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low-dose medicine
Naltrexone has been shown to help heroin and alcohol addicts kick the
habit. But, in much smaller doses, it holds tremendous promise in treating
autoimmune disorders
By Dr Craige GoldingMBChB (Cum Laude), FCP(SA), ABAARM, FAARM, ACAM-Certified Chelation Therapist, FICT, MS (Magna Cum Laude), NUGO-certifiedT endorphins the body produces. This deficiency worsens over time as the body becomes more and more dependant IMMUNE REGULATOR
to its ability to “block out” endorphins making them immune to the euphoric effects of heroin.2 INNER PAINKILLER
In 1985, a US doctor by the name of Dr Bernard Bihari If you’re an athlete or a body builder, you’ve probably heard tried naltrexone with more than 50 heroin addicts who had of endorphins. These are the body’s natural painkillers and stopped using the drug, but the side effects at that dose are secreted whenever parts of your body are injured or were unbearable.3 Then, later that year, a large number of placed under stress. Endorphins have a euphoric effect heroin addicts became sick with AIDS, which prompted on the brain, described as a “runner’s high”, which is felt Dr Bihari and his colleagues to shift their focus to this disease during or directly after a heavy bout of exercise. This occurs and to ways of strengthening the patients’ immunity.
because the endorphins stimulate specialised cells in the Since endorphins are the hormones centrally involved in supporting and regulating the immune system, Dr Bihari’s These cells are also sensitive to “external” painkillers, such team measured levels of endorphins in the blood of AIDS as morphine and heroin. Alcohol, on the other hand, affects patients and found them to be less than 20% of normal.
the opioid receptors indirectly, because it stimulates the He knew that when naltrexone is administered, it first production of other types of internal opioids.1 The more stimulates the body to produce more endorphins. But if the external stimulation the opioid receptors receive, the less dosage is too high, the effects are blocked. Dr Bihari found H I G H HOP E S F OR L O W - D O S E M E D I C I N E that with lower doses – a fraction of those given to addicts horizon for those suffering from autoimmune disorders, – which are taken at night when the body’s own production albeit in the form of a medicine not initially created for of endorphins is highest, the blockage doesn’t occur.4 that purpose. It is, however, no magical cure-all, and an integrative and comprehensive approach to autoimmune WEAKENED DEFENCES
conditions is still the best treatment route. HI
Autoimmune conditions are confusing because they’re often assumed to be caused by an overly strong immune IMMUNE-BOOSTING PROTOCOL
system. This isn’t the case. Underlying these conditions, is an immune system that's poorly regulated.5 The immune cells, or lymphocytes, then fail to distinguish between foreign invading organisms and the body’s own cells, and when the Krill oil (1,000mg) or fish oil omega-3 (2,000mg daily) immune system begins to attack, it triggers the widespread inflammation and scarring seen in the affected parts. In autoimmune patients, low-dose naltrexone (LDN) works by restoring endorphin levels to normal, thereby allowing the immune system to resume its usual function. Many studies have shown that an immunodeficiency is a Low-dose naltrexone (on prescription).
characteristic of autoimmune diseases, including multiple References
sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and chronic 1 Sinclair JD. Evidence about the use of naltrexone and for different ways of using it in the treatment of alcoholism. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2001;36(1):2-10 fatigue syndrome.6,7,8 There are even studies suggesting that 2 Shader RI. Antagonists, Inverse Agonists, and Protagonists. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Aug 2003;23(4):321-22 LDN’s role of modulating immune function may eventually 3 Kokayi KB. Dr Kamau B Kokayi Interviews Dr Bihari. Global Medicine Review. 2003. www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/gazorpa/interview.html play a role in disease prevention, rather than treatment.9 4 Bihari B, Drury FM, et al. Low Dose Naltrexone in the Treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Oral Presentation at the IV International AIDS One of the most promising and recent results, however, 5 Buckley RH. Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases Due to Defects in Lymphocytes. comes from a study that looked at the effects of LDN on 6 Thewissen M, Linsen L, et al. Premature immunosenescence in rheumatoid people who suffer from Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune arthritis and multiple sclerosis patients. Ann N Y Acad Sci. Jun 2005;1051:255-62 7 Marks DJ, Harbord MW, et al. Defective acute inflammation in Crohn’s disease: a inflammatory condition of the bowel.10 After 12 weeks, clinical investigation. Lancet. Feb 2006;367(9511):668-78 8 Vernon SD, Reeves WC. The chal enge of integrating disparate high-content data: as many as 78% of those treated with LDN experienced a epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data col ected during an in-hospital study of chronic fatigue syndrome. Pharmacogenomics. Apr 2006;7(3):345-54 dramatic decline in the severity of their symptoms, while 9 Brown N, Panksepp J. Low-dose naltrexone for disease prevention and quality of life. Med Hypotheses. Mar 2009;72(3):333-7 33% were in complete remission. With dramatic results such 10 Smith JP, Bingaman SI, et al. Therapy with the Opioid Antagonist Naltrexone Promotes Mucosal Healing in Active Crohn’s Disease: A Randomized Placebo- as these to encourage further research, there’s hope on the Control ed Trial. Dig Dis Sci. 8 Mar 2011. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937

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