoxify,” explains Dr.
White. “Generally, the chronically ill body is in an acid
state. It can be useful to eat and juice foods that are
alkaline to help decrease acidity. These include any green
vegetables, especially the leafy ones; as well as figs, lima
beans, apricots, spinach and lemons.”
DETOXIFICATION: Last But Not Least
The colon, liver and kidneys are the most common routes
of detoxification, but your lungs, lymph and skin can also
rid the body of waste. “Most people I have worked with
have very sluggish or stagnant lymph systems,” says Dr.
White. To detox at home, drink clean water, along with
electrolytes on a daily basis. Try to drink half your body
weight in ounces, so if you weigh 100 pounds, try to drink
50 ounces over the course of the day. An electrolyte
formula Dr. White recommends is E-Lyte. “Your whole
body depends on water and minerals to function. I also
recommend dry brush massage to encourage lymph flow.”
“It is important to temper treatments like hyperbaric
oxygen, ozone and sauna with your body’s ability to
handle the treatment,” notes Dr. White.
Colon cleansing, via enemas, home colemas, or
professional colonics, can also be useful. Dr. White
recommends a 48-ounce plastic enema bucket for those
new to colon cleansing, rather than an enema bag (the
latter are usually made out of rubber, a petroleum
product). Liver flushes (using various formulas) can also
decrease toxic load on the body by helping clear the
liver and gallbladder of stones and sludge. Carlos LeClair
recalls being advised to do liver flushes with ozone, and
in retrospect, “I wish I had followed the advice derived
from others' experiences and thoroughly flushed out my
liver before beginning the saunas. I believe that if I had
done this, the rash might not have lasted so long.”
Rosemary Trudeau, an
Australian woman who has
been ill with some form
of CFIDS or possibly lyme
for 24 years, reports the
bulb sauna has normalized
her blood pressure for
the first time in decades.
“The first time I used
the sauna,” she recalls,
“I only coped with 5
minutes and then had
to crawl into bed. Since
then I have built up the
time to twenty minutes,
a ten minute rest, and another twenty minutes. My
blood pressure had been 80/60 for twenty years. After
ten weeks my blood pressure is up to 110/70. I am not
ImmuneSupport.com
Herbal support can also be useful. Two herbs that
are receiving a lot of attention in the lyme and CFIDS
community lately are artemisinin and samento. The
former is a derivative of artemisia that is said to be
useful in a tickborne infection called babesia. It also has
a history in Chinese medicine of being antispirochetal. In
addition, it is antifungal. The latter, samento, is a form
of cat’s claw that seems to be immune modulating and
14
1.800.366.6056
PRO HEALTH SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
antibacterial.
It is wise to enlist the aid of a health care practitioner
who is familiar with these procedures and herbs to
help design a program of detoxification that is gentle
but thorough. “As you heal and work on yourself it will
be natural to have days that are worse and better,”
explains Dr. White. “It is also common to have emotional
responses triggered by the healing and detoxification
cycles. It is natural to release what I call emotional
toxins as well as physical toxins through this process.
That gives us an opportunity to grow and heal in new
ways.”
Robert Bennett, M.D., Ph.D.
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
Jay A. Goldstein, M.D.
Former Director, The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Institute, Anaheim Hills, California
Charles W. Lapp, M.D.
Director, Hunter-Hopkins Center, P.A., Medical
Consultations, Charlotte, North Carolina;
Consulting Professor, Duke University Medical Center
As emotional, and even spiritual issues, come to the
surface, it is important to keep a positive attitude. One
of the best books on healing through the power of the
mind is available free on the web via download. Called
Your Empowering Spirit (Y.E.S.), by Gary Sinclair, it is
an inspiring book about healing from the inside out.
Sinclair claims to have healed himself of severe multiple
sclerosis.
William Maguire, M.D., Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School, New York Medical College
Kenny De Meirleir, M.D., Ph.D.
REFERENCES:
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
-Mild Portable Hyperbaric Chamber: Vita02,
www.Vita02.com, Lance Brubaker, (706) 265-7449.
Home chambers come in three sizes, and leasing plans
are available.
-Ozone Sauna: Dr. Saul Pressman, DCh, Plasmafire
International, www.plasmafire.com or call (604) 5329596. Dr. Pressman is widely considered to have the
most reliable, high quality ozone products available.
-Yahoo Groups: mild hyperbaric and lyme disease: http://
health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lyme-mildhyperbaric/;
ozonetherapy: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/
ozonetherapy/
-Infrared Bulb Sauna: Dr. Larry Wilson, email:
[email protected] or call (928) 445-7690. Dr. Wilson
also sells a book, Manual of Sauna Therapy, that is very
useful, at www.drlwilson.com.
-Far Infrared Lamps: http://www.ycyhealth.com/tdp_
index.shtml
-Enema Bucket: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/
homecareessentials/ppi2562.html
-Colema Board: http://store.awwwsome.com/
enema.html
-Gary Sinclair’s Your Empowering Spirit: http://
www.cyberphysiology.com/ or call (760) 451-3099
Daniel Peterson, M.D.
Email contact for Byron White, N.D.: naturalhealthcare_
[email protected]. HW
supplements intended solely for nutritional support.
Sierra Internal CFS Center, Incline, Nevada
Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D.
National Research Center, Annapolis, Maryland
HEALTHwatch is published by:
Pro Health, Inc., 2040 Alameda Padre Serra, Suite 101,
Santa Barbara, CA 93103. 1-800-366-6056
Editor: Lee Ann Stiff
Design: Jon Poole
Disclaimer: HEALTHwatch is published for individuals,
health professionals and others interested in CFS and
Fibromyalgia. Any nutritional supplements discussed
in HEALTHwatch are not intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent a disease, but rather are dietary
© 2004 HEALTHwatch
For permission to reproduce any of the information
contained in this publication, please contact the Editor
at: [email protected].
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The CFS/FM Community
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