Newpharmablog. Health News

Parkinson’s disease is named after the doctor who first identified it in the early nineteenth century. It is also known as paralysis agitans and shaking palsy. The disease, which affects the nervous system, has a slow onset and usually occurs in people over sixty, although some cases occur as early as forty.

Parkinson’s disease is caused by a degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain, and particularly the corpus striatum and the substantia nigra. These areas of the brain regulate voluntary movement and in Parkinson’s disease there is a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Debilitating symptoms appear when only twenty to thirty percent of dopamine neurons remain.

The sufferer may first notice mild tremors in the hands and involuntary nodding of the head. Bodily movements become slower and more difficult. As the disease progresses, stiffness and tremors increase until walking is reduced to a shuffle and the facial muscles become set in a fixed expression. While the intellect remains unaffected, mood swings do occur. Parkinson’s disease is more common in men than in women. The disease was either unknown or undiagnosed before the industrial revolution and its incidence has risen markedly in the last 170 years. The disease does not seem to have a genetic aspect, and the fact that it is more common in industrialised countries than developing nations has led some to believe that it may be caused or exacerbated by chemical pollution. Others claim that iodine deficiency and excessive sodium intake may be causal factors.

The treatment of Parkinson’s disease is essentially symptomatic. The drug Levodopa is administered to increase dopamine levels in the brain and thus reduce tremor. Because Levodopa has some potentially harmful side-effects, treatment with the drug is often only intermittent. Vitamin E is recommended to slow the progress of the disease and antioxidants are considered to be beneficial.

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We are witnessing a burgeoning of interest in herbal medications, as well as evidence of St John’s Wort at work for men and women with a wide variety of different problems and in different situations. Some are taking it on their own, others at the recommendation of herbalists and practitioners of alternative medicine, and yet others, in numbers almost certain to increase, as part of the regimen set out for them by their doctors. What kind of people are using the herbal remedy? What sort of ailments are they treating with it and to what effect? These are some of the questions I have sought to answer in this chapter and the next.

As research has shown, St John’s Wort can be effective in the treatment of major depression. Yet, just as with anti-depressants, its use and value very likely extend far beyond the confines of that single clinical syndrome. As the stories in this chapter illustrate, St John’s Wort, though mild in its side-effect profile, has powerful and far-reaching beneficial effects which makes it the gentle giant of our herbal pharmacopeia. Its value in the treatment of less severe problems – the heartaches, stresses and ailments of everyday life – are chronicled in the chapter that follows. Although I have changed the names and some identifying details to maintain the privacy of those described, the essential elements of their stories are authentic.

For the benefit of sceptics, perhaps it is fitting that our first story should be that of a man who was successfully treated for his depression without his knowledge. Meet Sam, a depressed solicitor, Sylvia his concerned wife, and her close friend, Louise, a woman of great resourcefulness who happens to be a patient of mine.

*4\75\2*

Barry Carter was a terror. At eight years of age, he had been a difficult child for as long as his parents could remember. For years he had thrown temper tantrums whenever he could not get his way, but when the family moved into a new house he became increasingly tired, listless, and irritable. When Barry started school that September, all his problems came to the fore. After three miserable months in school, at home, and in the neighborhood, Barry was brought to me.

That winter, Barry had gotten into the habit of kicking his mother in the shins and placing all responsibility for his problems on the poor woman. He terrorized and beat up his younger “playmates” both at school and on the street. The principal and other school officials declared that he not only was unreachable, but that his irritability, hyperactivity, and uncontrolled behavior disturbed the entire class. The school urged the parents to remove Barry from school and take him to a psychiatrist. Their theory was that Mrs. Carter had “rejected and dejected” her son. He was put on Ritalin, a drug often used to treat hyperactivity. The parents had tried this psychiatric route; they also had tried spanking him repeatedly. Nothing seemed to work.

Several interesting facts emerged from his history. One tell-tale clue was that Barry’s symptoms were always accentuated in winter. In particular, he had become increasingly disrespectful, hostile, and sassy since the beginning of the heating season. This suggested a chemical cause—particularly, something connected to the home heating system. Upon learning that an auxiliary gas-fired space heater had been installed in his bedroom the previous summer, it was recommended that he exchange rooms with his older sister. Although his behavior improved, he still remained too hyperactive and distraught to read with any comprehension.

By this point, the child and his mother were not even talking to each other. An experiment was tried, to see how the child would react to a new environment. He went with his grandmother, to stay in a hotel room, which was free of those environmental chemicals which frequently cause or perpetuate chronic symptoms.

Within the first three days of fasting, drinking only spring water, and taking no drugs, Barry’s pulse decreased from 90 to 70 (an increased pulse is often a sign of allergic reactions). Barry now read incessantly, the first time he had been able to do so in months. After completing a battery of food allergy tests, he returned to his home city, on good terms with his mother. Upon returning to school directly from the hotel, he apologized for his past behavior and asked for makeup work. However, that afternoon upon returning home for the first time, he developed a headache. By the following morning he was tired, listless, pale, and puffy around the eyes, and within three days had returned to his previous level. For example, upon arising he ripped his favorite Boy. Scout uniform to shreds, kicked the baby, and attacked his mother.

His parents removed the gas space-heater from his room but did not change the gas-fired hot-air system which heated the entire house. Thus, although his symptoms improved greatly that summer, they were back in full force when the heat was turned on again in the fall.

Changing the gas-fired system for an all-electric heating and cooking system brought about a complete change in Barry’s behavior. His hyperactive, irritable, and destructive traits disappeared. He remained quite well, only suffering relapses when exposed to other sources of gas outside the home, or to heavy smog or pollution.

He was suffering from the chemical-susceptibility problem, which was mainly exhibited as a plus-two hyperactive reaction to environmental chemicals, particularly gas.

*57\110\2*

One of the most ironic features of the chemical-susceptibility problem is that it is often begun, or at least perpetuated, by doctors themselves. To a large degree it can be considered an iatrogenic illness, that is, one that is induced by medical treatment.

The vast majority of drugs are synthetic and almost all of these contain petrochemical derivatives. Not infrequently, a patient who is unknowingly susceptible to petrochemicals will go to a conventional doctor for treatment. Let us say that the patient’s problem is headache, caused by exposure to natural gas, synthetic fibers, and fumes.

The doctor diagnoses the headache as being stress-related, and tells the patient to try to relax more. In addition, he prescribes a pain-killer containing aspirin and other synthetic substances. When the patient takes this pain-killer, however, he may aggravate his already existing susceptibility to chemicals. In other words, instead of getting better, in the long run his headache problem may become worse. In addition, now he begins to suffer from mental confusion. Because of the increasing chemical load, he has moved, at least temporarily, from a minus-two category to a minus-three.

And so he returns to the physician, complaining of fatigue and possibly depression or “brain-fag,” as well as intensified headache. The physician, not seeing the root cause of the problem, prescribes stronger drugs and advises the patient to take a vacation or see a psychologist. The stronger drugs bring on other reactions and visits to other specialists, in a downward spiral of symptoms and misguided treatments. By this point, the effects of the original chemical exposures have become more burdensome, since chemicals react in a cumulative fashion.

The patient may suspect that the doctor’s prescription pad is the cause of some of his reactions, but he rarely suspects the full extent of problem. Consequently, even a cessation of all medication is unlikely to bring complete relief. The patient muddles along, with temporary improvements and persistent relapses in a generally downward course. The result is usually a frustrated physician and a patient who has become a very bitter dropout from the conventional medical system. This problem is especially serious because in recent years there an explosion in the use of drugs as medicines in industrialized countries. Sales of prescription drugs alone, at the wholesale level, total over $9 billion United States. This figure is practically double what it was a decade ago. Some of these drugs, of course, have been highly useful, even lifesaving, they have been misused and overprescribed, especially to those who are susceptible to their effects.

It is generally well known that drugs can, and often do have serious side effects. Usually, however, these well-publicized side effects are of the kind: they bring on an immediate and highly visible reaction. As with allergies to rarely eaten foods, allergies to uncommonly encountered drugs are fairly easy to detect. If a person with little exposure to penicillin develop an allergy to it, the physician who dispensed the medication can usually tell that a is taking place. Treatment then consists in finding an acceptable I and avoiding penicillin.

Acute reactions to drugs, however, are only the tip of the iceberg. Often a drug will initiate or complicate a general intolerance for synthetic chemicals in the patient. These reactions are difficult to detect, since they come On insidiously. Usually, neither the patient nor the physician connects the heightened symptoms with the drug. The effects of the drug merge into the general background of chemical exposures.

All drugs, no matter how innocent they seem, can have side effects. The reactions may be caused by the active agent in the drugs, but they also can caused by hidden ingredients such as flavorings, colorings, preservatives and excipients, which are binders used in the manufacturing process. Few people realize the complexity of most drugs or the number of ingredients they contain. The ingredients of pharmaceuticals are rarely given on the label. An investigation of one over-the-counter preparation of synthetic vitamins revealed the presence of dozens of chemicals. In addition to seventeen vitamins and minerals the pills contained calcium stearate as a lubricant, gelatin, sugar, sodium benzoate (a preservative), calcium stearate (a lubricant), calcium sulfate, wax, carnauba wax, sesame oil (polishing), Blue Dye N0 2, Yellow Jjj 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, titanium dioxide, polyvinyl pyrolidine, and edible white ink.

Many of these substances cause allergic reactions in susceptible individuals even in such minute amounts. So-called natural vitamins also contain many excipients and additives. While some of these are made from vegetable sources, one can develop susceptibilities to them as well. In general, I urge patients to get their needed vitamins through eating wholesome foods in rotation, according to the principles of the Rotary Diversified Diet.

The first examination of the role of additives in drug reactions was carried out by Dr. Stephen D. Lockey of the Lancaster General Hospital in 1948. Dr. Lockey reported four cases of hives and three cases of asthma caused by additives in drugs. Lockey’s patients became sick when they were given various pharmaceutical preparations which contained petrochemical products. When they were given pure preparations, without these petrochemical additives, they did not become sick. A 58-year-old woman, for example, with a long history of allergies, had frequent attacks of rash and itching. It was eventually learned that these attacks came within half an hour after she had taken synthetic vitamins and an estrogen, a drug used to counteract the effects of the menopause. The only thing that the two capsules had in common was that they both contained Yellow Dye No. 5, a Food and Drug Administration approved coloring. When this patient washed the dye off the two capsules, she was able to use the pills without trouble.

Another patient, a 53-year-old man, took one teaspoonful of elixir of Phenobarbital. This brought on an attack of itching, hives, and swelling around the mouth. The drug preparation was colored with the now-banned Red Dye No. 2. In fact, any drug or food containing this dye brought on the same symptoms. The man was able, however, to take sodium phenobarbital tablets without trouble, since the pill form of the drug did not contain any dye.’

These are not isolated cases. In my first study of this topic in 1952, I found that over fifty percent of chemically susceptible patients reacted to aspirin and that, in a slightly different group, fifty percent reacted to sulfonamide. This was before the extent of the chemical-susceptibility problem had been worked out and, in particular, before the natural-gas problem was realized to exist. Most chemically susceptible patients are susceptible to synthetic drugs and, in general, the more advanced and long-standing the problem, the greater the number of drugs which are related to such problems.

Although it is best to obtain vitamins from fresh organic food, it should be noted that chemically susceptible patients who take supplements generally react worse to synthetically derived vitamins than to those of natural origin. This is so despite the fact that the two substances seem to have identical chemical structures. Vitamins prepared from food sources may also cause allergic reactions. For instance, Vitamin B1 prepared from wheat often reacts specifically. Vitamin C may cause reactions in some patients allergic to corn, as the synthetic product is made from com sugar.

In sum, reactions to drugs in susceptible people may occur to the active chemical ingredients, their bases, artificial colors, scents, preservatives, or other chemical ingredients or contaminants. In view of the number of such possibilities, involving both synthetic and natural ingredients, it is often difficult to trace reactions to the responsible material or materials. At times, combinations of ingredients and circumstances give rise to reactions.

*27\110\2*

A dislocated hip occurs when the thigh bone is out of its proper place in the hip socket. Before or after birth, a baby’s hip socket may develop too shallowly. Eventually, the thigh bone (femur) dislocates from the socket, either before or at the time the child begins to stand and walk. The condition may occur on one side or on both sides. The cause is not certain, although some cases seem to be inherited. Other cases seem to be caused by an abnormal position of the infant’s legs in the uterus before birth.

If the hip condition is not diagnosed until after dislocation has occurred, correcting it is more difficult. If it is not corrected before the child walks, the child will limp if the dislocation is in only one hip. The child will waddle if the dislocation is on both sides.

Signs and symptoms

If the condition is in only one hip, parents may notice that the infant moves one leg more than the other. The folds of the buttocks or the creases on the sides of the groin may not match. A child who is already walking may limp or waddle.

Home care

There is no home treatment until the condition is identified by a doctor. Dislocation of the hip(s) is a disabling condition if not treated early and properly. If you see any signs of hip problems, see your doctor as soon as possible.

Precautions

• Be sure that your baby is thoroughly examined (while completely undressed) at regular visits to the doctor. Your doctor should examine the hips at each visit until the baby is older than one year.

• If the child’s legs are not the same (in size, shape, position, or movement), tell your doctor.

Medical treatment

Your baby should be carefully examined for dislocated hips during each checkup. A doctor will suspect dislocation if any of the early signs and symptoms appear. The doctor will then check the ability of the thighs to be rotated outward. The doctor will also listen for a “clunking” sound which a dislocated hip makes when put through a certain series of movements. Your doctor will order X rays of both hips if the disorder is suspected.

The diagnosis is not usually made at birth, but the condition becomes more obvious with passing months. As soon as the diagnosis is made, you should consult an orthopedic specialist. If the hip is not yet dislocated, the doctor will treat the child with a special pillow positioned to keep the thighs spread or with a body splint or cast. If the hip is already dislocated, surgery may be required.

If both you and your doctor are alert, the problem can be noticed early. Early diagnosis is the key to easier treatment and perfect, permanent results.

*52/84/5*

If you wait for something funny to happen to lift your spirits and lengthen your life, you may be frowning a long time. In these serious times, you have to be proactive about soliciting joyfulness, says Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University School of Medicine. “You have to push your behavior,” he says. “When you do, your brain chemistry will change and your emotions will follow.”

For just such down-in-the-dumps situations, he suggests keeping a well-stocked arsenal of laugh-makers on hand. His humor apothecary would include:

* A joke book. Anything by Dave Barry or Rodney Dangerfield. But really, select the humor that humors you.

* A collection of comedy videos, such as any of Robin Williams’s live performances. But again, it’s your call.

* Funny films. Once again, the choice is yours. Dark humor like The War of the Roses might fit the bill on certain occasions, while National Lampoon’s Animal House or the Marx Brothers golden oldies could elicit guffaws on others.

* A little red clown’s nose. For real. Go buy one at a costume shop. Put it on and look in the mirror. If that doesn’t crack you up, nothing will. As for wearing it in public, we take no responsibility for the repercussions.

* Mad magazine. Is there a man alive who secretly or quite publicly did not go through pre-and post-adolescence reading the borders of Mad behind his biology textbook? And, now more than ever, we could all learn from Alfred E. Neuman’s motto: “What, me worry?”

*59/36/5*

Normally, if you are to have an operation for breast cancer, you will be admitted to hospital the day before, to allow time for blood tests and a chest X-ray to be done. Bone scans, liver scans and other specialized ‘screening’ investigations are no longer carried out for all patients.

There has been a trend over the last few years to move away from the very radical operations performed at the beginning of this century and well into the 1950s and 1960s. These operations included removal not only of the breast but also of the muscles of the chest wall and all the draining lymph nodes. It was thought that removal of all the lymphatic drainage gave a better chance of cure. With the introduction of radiotherapy and the realization that such excision was not necessary for all women, there was a trend towards much smaller operations including conservation of the breast. Nevertheless, there is a very wide spectrum of treatment from a surgeon’s point of view – and many conflicting ideas.

Wide lump excision

A modification of this operation used to be known as a segmental quadrantectomy.

A wide lump excision involves the removal of the cancerous lump together with at least a 2-cm (3/4-inch) margin of normal breast tissue, and usually an ellipse of skin from over the lump. Some lymph nodes are also removed from the armpit for staging to give some idea of whether the disease has spread beyond the breast. A separate incision may be needed for this.

Wide lump excisions are really only useful for small cancers, up to 2 cm (3/4 inch) in size, in the upper outer quadrant of the breast. This method tends to have rather poor cosmetic results for the removal of larger lumps, or lumps in other quadrants of the breast.

The operation performed on its own with no adjuvant treatment is associated with a high rate of recurrent cancer in the wound or around the scar. It has, however, been shown unequivocally that this operation combined with ‘field’ radiotherapy to the remaining breast tissue and to the lymphatic drainage in the armpit, above the collar bone and by the breastbone, is equivalent to doing a mastectomy. Conservative treatment of this sort can leave a very acceptable result, with a normal-looking and normal-feeling breast and nipple.

When wide lump excisions are performed for lumps in the centre or in the lower or inner half of the breast, they can give very disfiguring cosmetic results, except perhaps in a very large breast.

*38/39/5*

In the past it was often claimed that endometriosis could be prevented if women had frequent pregnancies early in their reproductive life. But it is now well documented that early and frequent childbearing does not necessarily protect a woman from developing endometriosis as many women have been diagnosed after they have had their children.

So far, gynaecologists and researchers have not been able to find a way of preventing endometriosis because no one knows precisely the causes or what factors influence its development or who it affects.

There is a considerable amount of research being carried out which is attempting to identify the possible factors that may increase or decrease a woman’s risk of developing endometriosis. To-date, none of the results have been sufficiently consistent for any conclusions to be made. In the future it may be possible to identify those women and girls who are most likely to develop endometriosis and to offer them advice regarding the things that they could do to reduce their risk of developing the condition.

Eventually, when more is known about what determines how — and why — the misplaced endometrium implants in some women and not others, it may also be possible to find ways to prevent endometriosis from occurring altogether or at least to prevent recurrences of the condition. For example, it may be possible to develop a vaccine against the condition or to develop drugs which cure the condition permanently.

Lyn’s story

It came as something of a shock when I was told in December 1986 that I had endometriosis — a shock because I had never heard of ‘endometriosis’.

Coming from a family of eight children I suppose I just assumed fertility would never be a problem.

Thinking back now, I am sure I developed endometriosis when I was about 16 — about two years after I started menstruating. I would get severe cramps on the first two days of my period, usually requiring me to stay home from school tucked up in bed with my faithful hot water bottle.

I remember waking one night in such severe pain I could hardly walk. I staggered to the bathroom, thinking I had a severe bout of diarrhoea. For two hours I suffered hot flushes and pain which, although I have never experienced childbirth, came with the irregularity of labour pains. I remember staggering out of the bathroom and fainting — much to the horror of my father.

You see, he was a jockey and his small five foot frame was no match for my larger, heavier and limp body. Much to his credit, he was able to carry me to bed!

The next morning my mother took me to our local doctor. After describing the symptoms, he told us I had probably experienced a twisted bowel which had ‘corrected itself. His solution for my painful periods was to put me on the pill.

For the next 10 years I went on and off the pill. I didn’t think it was too healthy to stay on the pill for such a long stretch but each time I took a break, the cramping periods would be back as bad as ever. It was easier to stay on the pill and enjoy a relatively painless cycle.

In 1985 my husband and I decided it was time to start a family. I just presumed that the first month off the pill would result in the expected pregnancy.

When this didn’t eventuate, I was given the usual advice: ‘Try not to think about it dear’, ‘Your job is too stressful’, ‘Just relax!’.

Six months later I had another attack of what I thought was a twisted bowel. Again I went to a doctor and again he confirmed that it was a twisted bowel which had corrected itself. I mentioned to him that I was having difficulty becoming pregnant. His answer was that as I was only 25, 1 shouldn’t worry. He said he would not recommend seeing a specialist for another two years.

Neither my husband nor I were happy with that suggestion and we decided to see another doctor. As luck would have it, a girl I went to school with was working as a GP near our home. I went to her, told her my symptoms and had an appointment with a gynaecologist two weeks later. That’s when the fun really started. On my first visit, he did an internal examination and told me I was very tender on my right side. Who wouldn’t be tender when someone is tugging at your ovaries!

He suspected an ectopic pregnancy and sent me to have blood tests and an ultra-sound, both of which confirmed I was not pregnant. I was then booked in to have a laparoscopy and this revealed I had severe endometriosis.

*15/41/5*

The first thing to do when trying to combat stress is to read the preceding parts of this section of the book. Start by improving what you eat, by taking more exercise, by breathing better, by getting more and better-quality sleep and by changing your lifestyle and attitudes. Even if you do nothing else and your life continues to have just as many potentially stressful events as before you’ll feel a new person and many of the above list of symptoms will disappear over a few weeks.

There are other steps, though, that you may find helpful. They include activities with proven value in reducing stress both at the stressful time itself and in between.

There are so many types of relaxation exercises that a book such as this cannot even give an overview of them. Here, however, is one example of an exercise sequence that is simple and effective:

• Take the phone off the hook

• Make sure the room is warm and quiet and that you won’t be interrupted

• Choose a time of day that is free from stress (morning or evening is best)

• Avoid doing the exercises after a meal

• Try to do them twice a day

• Put a blanket on the floor or sit directly on the carpet

• Wear loose clothing-nothing constricting

• Remove shoes, ties; undo bra or belt

• Sit up in a supported position

• Clear your mind of intrusive thoughts and let things happen

• Breathe deeply and regularly

• Once the breathing is established try to introduce thoughts such as of a wave of warmth or

happiness coming over you. All this relaxes tense muscles and the action of the sympathetic

nervous system and prepares you for the relaxation exercises you want to do. For example:

• Systematically and consciously relax all the areas of the body in sequence

• Start with the feet-deliberately tighten the foot muscles and then relax them after 10 seconds

of holding them in tension. Feel them release as you let go. Try consciously to register how

good this feels

• Work up to the top of the body, tightening and relaxing area by area

• Do this for ten minutes and then spend a further ten minutes returning to normal. Just sit or

lie there feeling relaxed and carry on with the deep breathing. Get up slowly and gently to

resume your normal activities.

*53/72/5*

“We need you in San Francisco in 48 hours,’” shouts Rosanna Pit-tella, mimicking her job’s frequent and urgent demands for air travel. “Usually, I’d go by the seat of my pants and come home with 10 extra pounds.”

She’s exaggerating, of course, but not by much. At one time, the 41-year-old consulting-firm director and mother of three carried 263 pounds on her 5-foot-2-inch frame. She blames the excess baggage on the sheer exhaustion of making repeated crosscountry trips. “When you’re that tired, you eat what’s convenient—and that often means unhealthy foods,” she says. “And once I’d blow it, I’d feel sick the whole trip. It sets up a cycle of bad eating.”

Finally, Rosanna wised up to her unhealthy ways. Temptation is greatest when you’re out of your routine,” she says. So she devised a plan for ensuring that she sticks with her healthy eating habits when she travels. “I pack an emergency food kit, using an insulated lunch bag that belonged to one of my kids,” she explains. “I fill it with cans of tuna, small cans of vegetables, canned snack packs of fruit that are for kids’ lunches (the portion sizes are perfect), fresh fruit, and bottled water. That way, I’m not a victim of airport food or late-night room service because it’s the only thing available.”

Today, a year later and 103 pounds lighter, Rosanna is happy, comfortable, and soaring with energy. She says that packing her emergency food kit is like brushing her teeth. “I won’t leave the house without doing either one,” she says. “They’re so much a part of me that I can’t avoid them.”

WINNING ACTION

Flying? Don’t forget your food. You don’t have to be a frequent flier like Rosanna to face the nutritional pitfalls of air travel. Your best bet is to prepare for your hunger.

Pack your carry-on bag with healthful snacks such as bagels, fresh or dried fruit, single-serving boxes of cereal, and nonfat or low-fat sliced cheese. Take some water, too. Airplane cabins are extremely dehydrating; during a 3-hour flight, you can lose more than a pint of water through your skin and by breathing.

*46\89\8*