The Green Pharmacy for Multiple Sclerosis

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The " Green Pharmacy " for Multiple Sclerosis JoAnn Guest Dec 27, 2004 19:14

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The " Green Pharmacy " for Multiple Sclerosis

 

My best friend from college, now a dentist and jazz saxophonist who

plays with a group imaginatively named Group Sax, was hit with multiple

sclerosis (MS) around age 55. He asked my advice about this mysterious

and elusive disease. I told him what I knew and about natural healing

techniques that might be promising--some herbal oils and a few dietary

approaches.

 

That was ten years ago. Apparently my advice helped.

Like most MS patients, he has ups and downs, but when I last talked

with him, he had a new girlfriend and was planning to attend the reunion

of our Satterfield Big Band Jazz Orchestra. He and I both played with

Satterfield during college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill. For nearly 15 years now, we've been having reunions in Chapel Hill

each August, playing big band numbers for one fun weekend a year.

Despite my friend's MS, he's outlived quite a few other Satterfielders.

 

The Young People's Disease

 

Multiple sclerosis is a baffling, heartbreaking chronic illness of the

nervous system that afflicts an estimated 350,000 Americans, about 60

percent of them women. Two-thirds of MS cases are diagnosed in people

ages 20 to 40.

 

In MS, the protective myelin sheath that covers the major nerves breaks

down, causing minute electrical malfunctions within the nerves.

People with MS may experience an enormous array of possible symptoms,

from minor weakness to paralysis. In most, however, the symptoms come

and go. After each attack, or exacerbation, some people return to

normal, while others experience residual disability.

 

Scientists are not sure what causes MS, but there are two major

theories: MS often appears in clusters, leading some experts to theorize

that a virus or viruslike microorganism is the culprit.

 

Others believe that MS is an autoimmune disease. In this view, the

immune system mistakes the myelin sheath

for a threatening invader and attacks it.

 

A third theory has also been proposed, but it has received scant

attention from conventional medicine. It links MS to a high-fat diet.

 

Its originator, Roy L. Swank, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of

neurology at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland and author of

The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book, claims impressive results in treating

MS with a low-fat 'elimination' diet.

 

 

 

Green Pharmacy for Multiple Sclerosis

 

Most dietary approaches to MS stress the importance of decreasing the

amount of saturated fat in the diet--the kind of fat found in meat and

dairy products.

In addition, I'd also suggest some herbs.

 

 

Dr. Swank's Low-Fat Diet

 

In the late 1940s, Roy L. Swank, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of

neurology at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland and author of

The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book, who is now almost 90, first became

interested in multiple sclerosis (MS).

 

At that time, scientists were puzzled by the observation that the

disease becomes more prevalent as one moves away from the equator.

 

Rates in the United States, Canada, England, Scandinavia, Germany and

Switzerland were higher than rates in Mexico and southern Europe.

 

A half-century ago, MS statistics were sketchy in most countries except

Norway, which had instituted one of the first comprehensive

disease-reporting systems. Dr. Swank looked at MS there, expecting to

find more cases in the northern part of the country than in the south.

 

Instead he found a completely different pattern. The MS rate was low

along the entire north-south Norwegian coast, but considerably higher

inland. What could account for the difference?

 

Using Norwegian diet surveys, Dr. Swank determined that the farm-based

inland population ate a diet that was considerably higher in saturated

fat (meats and dairy products) than the fishing-based coastal

population.

 

Intrigued, he reinterpreted the strange geographic distribution of MS:

All of the northern countries with high MS rates also consumed more

saturated fats than the southern countries with low MS rates.

 

To test his theory, beginning in 1950--decades before dietary fat was

linked to cancer, heart disease and other ills--Dr. Swank recruited 150

people with MS, placed them on a diet low in saturated fats and compared

the course of their disease to that of a similar group who ate an

unrestricted diet.

 

After 20 years, those on the Swank diet experienced substantially fewer

MS flare-ups, fewer deaths and less disability. (Their blood cholesterol

levels also fell to an average of less than 150, substantially reducing

their risk of heart disease.)

The details of Dr. Swank's diet are available in his book.

 

There are many stories of the neurological deterioration of MS

substantially slowing, and sometimes stopping, on the Swank diet, but it

remains very controversial. The MS organizations do not endorse it.

 

I think it's probably worth trying. Even if the Swank diet doesn't help

your MS, it would certainly help prevent cancer and heart disease

because it is low in fat and high in fiber.

 

 

 

Black currant (Ribes nigrum). Black currant oil contains a compound

known as gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) that is thought to be useful in

treating MS.

 

Herb advocate Andrew Weil, M.D., professor at the University of Arizona

College of Medicine in Tucson and author of Natural Health, Natural

Medicine, strongly

endorses GLA as an effective anti-inflammatory for treating autoimmune

disorders.

He recommends taking 500 milligrams of black currant oil twice a day and

says improvement can be expected after eight weeks.

 

GLA can also be found in borage and evening primrose oil (EPO), but

black currant oil may be cheaper. (I'm partial to EPO myself.)

 

 

 

Black Currant

 

Black currant seeds contain the same anti-inflammatory substance that's

found in evening primrose oil.

 

 

 

Blueberry (Vaccinium, various species).

 

These berries contain compounds known as oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs).

The biochemistry of OPCs is complicated, but there's good evidence to

show that they help prevent the breakdown of certain tissues, such as

the myelin sheaths that surround the nerve fibers. OPCs also have

anti-inflammatory activity that might help relieve MS symptoms. This

sounds like a good reason to eat more blueberries.

 

 

 

Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).

 

Like black currant oil, EPO is rich in GLA. British herbalist David

Hoffmann, author of The Herbal Handbook, says that EPO is " recommended

in all cases " of MS.

 

 

Pineapple (Ananas comosus).

Pineapple contains enzymes, pancreatin and bromelain, that break up

protein molecules. Besides being anti-inflammatories, these enzymes have

been shown to help reduce the level of circulating immune complexes

(CICs). High levels of CICs occur in a number of autoimmune diseases,

including MS. These immune complexes activate the immune system to

attack the body, ultimately leading to tissue damage.

 

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) and other foods containing large amounts

of magnesium.

 

In a letter to the British medical journal Lancet some years ago, a

British biochemist with MS said that supplemental magnesium by itself

worked better for him than all other supplemental vitamins and minerals.

He took 375 milligrams a day. (The Daily Value is 400 milligrams.)

This is just one man's story--an anecdote--even though it comes from a

biochemist and was printed in a respected journal. Still, from my point

of view, it means that purslane and other sources of magnesium are worth

trying. I know I would try them if I had MS.

 

If you'd like your magnesium from an herbal source, purslane is the herb

richest in this mineral, at nearly 2 percent on a dry-weight basis,

followed by poppy seeds, cowpeas and spinach.

 

I steam purslane like spinach and eat it raw in salads. A heaping

serving of steamed greens could provide as much magnesium as the

biochemist took. So would eight ounces of fresh greens.

 

stinging nettle (Urtica dioica).

Among the beneficial compounds is histamine, the chemical that often

induces allergies like hay fever.

 

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/bookshelf/Books/41/87.cfm

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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