Tincup made a connection between RDW and babesia many months ago! Brilliant "find"!Below is a combination of old posts of mine and other files pulled from my 'puter:
Don't freak about this first abstract...where there's a will, there's a way. Below are possible helpers to reduce the iron too!
By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Oct. 22, 2003 -- Iron deposits deep in the brain may cause multiple sclerosis, new imaging studies suggest.
The findings come from studies of computer-assisted brain scans using a specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device. University at Buffalo, N.Y., researchers Rohit Bakshi, MD, and colleagues are the first to use this technique to study multiple sclerosis. Bakshi reported the findings at this week's annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in San Francisco.
Multiple sclerosis has been considered a disease of the white matter in the brain and spinal cord -- the neural pathways that allow areas of gray matter to communicate with one another.
But the new findings link iron deposits in the gray matter to movement and thinking impairments in multiple sclerosis.
"If we're going to treat this disease, we have to know where the damage is," Bakshi says in a news release. "Traditionally, we thought MS was strictly a white-matter disease. ... We were able to visualize gray matter structures deep in the brain of MS patients and found some to be atrophied."
These areas of brain damage contained abnormally high levels of iron. It's not yet clear that the iron is the cause of the brain damage. It could be that dying brain cells leave a trail of iron behind.
Walking, Thinking, and Gray Matter
Bakshi's team put 41 multiple sclerosis patients through a walking test. They also gave tests of learning, speed of information processing, and memory to 28 MS patients.
The more unnatural darkness the brain scans saw in a patient's gray matter, the worse the patient's MS symptoms. It was the only factor studied that independently predicted impaired walking and thinking.
"We suspect that MS patients have defective blood-brain barriers, the cell layer that prevents potentially toxic substances from entering the brain," Bakshi says. "Excessive iron entering the brain may damage the deep gray matter structures."
Possible Treatment
If iron is indeed the culprit, it seems possible to do something about it. Bakshi's team is exploring two ideas. The first is simply to remove excess iron from patients' bodies, and then to devise a way to prevent future iron build-up.
If that is impractical, it may be possible to prevent iron from killing brain cells. The excess iron may be causing free radicals -- extremely reactive molecules that damage brain cells. Antioxidants -- such as vitamins C and E, or even more powerful agents -- might mop up free radicals before they do their dirty work.
Even if the iron deposits are the effect, rather than the cause, of brain cell death, the study still offers a way to measure the severity of MS and the efficacy of new treatments.
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SOURCES: American Neurological Association 128th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Oct. 19-22, 2003. News release, University at Buffalo, N.Y.
How to remove (chelate) excess iron (rust) from the body
The question is, what can adult males, or females who have not menstruated for years, do to remove the excess iron from their body stores?
Chelation therapy is what is needed, the removal of the excess iron. Alternative medical specialists offer to perform chelation therapy via the intravenous administration of EDTA, a mineral chelator. Intravenous chelation therapy requires many treatments, maybe 30 or 40, and is somewhat costly ($3000-4000).
Conventional medicine also has a mineral-chelating drug, desferrioxamine, but it is sparingly used because of side effects.
Nature's most potent rust remover is phytic acid, commonly found in whole grains, seeds and nuts.
Phytic acid - also called inositol hexaphosphate, or IP6 - is comprised of six phosphorus molecules and one molecule of inositol. IP6 is provided as a food supplement extracted from rice bran (Tsuno Foods & Rice Co., Wakayama, Japan).
Bran cereal has some IP6 in it, but it is already bound to minerals. The IP6 extract imported from Japan is 70 percent unbound, ready to selectively chelate (attach to) minerals as it enters the human circulatory system.28 IP6 doesn't remove minerals from bones or other needed minerals, it just removes the free unbound iron, copper, calcium, and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium.
IP6 has little or no affinity for sodium, potassium, and magnesium, the important electrolyte minerals required for proper heart rhythm. Taken in between meals with water, IP6 can rid the body of excessive iron and other minerals in a short period of time, 30-90 days.
Once bound to IP6 the excess minerals are excreted via the urinary flow. IP6 rice bran extract is an unheralded but potent anti-aging therapy.
The iron stores in your body will control the severity of disease and longevity. Learning how to control iron is a major, if not the primary, anti-aging factor in living organisms. The pursuit of long life requires the control of iron.
Tannins are potent binders (chelators) of iron.17
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/sardi10.html
There are lists on the internet of foods that contain tannins...like blueberries (dark yummy things).
The diagnosis and treatment of acid-base deranged dogs infected with Babesia canis.
Malherbe WD, Immelman A, Haupt WH, Walzl HJ.
A study was made of the acid-base status of Babesia canis infected dogs judged unlikely to recover after specific babesicidal drug therapy despite the use of blood transfusion and other conventional supportive measures.
Such cases were invariabley acidotic and responded well and often dramatically to supportive intravenous sodium bicarbonate administration.
Elevated blood urea nitrogen, also responded gratifyingly to this procedure. The rationale is discussed in some detail.
http://www.sodbrennen-welt.de/science/1976/1976_4617.htm
Re: hemochromotosis
"According to a 1988 issue of Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, you should not take EXTRA iron if you have an infection. Because bacteria require iron for growth, the body stores iron and does not utilize it when there is an infection."
(Bb does NOT use iron.)
Hemochromatosis
Symptoms
Hemochromatosis can affect the entire system, symptoms can be numerous and similar to diseases better known to physicians such as diabetes, heart failure, arthritis, liver disease, impotence, and depression.
Therefore misdiagnosis is common. Physicians might focus on one particular disease that can occur as a result of not detecting the cause: hemochromatosis.
Not everyone manifests the same same symptoms. Listed below are those most commonly associated with excessive iron build up:
chronic fatigue
arthritic pain in joints (for some the middle two fingers are affected; this is known as iron fist)
loss of libido (sex drive) or impotence
amenorrhea (premature cessation of menstrual cycle)
changes in skin color such as jaundice, bronze or gray-olive colored skin, a tan without being in the sun, redness in the palms of the hands
abdominal pain
weight loss
shortness of breath
chest pain
heart arrhythmia
depression
elevated blood sugar
hypothyroidism
enlargement of spleen
elevated liver enzymes (ALT/AST)
fibromyalgia
irritable bowel syndrome
Hemochromatosis can be detected in several ways:
Genetic Testing
Specific Blood Tests
Iron Panel Tests
Liver Biopsy
Hemochromatosis
Treatment
Currently, therapeutic phlebotomy or blood extraction is the most efficient means of tissue iron reduction. However, preventive measures may be incorported into diet and behavior that can reduce the amount of iron absorbed
Fact Sheet
1. Undetected and untreated excess iron kills after inflicting injury to a variety of body organs.
2. The patient's and physician's concern must be to detect any excess iron instead of establishing
a diagnosis of hemochromatosis.
3. A complete physical must include: Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and Serum Iron (SI).
Divide the SI by TIBC for percentage of Transferrin Saturation TS. Normal range: 12-45%.
4. If TS is outside normal range, use the same blood to measure Serum Ferritin (SF). Normal range: 5-150. If an individual is outside the normal range on Serum Ferritin, a phlebotomy
program should be started to bring the SF below 10. Ferritin is the closest measure of stored iron.
5. To reduce elevated iron levels, the patient should be given a prescription for weekly or twice weekly bloodlettings at a blood bank to confirm or rule out iron overload. The hematocrit cutoff should be set between 30-35. Anemic patients might benefit from B complex vitamins with folic acid.
6. A liver biopsy is not necessary to confirm diagnosis.
7. If iron tests low, the cause should be found: the bleeding ulcer, cancer, or chronic infection. It is dangerous to medicate with iron without 1. testing iron and 2. knowing the reason for the deficiency.
8. In the matter of DNA testing, we are not recommending this approach. All of the genes that can cause an overload are not yet discovered - about 15% yet outstanding. Jerome Sullivan MD PhD explains that possession of the gene " will confirm but will not exclude the diagnosis. "
9. Diagnosis not followed by vigorous treatment is useless. The patient must be motivated to unload the iron as fast as possible by weekly or twice weekly phlebotomies at the blood bank. Goal: ferritin below 10 or even 0.
10. All blood relatives of the patient must be evaluated and monitored. They should all be checked for iron overload at each and every physical for the rest of their lives.
11. Iron overload cannot be controlled with diet. High iron foods also contain other nutrients needed to repair body damage. We do not recommend a low iron diet. Caution: avoid over-the-counter vitamin C and additives of such. Avoid raw seafood, which kills a number of people every year, mostly those whose excess iron is undetected.
12. Symptoms vary too much to help with diagnosis. Chronic fatigue, arthritis, heart disease, cirrhosis, cancer, diabetes, thyroid disease, impotence, sterility. In other words excess iron is toxic and can injure every part of the body, including the brain. Elevated liver enzymes must not be ignored. Anemia can be a symptom. Some anemias are iron-loading. Hemoglobin level does not indicate iron status.
13. Excess iron lowers the immune system. Many diseases will show a poor outcome unless excess iron is removed: AIDS, cancer, and hepatitis, for example.
14. Iron does cross the blood brain barrier, contrary to an old belief. Excess iron stored in the brain has been found to trigger or exacerbate severity in Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson's and other diseases. Psychological problems have even been linked to excess iron.
15. Hereditary hemochromatosis is only one of several iron loading diseases, its double gene frequency is 1 in 200 of the US population and an astonishing 13% have the single gene expression. Those with this single gene expression also can get sick. It is the most common genetic disease, and tragically the most undiagnosed.
16. The goal of medicine is to provide maximum preventative care at the least expense. Patients must be aware of iron overload for their own protection. IOD honors the increasing number of physicians who are updating their information on iron overload.
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