This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community
Welcome to This is MS, the leading forum for Multiple Sclerosis research and support. Join our friendly community of patients, caregivers, and researchers celebrating over 20 years of delivering hope through knowledge.
looks good for atherosclerotic plaques and/or vascular occlusion:
1: J Vasc Surg. 2001 Sep;34(3):474-81. Links
Folate supplementation inhibits intimal hyperplasia induced by a high-homocysteine diet in a rat carotid endarterectomy model.Smith TP, Cruz CP, Brown AT, Eidt JF, Moursi MM.
Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA.
OBJECTIVE: Hyperhomocysteinemia has been implicated as a causative factor in intimal hyperplasia development. The addition of dietary folate in a hyperhomocysteinemia, carotid endarterectomy rat model is postulated to decrease plasma homocysteine levels and, in turn, reduce post-carotid endarterectomy intimal hyperplasia. METHODS: Each rat was fed one of six diets: (1) lab chow with no folate (n = 7), (2) lab chow with 10 mg/kg folate added (n = 3), (3) lab chow with 25 mg/kg folate added (n = 3), (4) a homocysteine diet with no folate (n = 7), (5) a homocysteine diet with 10 mg/kg folate added (n = 5), or (6) homocysteine diet with 25 mg/kg folate added (n = 5). Each rat then underwent an open carotid endarterectomy. In 2 weeks, intimal hyperplasia in the carotid artery was measured. Plasma homocysteine and folate levels were measured. RESULTS: Plasma folate levels rose with folate administration. Plasma homocysteine in the lab chow group was 5.4 +/- 0.5 micromol/L and did not change with the addition of folate. In the homocysteine diet group, plasma homocysteine rose 10-fold over the lab chow group (51.9 +/- 6.5 vs 5.4 +/- 0.5, micromol/L, P <.0001). In the group fed a homocysteine diet with 10 mg/kg folate added, a significant decrease in plasma homocysteine was observed (17.5 +/- 8.5 vs 51.9 +/- 6.5, micromol/L, P =.0003). In the group fed a homocysteine diet with 25 mg/kg folate added, plasma homocysteine levels were further reduced to levels seen in the lab chow group (12.6 +/- 2.6 vs 5.4 +/- 0.5, micromol/L, P = not significant). The relationship between plasma folate and homocysteine was inverse (R = 0.39, P =.0036). Luminal stenosis due to intimal hyperplasia was minimal in lab chow groups and unaffected by folate. The homocysteine diet group demonstrated post-carotid endarterectomy luminal stenosis due to intimal hyperplasia (60.9% +/- 9.2%). In the group fed a homocysteine diet with 10 mg/kg folate added, intimal hyperplasia was reduced, compared with the homocysteine diet group (32.6% +/- 7.4% vs 60.9% +/- 9.2%, P =.009). In the group fed a homocysteine diet with 25 mg/kg folate added, intimal hyperplasia was reduced to lab chow group levels (10.8% +/- 0.8% vs 4.8% +/- 1.0%, P = not significant) and was reduced, compared with the group fed a homocysteine diet with 10 mg/kg folate added. CONCLUSION: The use of folate in this hyperhomocysteinemia carotid endarterectomy model and the resultant attenuation of plasma homocysteine elevation and intimal hyperplasia development lend strong support to homocysteine being an independent etiologic factor in post-carotid endarterectomy intimal hyperplasia.
1: Public Health Rev. 2000;28(1-4):117-45.Links
Relationship between plasma homocysteine and vitamin status in the Framingham study population. Impact of folic acid fortification.Selhub J, Jacques PF, Bostom AG, Wilson PW, Rosenberg IH.
Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA. JSelhub@HNRC.Tufts.Edu
Recent studies have demonstrated associations between occlusive vascular disease and hyperhomocysteinemia of both genetic and nutritional origin. In the present study we analyzed plasma samples from the 20th biannual examination of the Framingham Heart Study cohort to determine distribution of plasma homocysteine concentrations with emphasis on relationships to vitamins that serve as coenzymes in homocysteine metabolism and to prevalence of carotid artery stenosis. Results showed that homocysteine exhibited strong inverse association with plasma folate and weaker associations with plasma vitamin B12 and pyridoxal-5'-phosphate. We saw similar inverse associations between homocysteine and intakes of folate and vitamin B6, but not vitamin B12. Prevalence of high homocysteine (> 14 mumol/L) was 29.3% in this cohort, and was greatest among subjects with low folate status. Inadequate plasma concentrations of one or more B vitamins appear to contribute to 67% of the cases of high homocysteine. Prevalence of stenosis > or = 25% was 43% in men and 34% in women, with an odds ratio of 2.0 for individuals in the highest homocysteine quartile (> or = 14.4 mumol/L) compared with those in the lowest quartile (< or = 9.1 mumol/L), after adjustment for sex, age, HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and cigarette smoking (Ptrend < 0.001). Plasma concentrations of folate and pyridoxal-5'-phosphate and folate intake were inversely associated with extracranial carotid stenosis after adjustment for age, sex, and other risk factors. Studies using samples from the Framingham Study Offspring Cohort have shown that the US-mandated folic acid fortification of flour and cereal grain products resulted in an increase in the mean folate concentrations from 4.8 to 10.0 ng/mL (P < 0.001) and prevalence of low folate (< 3 ng/mL) decreased from 22.0 to 1.7% (P < 0.001) between the baseline and follow-up visits. Mean homocysteine concentration decreased from 10.1 to 9.4 microM (P < 0.001), and prevalence of high homocysteine (> 13 mumol/L) decreased from 18.7 to 9.8% (P < 0.001) between study visits. There were no statistically significant changes in the control group for folate or homocysteine between examinations. These data indicate a high prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in the Framingham Study population, the majority of which can be attributed to vitamin status and that this hyperhomocysteinemia is clinically relevant because of its association with increased risk of occlusive extracranial carotid stenosis. Insufficient levels of folate, and to a lesser extent vitamin B6, appear to predict part of this elevated risk through their role in homocysteine metabolism. These studies also indicate that the recently-implemented fortification of grain and cereal products with folic acid resulted in a substantial decline in plasma homocysteine. The impact of fortification on the US population is likely to be similar; however it awaits the next survey for further confirmation.
3 years antibiotics, 06/09 bilateral jug stents at C1, 05/11 ballooning of both jug valves, 07/12 stenting of renal vein, azygos & jug valve ballooning,
if you take too much folic acid it can give you 'phantom itch' i speak from personal lab-supported experience. a b-complex containing 1mg folic acid per day put me over the top. my level was 2170.
FYI
ps. i have heard of a few expecting moms suffering phantom itch during their pregnancy. i think they are possibly overdoing the b9 supps. from what i hear, docs don't seem to know about the correlation between high b9 and the itch. 'your skin is stretching' is the last rationale i heard.
I certainly got full on itch from niacin but that's different, I think?
3 years antibiotics, 06/09 bilateral jug stents at C1, 05/11 ballooning of both jug valves, 07/12 stenting of renal vein, azygos & jug valve ballooning,
hi gibbs, yes the transient niacin flush/itching/prickling is very different. the folic itch just keeps going day after day, no redness either.
for me the folic acid 'deep' itch was nowhere near as intense as a niacin flush surface effect.
The FDA's latest and classiest example of collusion with pharmaceutical interests is its attempt to ban pyridoxamine, a form of vitamin B6 that has been used as a cheap supplement for years. This particular vitamin has shown very good protection for kidney disease markers as per the discussion below which is takenfrom the latest Life Extension magazine.
Quote:
"One of these studies showed that pryidoxamine slowed the rate of rise of a marker of kidney failure (creatinine) by 68% and improved certain parameters of kidney function in humans. This company spent about $100 million funding various pyridoxamine studies before it ran out of money. The FDA wants to protect pharmaceutical financial interests, even if pyridoxamine is never approved as a new drug. According to the FDA, pyridoxamine cannot be marketed as a dietary supplement because:
"pyridoxamine is authorized for investigation as a new drug for which substantial clinical investigations have been conducted and their existence made public..."
The FDA's twisted position is that if vitamin companies can offer low-cost pyridoxamine supplements, then there is no incentive for a drug company to invest hundreds of millions of dollars getting it approved as a prescription drug. Said differently, to protect the financial interests of a pharmaceutical company, the FDA is willing to deny every health-conscious American access to the life-saving benefits of pyridoxamine, which include preventing the very disease the drug company is seeking to have pyridoxamine approved to treat!....
Drug companies have a strong economic bias for denying you access to pyridoxamine...
The FDA believes that allowing a drug that is being clinically tested to also be sold as a dietary supplement will prevent pharmaceutical companies from funding research. This is a FALSE assumption.
Each year, more than $400 million of an expensive drug called Niaspan is sold for the purpose of increasing beneficial HDL and reducing artery-clogging triglycerides (and LDL). Niaspan is nothing more than extended-release niacin that one can purchase as a low cost supplement.
While extended release niacin has long been available as a supplement, the most money is being made by pharmaceutical interests by virtue of mainstream doctors prescribing Niaspan to their cardiac patients and Medicare/insurance companies paying its inflated price.
Another dietary supplement that went through pharmaceutical funded clinical trials to prove its efficacy is the prescription fish oil drug called Lovaza (previously named Omacor). Even though Lovaza costs about seven times more than the same amount of EPA/DHA obtainable from dietary supplements, sales are exploding because many doctors are prescribing this fish oil drug to their cardiac patients. In 2007, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline bought the maker of Lovaza for an astounding $1.65 billion. Glaxo paid this astronomical amount of money for the ownership of this prescription fish oil knowing full well that dietary supplement fish oil could be obtained at a fraction of the price...
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT BACK!
We know that pyridoxamine was used as a dietary supplement in the early 1990s. If we can prove that pyridoxamine was sold in the United States prior to 1994, the FDA will not be allowed to ban it. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act protects supplements marketed prior to October 1994.
If you used pyridoxamine prior to October 1994, please let us know so we can add your name to an affidavit and use any evidence you have to overturn the FDAs proposed ban on pyridoxamine. The FDA is controlled by the Executive branch of government. Writing to members of Congress may not work since they do not directly control arbitrary FDA decisions, such as banning of pyridoxamine at the bureaucratic level. The White House, on the other hand, can with one phone call, demand that the FDA reverse its position and allow the free sale of pyridoxamine as a dietary supplement.
We therefore urge Life Extension (thisisms) members to mail the form letter that appears below to the health administrative affairs officer at the White House and demand that the FDA lift its proposed ban on pyridoxamine.
Nancy-Ann DeParle
Director
Office of Health Reform
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Ms. DeParle,
The FDA is denying Americans access to a low-cost dietary supplement (pyridoxamine) in order to make this natural vitamin an expensive prescription drug.
If the FDA succeeds, the American public's health will be severely injured, and Medicare will be forced to fork over millions of unnecessary dollars to subsidize pyridoxamine as an overpriced pharmaceutical.
Safety is NOT the issue. The FDA admits its plan to ban pyridoxamine is in direct response to a petition filed by a pharmaceutical company. This company wants the FDA to grant it exclusive status to sell the safest form of vitamin B6 (pyridoxamine) as a drug!
At stake are the lives of millions of Americans whose health can be protected against a host of age-related diseases if pyridoxamine can be freely added to dietary supplement formulas.
The FDA has received a petition from another pharmaceutical company seeking to ban the sale of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate, which is another form of vitamin B6 that has been safely sold as a dietary supplement for decades. I ask that you instruct the FDA to reject this petition since pyridoxal-5'-phosphate provides numerous health benefits that cannot be obtained with conventional vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HC1) supplements.
I also ask that you mandate the FDA to reverse its inappropriate ban against pyridoxamine, so that it can once again be freely sold as a vitamin B6 dietary supplement.
Your administration has prioritized the need to make healthcare affordable to all. One simple way of accomplishing this is to not allow pharmaceutical companies to enjoy bureaucracy-bestowed monopolies.
Yours sincerely
Name:
Address:
3 years antibiotics, 06/09 bilateral jug stents at C1, 05/11 ballooning of both jug valves, 07/12 stenting of renal vein, azygos & jug valve ballooning,
In the first 3 months of 2009, the pharmaceutical and health-care-products industry spent more than $66.5 million on lobbying Congress -- about $1.2 million per day, or $50,000 an hour, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And big pharma’s total spending on advertising certainly hasn’t declined significantly, either: Advertising Age recently reported that it spent $12.7 billion on marketing in 2008, with more money than ever dumped into television commercials. Fourteen of the top 100 advertisers are pill-pushers.
It strikes me that the pharmaceutical industry is getting way too big and rich for its boots. They'll be banning vitamin d next...
3 years antibiotics, 06/09 bilateral jug stents at C1, 05/11 ballooning of both jug valves, 07/12 stenting of renal vein, azygos & jug valve ballooning,
This is infuriating -- like you mentioned...what about Vitamin D? There are so many postivie reports on Vitamin D --the pharmas are no doubt trying to figure a way to get at it too -- aren't we glad they cannot touch the sun?!
I agree. I added that letter to the bottom of your forum in the regimens section but I think we should try to get folks interested.
The European uni0n or Commission (whichever undemocratic institution it is that governs people in Europe now) tried to get an EU law enacted about 5 years ago that would effectively ban all herbal remedies. Thankfully we have a meddling and vocal Prince Charles who voiced total outrage and a big campaign started to lobby Parliament. The bill died. At least I can still buy curcumin and gingko biloba for a while longer. Again it was the pharmaceutical industry which was trying to prevent people from using nature to their advantage.
This ban is an OUTRAGE. They are now PATENTING NATURE in the USA. It's not surprising health care costs are so exorbitant when the pharmaceutical industry can just walk all over Americans like this. Let's hope the Obama adminstration can be bolder with these vested interests.
3 years antibiotics, 06/09 bilateral jug stents at C1, 05/11 ballooning of both jug valves, 07/12 stenting of renal vein, azygos & jug valve ballooning,
I've noticed a number of people on this forum mention Foot Drop as a problem, along with the loss of use of legs, fatigue, etc.
Foot Drop is one of end results of Beriberi, which is a neuromuscular and/ or cardiovascular disease, caused by lack of Vitamin B1. In just this one link http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/116930 -overview
on Berberi you will see numerous connections to MS symptoms.
i used elements of klenner's protocol to great effect in 2006. props.
active members shape site content. if there is a problem, speak up!
use the report button to flag problematic post content to volunteer moderators' attention.
hi jj, i did a personalized version of the modified oral protocol, which can be found in my signature link (the klenner4.htm item)
active members shape site content. if there is a problem, speak up!
use the report button to flag problematic post content to volunteer moderators' attention.
to the best of my recollection, without digging out my old daytimers, here is what i did:
1) Thiamin hydrochloride: 300mg to 500mg, 30 minutes before meals and bed hour, and during the night if awake. The higher amounts in long-standing cases.
2) Niacin (nicotinic acid): We recommend 100mg to 3 grams, thirty minutes before meals and at bed hour, and also during the night if awake – whichever dose will produce a strong body flush.
[i did about 100mg oral niacin at recommended timing, and achieved the flush no problem]
[klenner probably didnt know this, (findings a decade or so in future at the time) but a lack of niacin flush response can be due to PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acid) deficiency]
3) Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6): 100mg to 200mg is given before meals and bed hour. At least 100mg daily is given intramuscularly.
[did 100mg oral pyridoxine]
4) Cobalamin (Vitamin B12): 1000mcg. is given three times each week by needle (repository type).
[klenner talks about cyanocobalamin, i imagine all of us here know that methylcobalamin is preferred - i did 2000mcg sublingual b12 daily]
5) Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C): Ten to twenty grams should be taken daily by mouth in divided doses.
6) Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 40mg to 80mg given daily by needle IM; 25 mg. before meals and bedtime.
[i don't recall my exact intake, maybe 50mg oral before meals and bed?]
7) Vitamin E as d-alpha tocopherol acetate of d-alpha tocopherol acid succinate. 800 international units before meals and bedtime must be adhered to in this treatment.
[i did this per instructions in 2006. from what i have learned since, i would definitely modify now. in the era of this protocol development, d-alpha tocopherol succinate was the best recommended option. nowadays, i'd say ensure you get natural ratio E8 complex. isolated alpha tocopherol drives down important other elements such as the tumor inhibiting beta tocopherol - whole food sources are best!]
8) Crude liver: This substance contains factors still unknown but essential in metabolism. ...be benefited by daily injections of crude liver.
[i ignored this, but recognized now that a healthy liver is very important in helping us combat ms]
9) Adenosine-5-Monophosphoric acid: ...Inosinic acid is a commonly-occurring breakdown product of AMP... By attaching further phosphoric acid residues in pyrophosphate linkage, adenosine-diphosphate (ADP) and adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) are obtained.
[i ignored this because i did not understand it. now i can recognize things like 'inosinic' and have an elementary grasp on the importance of ATP, but personally, i would basically still ignore this today]
10) Choline: We give 700mg to 1400mg after each meal and at bed hour.
[i did not do this. the only choline i ever get other than from diet, is in my b-complex]
11) Lecithin: We give 1200 mg. Soybean Lecithin after each meal.
[i did some after meals, but sometimes sprinkled granular lecithin into stewed fruit or soups also]
12) Magnesium: 100mg. after each meal to supply additional ions for muscle activity. It is an enzyme activator.
[i had no idea at the time and skipped this. i would never omit magnesium now]
13) Calcium Gluconate (10 grain tablets): We give two tablets after each meal and at bed hour to supplement dietary intake for muscle activity. At times, this is given intravenously, one gram twice weekly.
14) Calcium pantothenate: (acetyl CoA) We give 200 mg. after each meal and at bed hour.
[i had no idea, skipped it]
15) Aminoacetic acid (glycine): More than one hundred substances, when fed, are joined in the body with glycine. In the deamination of glycine, three products will be formed: ammonia, carbon dioxide and water. The ammonia from this reaction is then quantitatively converted to urea. One heaping tablespoon of the powder in a glass of milk four times each day. Much of the oral medication can be taken with this drink.
[i had no idea, so skipped it - but i note with interest the reference to ammonia being quantitatively converted to urea... not without enough zinc in your liver, it don't!]
16) Make certain that the hemoglobin is at least 13 grams.
[oxygen transport, binding, antioxidant, iron regulation.. "Normal values in an adult are 12 to 18 grams per deciliter (100 milliliters) of blood. Below-normal hemoglobin levels may lead to anemia that can be the result of:
iron deficiency or other deficiencies, such as B12 and folate..."(www.labtestsonline.org)]
[my Hb results have been, over time, 138, 138, and most recently (04/09) 139. coversion from US g/dL to SI g/L is just a straight x10, so i started out okay at 13.8 and have increased slightly].
17) High protein diet with two to three eggs for breakfast.
[did a couple eggs for quite a while then backed off to a couple a week, plus i have other protein sources in my diet]
18) One Theragram-M cap. daily for trace minerals.
[had no idea how important this is, now i take a daily multi-vit-min, with extra minerals.
19) Dantrium has value for relieving intentional tremor and Symmetrel for relieving stiffness in Multiple Sclerosis. Dose must be individualized.
[didn't do this]
20) Zinc gluconate: 10 mg. three times each day has some value in Myasthenia Gravis. Take several hours after vitamin B2.
[i actually take more than that, i try to get in 50mg per day]
