Category: enhancing health

Pleiotropic… what?

Pleiotropic, this word explains why the posts on this site are a little scattered and not yet bundled into nice easy sections.

It’s not just because my brain hasn’t felt sharp enough to turn on a concise, subject dividing sixpence recently!

Also, life isn’t neat and tidy: Everything is interconnected!

what does pleiotropic mean?

Dr Tom O Bryan defined pleiotropic for his followers a few years back… multi-pronged essentially. Wellness and healing take time – they don’t happen overnight. this makes them unsexy and unlikely to grab any headlines. Can you imagine for example?

Extra, Extra, Read All About It:

“Woman makes her life a little bit better by doing a bit of exercise every day, improving sleeping habits, finding a hobby, connecting with friends and eating real food.”

it’ll barely fit on one line for a start!

This whole site is about going at making life a little bit better. Whether you are a person with diagnosed illness or just knackered the whole time and feel like the sparkle has gone from life you will find a post that could be of use. It’s tricky to find the line between being preachy about what we know deep down will be good for us (decent sleep and relaxation) and providing posts of actual use.

This recent link from an employee at the NIH (US National Institute of Health) touches on why we all have to be our own doctor. The institutions around us on the whole don’t make their best profits from well adjusted, healthy customers. It’s not in the food industry’s interest either to encourage us to skip a meal every now and then.

There are many ways we can get life flowing a little better, only one of which is food. Another life improver is exercise: choosing a type that fits into our lives makes it more likely we’ll keep up that New Year’s resolution that fails every year by around March!

I believe the pages on this site can help to make life a little bit better.

It’s perhaps not a huge claim but one that is achievable and when we achieve one thing then we feel more positive about tackling another thing and another…

Marginal improvements are still improvements!

A series recently aired on the BBC, Doctor in the House illustrated this multi-pronged approach to living a better life by living life a little bit better.

A Venn diagram of seeking wellness

 

Micro or macro, which is important?

The tiny, micro part of our world and the macro events on a global scale can both be altered by the chaos effect!

In this post I’ll be looking at the possible commercial benefits of looking out for each other.

So, it’s been a week or two and lots of life seems to have been going on while nothing very much is happening. I’ve been thinking about one thing especially in relation to exploring the benefits of a happy gut:

News of shrinking amazon rain forest fell hot on the heels of my greater understanding of the ecosystem in our own gut. We need to protect that inner environment as much as any other endangered environment on our planet.

The micro and the macro really do seem to be as important as each other for our increased wellbeing. The Butterfly Effect or Chaos Theory is alive and well whether you go big or go small!

Since doing the free online course  from the University of Colorado, Boulder it’s becoming clearer (to me in my tiny mind anyway) that we’re all part of this living thing… planet earth.

If one bit isn’t working well, the whole lot suffers in not immediately visible ways.

Coincidentally, NCAR the National Center for Atmospheric Research is also in Boulder, CO. We could think about the flapping of a butterfly’s wings here but that would point to some sort of potential for a belief in Gaia. Is the Earth a system we (humans, pandas, ants etc) are merely cogs to aid in its efficient running? If that is the case might we want to start behaving a little differently both as individuals and a society? Let’s try and avoiding creating the right conditions for terrorism to thrive?

I think thinking more about our possibly avoidable troubles might do us good both on the minute/microbial and the global scale?

A few summers ago the media latched on to scaring us about the very real and present danger of antibiotic resistant bacteria – MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and Cdiff (chlostridium difficile). These and bacteria like them could wipe out immune compromised patients in a hospital at the drop of a hat we’re told.

As we’re losing the competent managing of bacteria in our Western, developed lives I believe we need to think a little longer about how we’re treating indigenous peoples of remote parts of the world. Their microbiome is unexposed to our diet and physiologically stressful lifestyle and consequently have rich and diverse communities of bacteria in their gut which strengthen their immune system and mean they suffer few if any auto-immune disorders?

 

chaos theory

Their robust immune systems could be due to a number of things but at the end of the day, people in their communities appear to suffer with less disease than here in the developed world.

Tribal poo (for want of a better term) is a real resource one that we ignore at our peril. Chronic Cdiff can best be treated with a fecal microbiota transplant as I’ve linked to in an earlier post.

In the gut of people who eat a traditional diet, live close to the earth and are exposed to a similar variety of the bacteria they’ve lived around for hundreds of thousands of years their populations of gut bacteria are far more diverse than ours.

We, who watch boxed sets of things and stay up past darkness generally are likely to have had at least three courses of antibiotics in our lives and consequently have a less interesting collection of guests at the party going on in our guts.

Tribal poo transplants will have something to do with how we’ll stop superbugs.

It’s a bit sad that we don’t seem able to protect things just for the sake of them surviving. Polar bears, tigers – the list of endangered species due to habitat destruction I believe is quite long?

But perhaps we may be able to save these isolated populations because they could be of benefit to us?

In an earlier post  I talk about the evolutionary benefits of altruism… are there any? I think I thought there were because if we all subscribe to the idea to look out for each other eventualy, one day, we’ll be someone else’s ‘each other’.

stress and pedalogate!

My lack of speed in getting a post out allows me to refer to stress and pedalogate and roll a couple of subjects together that I think are related.

One of them has a more English sensibility to it and the other is global in its appeal. Both, I feel are worth thinking about a bit more thoughtfully as human beings.

The first is Pedalogate! The British media had a field day when the newspapers were full of stories that highlighted some of the NHS’ more surprising expenditure.

Our national Health Service was paying for leisure activities (instead of questionably effective pharmaceutical treatments?) for some patients with various types of long term illness. At the bottom of this post will be a link to an article from the Daily Mail. Our chances to experience escapism should never be looked down on. whether through a James Bond movie, a good book or creating imaginary worlds!

escapism pure and simple a snail has a trail of light

My recent researches investigating psychoneuroimmunology have included the findings from the endocrinologist Hans Selye in the 1930s. His groundbreaking work looked into the effects of stress on the immune systems of lab rats.

His General Adaptation Syndrome examined an organism’s ability to take stress in its stride.

As an exquisitely balanced organism we’re designed to be resilient  and thrive under fire from the slings and arrows that life has in store for most if not all of us.

The breakdown of this bouncebackability happens over long term exposure to a stressor.

It seems this crucial piece of research that is now coming back into prominence hasn’t necessarily been taken to heart by the wider public?

At best, the wide ranging effects of stress seem to be paid lip service to.

But ultimately the research points toward this: We can affect how our body functions by how we think!

How huge is that?

Sitting in a pedalo on a lake and feeling nature around us can help us to think more clearly.

A pedalo trip could give the patient a brief respite from the situation they’re more than capable of getting themselves stuck in by repeating negative thought patterns.

Being given the chance to leave our everyday existence allows us breathing space and the chance to get a bit of distance on a situation that, if we’re off sick from work we could probably benefit from!

This autumn has involved taking apart some of my own negative thought processes some of which go back decades and I hope now I am aware of them, I will be able to examine and change my situation?

The article in the Daily Mail

an explanation of the image (I don’t have one of a pedalo) but its creation represents my efforts at escapism which gives me the chance to take me out of myself, get a bit of distance and think more clearly.

Investigate!

Blue skies are here again!

As an antidote to the functional infographic of pathologies further down the page here’s some blue sky to gaze at 🙂 although there does seem to be quite a lot of it about looking out of the window at the moment.

blue sky

Apologies for sparse posts recently. I promised a post about stress reduction strategies in my last post and that’s still to come as I talked about the bad effects of stressors on the body. The good effects we can generate are still to come… I’ve not forgotten about it.

I’ve been getting my learn on using a somewhat scattergun approach.

There are various functional approaches to improving wellness including FMT and cPNI (a bunch of acronyms again). These strategies have held my attention as I’ve chosen to investigate them aswell as taking an online microbiology course from the University of Boulder.

I received this graphic from a health blogger I’ve been following for… what must be 10 years?

I need to adjust my thinking on this ‘new’ technology! I know a version of the web has been around since the 50s but I had no dealings with ARPA net, the military early adopters.

Finding approaches to fixing my leaky gut is something I plan to revisit (after talking about gut permeability in previous posts) Step up candida to take your rightful place as just ONE of many things that can cause a leaky gut.

Christa Orrechio is another health and wellness online presence I listen to and will be trying some more approaches that will deal more effectively with bloating and other digestive issues which are some of the more visible signs of an unhappy tummy.

I’d been on rotations of various anti virals, antifungals and anti-parasitic protocols before but a more integrative/holistic protocol that promises to deal with inflammation of the gut lining before worrying too much about clearing gut baddies (fatigue and brain fog are two other symptoms).

functional considerations

 

cracking the wellness code?

This post like many of the others on this site will look at alternative ways of avoiding or possibly lessening lingering unwellness. This applies whether you have a chronic condition or not: After we’ve tried adjusting what, when and how much we eat as well as what, when and how much we move (or be still) we can start to try and address other energy sapping intestinal hitchhikers.

These are approaches I’m trying at the moment to help crack the code of monochrome vibrancy, including the presence of candida and other naturally occurring alien invaders!

  • It’s refreshing to see a doctor acknowledge that yeast overgrowth is a problem and not all in the patient’s head.
  • Shingles (one type of virus we carry, usually without problem) might be an issue for you? If you had chicken pox as a youngster it’s with you for life. When we’re feeling fighting fit this is fine as our immune systems keep it under control but if we have a series of stressful events and life just generally is not feeling like it’s under control the virus that keeps itself to itself most of the time can come out to play by travelling along nerves to make sore blisters/lumps on our skin.

 

 

If you’re one of our regular readers, you may have noticed a change in the way the site looks?

We’re getting happier with its usability. As the volume of posts increase, some visitors had been finding it hard to navigate once they’d reached us.

Let us know what changes you might like to see and we’ll continue to do what we can to make change happen.

 

 

As part of the next installment of my ongoing candida campaign I’ve been taking a biofilm disruptor (between meals) alongside a set of antifungals (with meals) reduced from last autumn.

  • Since reading this page, stumbled into after much searching in frustration at what seemed to be a stall in my chance to get a seat at the wellness table I’ve been taking a disruptor (not dementor). Biofilms are everywhere, apparently: what we brush from our teeth every morning is made up in part from biofilms being created by the bacteria that like living on our teeth.
  • I’ve also started a parasite cleanse consisting of a short course of clove, wormwood and black walnut extracts (read on to find out why).

Yeast (singular or plural? I’m not sure) create Harry Potter style cloaks of  invisibility which leave the yeast impervious to an increasingly inhospitable intestinal tract. It’s one of the reasons antibiotics can sometimes lose their effectiveness (perhaps part of what makes a bug super, too?) After a time, the antifungals including oil of oregano, Uva Ursi, Pau D’Arco, Olive Leaf Extract (amongst others) also stopped working.

My candida reduction protocol started in earnest last August following Christa Orrechio’s suggestions  (mentioned and linked to in another post here) and had been going very well til Christmas.

Things seemed to slide a little as life happened, seasonal celebrations were had and more sugar came into my diet. Shame on me, time to get back on the sugar free wagon, I thought.

Is it blind arrogance to imagine we, as humans are able to gain control of these  opportunistic, hugely successful invaders?

Yeast (in many forms) has been on earth for longer than us and has developed a trick or two to make sure it stays alive. Perhaps we need a certain amount of respect for these immigrants and learn how best to live alongside them?

Whilst facing the yeast shaped beast, we most likely, are also dealing with our addiction to sugar.

I have a handful of skin eruptions on the fingers and thumb of my right hand. It has been suggested to me they could be viral in nature and not, as I’d previously thought: A sign that deeply embedded yeast was on the move in my slowly healing body.

 

makers mark on a building construction

 

This life stuff doesn’t seem to have an easily crackable code to me, yet. But whatever the cause I’ve been feeling pretty good in myself. Sometimes it can be best NOT to look for the code but be glad SOMETHING is working (also referred to as not looking a gift horse in the mouth).

A future post will be about PsychoNeuroImmunology. I was recommended Jo Dispenza’s ‘You Are The Placebo’ as a worthwhile read. It is very worthwhile and also a fascinating, inspiring and empowering way to consider an uneven system.

A nutritionist friend is taking a cPNI training at the moment. I’m excited to see what’s to come, her trainer said he saw people with MS leave him without MS!

Circulation Cracked?


what does this image have to do with improved bloodflow?

Nothing, except mackerel is also good for the brain.

So, what if any benefits have I noticed after beginning to address circulation and bloodflow issues in me in 2012? Has improved bloodflow below my head made any sort of difference at all?

I believe it has and will list the three things I’m sure have improved and touch on a couple of other points at the end.

zebrafish

HEAT INTOLERANCE GONE

My brain no longer feels like an overheated computer that’s given up and switched itself off thanks to a prolonged lack of clear flow of air to its cooling fan. The same thing I (and others who believe in Chronic Cerebro Spinal Venous Insufficiency) was happening to my head. Blood was returning to the heart along the equivalent of tiny, country lanes (collaterals) instead of getting onto the motorway and speeding its way back to the heart. This leaves the head, so the theory goes with deoxygenated blood for longer than it should.

BRAIN FOG GONE… MOSTLY.

I still occasionally get a brain freeze like the Green Party Leader when being interviewed in the run up to the UK general election in February, 2015. When that happens, I completely forget what I’m talking and thinking about. She thankfully managed to continue getting words out! Nowadays this mostly happens when I’m stressed (as she was). A meal with more sugars than normal can disrupt the bacterial balance in my gut which I think also gives me a foggy/groggy brain after waking.

FATIGUE GONE.

Aswell as bone crushing tiredness (with no obvious culprit) I was also dozing off after meals which I think was more of an unsteady insulin response but since removing sugar and foods that turn to glucose quickly in the bloodstream this also has gone.

Exercise helped there, too. Specifically, short bursts of intense exercise got my body back to dealing better with sudden rushes of glucose. Raising my heart rate and breathing perhaps jolted my body out of its increasingly sedentary state and reminded it of how it used to function? I mention this as a disordered response to blood sugar also causes fatigue – we’re multifactorial beings so addressing bloodflow from the head was only ever going to be one part of my healing process.

In fact, it’s almost as if the way we treat our bodies has an effect on how they perform for us!

Who knew?

Two more angles to come at the MS symptom problem from are listed below:

I knew my love of zebras was more than just admiring their stripes! This piece of research tells of the zebrafish’s suitability for studying the formation of myelin, (transparent if brief lives). I think it’s safe to say MSers have never been transparent but more importantly in the area being researched in the zebrafish study we can no longer effectively make myelin.

This research makes me wonder why on earth the regrowing of myelin or the vascular aspect of MS not been major topics of investigation?

Sleep and getting useful amounts of it has been touted again in the wellbeing media as one of the kindest things we can do for our brains which is good news to me as I love the stuff!

Eggs are good!

An image of a poached egg on gluten free toast with lots of freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt and coconut oil in place of butter. I’ve used this image as it represents the various changes I’ve made to my diet over the years but perhaps even more since investing in a medical procedure in 2012?

I’m not healed… yet but I firmly believe a positive, open mind that attempts to stay aware of what’s going on around it is going to form the cornerstone of any recovery (no matter how large or small).
  • Eggs have had a bad rap in times past but I choose to aim for about one a day… but without the whites. the runny yolk has a similar consistency to the phospholipid liquid I take every morning (I mention it first, here). Rather than avoid cholesterol containing foods we should seek out clean versions of them. Our body’s use cholesterol for so many essential processes (not least turning sunshine into vitamin D.The whites are the most allergenic part of the egg apparently (and the part I like least) so I don’t find it a problem to avoid but if I’m offered scrambled eggs by a loved one? I’ll take it!
  • Gluten free toast was the first change I made as grains can cause tiny holes in the gutlining letting food into the bloodstream before it’s ready (intestinal permeability) and then can go on to create an immune response from an already confused immune system. gluten free some argue is not much better than gluten containing.
  • Pepper I just like very much and have been eating more of it whilst avoiding members of the nightshade family (dried chili flakes in this instance) to try and heal the leaky gut I spoke of in an earlier post.
  • I use Himalayan, Rock or Sea salt as they taste nicer and choose to avoid the free running granules/table salt as much as possible. It’s when salt is processed and stripped of its naturally occurring minerals (sometimes showing up as colour) that we can end up with problems. Also I have low BP so, at the moment have no need to worry about it rising a little. Increased blood pressure may help a sluggish circulatory system?
  • Coconut oil I also like very much which is also lucky as many people say it’s so damned good for you. Originally we came from the tropics where we’ve gotten used to eating coconuts (is one version I’ve heard to explain why they’re so good and easily digested). The fats from them are quickly turned to energy without needing to use the liver or bile salts, first. The fatty acids it gets quickly broken down into (lauric and caprylic acid) are anti-fungal, anti-microbial and just all sorts of good especially if you’re dealing with fatigue for any number of reasons eg malabsorption lingering infections all stuff that tires the body.

poached egg on gluten free toast

These four approaches represented by the poached egg are me trying not to rock the boat. I want stuff that’s in my gut to stay there til I’ve absorbed everything from it and it’s good and ready to leave! Obviously this isn’t the main part of my diet, that’s non nightshade veg but I find the protein sets me up for the day (with some sprouted seeds in the egg sandwich) future post on sprouts to follow but before that, a post will soon follow on the results of that medical procedure that I think I’ve noticed.

 

as ever, I’m not a doctor and the food choices I’ve made have made sense for me – that’s not to say they’ll make sense for you but it’s still worth paying attention to how our bodies react to the stuff we put in it.

 

Herbs for MS

The Herbalist, Karen Merryweather has another fascinating post (first one for ChronicAlternatives can be found here). The title of this page really does give away the subject! In this post are listed some herbs for MS that may improve symptoms or prognosis. Baldwins (no affiliate links, just a company Karen’s used) are a good site to find various extracts and tinctures of medicinal herbs.

EPplant

  • The medicinal use of Evening primrose ‘Oenthera biennis’ seed oil has been extensively researched since the 1980’s. This native North American naturalised in the UK, with its tall spikes of highly night scented yellow flowers is a food source for moths and bats. It is a powerful alterative that regulates the hormonal system and a hepatic, protecting the liver and nervous system. The beneficial effects of this oil are: increasing blood flow through decreasing platelet aggregation (stickiness); reducing the autoimmune response; normalizing the diminished essential-fatty-acid levels found in people with MS. “The abundant supply of essential fatty acids in evening primrose oil may be valuable in minimizing the inflammation associated with this progressive nerve disorder. The fatty acids may also contribute to healthy nerve development when taken over time.”  More information on herbs can be found here.

scutellaria lateriflora, scullcap

  •  Skullcap ‘Scutellaria lateriflora’ is a primary nervine tonic that can be taken as needed with its effects continuing after use. Skullcap’s flavonoids, iridoids, volatile oils, tannins, ascorbic-acid, calcium, lignin, magnesium, potassium, scutellarin and zinc, renew and revive the central nervous system. A cerebral vasodilator, Skullcap soothes nervous irritation of the cerebro-spinal nervous system. It is antispasmodic and a nervine relaxant, helping the body cope with stress and muscle tension. Its interactions with GABA receptors in the brain have been researched – a decrease in GABA synthesis is known to cause impaired motor function, muscle stiffness and spasm. Skullcap potentiates other medications. It combines well with gentle Lime blossom/Linden ‘Tilia europa/cordata’, a nervine, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory, and Catnep ‘Nepeta cataria’ an antispasmodic and relaxing nerve sedative that can ease pain.

turmeric root

  •  Research is starting to uncover the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective potential of Turmeric. Tumeric ‘Curcuma longa’ is a pungent root that stimulates the digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems. It normalizes energy flow, is an antibiotic, anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant and hepatic. Containing curcuminoids (curcumin & others), initial studies have found these could block the progress of MS by inhibiting the manufacture of the IL-12 protein, a cause of damage to the myelin sheath. Curcumin regulates inflammatory cytokines – proteins released by cells affecting the interactions and communications between cells.

oatstraw

  •  Oat straw, the green oats of ‘Avena sativa,’ has been used to support brain health since the Middle Ages. It is able to suppress inflammatory cytokines in artery walls which can increase blood flow to the brain. High in calcium and other minerals, an infusion of oat straw can nourish the body at the deepest level (Susan Weed). Its ability to stimulate cell growth, ease muscle cramps, strengthen blood vessels, protect nerve sheaths and its high Vitamin B complex content, makes Oat straw an effective herb in treating ms.

marshmallow

  • Marshmallow ‘Althea officinalis’ acts as a demulcent, emollient, diuretic, anti-inflammatory and expectorant. Both the leaf and the root are high in mucilage – a demulcent that soothes and heals, aiding regeneration of tissues in the gut and providing protection to the gut lining. Its calcium and magnesium content feeds the nervous system.

St John's Wort flower

  • St John’s Wort ‘Hypericum perforatum’ is a direct anti-inflammatory for the central nervous system, nervine and sedative. Its combined constituents have a histamine antagonist interaction lessening the inflammatory response. Used to treat nerve pain, depression and insomnia, St. John’s Wort is being researched for its ability to promote the healing & health of nerves.

Karen Merryweather Clinical & Hedgerow Herbalist. More detail about her can be found on her website. As ever there is a warning: St John’s Wort and scullcap can interact with other medicines so seek the advice of a herbalist before starting a new treatment.

 

Oxygen therapy, what’s involved?


The choice of image at first glance seems to have nothing to do with oxygen therapy. Getting out into the garden on a bright, dry, early spring day when stuff’s growing and spring has almost sprung gives me a similar feeling to the state I’m in after oxygen therapy. I feel good in this environment. Views like this lift my spirits and heart. Future post on the science behind the beneficial effects of nature to follow soon.

So, back to the post at hand: why are there so many names for this oxygen treatment?

HDOT (high dose or high density Oxygen therapy) HBO (Not the American entertainment channel), O2 therapy.

two birds in a tree

The Hyperbaric part of the name refers to the decompression chamber we enter to breathe oxygen. Deep sea divers go into these spaces if they came up too quickly from a dive leaving them with the wrong balance of gas in their bloodstream (the bends).

The chamber recreates what it’s like underwater (no swimsuits required!)

The increased pressure causes oxygen in the bloodstream to become more concentrated, it increases in Density. The increased oxygen creates an improved healing environment in the body. Wherever we have an injury our body’s natural healing process is speeded up.

We can call the process natural as there are no extra substances on top of the air we breathe – there’s just more of it.

We don’t need to breathe extra deeply as the whole thing happens at a cellular level in the blood and tissues of our bodies. We start breathing oxygen through a hood or mask once lots of air has been pushed into the chamber itself to reproduce the effects of greater pressure underwater.

That’s why the chambers are almost spherical, there are portholes and really thick welds so nothing explodes! A similar thing happens when we go up in an aeroplane. To be able to breathe at high altitude we increase the pressure from the thin air at thousands of feet by pushing more air into the body of the plane.

The human body doesn’t feel the change in pressure in a plane or a decompression chamber.

Australian sports scientists and American footballers are just two groups who have known of the decrease in time off the pitch, track or field due to the improvements in bone knitting when players have sessions in the ‘tank’ while recovering from broken limbs.

That’s a layman’s description of what I try to do at least once a week once I’ve taken the risk described in a previous post.

I’m choosing to believe increasing circulating O2 using the above technique aswell as exercise as described elsewhere are worth doing for the state of my mind as much as the state of my blood! I think making the conscious choice to believe I’m doing myself good is just one of the aspects of the therapy that’s making a difference.

Avenues of MS research everywhere!

My own research into increasing variety of movement.

New news, apparently… not the same old news!

Quite often there’s not much to report in MS research or what there is to report is all the same shape – either ineffective or carries the potential of life threatening side effects but… there appear to be a handful of avenues opening up!

A family friend from the US sent me this link last week the way concerned friends do. It’s nice to know that folk care and are thinking about you which can give as much of a lift as anything from a blister pack or bottle.

This article was referenced in the Newsweek article and it prompted me to buy some

  • Tavegil/Clemastine, an OTC (over the counter, no prescription required) antihistamine. It was the only molecule tested (out of a 1000 in their lab) that had any effect on the growing of a myelin like substance on little glass pyramids or something like that (yes, science is strange) but perhaps it will help my body regrow some myelin?
  • I’ve been using phospholipid complex since December (mentioned here) and enjoying a poached egg yolk every day to try and support my brain by giving it building blocks for the last few months.

Interestingly, to an utter non-scientist like myself this page describes part of the reason as to whether there might be a useful effect.

I’ve been signed up to be contacted and perhaps get enrolled in the SMART trial. It will be trialling three existing treatments that were developed for other conditions and, I believe are now out of patent so there is little money to be made from them in their original setting (it could be argued).

  • Ibudilast was one of the three therapies to be tested on secondary progressive MS patients when I showed interest last summer. It has been used in Japan (mostly) for the past 20 years as an asthma therapy. It’s a very good anti-inflammatory, apparently.
  • Riluzole has been used to treat The Ice Bucket Challenge disease or more properly Motor Neurone Disease once also known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs disease, I think?
  • Amiloride which is used to treat heart disease – got no punchlines or interesting facts about that treatment or condition.
  • Fluoxetine (better known as Prozac and usually used to treat depression) is taking the place of Ibudilast.

To a layman, I see the mention of having an effect from the antihistamine on asthma and see that the Japanese asthma treatment has been taken out of the MS trial (being funded by Edinburgh University) and I wonder whether perhaps the drug’s creator might be able to change a molecule or two and get another lease of life out of the out of patent drug by repackaging it as an MS treatment?

Seeing this article about the possible role of a psychedelic drug in the treatment of asthma (well, it worked on mice in the lab) leads me to think the creators of pharmaceutical interventions employ  what seems to be a scattergun approach to the therapies they push on us the patients and it really is worth not holding one’s breath for miracles. I’m an entire human being – my body and brain can’t easily get by without the other!

“What we have demonstrated for the first time is that they are also effective in treating physiological diseases outside of the brain, a completely new and exciting role for this class of drug” says study author Dr. Charles Nichols.

a line of wild animal toys

Whilst keeping an eye on various pharmaceutical offering in the pipeline I think I’ll keep up with my personalised integrative approach. My most recent exercise addition is ‘walking like an animal’ using hands and feet not on hands and knees. I can’t manage the half an hour a day that was recommended to me but after a few goes each day for the last couple of weeks I’m an awful lot better at it than I was!

This physiotherapist in Scotland was reported in New Pathways magazine last year and has now received funding to investigate his results from Edinburgh Napier University. I don’t know how or even whether it is allied to the Edinburgh University conducting the MS SMART trial at the top of this post but I think I’ll continue looking at healing my body from a number of different angles.