PAIN, INFLAMMATION & SYSTEMIC STRESS (part 3)
There are not too many medicinal substances or medicines that can make this claim. It should be noted that pain management with magnesium employs magnesium chloride applied transdermally to the skin. Dr. Linda Rapson, who specializes in treating chronic pain, believes that about 70 per cent of her patients who complain of muscle pain, cramps and fatigue are showing signs of magnesium deficiency. "Virtually all of them improve when I put them on magnesium," says Rapson, who runs a busy Toronto pain clinic. "It may sound too good to be true, but it's a fact." She's seen the mineral work in those with fibromyalgia, migraines and constipation. "The scientific community should take a good hard look at this."1
Lynne Suo is one of Dr. Rapson’s patients. She had been using painkillers and steroids for years to try to ease the pain of her arthritis and fibromyalgia. Dr. Rapson started her on 675 units of magnesium a day. Within days, Suo called Dr. Rapson to report a surprising change. "I went from being in constant pain almost throughout the day and night to having moments of pain. And for me that was a huge improvement," says Suo, a former college English teacher. She dismisses suggestions that the change is a placebo effect. "I was not one day without pain and now I don't have to take heavy pain medication," she reports.
The granddaddy of all anti-inflammatories is aspirin, which can cause more serious problems than it can alleviate. Most pain and anti-inflammatory medications are not safe; even the over the counter pain medications hold unforeseen dangers. Despite more than a decade's worth of research showing that taking too much acetaminophen can ruin the liver, the number of severe, unintentional poisonings from the drug is on the rise, a new study reports.2 The drug, acetaminophen, is best known under the brand name Tylenol. Compounds containing Tylenol include Excedrin, Midol Teen Formula, Theraflu, Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, and NyQuil Cold and Flu, as well as other over-the-counter drugs and many prescription narcotics, like Vicodin and Percocet.
People with poor quality sleep or sleep deprivation exhibit increased levels of interleukin-6 (IL6), the chemical that causes inflammation throughout the body. According to Dr. J. Durlach, the biological clock and magnesium status are linked, and a balanced magnesium status is important for the function of the mysterious pineal gland. Dr. Durlach sees the psycholeptic sedative effects of darkness amplified by magnesium. There probably is a strong relationship between melatonin and magnesium; certainly relative amounts of light and darkness affect the pineal gland and its production of melatonin. Magnesium provides a calming effect that allows for deeper relaxation and better sleep. Magnesium is considered the "antistress" mineral. It is a natural tranquilizer which functions to relax skeletal muscles as well as the smooth muscles of blood vessels and the gastrointestinal tract.
According to the National Sleep Foundation approximately 70 million people in the United States are affected with sleeping disorders. Approximately 12 million Americans have restless legs syndrome, a sleep and movement disorder characterized by unpleasant (tingling, crawling, creeping and/or pulling) feelings in the legs, which cause an urge to move in order to relieve the symptoms. Magnesium supplements may be helpful for relieving restless leg syndrome (RLS) and for treating insomnia.
Depression also is correlated with inflammation. A study conducted by researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine found that psychological stress leads to an excessive inflammatory response in people. Their findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry showed that individuals who suffer from depression are more likely develop an inflammatory response due to the emotional disorder than people who are not depressed.3 It should come as no surprise that magnesium supplementation has a great effect on depression.
In the final analysis there is no single medicine or nutritional agent that has the power to both treat and prevent chronic inflammatory conditions. Magnesium acts as a general cell tonic while it reduces inflammation and systemic stress. Equally it is important in overall energy (ATP) production, hormonal and enzyme production and function which all reflect powerfully on the process of inflammation.
OTHER NATURAL ALLOPATHIC SOLUTIONS
Another new study reveals that marijuana relieves pain that narcotics like morphine and OxyContin have hardly any effect on, and could help ease suffering from illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes. 4 Neuropathic pain is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs. Even powerful and addictive narcotics like morphine and OxyContin often provide little relief. This study leaves no doubt that marijuana can safely ease this type of pain.
also been shown to alleviate neuropathic pain.5
Dr. Gregory T. Carter, Clinical Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine says, “Marijuana is a complex substance containing over 60 different forms of cannabinoids, the active ingredients. Cannabinoids are now known to have the capacity for neuromodulation, via direct, receptor-based mechanisms at numerous levels within the nervous system. These have therapeutic properties that may be applicable to the treatment of neurological disorders; including anti-oxidative, neuroprotective, analgesic and anti-inflammatory actions; immunomodulation, modulation of glial cells and tumor growth regulation.6 Intracellular changes and altered signalling of the neurons seems to be the principle effects of the cannabinoids in marijuana.
Marijuana has strong anti-inflammatory effects. "This is why I believe that people who used marijuana a few decades ago are much less likely to develop any disease, such as Alzheimer's, that relies upon the slow development of brain inflammation," said Wenk. The recent discovery of an endogenous cannabinoid system with specific receptors and ligands (a compound that activates a receptor and triggers its characteristic response) has increased our understanding of the actions of marijuana. Excessive inflammatory responses can emerge as a potential danger for organisms’ health. Physiological balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory processes constitutes an important feature of responses against harmful events.
http://starfishproject.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/the-benefits-of-curcumin/
Turmeric (Curcuma longa, a member of the ginger family) is a plant that, when ground to a yellowish powder, becomes the main ingredient of curry powder, the well-known South Asian spice. The most important chemical present in turmeric is Curcumin. This natural product, a polyphenolic molecule, has numerous biological and pharmacological properties. Chief among these are anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiamyloid effects. While the health benefits of turmeric have been known for thousands of years going back to its origins in ancient India, research into the medical uses of curcumin as the active principle has been relatively recent, spanning only a few decades. In a 2005 Wall Street Journal article entitled, "Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope", medical research into the health benefits of curcumin was described as "exploding".
According to the National Institutes of Health, curcumin is currently being tested in almost a dozen human clinical trials as a single therapeutic agent or in combination with other agents for the treatment of conditions such as pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, adenocarcinoma, precancerous gastrointestinal polyps, myelodysplastic syndromes, Alzheimer's disease and psoriasis. Clinical trials of curcumin for cancers of the digestive tract no doubt were inspired by epidemiological data that show a decreased incidence of colorectal cancer in ethnic groups that regularly ingest curry as part of their normal diet.
Cancer prevention and therapy are the major focus of studies of the medical uses of curcumin. The cancer chemoprevention effects of topical curcumin application are well documented. Curcumin inhibits chemical carcinogen-induced tumor initiation as well as tumor promotion, which can be induced by such agents as the phorbol esters, plant-derived chemicals known for their tumor promoting capabilities. Thus, such studies have one plant-derived natural product (curcumin) being used to counteract the adverse effects of a second natural product (phorbol). Based on in vitro and in vivo findings, curcumin is now being tested in human clinical trials as a cancer chemopreventative agent. This is being done in addition to its use in clinical studies as a treatment for the precancerous conditions noted above.
Curcumin has also been tested in vitro and in vivo as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent, either by itself or in combination with other anticancer agents. It is effective against such cancers as melanoma and various carcinomas. It is believed that an important mechanism by which curcumin inhibits or kills cancer cells involves the modulation of various intracellular signal transduction pathways. Among the current human clinical studies employing curcumin as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent are trials of curcumin as a single agent or in combination with gemcitabine for treating pancreatic and colorectal cancers.
One of the more recent findings with respect to curcumin's anticancer properties is that it can selectively induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells without harming normal cells. Another recently reported anticancer property of curcumin is its ability to inhibit NF-kappaB (NF-kB), a transcription factor that can be overexpressed in many cancer cells, according to Dr. Dennis Liotta of Davidson College. Of particular interest is the ability of curcumin to inhibit cancer cell metastasis.
Experiments conducted by Dr Bharat Aggarwal and colleagues from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston utilized a mouse model of cancer metastasis. Groups of mice were treated either with the anticancer paclitaxel (Taxol®), curcumin, or a combination of paclitaxel and curcumin. After several weeks, it was found that the mice treated with curcumin and the combination therapy had reductions in lung metastases of about 50% and 75%, respectively, in comparison to an untreated control group. In contrast, the paclitaxel-treated mouse group had only a 30% reduction in metastases.
As with other antioxidants, curcumin may have utility in treating Autism Spectrum Disorder, as patients may have increased sensitivity to, or decreased protection from, damage caused by chemical free radicals or UV radiation (oxidative stress). According to Dr. Woody R. McGinnis, the use of antioxidants in these patients may markedly reduce autistic behavior.
Curcumin may also have potential in combating Alzheimer's disease. It has been found both in vitro and in vivo that curcumin can inhibit the production and accumulation of beta-amyloid, a protein that has been associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin's antiinflammatory properties may also play a role in its potential utility as an Alzheimer's preventative or therapy. In fact, researchers using a genetically altered mouse model of Alzheimer's disease noted that not only can curcumin inhibit beta-amyloid accumulation in the brain, it can also promote the reduction of amyloid plaques that are characteristic of the disease.
Certain enzymes involved in the inflammatory response can be inhibited by curcumin. Owing to its antiinflammatory properties, curcumin in topical form has been used as a psoriasis treatment. Additionally, curcumin topically applied to mouse skin has inhibited chemically induced inflammation. Curcumin has also been investigated in several studies as a topical wound-healing agent. The wound healing benefits of curcumin may be related both to its antioxidant effects (reduction of oxidative stress) as well as to its antiinflammatory properties.
The antiinfective properties of curcumin are also of interest, particularly the use of curcumin in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. For example, curcumin was reported to be active as an inhibitor of the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent in gonorrhea.
Mark Sircus Ac., OMD, Director International Medical Veritas Association http://www.winningcancer.com/
Professor Sircus (honorary doctor of Oriental medicine) is the Director of Natural Allopathic and Oriental Medical studies at the DaVinci College of Holistic Medicine, which is accredited by the Complementary Medicine Association in the United Kingdom and a member of the International Association for Distance Learning.
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1http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20020923/favaro_
magnesium020923/CTVNewsAt11/story/
2 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/health/29cons.html?ei=5088&en=
dcdd26e735aa717b&ex=1290920400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
3 http://news.softpedia.com/news/Depression-Causes-Excessive-Body-Inflammation-34499.shtml
4 Lester Grinspoon, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is the coauthor of "Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/48749/
5 A pair of studies published in the journal Neuroscience Letters in 2004 reported that mice administered a cannabis receptor agonist experienced a reduction in diabetic related tactile allodynia (pain resulting from non-injurious stimulus to the skin) compared to non-treated controls. The findings suggest that “cannabinoids have a potential beneficial effect on experimental diabetic neuropathic pain.” Dogrul et al. 2004. Cannabinoids block tactile allodynia in diabetic mice without attenuation of its antinociceptive effect. Neuroscience Letters 368: 82-86.
6 Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2002 Mar;3(3):437-40.
Legal Notice:The Author specifically invokes the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and of the press without prejudice. The information written is published for informational purposes only under the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution for the United States of America, and should not in any way be used as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other licensed health care practitioner. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the FDA. The products discussed herein are not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent or treat any disease. Images, text and logic are copyright protected. ALL rights are explicitly reserved without prejudice, and no part of this essay may be reproduced except by written consent. ©2008 by Mark Sircus
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