Hello all,
Online research has been a dizzying yet enlightening endeavor lately. Or is it just my MS-fuzzed brain causing a delusional episode of pseudo-illumination?
What-ever! I found a website where bloggers discuss their hookworm therapy for MS and allergies: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/helminthictherapy/message/4057
Hope you go there and read the science attachments on the Hygiene Theory, too. Made me put on my thinking cap, anyway.
Epstein-Barr virus, vasculitis, CCSVI, Multiple Sclerosis--the riddle: How are all these things connected? Bear with me now...
One blogger posited a theory that made my intuitive hairs stand at attention and salute what is left of an apparently high-functioning MS brain.
We know that viruses play a big role in the MS equation. We know that Epstein-Barr virus, a form of the herpes virus, is present in virtually all MS patients. And, we know that Zamboni's CCSVI theory connects vein inflammation and its subsequent narrowing with the formation of MS lesions and CNS damage.
The blogger surmised that CCSVI may be an effect rather than a cause of MS. More specifically, a manifestation of vasculitis: an autoimmune reaction to EBV, which is a herpes virus that dwells in the lower spine during periods of remission.
One anecdotal finding that might support CCSVI effect is from another blogger whose veins were shown to be restricted in an initial test. A second test (no Liberation therapy was performed) revealed those veins were no longer narrowed. Inflammatory attack followed by complete remission? Just like what we see on an MRI, enhanced lesions followed by dimmer spots during remission? Hmmm...
Hookworm therapy addresses this cycle, restoring balance by ingesting benign hookworm, a parasite that regulates autoimmune responses to viruses, bacteria, and allergens. Gives "sleeping with the worms" a more positive spin, eh?
Suspend your disbelief for a moment (knocking back a few martinis helps with that) and all these theories seem to form a string back to the environment and how our bodies cope with viruses. Upset that symbiotic relationship and mayhem ensues.
As soon as I sober up, who knows what'll make sense?
Kim
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Good morning Kim,
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts... who sells the hookworms anyway? I there an online store like "Hookworms R Us" or something?!
Dave
Hi, Dave,
ReplyDeleteJasper Lawrence is the most high-profile seller of helminths. See www.autoimmunetherapies.com.
I've corresponded with him briefly, interesting chap. You can read about his trek to Cameroon to infect himself with the worm at http://www.asthmahookworm.com/
He also directed me to a yahoo group where MS patients who are taking this therapy share their experiences:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/helminthictherapy/message/4057
Sale in the US is banned--but there are ways to get it in, apparently. And the therapy is not cheap, it costs around $2900.
Interesting if it works. I have allergies and MS, and this therapy is supposed to quiet both. That's killing two birds with one worm, eh?
Kim
Good morning Kim,
ReplyDeletehah hah, very funny! Two bird with one worm...
$2900?? sounds like a rip off to me!
Dave
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/helminthictherapy/message/5126
ReplyDeleteit's not a rip-off as you can see from patients who are in remission from relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis in the message above. I think it's definitely worth $2900 to achieve remission.
http://opensourcehelminththerapy.org contains quite a lot of information about helminthic therapy that can treat Crohn's disease, Ulcerative colitis, Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune illnesses. Large collection of information can be found there, especially the "Studies" and "Links" section - a lot of research here.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/helminthictherapy - yahoo group where over 200 people who already tried helminthic therapy are discussing their progress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy - wikipedia article with references
http://opensourcehelminththerapy.org - large collection of information, especially the "Studies" and "Links" section - a lot of research here.
http://www.parasites-film.com/main/helminthic-therapy - collection of links from the website of a documentary on helminthic therapy
http://coloncomrades.wordpress.com/helminthic-therapy-in-the-news/ - collection of links from a blog of a UC patient who is trying helminthic therapy
http://autoimmunetherapies.com/ - the site where helminthic therapy can be obtained
What isn’t yet accepted in the medical community is that stem cell transplantation demonstrates a new approach for supporting restoration of tissue through remyelination. Through multiple clinical trials that have already proceeded to phase III, it has been well-established that mesenchymal stem cells moderate responses of the disease and stimulate repair of the central nervous system. In these studies, adult autologous mesenchymal stem cells have not only been safely administered to MS patients but have proven effective as a potential therapy for MS. Approved Clinical Trials involving small numbers of patients have occurred for the past half decade in medical centers outside of North America. As a result, various medical treatment centers have already derived protocols for extraction, culture, and treatment of MS patients with autologous stem cells. A review of popular medical journals actually reveals a widespread consensus on the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation as a therapy for MS patients.
ReplyDeleteAfter 18 months of treating MS patients, CCSVI Clinic is well along with its program. “Success means different things to different people, but I’d say we’ve had much more than we could have hoped for when we first started.” says Dr. Avneesh Gupte, Neurosurgeon with CCSVI Clinic. “For the past year we’ve been adding autologous mesenchymal stem cell transplantation to the liberation therapy procedure and that’s when we really started to notice a significant change in patient outcomes”For more details visit http://ccsviclinic.ca/