Odd Beginnings

DMSO has strong anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Originally a commercial solvent used in the wood industry in the early 1950s, DMSO was first applied in the medical field as a preservative for transporting organs during the 1960s. Stanley Jacob, M.D., a former head of the organ transplant program at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Ore., started looking into its potential as a healing agent when he saw how fast and how deeply it penetrated the skin.

Since the ’60s, more than 40,000 articles concerning DMSO have appeared in scientific journals. They show DMSO to have versatile properties and numerous health benefits. In fact, according to Terry Bristol, president of the Institute for Science, Engineering and Public Policy in Portland, DMSO was the first non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) discovered after aspirin. He believes it is this product that spurred research into the development of other NSAIDs.

Too Good For The FDA?

As a result of its early heralding of being a “wonder” product, many companies tried to patent DMSO. However, the FDA rejected approval across the board, mainly because it has a wide range of attributes, not merely one (as drugs need for approval). In other words, a drug needs to be effective for a single illness, focusing on the symptoms and not the causes of health problems. This represents a perverse reversal of the perspective of traditional healing systems.

DMSO, however, violates the FDA’s narrow requirement with its ability to help numerous health issues, including pain, inflammation, sprains, arthritis, stroke, clots, central nervous system trauma, minor cuts and burns (it speeds healing) as well as protection against cancerous cells. Yet in the United States, DMSO has FDA approval only for use as a preservative of organs for transplant and for interstitial cystitis (a bladder disease).

Quick Benefits

I love DMSO and use it as often as needed. Among the topical analgesics and anti-inflammatory products out there, it is among the safest and most effective. In fact, it stands perhaps alone in its ability to be administered topically, orally and intravenously.

When applied topically, it absorbs quickly into the skin and reaches deeper tissues and membranes. It has been found to be a great carrier of other substances, and it aids in their absorption. I sometimes use other topical pain/inflammation creams mixed with DMSO gel to help reduce pain and inflammation. When antifungals, cortisone and penicillin are mixed with a DMSO solution of between 70 percent and 90 percent, you get quicker and deeper penetration of the tissues. I use the 70 percent solution for regular pain, sprains, inflammation from exercise or daily strain. When there is particular pain or stiffness or inflammation, I use the 90 percent solution.

How And Why It Works

DMSO has antioxidant properties. As such, it neutralizes free radicals around an injured site. It also stabilizes and stops leakage from damaged cell membranes. This combination effectively reduces inflammation. What’s more, according to lab studies, DMSO reduces pain by blocking peripheral nerve C fibers.

It is thought that DMSO works because it is rich in sulfur. This element is among the most abundant in the body and plays a role in the formation of muscle, skin, hair and nails. Sulfur is also one of the building blocks of collagen, the connective tissue that makes up cartilage. Studies indicate that cartilage afflicted with degenerative arthritis contains low levels of sulfur. As such, DMSO is often used for those suffering arthritis and joint pain, though it is equally effective for muscle pain and spasms.

Forget About FDA Approval Here

The way DMSO is viewed by the FDA is, to me, perverse. I subscribe to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) philosophy that a medicine (in the TCM case, herbal medicine) is considered “low” if it works on only one or two health issues. The TCM concept holds that many health issues arise from the same or similar root causes, so a remedy must treat the “root” (the cause) and not just the “branches” (the symptoms). Therefore, a remedy is considered “high” when it effectively treats multiple health concerns concurrently; this means it is correcting the root imbalance causing the symptoms. The FDA, with its single-use philosophy, misses the boat and will never approve safer and more powerful substances, like DMSO. And when it sanctions trials on Chinese herbals, it isolates individual compounds to then make them suitable for pharmaceutical (single-use) drugs. What a pity.

DMSO is available online. I get mine from Amazon. If you are suffering pain, inflammation, arthritis or other related ailments, give it a try. Do more research if you like; I list a number of articles below for your reference. Remember, DMSO is safe and it works.

Further reading:

1) Kolb, K.H., Jaenicke, G., Kramer, M., Schulze, P.E. Absorption, distribution, and elimination of labeled dimethyl sulfoxide in man and animals. Ann NY Acad Sci 141:85-95, 1967.

3) Evans, M.S., Reid, K.H., Sharp, J.B. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) blocks conduction in peripheral nerve C fibers: A possible mechanism of analgesia. Neurosci Lett 150:145-148, 1993.

4) Demos, C.H., Beckloff, G.L., Donin, M.N., Oliver, P.M. Dimethyl sulfoxide in musculoskeletal disorders. Ann NY Acad Sci 141:517-523, 1967.

5) Lockie, L.M., Norcross, B. A clinical study on the effects of dimethyl sulfoxide in 103 patients with acute and chronic musculoskeletal injures and inflammation. Ann NY Acad Sci 141:599-602, 1967.

The researchers found that living in an area with high levels of air pollution may double the risk of a baby having autism.

The scientists analyzed data from Nurses’ Health Study II, a long-term study based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston that has been recording health information from 116,430 nurses since 1989. Within the group, the researchers studied 325 women who had a child with autism and 22,000 women who had a child without the disorder. When they looked at associations between autism and levels of pollutants at the time and place of birth, they found that women who lived in the 20 percent of locations with the highest levels of diesel particulates or mercury in the air were twice as likely to have a child with autism as those who lived in the 20 percent of areas with the lowest levels.

Other varieties of air pollution, including lead, manganese, methylene chloride and combined metal exposure, were also were associated with higher autism risk. Women who lived in the 20 percent of places with the highest levels of these pollutants were about 50 percent more likely to have a child with autism than those who lived in the 20 percent of areas with the lowest concentrations.

“Our results suggest that new studies should begin the process of measuring metals and other pollutants in the blood of pregnant women or newborn children to provide stronger evidence that specific pollutants increase risk of autism. A better understanding of this can help to develop interventions to reduce pregnant women’s exposure to these pollutants,” says researcher Marc Weisskopf.

A report on AlterNet by Martha Rosenberg demonstrates that the unfortunate state of the pork industry may be producing unfortunate effects on your health. In her stomach-turning look at how pigs are raised and slaughtered, she outlines “six horrifying things about pork” that she urges consumers to consider before their next trip to the supermarket.

1. Pigs with disease are entering the food chain. Due to the fact that pork plants can process almost 20,000 pigs a day, many animals that should be rejected are being cut up for pork chops and bacon. Rosenberg quotes a government report that warns about inspections that don’t spot “tuberculosis nodules embedded within the lymph nodes, parasites within the intestine, and inflamed or degenerated organs…”
2. Pork slaughterhouses are filth-filled. Rosenberg reports that the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has found things like “fecal contamination,” “cockroaches” and “fibrous fecal material” on pork production lines.
3. Pig pollution. Pig processing plants give rise to huge lagoons of manure that contain feces, bacteria, blood, afterbirths, stillborn piglets and other unmentionables that endanger the local environment.
4. Pigs on drugs. Pigs receive a wide variety of pharmaceutical drugs, and no one is sure what residues are left in the pork we consume. The U.S. is one of the few countries that allow pigs to be given ractopamine, an asthma drug that may be hazardous to humans.
5. Mysterious illnesses. Rosenberg discusses strange autoimmune problems that sometimes afflict workers in pork processing plants who inhale “aerosolized (pig) brains.”
6. Pigs suffer as they die. The report by the OIG notes that pork slaughterhouses may be violating the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Left untreated, insomnia increases the risk of developing depression, diabetes, hypertension and possibly even death in older adults, according to a review study. “In view of the high prevalence and substantial morbidities of insomnia, patients should routinely be asked about sleep problems by health-care providers,” write researchers Charles Morin from the Université Laval, Québec City, Canada and Ruth Benca from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Most people with insomnia are vulnerable to recurrent episodes of sleeplessness. Research shows that 70 percent experience insomnia a year later. Half still have insomnia up to three years later.

People with insomnia are more than five times as likely to experience anxiety and depression, are at more than double the risk of developing congestive heart failure and diabetes, and have an elevated risk of death. A study also shows that individuals with insomnia are seven times more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs over the next three and a half years compared with those without the condition.

Morin and Benca warn: “There is an urgent need for more public education about sleep and broader dissemination of evidence-based therapies for insomnia, and education and training to prepare health-practitioners to attend and treat insomnia complaints according to clinical guidelines.”

When temperatures rise, molds that were relatively dormant during winter come to life and “bloom” into surrounding environments, spreading spores and wreaking health havoc — mostly among people who are predisposed to mold toxicity. And as we’re finding out, that population may be fairly high. Furthermore, water-damaged buildings are an increasing problem; and other compounding factors, including heavy metal exposure or bacterial infections, can make symptoms much worse.

There are thousands of diverse species of this type of fungus, and mold spores can be found just about everywhere — even in dry desert areas. But they are especially prevalent in damp, humid and warm environments. Ravaging floodwaters caused by storms such as Superstorm Sandy subside; but in their wake, they leave devastating water damage. As summer approaches, these post-flood areas become susceptible to serious mold toxicity. Black molds (Stachybotrys chartarum and Stachybotrys chlorohalonata) are the most dangerous to human health, and they are commonly found in wet basements and other water-damaged areas of a building. Physical exposure occurs mainly through the lungs and/or digestive tract.

Overlapping Symptoms

Symptoms of mold toxicity can resemble other illnesses such as chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Neurotoxicity is a significant issue, since mold — particularly black mold — produces neurotoxins that can cause serious, long-term health damage. The list of symptoms is long and many are general. Here are some of the primary ones that can eventually progress to serious debilities if exposure continues:

• Fatigue
• Chronic sinus infection
• Headaches
• Respiratory symptoms
• Sensitivity to light
• Muscle and joint pain
• Confusion and memory loss/brain fog
• Blurred vision
• Skin rash
• Numbness and tingling

Genetic Predisposition

Over the past decade, genetic testing advancements have been able to identify people who are genetically predisposed to mold sickness. It is now estimated that up to 24 percent of the population falls into this category. These tests, called HLA (human leukocyte antigen) DR tests, identify patients who lack the specific genetic factors that allow their immune system to identify and remove mold, mold toxins, neurotoxins like heavy metals, Lyme bacterium and its by-products.

HLA DR tests can tell if a person is susceptible to mold toxins or Lyme disease or vulnerable to a wide variety of identified neurotoxins.

Interestingly, many of the symptoms of mold poisoning, Lyme disease and even gluten sensitivity appear to overlap. In correlation with this similar symptomology, the genetic subtypes of people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity appear to coincide significantly with the genetic subtypes for mold sensitivity.

Ritchie Shoemaker, M.D., a leading mold-toxicity expert and author of several authoritative books on the subject, suggests that it’s not necessarily a mold or related fungal infection that aggravates symptoms, but rather, the biotoxins these organisms produce. The biotoxins are able to travel throughout the body and wreak havoc on the nervous system, joints, immunity and other parts of the body.

In addition to HLA DR testing, Shoemaker advises a number of other tests to evaluate mold poisoning and the level of damage in the body that has occurred as a result of these toxins. These additional tests include specific immune, inflammatory, hormonal and other markers that can indicate various aspects of biotoxin poisoning and help guide treatment.

Addressing Mold Toxicity

Even if you don’t believe yourself to be mold-sensitive, these harmful invaders need to be avoided as much as possible. But if you do have mold poisoning, avoidance is priority No. 1 — even if it means you have to move. Avoidance is the hardest aspect of mold treatment and the main reason that people can’t recover from chronic mold toxicity. No matter how much treatment you undergo, without eradicating the fungus from your living and work environments, symptoms continue to progress. And because mold can hide undetected, it sometimes takes a mold-remediation expert to test your home. But here’s a tip: If there is any water damage, it’s almost certain that mold is growing there.

Chronic mold toxicity requires a complex and multifaceted protocol for healing. It’s important to work with a mold-literate health practitioner who knows how to test for mold sensitivity and treat patients with appropriate therapies. As a pioneer in this field, Shoemaker offers a number of important resources for patients and physicians to address mold poisoning and related neurological problems from co-infections, including Lyme disease.

In my clinic, one of the therapies we use to address mold biotoxins is a blend of modified citrus pectin (MCP) from citrus peels and modified alginates from seaweed. This formula helps the body safely remove heavy metals and neurotoxins, including mold biotoxins. These benefits make the MCP/alginate formula an important supplement for the significant portion of people who may lack the appropriate genes to identify and remove these biotoxins. Another therapy recommended by Shoemaker is a medication called cholestyramine, which binds to mold biotoxins and other toxins in the digestive tract, preventing them from being absorbed into the body.

Chronic mold toxicity is commonly misdiagnosed: Many conventional doctors are not familiar with or sensitive to what is considered by many to be a fringe body of research. However, in my practice, we’ve been able to identify and address numerous cases of mold susceptibility and toxicity, helping patients — over time — balance and restore their health with targeted, integrative protocols.

For more health and wellness information, visit www.dreliaz.org.

“[W]e should all be eating more seafood — for our own health and that of the oceans,” maintains Andrew Sharpless, CEO of Oceana,  an international conservation organization dedicated to protecting the oceans.

In his new book The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lover’s Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World, Sharpless argues that fish is the healthiest source of protein and that when fish are harvested sustainably they offer the best potential for feeding the world.

Sharpless says that fish:

• Are packed with brain-healthy omega-3 fats.

• Boost cardiovascular wellness.

• Are safer than industrial meats like conventional beef and pork that are loaded with additives and whose production creates massive pollution.

Sharpless and his organization also stress the importance of regulating how fish are caught so that fish populations aren’t wiped out.

Writing in The Huffington Post, he says: “When people ask us which seafood is sustainable, it’s hard to give such a pithy response. But if you really pressed us for it, this is what we might say: ‘Eat wild seafood. Not too much of the big fish. Mostly local.’”

Restless leg syndrome often strikes at night, causing up to 10 percent of us to uneasily shift position and try to feel more comfortable even when we’re lying in bed. Although the condition has been considered mostly a nuisance, research coordinated at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, shows that it may mean a 40 percent increased risk of dying during the next eight years. The study analyzed the health of more than 18,000 people for almost a decade.

The researchers conclude that their study establishes “the clinical importance of restless legs syndrome, a common but under-recognized disorder. Increasing awareness of restless legs syndrome, especially [in] training for health professions, should be encouraged if our findings are confirmed by future studies.”

Daniel Labovitz, M.D., of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, told the website Medpage Today, that “it’s difficult in a [study of this size] to find a previously unidentified risk for death that carries a risk of 40% greater than people without the disease. That’s the kind of extra risk we see from known causes of death like high blood pressure and diabetes. It’s a big deal.”

Where Is It Coming From?

Back pain has a variety of causes. Whether it stems from an acute injury, degenerative disc disease, facet joint arthritis, infection, bone cancer, pregnancy, kidney stones or endometriosis, the first step is to find out what you’re dealing with. Moreover, if you experience increasing weakness or numbness in your legs, loss of bowel or bladder control, or unexpected weight loss, you require a clear diagnosis.

In many cases, you’ll probably need simple X-rays and an MRI. However, despite modern diagnostic advances, doctors can’t pinpoint an exact cause in about 85 percent of back problems. So after the serious causes are ruled out by your doctor, it’s probably going to be up to you to discover the main source and the contributing factors.

In my experience, patients most commonly don’t know what what’s leading to their pain.

My question to them becomes, “What are you doing to contribute to your ongoing or repeated back strain?” Strain from bending or lifting repetitively (or even just once) at work or in the yard is a typical contributor to back pain. Sitting for prolonged periods of time in poor posture chairs can be another. You can also develop pain from sleeping on your stomach or wearing high heels.

What You Can Do That Is Safe And Effective

Right after you feel the initiating back strain pain, first try topical ice for 20 minutes an hour each hour for the first eight waking hours. This is a really effective anti-inflammatory measure. For my own pain, I usually take one dose of 800-mg ibuprofen as soon as possible, too.

Get up and get going as soon as you can after your strain, but move slowly. Then, after the first 24-hour period, take a hot bath for 20 minutes each morning with Epsom salts (2 cups to your bath) to increase the elasticity of the muscles and 20 minutes of topical ice right before you go to sleep at the end of your day. Get a massage if you can. Use a lumbar support cushion if you feel strain while sitting, especially when driving. Lift and set down items using bent knees. Carry heavy objects close to your body.

Manipulation

Spinal manipulation is an option, although my experience is to let the body heal itself with more conservative movement. I must be in the 80 percent group of patients with back strain who recover spontaneously within a week with only conservative treatment.

Exercise and strengthening your back should be an important part of your preventive strategy. Swimming is a great way to do this. Most of us can’t get into a pool conveniently, but can do strengthening exercises such as those shown here.

Other good exercises include yoga and stretching, as determined in a study reported in the December 2011 Archives of Internal Medicine. ^[1] Also, don’t ignore your core muscles. Your back, side, pelvic and butt muscles work in coordination with your abs for core movement, so learn to do lunges, squats and planks ^[2] along with crunches for your core strengthening.

For a comprehensive guidebook on reducing chronic back pain, I recommend the paperback book by Art Brownstein, M.D., Healing Back Pain Naturally: The Mind-Body Program Proven to Work.

What if you see no direct anatomical relationship to the location of your persistent pain? Then ask yourself if you could be contributing to pain by your thoughts, feelings, dietary habits or relationships (all your interactions with others count here, including your business dealings).

Healing is directly related to the energy of life you put into healing, and ongoing pain is directly related to the pain in your mind or spirit. Why? Well, you know that your back muscles maintain a healthy, pain-free spine. Your mind and your back muscles are connected via your nervous system. Therefore, stress can directly hurt your back and perpetuate pain. This is the most difficult thing for some people to understand and accept.

My opinion is that such individuals are too proud to be fully accountable for their contribution (thoughts, feelings, actions) to their pain. Instead, they believe that it’s their body’s fault and that they are simply the victims of their genetic makeup or the circumstances causing their pain. They refuse to understand that they contribute to pain by their very lifestyle choices and emotional patterns.

This is where stress-management techniques would be very helpful, such as deep breathing and relaxation exercises, guided imagery or meditation. These methods down-regulate the stress-tension-pain cycle. They also wake up the spiritual healing that can become forgotten when people are only in their logical minds.

What You Can Take That Is Safe And Effective

Pain relief can be found from certain natural and herbal remedies you can get without a prescription from your health food store. These include:

• SAMe: 750 mg twice daily (an amino acid)

• Systemic proteolytic enzymes: between meals. These modulate the components of your immune system involved with inflammation.

• Arnica, traumeel or belladonna: applied topically (low-dose homeopathics)

• Wintergreen: applied topically

• Devil’s claw: taken orally, helps improve circulation in joints

• Jamaican dogwood: an anti-spasmodic. (Careful: Don’t exceed dosing recommendations on the bottle.)

• Magnesium: take 500-1,000 mg (muscle relaxant) at night; take with calcium.

• Bromelain or quercetin: enzymes to take between meals

• Chamomile tea or ginger root tea

For connective tissue support and long term anti-inflammatory effects, try:

• Vitamin C: 3,000 mg with bioflavonoids daily

• Proline and lysine: protein building blocks

• B vitamins: B12, B6 and B complex vitamins

• Cod liver oil: 3-6 grams daily; helps alleviate musculoskeletal complaints

The Safest Prescriptions

If just for a day or two, take Advil at 800 mg every 6 hours (over-the-counter Advil is available in 200-mg pills). Take stronger prescription analgesic tramadol (Ultram®) 50 mg one to two pills every six hours for moderate to severe pain.

To feeling good for life,
Michael Cutler, M.D.
Easy Health Options

You have to find a stress-management technique that controls your stress level. Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found that stress accelerates the growth of prostate cancer cells; and, if you’re being treated for prostate cancer, stress reduces the effectiveness of prostate cancer drugs.

In lab tests, the researchers found that persistent stress increased the size of prostate tumors and hampered the therapeutic benefits of bicalutamide, a drug used to treat prostate cancer.

Unfortunately, being told you have prostate cancer increases your stress and anxiety, two emotional states that can make your cancer worse, warns researcher George Kulik.

“We are at the very beginning of understanding complex stress-cancer interactions with multifaceted responses to stress that affect cancer cells, tumor microenvironment, and the organism overall,” says Kulik. “We hope that components of this signaling pathway could be used as biomarkers to predict whether and how a given tumor will respond to stress and anti-stress therapies.”

In the lab study, the researchers used beta-blockers to reduce the hormones stimulated by stress.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have found that volunteering at least 200 hours a year drops your risk of high blood pressure by 40 percent. The scientists believe volunteer work may be an effective non-pharmaceutical option to help prevent hypertension. The condition affects an estimated 65 million Americans and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

“Every day, we are learning more about how negative lifestyle factors like poor diet and lack of exercise increase hypertension risk,” says researcher Rodlescia S. Sneed. “Here, we wanted to determine if a positive lifestyle factor like volunteer work could actually reduce disease risk. And, the results give older adults an example of something that they can actively do to remain healthy and age successfully.”

The study looked at more than 1,100 adults between the ages of 51 and 91 for four years.

“As people get older, social transitions like retirement, bereavement and the departure of children from the home often leave older adults with fewer natural opportunities for social interaction,” Sneed says. “Participating in volunteer activities may provide older adults with social connections that they might not have otherwise. There is strong evidence that having good social connections promotes healthy aging and reduces risk for a number of negative health outcomes.”