Smoking and MS

Today (April 10, 2010) I came across MS related news, published April 8, 2010. Being actively involved in everything MS-related, I started reading at once.

As an example, www.sciencedaily. com in article Does Smoking Compound Other Multiple Sclerosis Risk Factors? presented results of newest investigations:

“…study shows that smoking may increase the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in people who also have specific established risk factors for MS. The research is found in the April 7, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of  Neurology…”

Later some details are presented: number of participants – MS sufferers and in control group, etc. Finally researchers explain influence of a specific gene… Leader of research group explains:

“The consistency of an association between MS, smoking and the body’s immune response… suggests this finding is not due to chance”, said study author Claire Simon, ScD, with Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. “This relationship may provide clues as to why certain individuals develop MS while others do not.”

Some more specifically scientific information has been included…

* * *

Earlier scientific discoveries are rather controversial:

• Smoking Has No Effect On Progression Of Multiple Sclerosis, Study Suggests (October 2007)
• Young Smokers Increase Risk For Multiple Sclerosis (March 2009)
• Smoking Associated With More Rapid Progression Of Multiple Sclerosis (July 2009)

So perhaps humanity arrived at a threshold of a giant discovery?

Or maybe not?

What’s in cigarette smoke?

Being neither a smoker, nor cigarette smoke researcher I had no idea, what makes this smoke so poisonous. Consequently I went to Google and typed a phrase: ” cigarette smoke pollutant ” – and I was provided with over 300,000 articles.

Immediately I entered an article Have You Ever Wondered What’s In a Cigarette? It provides plenty of required information.

Just look:

• Nicotine is highly addictive. Smoke containing nicotine is inhaled into the lungs, and the nicotine reaches brain in as little as 6 seconds
• Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds and 400 other toxins -nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, DDT etc
• Nicotine in small doses acts as a stimulant to the brain. In large doses, it’s a depressant, inhibiting the flow of signals between nerve cells. In even larger doses, it’s a lethal poison, affecting the heart, blood vessels, and hormones
• Most of the chemicals inhaled in cigarette smoke stay in the lungs. The more you inhale, the better it feels—and the greater the damage to lungs . . .

Cigarette Maker Now Lists Ingredients

For the first time, an American tobacco company has begun listing long-secret ingredients contained in its cigarettes directly on the label… List includes:

“…high fructose corn syrup, sugar, natural and artificial licorice flavor, menthol, artificial milk chocolate and natural chocolate flavor, valerian root extract, molasses and vanilla extracts, and cedarwood oil. Less familiar additives include glycerol, propylene glycol, isovaleric acid, hexanoic acid and 3-methylpentanoic acid…”

What researchers say

“…not all of the chemicals in your cigarettes are there for taste enhancement. For example, a chemical very similar to rocket fuel helps keep the tip of the cigarette burning at an extremely hot temperature. This allows the nicotine in tobacco to turn into a vapor so your lungs can absorb it more easily.”

“Toilet Bowl Cleaner? Most people prefer to use ammonia for things such as cleaning windows and toilet bowls. You may be surprised to learn that the tobacco industry has found some additional uses for this household product. By adding ammonia to your cigarettes, nicotine in its vapor form can be absorbed through your lungs more quickly. This, in turn, means your brain can get a higher dose of nicotine with each puff.”

The complete list of chemicals added to your cigarettes is too long to list here. Here are some examples that will surprise you:

• Fungicides and pesticides — Cause many types of cancers and birth defects
• Cadmium — Linked to lung and prostate cancer
• Benzene — Linked to leukemia
• Formaldehyde — Linked to lung cancer
• Nickel — Causes increased susceptibility to lung infections

If you are angry that so many things have been added to the cigarettes you enjoy so much, you should be. Many of these chemicals were added to make you better able to tolerate toxic amounts of cigarette smoke. They were added without regard to your health and with the intent to keep you addicted.

As the tobacco industry saying goes:

An addicted customer is a customer for life,
no matter how short that life is

More information – in article.

Smoking and MS – conclusions

I have started analysing possible triggers of MS in 2006 – just when I’ve started my website Beyond MS.

Key idea beyond all listed triggers is rather simple:

There are so many ways to worsen one’s health

and to deregulate immune system…

Just look at all these triggers – you’ll see regularities.

But why some so-called MS researchers refuse to see results of other researchers?

Why they exclude a common sense?

Or is it political correctness?

My MRI scan results

These are results of 3-rd my brain MRI scan, performed in early 2007.

• First MRI scan was performed during the procedure of my disease diagnosis in 1996. It revealed lots of lesions and heavy inflammation over my brain
• Second MRI scan, performed in 2002, confirmed MS-style lesions, but no inflammation. Something unusual for MS!

Definitely, included information is technical, so complicated for a lay men.

However, it is possible to see all the drama of somebody, afflicted by degenerative process of Central Nervous System, i.e. multiple sclerosis (MS).

Report of my MRI scan

Very extensive changes characteristic of MS are present bilaterally, predominantly in the supratentorial brain. Several dozen lesions are noted in the peri ventricular region of both cerebral hemispheres. There is a subtle lesion in the posterior right corpus callosum. There is a 1.2 cm lesion in the left basal ganglia bridging the posterior limb of the internal capsule and lateral aspect of the thalamus. Several lesions are present in the periventricular deep white matter of both temporal lobes. There is a subtle lesion at the junction of the mid brain and pons. There is diffuse increased signal throughout the posterior lower pons and upper medulla. Subtle possible lesions are present in both cerebellar peduncles. Neither of these lesions is confidently identified on axial imaging however.

Diffusion weighted imaging demonstrates that the left thalamic/internal capsule lesion shows a little increased signal, as do several of the posterior parietal lesions bilaterally, which would suggest that these are relatively more active and therefore likely to be more recent.

Impression:

Severe changes characteristic of multiple sclerosis with several lesions including left thalamus/basal ganglia showing slight increase in diffusion restriction suggesting these are more recent.

Follow-up report by neurologist

Essentially he had a severe acute brain disorder about 10 years ago. At the time an MRI was compatible with severe central nervous system demyelination… Since then the patient denies any major fluctuation of symptoms and definitely denies the presence of what may be regarded as MS attacks. His main residual symptoms are ataxia involving four limbs and also the head, and so fatique and insomnia. As mentioned above, the patient seems to have adapted his own way to the condition and is very unkeen on any further diagnostic procedures or medication.
Performed MRI scan confirmed innumerable lesions of central nervous system demyelination… Therefore there is no evidence either clinically or from diagnostic tests to suspect that this patient may have an active phase of disease.

Assessment:

I still think that central nervous system demyelination with acute initial phase is the most likely explanation and this could have been in the form of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis or perhaps ADEM. Other hypotheses such as a post encephalitic syndrome or toxic white matter lesions syndrome can only be speculated but not confirmed…

We parted on good terms with the agreement that very likely there is little else I can do at this stage that may have any major impact on his lifestyle and therefore I have not arranged regular follow-up in this clinic.

It is unlikely that his condition will change in a considerable way in the future but of course should there be clear signs of acute inflammatory activation of disease with new neurological deficits I am happy to review this patient when needed in the future.

Final words

I live well.

OK, I know my brain is heavily damaged. But is it so important? I mean – it’s personal, what one do with any bit of information.

Look, it’s entirely personal, whether one will be scared or start acting. Usually big fear paralyses. So what? How long one can do nothing?

I don’t know. Really.

I started acting (mostly studying) and seeking solutions shortly after MS diagnosis (1996). Now I rule my MS and do not care, how many lesions over my brain doctors are seeing.

Advice by Bobby McFerrin “Don’t worry – be happy” could help !

MS drugs dangers

Several years ago in article Orthodox MS symptoms treatment I described widely promoted by Big Pharma and so heavily used so-called multiple sclerosis (MS) medications and reported side effects.

Anybody interested can find heaps of explanations, why it is so. For example MS Treatment Market will Reach $11.9 Billion by 2011 or News from MS market ’07.

No doubt, MS drugs are a group of very profitable medications. Because of that almost nobody speaks about most serious problems, connected with their usage. Unfortunately, there are some serious underlying reasons, resulting in production of so terribly poisonous medications. Anybody interested can find more information in article Faulty medicine?.

More warnings

Just now I want you to see something essential. This piece of information is arguably the most important for anyone dealing with Multiple Sclerosis. It arrives to you from the most popular world’s natural health website  www.mercola.com:

The usual prescription for MS is a cartload of highly toxic medications.

It is my strong recommendation to not accept these drugs, and if you’re already on them, to wean yourself off, as they are some of the most toxic drugs used in the field of medicine. These drugs include:

• Prednisone - a steroid hormone that can significantly impair

  your immune system, and cause diseases like osteoporosis and cataracts…

• Interferon. This drug is quite deceptive, because even though it’s a natural substance, it’s typically given in a dose that shuts down your body’s natural feedback loop. As a result, it tends to do more harm than good

Fortunately, there are many alternatives to these toxic treatment methods offered by conventional medicine

One more solution for MS problems?

New year arrived with fresh news in area of so-called multiple sclerosis drugs.

On 22 January 2010 FDA (USA) approved a new drug “Ampyra”, that improves walking abilities in many MS patients.

Almost three out of four MS sufferers admit that walking appears to be the most frustrating aspect of their life. So any improvement of their life is welcomed.

Ampyra specifics (important):

• it should be taken with other MS drugs and
• it does not keep MS from getting worse

Main advantage of this multiple sclerosis drug: although Ampyra does not change the course of disease, it most probably  enhances nerve function.

These are good points of a new drug. However, by no means it is safe. You see 

Originally this chemical was used as a bird poison !

Known side effects:

• multiple sclerosis relapse
• urinary tract infection
• balance disorder
• insomnia
• loss of muscle strength
• dizziness
• headache
• tingling or numbness in the extremities
• nose or throat inflammation
• upset stomach
• throat pain
• nausea
• constipation
• back pain

Everybody MS-er should think carefully, if using this drug isn’t too high price. Even if walking abilities improve for a while.

My major question is:

How long walking improvement lasts, before one or another life quality worsening side effect appear?

You can read full article here.

What really is Multiple Sclerosis?

Good question, isn’t it?

Official medicine is speaking about MS everyday. But still – what are they speaking about?

I went to Google and asked for definition of Multiple Sclerosis. You can see the result of my inquiry in article On MS definition. All 26 definitions are more or less incorrect. In reality it’s a completely useless mess. Yeah.

I’ve written another article MS – name ambiguity on the subject. It starts with MS description by National Multiple Sclerosis Society (USA). I analyzed it carefully and find it to be completely misleading.

One more MS definition can be found in article of Wikipedia.org:

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune response attacks a person’s central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), leading to demyelination… The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses—better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin.

Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease…

Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.

That’s better – MS really is an autoimmune disorder. Unfortunately, I still have no idea, what is a key difference between ‘immune response’ and ‘immune system’. Isn’t this explanation perfect: “Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease”. Please remember – we are speaking about CNS damage! MS triggers have been mentioned only, without ANY further explanation. However, you can find some information in a chapter Triggers of my website.

* * *

According to National MS Society (USA) description , in order to make a diagnosis of MS, the physician must:

• Find evidence of damage in at least two separate areas of the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves AND
• Find evidence that the damage occurred at least one month apart AND
• Rule out all other possible diagnoses

According to the Criteria all a neurologist has to do to diagnose MS is to determine position and level of CNS damage according to strict regulations. Regretfully, they have chosen to keep silent about possible triggers etc.

* * *

Looking closely, it’s easy to see the complexity of the degenerative process.

Obviously, before MS can be diagnosed, a succession of the body  damaging events must happen:

• The body is heavily polluted so one’s immune system gets detuned – that way autoimmunity starts
• Over-activated immune system starts the crusade against a new enemy – own body CNS, especially myelin
• To get to the brain, the blood brain barrier – brain safeguard – has to be damaged
• Significant damage to nerve covering (myelin) in many CNS positions has to be done
• Accumulated CNS damages lead to significant neurological symptoms
• CNS damages (lesions or scars) are clearly visible via MRI scanning etc

Hopefully, knowledge of these underlying degenerative processes could clarify some activities towards body stabilizing and healing. Obviously, these should involve mainly detoxification and immune system strengthening.

That’s my answer to a question What really Multiple Sclerosis is?

MS, cancer and FUD

Have you ever heard about FUD phenomenon?

No – it isn’t another terrible disease. Nevertheless, it’s something even more dangerous. For anybody! That’s how does orthodox medicine operate.

You see – FUD stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

Just now you might be surprised: “What’s in common between cancer and these not-so-nice things”?

I came across this elegant explanation, as and lots of others, in the article
by a health ranger Mike Adams Cancer Industry Spreads Fear and Disinformation To Scare People Away From Learning About Alternative Treatments for Cancer on the Internet at his website NaturalNews. He describes all the system of persuading patients by cancer industry.

Although the author uses an example of cancer industry in his article, same
situation perfectly applies to multiple sclerosis and all other  autoimmune disorders. I’ve cited some his perfect insights in my article MS – name ambiguity, describing problems with multiple sclerosis definition.

Here I will put some crucial excerpts from the article:

• …fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) initiated by purveyors of modern medicine in order to scare people away from finding information about cancer on the internet
• …let’s get to the bottom of this and look at the real reason why this kind of propaganda is being distributed through the national media. The real reason they are attacking cancer websites is because the internet is the only place people can go to actually learn the truth about the cancer industry and cures for cancer that don’t involve chemotherapy, surgeries, or other radical procedures offered by western medicine
• Frankly, organized medicine would rather people remain ignorant. They don’t want people to be informed about anything other than the treatments that they promote and control, and as a result they continue to engage in these FUD campaigns to discourage people from learning about health online
• Ideally what the industry wants is a form of censorship – they want websites to be flagged to indicate which ones are “official” (therefore -
  best) cancer websites
• …person can undergo $50,000 worth of treatment and live an extra 3 months, and western medicine calls that a success, and it is their official position that that is the only treatment that should be available to sufferers of cancer – that if you go outside the system and find something that increases your lifespan by years or decades, then you are committing some sort of crime by venturing outside of orthodox western medicine
• …existing cancer industry prevents prevention. They are against prevention. They do not want prevention to be well known or to be adopted by medical practitioners, and one of the ways they do that is of course to spread fear and uncertainty about alternative cancer treatments through headlines such as the one I’m discussing here. If they can scare people away from the internet, then they can keep people ignorant of the true treatments for cancer

What I like in particular – it’s a nice analogy with plantation owners in the slave days of the United States. Mike Adams explains:

• it’s kind of like if you ran a plantation back in the slave days of the United States, you would make sure your slaves remained illiterate, because that way they wouldn’t gain enough education to venture out on their own and leave your plantation. In modern medicine, patients are like slaves, and the medical industry wants to keep everyone enslaved by making sure they don’t have access to good information about how to prevent chronic disease. “Keep ‘em dumb!” seems to be the slogan of organized medicine. The less you know about health and disease, the better they like it

Further the author presents major reasons for all this situation (the explanation perfectly fits for multiple sclerosis etc):

• When it comes to cancer, western medicine has failed. It simply does not work – it doesn’t cure cancer, it doesn’t offer any long-term benefit to patients, and it only results in massive costs associated with these
  short-lived treatments. Alternative medicine and natural healing approaches, on the other hand, are inexpensive: they are safe to use, they are widely used throughout the world, outside the United States, and they’ve been proven safe through thousands of years of effective use by various populations of the world who know far more about medicine and healing than our so-called “high-tech” system of modern medicine

Look – I never experienced any cancer. However, as a (former) multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer, I experienced similar kind of FUD – directly and indirectly.

As usually, everything everywhere starts with definition. I tried to describe
all the confusion in articles On MS definition and MS – name ambiguity.

To be able to do something with it it’s necessary to know it. It’s included in magic words: “Knowledge of how to have health gives greatest power” I’ve chosen as My Health Manifesto.

Having more knowledge you are less vulnerable to FUD !

* * *

Even more information regarding history and different uses of FUD in different areas of human activity has been presented in a
Wikipedia article. It appears that:

FUD is generally a strategic attempt to influence public perception by disseminating negative and dubious/false information designed to undermine the credibility of their beliefs

Knowing this marketing strategy usually helps to understand, what and why happens around.

MS, children and vitamin D

In one study, published June 2009, researchers from the University of  Toronto tested the vitamin D blood levels of 125 children who had exhibited symptoms indicating some form of damage to the myelin sheath.

Children who develop multiple sclerosis have substantially lower levels of vitamin D than children who do not develop the disease, according to a series of studies presented at an international conference on multiple sclerosis in Montreal.

Full article:  Vitamin D Deficiency Causes Multiple Sclerosis in Children

• “Three-quarters of our subjects were below the optimal levels for vitamin D,” lead researcher Heather Hanwell said
• “Seventeen of 19 children who had been diagnosed with MS had vitamin D levels below the target level,” researcher Brenda Banwell said
• “There is a very consistent pattern of latitude and multiple sclerosis,” said epidemiologist and multiple sclerosis researcher Cedric Garland of the University of California-San Diego
• “In Canada for six months of the year the sun is not intense enough for us to manufacture vitamin D in our skin”…
• “People have been looking for things in the environment that might account for why Canada has such a high MS risk, and this is one of those factors”…

Further explanation:

• It remains unclear exactly how vitamin D might influence multiple sclerosis risk, but researchers believe it may have to do with the immune system. New research continues to illuminate the role that vitamin D plays in the immune system, providing protection against cancer, tuberculosis and autoimmune diseases

And:

• Vitamin D acts as an immune modulator… On our immune cells there are what are known as receptors, a docking mechanism, for vitamin D. In MS, there are many lines of evidence that immune cells are not regulated properly
• Researchers called vitamin D research one of the most promising areas of research into causes and potential cures for multiple sclerosis

Final words:

• To prove that vitamin D is effective as a multiple sclerosis treatment or preventive – as well as to figure out what dose would be needed – researchers would first have to conduct large-scale clinical trials

* * *

So we got it:

Vitamin D Deficiency Causes Multiple Sclerosis in Children

But why:

• only vitamin D deficiency?
• only in children?

I realize – this was the area of the research – the researchers performed a so-called scientific investigation.

What I really can’t understand (and agree with) – they didn’t perform any exploration into area of other possible multiple sclerosis (MS) causes. OK, they don’t mention it.

All the authors of this article are trying to do is to treat a set of symptoms, officially called Multiple Sclerosis, presupposing the only cause (lack of vitamin D), without even guessing any other.

I described some most probable causes of multiple sclerosis and all other autoimmune disorders in a chapter MS Triggers.

It’s really so simple: if there is other MS trigger – not vitamin D deficiency, increasing amount of this particular vitamin will not reduce MS symptoms and can even complicate a situation.

* * *
Importance of vitamin D is well documented in important medical researches:

• A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials has found that supplemental vitamin D significantly reduces mortality from all causes
• Vitamin D’s final metabolic product targets more than 200 human genes in a wide variety of tissues
• Not only are such deficiencies common, but vitamin D deficiency is implicated in most of the diseases of civilization
• Since vitamin D deficiency is both endemic and is associated with numerous diseases, it is one of the most important medical problems in modern society
• Steps should be taken to keep patients with chronic diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency

Get your vitamin D

Pollution, DNA changes and MS

The other day, searching for health-related news, I came across such an article:

Pollution Can Change Your DNA in 3 Days, Study Suggests

As source was quite reliable – National Geographic News and I am interested in the subject (multiple sclerosis is autoimmune disorder), I started reading the article carefully:

• Breathing in polluted air may wreak havoc on our DNA, reprogramming genes in as few as three days and causing increased rates of cancer and other diseases
• The same damage may occur in city dwellers exposed to normal air, the researchers say
• …exposed workers’ DNA was damaged…
• Reduced-size gene groups … have also been found in the blood DNA of lung cancer patients
• You might not have to be a steelworker to sustain this kind of genetic damage…
• …the same damage can occur in city dwellers—the effects, however, take weeks or months to show up
• For instance, … previous research shows elderly people … had DNA damage…

What I am missing is consistency. Some aspects are well documented:

• almost all manufactured chemicals act as pollutants, showing up as xenobiotics, immunotoxins, neurotoxins etc.
• the only mentioned result from exposure to pollutants is lung cancer. They don’t mention autoimmune disorders and other pollution-related health problems at all – they mention only “other diseases”
• there is no explanation what happens when DNA has been changed

To my knowledge, the immune system is a full time body guard, recognizing and distinguishing between self and non-self. Next step is to destroy non-self. But what changed DNA really is – self or non-self?

It seems to me, immune system in such situations must be ‘confused’ – sometimes gets suppressed, sometimes overactive… And as degree of DNA change most probably depends on pollutant (pollutants cocktail), dose and exposure, result is rather unpredictable.

So number of autoimmune disorders (different ways of overactive immune system acting) is already approaching 100. And definitely multiple sclerosis (MS) is among many others.

MS – predominantly dental disease?

One characteristic of MS seems to be ignored completely. MS only seems to have existed for less than the past 200 years…

Shortly after 1800, for example, people in Europe first had their teeth filled with amalgam (http://www.amalgam.org), first in England and then in France. This rather exact chronological correspondence with the beginning of the MS disease could be a pure coincidence. However there are further indications that lead to amalgam.

Observations have been made that MS occurs more often in industrialized countries than in third-world countries. Until now there is no commonly accepted explanation. Amalgam could fill this explanation gap quite easily…

http://www.hendess.net/ms_e.htm

Many scientific, political and commercial issues on amalgam fillings and MS are presented in an article Mercury Amalgam Fillings

Since its discovery around the mid-1830s, there has been endless speculation about the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. Now we’ve come to realize that the first reported appearance of the disease occurred only a few years after the original insertions of dental mercury as amalgam fillings in 1826. During our interview, Cardiologist Thomas Levy told me that Dr. Hal Huggins has researched this medical history and acted on it. “Dr. Huggins has consistently witnessed improvement in MS patients undergoing amalgam removal. He observes clear symptomatic and laboratory test improvements in up to 85 percent of the patients. Until he relinquished his Colorado dental license, it was common to see wheelchair-bound patients discontinue use of their support chairs and take steps on their own once again,” said Dr. Levy. Multiple sclerosis recovery has happened repeatedly for patients so afflicted because they have undergone dental amalgam removal. Clinical observation confirms that multiple sclerosis is predominantly a dental disease. It is brought on by dentists packing mercury and other amalgamated metals into the cavities of people with impaired teeth. Mercury amalgams have made people what holistic and mercury-free dentist Richard T. Hansen, D.M.D., of Fullerton, California, has described as “dental cripples”… The success rate of healing for MS patients increased with Dr. Huggins’ discovery of fluoride in all its forms as a complicating factor in the disease. Fluoride must be scrupulously avoided by MS patients. They must not drink fluoridated water, brush with fluoridated toothpaste, or take fluoride dental treatments. Ingestion of this chemical retards the patient’s clinical progress toward healing or even promotes frank clinical relapse of MS symptoms…

Read more

From the biological standpoint mercury can attack myelin tissues and generate an autoimmune response. Mercury can also alter the 3-dimensional form of proteins that can lead to the inhibition of catalytic activity that may be necessary in nerve impulse transmission… Mercury damages the protective abilities of the blood-brain barrier that select what can and cannot cross into the brain, thus indirectly allowing other harmful substances to enter nervous tissue… http://www.curezone.com/forums/fmp.asp?i=5005

Nice and thorough explanation of Mercury – Multiple Sclerosis connection is provided in an article “Are Silver Fillings Harmful?“