This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

An abstract of this research from Tygerberg Hospital in SA was recently posted: I emailed one of the authors and was startled and pleased to receive almost immediately in response the full text of the article, as well as a handout of a proposed regimen based on the research's hypothesis...that is... that body may require specific suppliments to encourage myelin repair. I've inserted some of that information on the regimen below.

BIOCHEMICAL HYPOTHESIS (THE RAPHAH REGIMEN):
The body is programmed to prevent and repair injuries. The philosophy behind the Raphah regimen is that in order for repair mechanisms to work properly, ALL the necessary raw materials must be present at ALL times, especially at the time when injuries happen. It is also necessary to have an understanding of the process of injury, so that the protective mechanisms are in place at ALL times. In the case of MS, myelin (which consists of proteins and lipids), is attacked by over-activated immune cells such as monocytes, which produce free radicals which then digest the myelin.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES:
The body generally protects itself against free radical damage by scavenging (neutralising) the free radicals as they are formed. This is done by the twin enzymes superoxide dismutase (containing zinc and copper) and glutathione peroxidase (containing selenium), as well as the antioxidant vitamins.

SYNTHESIS AND REPAIR OF MYELIN:

Myelin, which insulates neurons, is synthesized and repaired every day, whether persons are in a relapse or not. The process needs a lot of energy, and therefore needs enough iron, as well as ALL the components of the folate-vitamin B12-methionine one-carbon metabolic system, amino acids (for the proteins) and essential (unsaturated) fatty acids (for the lipids). All these ingredients need to be replenished EVERY DAY.
The body repairs injuries using raw materials from the food we eat. Some of the molecules necessary for repair can be manufactured by the body, but some can not and therefore have to be provided from the diet.

Small (adequate) amounts of the following raw materials have to be ingested daily:
Every Morning:
1. Iron (15 mg/day), if blood iron parameters are not high (hemochromatosis). Have a blood test done for iron first.
2. Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. There are about 22 of which 9 are “essential”, i.e. they cannot be synthesized from other amino acids by the body. These are leucine, isoleucine, lysine, tryptophan, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine and histidine. They are available in diet milk shakes, or in tablet form. It is not necessary to ingest large amounts, but take them EVERY DAY.
3. Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid: Natrodale “Vitamin B12 and Folic acid – High Strength”. It contains 18 mg of “Intrinsic Factor”. Also take an extra 5 mg tablet of folic acid per day.
4. Lecithin (300 mg - Vital Health Foods).
5. An antioxidant formulation of your own choice, e.g. Procydin, or Beta Guard from GNLD, etc. Also eat lots of fruit and vegetables. They contain many antioxidants not available in supplements.

Every Evening:
6. Essential fatty acids (Vital Health Foods): Evening Primrose Oil (500 mg) and
Salmon Oil (500 mg).
7. A multivitamin-multimineral. Suggestion: “Centrum”, the one that contains 100 mg of magnesium and other minerals.

that looks really smart to me!

Will have to study it, a bit more. But, right now, am up late just trying to decide between ordering iron citrate or iron bisglycinate supplements. Lots of links to compare studies with. Should probably do a search of the forum, too.

Evening primrose oil is rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Dr. George Jelinek indicates in his book Taking Control of Multiple Sclerosis that omega-3 fatty acids may provide more benefit than omega-6 fatty acids. See my prior post on this.

NHE

ya i don't know what's in epo but i read that our ideal o3 to o6 ratio should be about 1:4 but it's usually about 1:30 in the ordinary way of things.

i have had the bloodwork done in the past and i come up iron and b12 deficient unless i've been supplementing right before the test. my most recent thing was iron deficient, got that result in the last month. workin on it!

Thanks for that, the morning i read that, i had just logged on with the plan to traul the internet for info just like this!


I have read similar things in the past. I have just gone through a week of trying about 9000mg/day of o3. Now, I will feel a little "safer" at trying 1000mg o3 and 1000mg EPO.

The other thing which sparked a note of contention was the iron. I am sure i have read (somewhere) in the past that Iron was a "bad" thing, causing myelin desctruction. But if these guys have done the research.

hiya, about the iron, do you think that it could be harmful only if you have too much? u think maybe they have found that many sufferers are a shade low in iron? therefore it is okay to supplement up to a point? and that deficiency cant be a good situation?

also i wonder if high iron intake without including a complementary nutrient is the prob, not just the action of iron alone. i was recently reading about zinc and i think it is the next big "light going on" thing for me. not exactly wrt ms but just my general personal health. but zinc is implicated in immune function/opportunistic infection, and healing of wounds/skin lesions ... so maybe internal lesions will benefit too! also iron apparently acts as a zinc antagonist. i was recently advised to take big daily doses of iron to combat my deficiency... but no-one mentioned to bulk up my intake of zinc as well. and these are advisors who know my history of vegetarianism as well (tough to absorb veg sources of zinc - sources less potent too)... maybe zinc drop is why i have been feeling a little squirrely since i started the big iron thing?? i have been in possession of a good zinc supplement since yesterday so we'll see if it patches up the jimmylegs a little (they have made a re-appearance over the last day or two!)

if anyone wants me to post the references for this i will just let me know

Yes, have had various doctors and a CNM who think iron supplementation is a bad thing. And, several months ago, I read this article, here:

http://www.thisisms.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

And, then found some others. Why? I wondered. Hemochromatotosis, maybe?!

I was so worried that I immediately ceased taking iron supplements and eating foods with high iron content. And continued taking NAC because I had read that it was supposed to help keep iron from accumulating in the brain.

Two months later, my very mild anemia suddenly became severe. And my ferritin levels were very low. So, no, I was much relieved that I was not suffering from hemochromatosis. And even more to my relief I found this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15955425

But, who knows? Maybe my anemia is caused by iron storage, for whatever reasons, in my brain lesions.

So, for now, I suppose I just keep supplementing iron and taking NAC.