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Recovering from multiple sclerosis

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A young man in his late twenties came to see me, whom I’ll call Roland. I’ve altered all identifying features, but the essence of his illness and its causes, treatment and outcome are unchanged. 

Roland had been suffering from numbness and pain in his hands and feet, severe headaches and increasingly blurred vision for about four months. He had become unable to work because of the headaches and unable to drive because of the blurred vision. A brain scan resulted in a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). 

Remarkably, Roland came to see me straight after that, rather than the usual route of opting for conventional treatment and suffering numerous side-effects for many years before finally consulting a holistic practitioner as a last resort. The fact that he came to see me only four months after his symptoms began is one of the reasons his treatment has been so successful. 

Unusually, I was quickly able to identify the episode that had sparked off his illness. Three or four weeks before his symptoms began, Roland had had his basement office sprayed for an infestation of silverfish insects. The spraying technicians, who wore full protective gear, had warned him not to go near the basement for at least 48 hours. However, Roland had important work to do, went into his office shortly after the spraying ended and spent that day and the following days working there. 

Within a few short weeks, his MS began. 

Nevertheless, a serious illness like MS usually has many contributing factors; I suspected that the recent insecticide spraying was only the final trigger. He had many metal amalgam fillings in his mouth and ate up to two tins a day of tuna fish—both of which contain the neurotoxin mercury. 

He also used a lot of artificial sweeteners, ate no healthy fats, held his cell phone to his head for many hours a day, slept very little (“too busy”), had several nutrient deficiencies (including of vitamin D), had chemical exposure from frequent flying and, crucially, had had previous insecticide exposure when his attic was sprayed for wasp nests some years before. 

Other contributing factors I have found in other MS patients include a history of head injury (I see this in chronic fatigue patients, too), ongoing dental infection, past exposure to old-fashioned VDU screens, and a history of eating sugar, drinking cola and so on. Low vitamin D is almost always a factor, even if it tests normal when you see the patient. Years or even decades of living with low vitamin D levels before the illness manifests will have contributed to it. 

Roland also tested low in vitamin E, zinc and iodine, and he had high levels of fluoride, likely from toothpaste and possibly dental drops put on his teeth by a dental hygienist. I recommended a fluoride-free toothpaste, such as those made by Green People or Kingfisher. 

Additionally, Roland had a high homocysteine level, which I treated with high-dose vitamin B12 in its active, methylated form (methylcobalamin) plus methylfolate and all the other B vitamins; the homocysteine level normalized within a few months. 

High homocysteine contributes to heart disease, but less well known is that it also contributes to neurodegenerative diseases of all kinds, including MS and dementia. Naturally I treated all the other deficiencies with supplements too, and drastically changed Roland’s diet. 

I placed Roland on a slightly modified version of Dr Terry Wahl’s excellent diet for MS, which is essentially a Paleo/ketogenic diet of meat, low-carbohydrate vegetables and good fats and oils. I added in eggs (organic and free-range of course) and avocados, and focused on removing the vast amounts of refined carbohydrates and artificial additives from Roland’s diet. 

Roland mostly stuck to the diet, but when he didn’t, his symptoms returned at once, which told him the diet was working. Advanced tests showed that Roland’s mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles in our cells, were not working well, so we gave them what mitochondria need most: magnesium, coenzyme Q10, carnitine and, again, B vitamins. 

We found two different insecticides in Roland’s system, not surprisingly, and also mercury and cadmium, another neurotoxic metal. In fact, some of the mercury was actually attached to the gene that makes the myelin protein. 

This is highly significant, as myelin is the fatty insulation that coats and protects the nerves, allowing messages to travel between brain and body. It deteriorates in MS, and repairing it is crucial to recovery. It has a protein component as well as a fatty component, and that is the part the immune system attacks in people with MS. 

So the key question is: why would the immune system (which is very smart) start attacking its own tissues? I suspect that toxic metals like mercury distort the protein’s structure, making it look alien to the immune system’s patrolling white blood cells, which then destroy it. A similar process is known to occur in Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, insecticides are fat-soluble poisons, so they make a beeline for fatty tissues in the body, such as the myelin of the central nervous system.

I then focused on getting all the toxins out of Roland’s system, to give his myelin a chance to normalize. I began a detoxification program for him: very high dose vitamin C for a few months—the full protocol is on page 305 of my book, Staying Alive in Toxic Times (Hodder & Stoughton); reduced glutathione, which is essential for detox (although we do make it ourselves, some of us, like Roland, are less able to make it, for genetic reasons); phosphatidylcholine (PC) liquid for getting rid of fat-soluble toxins like insecticides; Epsom salts baths (Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate, and assist with certain detox pathways as well as relaxing the muscles); and most vital of all, organic vegetable juicing every day. 

After a few months of following my principle of  “Putting the Good Stuff In Before Taking the Bad Stuff Out,” Roland had all his mercury amalgam fillings removed by a super-safe dentist, using the protocols of the International Academy for Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) to prevent further release of mercury into the system. 

He bought a water filter, at my insistence, so he wasn’t drinking chlorine. Finally, we moved on to two more detox modalities, saunas and colonic hydrotherapy (also explained in chapter 7 of my book), and I made him promise to avoid all kinds of pesticides forever, which meant eating organic, strictly and permanently. 

By the third consultation, Roland’s energy level and vision were substantially improved, sensation was returning to the numb patches on his hands and feet, and he was sleeping normal hours. By the fourth consult, his eyesight had normalized, to the delight and puzzlement of the optician. 

The headaches are gone, and he is essentially back to his former self. But as soon as he stops taking the good oils or the PC liquid, or he goes back to eating sugar or refined carbs, he gets ill again—with more numbness, weakness and pain. Once back on the regime, he recovers within two weeks. 

Natural medicine works, especially if started very early on in an illness. But it is hard work, and it takes dedication and support from those around you. Luckily, Roland has these in abundance.  

 

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