cases discussions - Dec 2009

Cataracts treatment?

Whimsy

Message 1 of 17 , Dec 22, 2009[-- Image: Frame1 --]



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Greetings Wise Ones
I have a 72 YO woman, African American, previous hx of renal
cell cancer
1990 left kidney removed treated for six years with interferon,
now in
remission.
HTN and past hx of epilepsy and osteoporosis, fibromyalgia post
interferon.
Diagnosed with cataracts 1 year ago she would like to avoid
surgery using
Naturopathy, limited income.
Asside from having her use sun glasses to avoid further damage
any other
ideas to slow down or reverse the trend?
Here is her rx

RX
250mg HCTZ
Synthroid 1mg qd
250mg Tegratol qd
Bone up by Jarro
Silicon
Vit D 2000IU
Antioxidants formula by Trader Joe
100 B complex Trader Joe
Immunocal?
Omega 3-6-9

Thanks a lot.

Whimsy Anderson ND
LA, CA

Tara Greaves

Message 2 of 17 , Dec 23, 2009[-- Image: Frame2 --]



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Dear Whimsy,

I use a combination of the following for treating cataracts:
Cataract drops from Natural Opthalmics(eye drops)
Super Carnosine
Glutathione
Selenium
Oral Cataract drops from Complementary Professional
Complementary Health Solutions
Vinpocetine

Tara Greaves, N.D.
Andover, MA

Joanne Hillary

Message 3 of 17 , Dec 23, 2009[-- Image: Frame3 --]



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Hello Cardiophiles,

I have a 61 yo male patient who had 2 cardiac stents inserted 2
months ago. He had major blockage in his 3 main coronary
arteries. He is on Plavix and was on 325 mg of aspirin. He was
not warned to stay away from coffee and alcohol with that combo
and wound up in the hospital again 2 weeks later with a GI
bleed. He has recovered from that. Now his Cardiologist wants
him on 81 mg of aspirin with the Plavix and 80 mg of Pepsid to
fend off another bleed.

This patient is somewhat informed and is objecting to the Pepsid
since he has read about how it impairs GI function. He is
looking for an alternative that has less impact on his GI
tract. He has given up his whole pot of coffee per day. Drinks
a few cups of tea instead. His alcohol intake is a glass or 2
of wine or beer with dinner. My only thought to protect his GI
is for him to take a couple of Rhizinate (DGL) lozenges mid AM
and mid afternoon to protect his mucosa. I'm not sure about his
level of risk here. Any thoughts from you experts?

Thanks in advance.

Joanne Hillary  PhD, ND

Spokane, WA

Tim Murbach

Message 4 of 17 , Dec 24, 2009[-- Image: Frame4 --]



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Hi Joanne,

You can give nattokinase, titrated to bleeding time and
fibrinogen levels, instead of Plavix and I thought the American
College of Cardiologists was no longer recommending aspirin
therapy.  MK-7 to slow, stop, or reverse progression of
plaques.  Also consider Linus Pauling's vitamin c, l-proline,
l-lysine protocol if elevated Lp(a).

In Health,
Tim Murbach, ND
Salem, OR

Jeff Hanson

Message 5 of 17 , Dec 24, 2009[-- Image: Frame5 --]



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Hello Joanne,

Are you able to do IV Na-EDTA chelation with this patient? Refer
to the Alt Med Review from June 2007 regarding chelation, dual
anti-platelet tx, and stents. In this review article, "studies
demonstrate EDTA inhibits platelet aggregation...... via three
mechanisms while it maintains a safety factor my not inhibiting
collagen-induced aggregation...whereas, Clopidogrel inhibits by
only one". I have seen a number of patients outlive the
expected life of their stents and not requiring re-stenting.
Chelation is one of those treatments you can hang-your-hat-on
for stable angina sx and cardioprotection post stenting.
Chelation is not proven to remove arterial plaque but I have
seen clinically in 2 pts receiving this tx that did a before
and after Carotid Intima Media Thickness scan, they saw a 50%
reduction in the amount of carotid plague and artery thickness.
I would recommend 20-30 IV's 2x/week then 1 tx monthly as
maintenance. Don't include vitamin C in formula because it can
promote inflammation (see "alt med review" original study from
March 2009 on EDTA and Vit-C). In addition, ozone tx with Major
Autohemotherapy before chelation can promote RBC oxygen
utilization and add a boost to the chelation tx.

I would not use chelation in replace of Plavix at least for 6-12
months. The standard of care is too use dual antiplatelet
therapy for those at a high risk owing to a history of MI,
stroke, or for those undergoing percutaneous coronary
interventions for secondary prevention of clots. I think you
can get away with removing the ASA with Nattokinase, fish oil
(4gm), anti-inflammatory diet, and chelation...more then enough
protection.  Follow the  fibrinogen levels (target 250-300) and
bleeding time (in-office proceduce...target 3-4 min), along
with CRPhs and perhaps Lp-PLAC.

An alternative to PPI to protect the gut mucosa is the
Zinc-Carnosine combination. Metagenics has a product called
Zinlori 75 (sig is 1 BID). The early research on this comes
from Japan which has shown that this combination can prevent
and heal existing ulcers. As a result, this combinatin is an
anti-ulcer Rx drug in Japan. In 2007, the British did a study
with Zinc-Carnosine and indomethacin (potent NSAID). The
researchers concluded that the Zinc-Carnosine stabilized the
gut mucosa of the stomach and small intestine from the gut
damaging effects of the indomethacin.

Hope this helps.

Jeff Hanson ND
Litchfield, Mn

Whimsy

Message 6 of 17 , Dec 25, 2009[-- Image: Frame6 --]



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Dan Carter

Message 7 of 17 , Dec 25, 2009[-- Image: Frame7 --]



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Here is a website that has a treatment attributed to Wright/Gaby
: http://www.cataract.com/alternative-treatment-options.html

I think that Visual Ocuity was already mentioned; contains
N-acetyl-carnosine that has shown benefit.

I saw an abstract earlier this year (papers are always at the
office, not at the computer I'm using :-)) that used DMSO and
EDTA to successfully treat cataracts. I could not find the
original paper. This combination makes sense, since EDTA is a
strong antioxidant. Perhaps a compounding pharmacy could find
the original work and make a sterile eye drop.
Dan Carter, ND
Bozeman, MT

[email protected]

Message 8 of 17 , Dec 27, 2009[-- Image: Frame8 --]



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Whimsy,



Cineraria maritima succus eye drops have been used for a long
time to treat cataracts.



Jared Zeff, ND

Salmon Creek, WA

natureshelpernd

Message 9 of 17 , Dec 28, 2009[-- Image: Frame9 --]



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Have you thought about eyebright drops concentrate by wise
woman?

chan_eric2003

Message 10 of 17 , Jan 19, 2010[-- Image: Frame10 --]



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Hello,
Does anyone have a source for Cineraria maritima succus eye
drops? Thank you

Eric Chan ND
Richmond BC

BradW

Message 11 of 17 , Dec 27, 2010[-- Image: Frame11 --]



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Hi All,
Whimy sent this email out a year ago and I am now searching for
bst treatment options for cataracts. A patient brought in a
medical newsletter from a doc I could not ID from the clipping
that used the an eye drop combo to reverse and prevent in many
patients, he/she claimed. Thought it was Jonathon Wright but he
uses Carnosine and this doc used DMSO 6.25%, Vit C 1.25% and
Glutathione 1.25%. Good Compounding pharmacists know about it
and have recommended it over the carnosine drops, but I cannot
find any studies of other evidence.

Also,Dr Zeff and others did not responde to Eric's email about
where to Cineraria and how to use it. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Brad West, ND
Bay areas

Jeff Hanson

Message 12 of 17 , Dec 27, 2010[-- Image: Frame12 --]



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Brad,
The newsletter you are referring to is Dr. Rowen's and the DMSO,
glutathione, and vitamin C eye drops work pretty good from my
experience on at least 5-6 patients. You need to give it 3-4
months to notice significant changes. I believe it is Belmar
Pharmacy that can compound this for whoever is interested. Call
the office if this is not the right pharmacy.
Jeff Hanson ND
The Nevada Center
775.884.3990

Julie Glass, ND

Message 13 of 17 , Dec 27, 2010[-- Image: Frame13 --]



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Natural Partners carries a line called Natural Opthalmics, which
has homeopathic cineraria eye drops.  I have not used these eye
drops, but noticed them in the Natural Partners catalog last
week.

Julie Glass
julieg63@...

Kristin

Message 14 of 17 , Oct 31, 2012[-- Image: Frame14 --]



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I have a patient who had 2 stents added 10 years ago and wants
to get off Plavix. Before adding naturopathic therapies, I
wanted to get a bleeding time and monitor him while he makes
the changes. But Quest Labs does not do a bleeding time test.
Is there a new test I should be ordering instead or is it under
a different name? Other suggestions?
Kristin Becker, St Paul MN

Dan Carter

Message 15 of 17 , Oct 31, 2012[-- Image: Frame15 --]



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We have had some pretty extensive discussion of the bleeding
time test on NatChat, but trying to find them in the archives
is tedious. IMO the "in-vivo" bleeding time is inaccurate and
often fails to demonstrate the effects of drugs (be they Rx
pharmaceuticals or herbal/nutrient/enzyme nutraceuticals) on
platelet function. It is well past the time to discontinue this
archaic test's use. There are a number of newer tests used to
evaluate platelet function, and some were specifically
developed to monitor the effect of clodiprogel (Plavix). This
is not an exhaustive review of available tests. For example:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20040042 Conclusion is
that ADP induced LTA assay is more sensitive and reproducible
than VASP-assay which was developed specifically to monitor
Plavix!

2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21532533 This paper comes
to the same conclusion, and the ADP induced LTA assay is more
likely to be offered by large clinical labs you may have access
to.

3. http://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/2011/April/Pages/PlateletFunction.aspx
Here is an explanation of ADP induced LTA assay

Optical Light Transmission Aggregometry. LTA generally is cited
as the gold standard for defining responsiveness to
clopidogrel. The advantages of this technology include its
acceptance as the gold standard and its specificity for the
actual pharmacologic mechanism of the drug, ADP-induced
platelet activation. The method’s disadvantages are largely the
same as when used to monitor aspirin therapy: lack of
standardization, labor requirements, and the need for
platelet-rich plasma.

Note: Even though the review is all about monitoring the effect
of Plavix on platelets, any drug that effects platelet function
will show up as reduced platelet aggregation in the test system.

I would suggest talking to your laboratory and see what tests of
platelet aggregation they might offer, or if they can send the
sample to a reference lab offering the test. I have done this
with my local labs and found they often send to Mayo (for
example).

Dan Carter ND

Bozeman MT

Thad

Message 16 of 17 , Nov 1, 2012[-- Image: Frame16 --]



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Platelet Function Test. Prediction of bleed events has been
shown to be poor and only modest in predicting platelet
responsiveness in high risk individuals such as your patient
with 2 stents. Technology remains limited in this area, that
is, to my knowledge. For now, I think it would be unwise to
remove anti-platelet therapy and consider switching to another
med, unless Plavix is working for him.

Should he choose to remove Plavix, and I've had patients who've
done this on their own, be sure to get the testing done so that
both you and he can see what needs to be done to establish
thrombus prevention.

Theoretically, high intake of fish oil, vitamin E and
proteolytic enzymes might take the place of blood thinners. But
there needs to be 100% compliance and 100% ability to pay for
high dose, non-insurance covered supplementation.

Thad Jacobs, ND, LAc
SLC/Park City, UT

Kristin

Message 17 of 17 , Nov 5, 2012[-- Image: Frame17 --]



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Unfortunately, in the case of this patient, I suspect one of his
major reasons to discontinue medications is because of the high
cost of them...he has no insurance and is not eligible for
medicare for 3 more years and not much income. He is already
skipping medication to "stretch them out" against my advice. I
have some concern that if I do not give him guidance, he will
make some poor judgements on his own. But if we cannot monitor
at all, I'm concerned about mixing therapies. So the most
advice I can gather to help him make the best decisions would
be appreciated. Kristin Becker, St Paul MN