DLPA in the nutritional control of arthritis and chronic pain
Introduction
Recently, worldwide excitement has been generated by reports of a new method for the nutritional control of chronic pain without drugs, narcotics or surgery and their side effects.
Health professionals, pain treatment clinics, and scientific clinics, and scientific research papers have reported dramatic results in patients with severe acute and chronic pain conditions including: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis , Lower Back Pain, Severe Premenstrual "Cramps", Migraine, Joint Pains, Longstanding Whiplash, Postoperative Pain & Neuralgia
The phrase "nutritional control of pain" may bring to mind images of special diets with long lists of prohibited foods as is usually pre-scribed in treatment of gouty arthritis or high blood pressure.
Amazingly, though, this treatment consists of simply supplementing the existing diet with tablets containing a special form of the common nutritional amino acid, Phenylalanine.
WHAT IS DLPA?
All proteins in the body are made from amino acids. It is for this reason that amino acids are often referred to as the "building blocks" of proteins. Phenylalanine is one of the eight amino acids indispens-able (essential) in the diet of man.
It comes in two forms, called "D" and "L." L (laevo, or left-handed) Phenylalanine is the form most commonly found in the high protein foods we eat, and is the form the body uses to make its own proteins. D -(dextro, or right-handed) Phenylalanine is a nearly identical molecule to the L form, but is an exact mirror image of it. D-Phenylalanine is found most abundantly in bacteria and plant tissue.
The human body slowly converts D-Phenylalanine to L-Phenylalanine before it is utilized in known bodily functions. Phenylalanine is also found as a so-called "racemic" mixture con-sisting of equal parts of the D and L forms. It is referred to, natural-ly enough, as DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA).
Because all the proteins we eat contain Phenylalanine, our meta-bolic systems are set up to utilize it and its by-products without diffi-culty. For this and other reasons, DLPA is an extraordinarily non-toxic material. For example, it is about one tenth as toxic as ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), and about equally as non-toxic as fructose (fruit sugar).
Moreover, DLPA has nutritional value nearly as great as L- -Phenylalanine in that it can be substituted in the human diet at lev-els equal to or slightly greater than those required for the L-form without any compromise to health."(1) The recommended daily allowance of phenylalanine in the human diet has been established at 2.2 gm. (2)
WHAT DOES DLPA DO?
In 1978, Dr. Seymour Ehrenpreis and other members of the Depart-ments of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology at the University of Chi-cago Medical School published the results of a clinical study of DPhenylalanine (DPA) in the treatment of various chronic pain con-ditions.
This first study of the analgesic effects of DPA was pub-lished in Advances in Pain Research and Therapy (3) and was also presented at the prestigious Second World Congress on Pain, an international forum drawing together the world's pain treatment experts to discuss pain research findings.
Clinicians have found that DLPA is particularly effective in treating the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. For example, one 47 year old housewife who had suffered from rheumatoid athritis for 18 years and whose finger knuckles were not visible due extreme inflammation and swelling found that after taking DLPA for 7 days, her swelling was so greatly reduced that her knuckles were once again visible.
Further, the severe pain had vanished and she had regained the use of her hands. In another case, a 61 year old woman suffering from osteoarthritis complained that she had not slept an entire night due to the extreme pain in 5 years and had to sleep with a pillow between her knees to separate painfully inflamed knee joints.
While aspirin and antiarthritic drugs were ineffect for her, she found that after taking DLPA for 5 days, she had slept through an entire night with no awakenings. Within one week, no longer needed to sleep with a pillow between her knees.
Such findings in the clinical use of DLPA have been the rule rather than the exception and point to an extraordinary therapeutic value in nutritionally-based treatment of arthritis syndromes.
DLPA taken orally in 375 mg. tablets, is a powerful analgesic. Its effect often equals or exceeds those of morphine or other opiate derivatives. It differs from the usual prescription drugs and over-the counter medicines in several critical ways:
* DLPA is non-addictive.
* DLPA's effects become stronger over time - patients do not de-velop tolerance to the pain-relieving effect.
* No adverse side effects, mental or physical, are associated with DLPA's use.
* Toxic overdose is impossible, and there is generally a lack of potential for abuse.
* DLPA can be combined with any other existing therapy - drugs, aspirin, acupuncture, chiropractic, etc., without adverse interac-tions, and often with benefits greater than could be obtained from either therapy alone.
* DLPA also has a strong antidepressant action - extremely important in the common instance where the sufferer of chronic pain is also a victim of depression.
* Perhaps most amazingly, the pain relief produced by DLPA can last far beyond the period in which it is taken. Some patients have reported that, following a week of DLPA use, pain relief continues for up to a month without additional medication of any kind. Pain control using DLPA can be very economical.
HOW DOES DLPA WORK?
D and DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA) work by intensifying and prolong-ing the body's own natural pain-killing response. To understand the process involved, we must review a series of scientific research dis-coveries which began in 1973 at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
There it was found that the brain produces hor-mones which have many properties in common with morphine, a powerful analgesic drug. It was subsequently discovered that the brain responds to pain signals by producing and activating these morphine-like hormones, called endorphins.
Scientific research established that in mammals, including man, the endorphin hor-mones constitute part of a built-in pain relief system which can be activated in times of extreme duress or injury.
This endorphin sys-tem is apparently responsible for the loss of pain sensation in wounded soldiers and car accident victims who often don't realize the extent of their injuries for several hours after the traumatic event.
Further research established that when endorphin hormones were administered to patients with severe chronic pain conditions, complete pain relief occurred, and lasted, on the average, for 30 hours (far longer than any known analgesic), and was without ad-verse side effects. However, several facts emerged from these scien-tific studies which have kept the endorphins themselves from being used as pain-relieving drugs:
1. In order to exert their pain-relieving effects, endorphin hormones must be injected directly into the brain or spinal column&emdash;a dangerous procedure unlikely to be used in common medical practice.
2.Enzyme systems in the body continually destroy endorphins, so they must be given frequently.
3.Repeated use of synthetically-produced endorphins has resulted in the development of tolerance, requiring higher and higher doses for less relief.
These problems caused researchers to turn to methods other than endorphin injections in order to take advantage of the natural pain-killing system.
In a breakthrough discovery, it was found that D and DL--Phenylalanine (but not L-Phenylalanine) inhibit several enzymes which are responsible for the destruction of the body's pain-killing hormones, including Carboxypeptidase A and "enkephalinase" en-zymes.
With these enzymes inhibited, the brain's own naturally-produced endorphins enjoy a longer life span, and are thus able to exert their powerful pain-relieving actions for long periods of time. As a result, the pain relief triggered by the body as a natural reac-tion to injury, disease, accident, etc., is dramatically intensified and prolonged.
Moreover, recent research with chronic pain patients has demonstrated markedly lowered levels of endorphin activity in their blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Thus, DLPA can act to restore endorphin hormone levels to a normal range, while simultaneously producing a reduction in pain.
To sum up then, supplementing the diet with DLPA allows the brain to act normally in its reaction to pain signals, and then allows the re-action to continue for a much longer period than it would usually by protecting endorphin hormones from enzymatic inactivation.
Thus, the pain-relieving actions of DLPA occur through natural means, in contrast to drugs.
One more surprising fact completes this description of the actions of DLPA, the "ideal" pain reliever: it is selective. That is while DLPA is highly effective at blocking chronic pain, short-term acute pain (from hot stoves or poorly-aimed hammers, for example) is still sent on to the brain and REACTED TO NORMALLY.
DLPA does not interfere with the body's natural defense mechanisms against painful disease or accidents even while protecting against useless, long-term pain.
HOW IS DLPA USED?
NOTE: Studies over the past five years have shown that it is important to follow the proper dosage schedule for best results. . . or, indeed, in some cases, for any results at all.
Tablets generally available come with 375 mg. of DLPA per tablet. The references below are to this preferred form. It is important to note that the experience of pain relief depends on the complex mixture of physical, mental and other subjective fac-tors, and will be different from one person to the next, and even from time to time in the same person.
Starting with two tablets 15 to 30 minutes before each meal (for a total of six [6] tablets daily), continue until a "substantial" degree of pain relief is experienced.
Results could appear as soon as four days or less. In some cases, as long as two to three weeks are required. If no relief is seen after three weeks, double the initial dosage for another two to three weeks.
If there is still no response at this level, discontinue use. Only 5 to 15 percent of users obtain no relief or very little relief. While this reflects a very high success rate for DLPA (one of the highest among analgesics), DLPA is not effective in all cases.
More likely, you will begin to notice relief within the first week. Dosage may then be reduced, step-by-step, keeping the daily ration spread throughout the day, until the minimum dosage for relief is de-termined.
Often, because of the remarkably persistent action of DLPA, the fi-nal dosage schedule will be one week of supplementation per month, with nothing needed for the balance of the month.
Others may find that they require continuous supplementation. Remember, too, that other analgesics may be used along with DLPA. Results are usually better than with either alone.
Many find that aspirin-type compounds at two to five tablets daily in combina-tion with DLPA is most effective. Additionally, common anti-arthritic drugs such as Indocin, Motrin, Naprosyn, etc., are com-patible with and can increase the effectiveness of DLPA.
Getting the proper dosage requires a little more interest and commit-ment by each person than is usual for other pain relievers, but some extra effort for as remarkable a discovery as this, is surely accept-able.
CAUTIONS: DLPA is not intended for use by phenylketonurics, or during pregnancy. Persons with high blood pressure should take DLPA following meals.
1. Rose, W.C., Leach, B.E., Coon, M.J. and Lambert, G.F. "The amino acid requirements of man. The phenylalanine," Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 213: pp. 913-922, 1955. 2. Rose, W.C., "Amino Acid Requirements of Man," Nutrition Reviews, Vol. 34 (10), pp. 307-309, 1967. 3. Ehrenpreis, S., Balagot, R.C., Comaty, J.E., and Myles, S.B., "Naloxone Reversible Analgesia in Mice produced by D-Phenylalanine and Hydrocinnamic Acid, Inhibitors of Carboxypeptidase A," Advances in Pain Research and Therapy, Vol. 3, edited by J.J. Bonica, J.C. Liebeskind, and D.G. Albe-Fessard, pp. 479-488. Raven Press, New York, 1978. 4. Budd, K., "Use of Phenylalanine, an Enkephalinase Inhibitor, in the treatment of Intractable Pain," Advances in Pain Research and Therapy, Vol. 5, edited by J.J. Bonica, J.C. Liebeskind and D.G. Albe-Fessard, pp. 305-308. Raven Press, New York. 1983. 5. Balagot, R.C., Ehrenpreis, S., Kubota, K. and Greenberg, J. Advances in Pain Research and Therapy, Vol. 5 edited by J.J. Bonica, J.C. Liebeskind and D.G. Albe-Fessard, pp. 289-293, Raven Press, New York, 1983. 6. Ehrenpreis, S., Balagot, R.C., Myles, S., Advocate, C. and Comaty, J.E., "Further Studies on the Analgesic Activity of D-Phenylalanine in Mice and Humans," Proceedings of the International Narcotic Research Club Convention edited by E. Leong Way, pp. 379-382, 1979.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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kgg
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5867
posted
I take it but not for pain. I had a neuroscience test run for neurotransmitters and it showed my beta-phenyletheylamine (PEA) was low.
I am not sure whether I agree with the statement that there are no adverse side effects. Someone with a high PEA level might not tolerate supplementing with DLPA. they might already have symptoms of "mind racing", sleep problems, anxiousness and schizophrenia. I would think it might be helpful to have your neurotransmitter levels checked before starting this supplement.
BTW, I don't have a lot of pain, but I find that it helps with food cravings, mental focus and mood improvement.
Best, Karen
Posts: 1685 | From Maine | Registered: Jun 2004
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
Thank you! I'm thinking about trying it... Sounds good but you never know until you try it. I'll start with a low dosage & ramp it up.
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