egcg trial

ursula · Post by **ursula** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:32 am

hi (cheerleader),

I haven´t been here in the forum fo a couple of months...
in the meantime I finished the trial - unfortunately, they didn´t tell me in which group I was.
The trial will go on for an other year or so.
They didn´t even tell about my mri results!

all I can say is that I have been relapse free for 2 1/2 years now which happens to be exactly the time that I drink a lot of green tea and/or take egcg capsules.
I take 500mg egcg and drink 1 litre of green tea - that´s about the dose from the trial.

have I missed anything concerning egcg and the CCSVI?

how is your husband doing?

ursula

indigoinmotion · Post by **indigoinmotion** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:59 am

hi ursula,
could you share if you take any additional supplements/vitamins in addition to the EGCG?
Thanks bunches! indigo

ursula · Post by **ursula** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:58 am

..I take only egcg and copaxone...

Sharon · Post by **Sharon** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:21 am

Ursula you wrote:

have I missed anything concerning egcg and the CCSVI?

Read Dr. Mark Haake's research http://www.ms-mri.com/

In the last few years, researchers have recognized the presence of increased iron content in the basal ganglia and thalamus. This in itself suggests the possibility of venous damage in MS. But the interest and association of MS with veins dates back to Fog (1) in 1964 with a major decade's long effort to convince people of the role of the mechanical effects of changes in venous flow by Schelling (2). However, the excitement comes from a proof of concept that MS is a chronic cerebral spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) by Paolo Zamboni and his team (3).

EGCG is an iron chelator -

Neurodegeneration
The third major area of application for EGCG is the prevention or reversal of neurodegenerative diseases, including:5

•Alzheimer’s Disease (‘AD’)
•Parkinson’s Disease (‘PD’)
•Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease’) 30
•Huntington’s Disease
Why does EGCG have a beneficial effect for these diseases? One reason has to do with EGCG’s effects on iron atoms in the brain. Iron has a known association with neurodegenerative diseases:5 it promotes the oxidative damage of nerve cells, and appears to play a role in maintaining plaques of ‘amyloid-beta’ protein in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Laboratory experiments have shown that EGCG has strong iron-chelating activity11 — that is, EGCG readily removes iron atoms from in and around brain cells.

Researchers working on iron chelation as a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases are impressed by the results they have obtained, as is indicated by these quotes from their published papers:

•“Thus, the natural non-toxic brain-permeable EGCG may provide a potential therapeutic approach for AD and other iron-associated disorders.”11
•“Also, EGCG reduced the levels of toxic amyloid-beta peptides…”5
•“The diverse molecular mechanisms and cell signaling pathways participating in the neuroprotective/neurorescue and APP regulation/processing actions of M-30 and EGCG, make these multifunctional compounds potential neuroprotective drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as PD, AD, Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.”5
•“The treatment ((for ALS)) of more than 2.9 microg EGCG/g body weight significantly prolonged the symptom onset and life span, preserved more survival signals, and attenuated death signals.”30

http://www.lifelinknet.com/siteResource ... s/EGCG.asp

Hope this helps
Sharon

ursula · Post by **ursula** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:38 am

...thank you very much, sharon!

seems to be a good idea to go on with egcg...

ursula

scoobyjude · Post by **scoobyjude** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:18 pm

I don't mean to sound stupid but I'm not familiar with egcg but it's benefits sound interesting. From what I've read it's an anti-oxidant, right? Are there any contra-indications?

cheerleader · Post by **cheerleader** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:37 pm

Hi Ursula-
Good to hear from you, and that you continue to do well. My husband Jeff is doing quite well, his stenting procedure really helped his fatigue issues, and he has less pain and spasms and sleeps really deeply and quietly. He continues to take his supplements, including EGCG.

Sharon is right- EGCG is a wonderful supplement to help get rid of excess iron. As we're learning with all of the CCSVI research thru SWI-MRIs, iron deposited in MS brains is a huge problem. It appears to be the only bio-marker we can link to MS disability progression, and the major cause of injury in MS-

Perhaps keeping your iron levels in check has allowed your brain tissue to heal, your immune system to calm down, and your MS to remain in remission. Years and years of research may someday prove this supposition....but the important thing is that you are doing well NOW.

There will be more info on CCSVI in the months and years ahead. There is testing going on now in Jena, Germany- see Dr. Haacke's site -Sharon gave the link-

wishing you continued good health-
cheer

-There are no contraindications on EGCG. Use the search function in the forums, scooby....there's lots on info on here.

ursula · Post by **ursula** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:14 am

hi cheerleader,

also good to hear that Jeff is doing well!

There are hundreds of trials on egcg - seems to be good in many respects, especially neuroprotection.
I am also very glad that you can get it easily.

I am really convinced that it works against MS.
I´m just wondering if it will ever become a standard MS-therapy.
The big pharmas won´t be glad with it as egcg can´t be patented.

I´ll stick to it anyway...

ursula

cheerleader · Post by **cheerleader** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:38 am

ursula wrote: I´m just wondering if it will ever become a standard MS-therapy.
The big pharmas won´t be glad with it as egcg can´t be patented.

I´ll stick to it anyway...

ursula

Good plan. Jeff is still on it. It's great for everyone, but especially folks who have iron deposited in their brains...
I started a discussion thread down in CCSVI land. Come visit us sometime

cheer

radeck · Post by **radeck** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:10 pm

Hi Ursula, can you recommend a particular brans suplpement? I've been taking NSI Teavigo, which is caffeine free. The liter of green tea you drank as part of the trial, is that caffeinated?

ursula · Post by **ursula** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:05 am

hi radeck,

during the trial I wasn´t allowed to drink green tea of course (In still don´t know if I was in the placebo group or the "real" group).

We got 800 mg egcg there. Unfortunately, you can´t buy the original stuff from the trial anywhere..

I can´t recommend a special brand of the egcg capsules which you can by in the internet.
In the end you don´t know exactly what is inside - mine are "green tea extract" with 50 % egcg (they say..)

radeck · Post by **radeck** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:41 am

Ok thanks. Who organized the trial btw?

cheerleader · Post by **cheerleader** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:39 am

radeck wrote:Ok thanks. Who organized the trial btw?

Institute of Neuroimmunology, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité, Berlin, Germany.

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-6163-egcg.html+ursula

ErikaSlovakia · Post by **ErikaSlovakia** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 1:06 am

I have perhaps stupid question.
I know for sure I can check my iron deposits with MRI SWI.

Is it possible to check it in your blood as well? I think no, but I would like to be sure.

Erika