Stu's Views and MS Related News

What's this "LDN" everyone is talking about?

By Julie Stachowiak, Ph.D., About.com ( http://ms.about.com/od/treatments/a/LDN_overview.htm)

Created: April 15, 2009

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Low dose naltrexone (known to its friends as LDN) could be a huge, untapped solution for millions of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, some doctors are afraid that it could be, for lack of a better term, “snake oil.” The problem is that no one has really done a big, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase III type study using LDN, so we continue to lack the kind of “evidence” that physicians need to prescribe it and drug companies need to make it (currently it is only available from a compounding pharmacy).

However, there is plenty of “buzz” around LDN in the MS community. With a fervor that I have not seen around ANY other drug (except maybe medical marijuana), lots of people with MS are saying, “Hey! This stuff WORKS!”

Naltrexone is an opiate agonist, and at the usual dosage of 50 to 100 mg, is used to help people stop abusing alcohol or narcotics (opioid drugs). It works by decreasing the cravings for these substances, primarily by blocking the opiate receptors. LDN refers to the “off-label” use of naltrexone at a fraction of the usual dose.

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In Brief
Around the globe, there has been a quantum leap forward in the number of ongoing research studies on LDN—2007 has definitely been a banner year. Here is a capsule look at a number of such projects.

Developments that are detailed below:

~ A Phase II placebo-controlled clinical trial of LDN for Crohn’s disease at Penn State.
~ The Institutional Review Board in Bamako, Mali, approved plans in September 2007 for a clinical trial of LDN in HIV-infected citizens of Mali—the first scientific study of LDN for HIV/AIDS in Africa—and it was implemented in October 2007.
~ A multi-institutional clinical trial of LDN for MS in Italy, which includes endorphin measurements, completing in fall 2007.
~ A study of LDN in the treatment of MS at the University of California, San Francisco, implemented in early 2007.
~ A clinical trial of LDN in the treatment of fibromyalgia at Stanford Medical Center implemented in October 2007.
~ A study by the MindBrain Consortium in Akron, Ohio of, especially, the affective changes in MS treated with LDN, beginning late 2007.
~ An animal research study at Penn State of naltrexone in a model of a disease that mimics MS, under a small grant from the National MS Society.
~ Animal research on neurodegeneration at NIEHS has suggested a protective role for naltrexone.

View all data pertaining to the above briefing, by clicking >> Here <<

Wednesday September 19, 7:45 am ET


NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 20, 2007, physicians and patient advocates will gather at the Third Annual Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Conference {
www.lowdosenaltrexone.org} at Vanderbilt University's Student Life Center in Nashville, Tennessee to bring awareness to a promising treatment for HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS) and a host of other life-altering autoimmune conditions, and autism.

Naltrexone was originally approved by the FDA in 1984 at the 50mg level for narcotics addiction. But around the world, physicians and researchers are discovering that at much lower doses - most commonly in the 4.5mg range - the compounded medication, taken nightly, stimulates the immune system and helps the body fight off devastating diseases. LDN has no known harmful side effects, and at an average price of well under $50 per month's supply, the compound is very affordable.

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The following was received from Karen Hart and Michael Myette:



Naltrexone (Low Dose Naltrexone)

The following explains Low Dose Naltrexone (also known as LDN) from a
layperson's perspective that everyone should be able to understand.

Please note that we are not medical doctors, and that there is no formal
proof of the following statements; they are merely informed hypotheses. You
should always do your own research and consult with your doctor before
undertaking any medical treatment.

The simple explanation:
Naltrexone is an FDA approved drug (1984) that was originally intended to
treat people suffering from opium (e.g., heroin) addiction. It treated these
addictions by blocking the "pleasant" effects from the drug, so addicts who
took it did not get "high" anymore.

How does it block the "high?" There are receptors in our brain that an
opioid like heroin would use to get into the cell and do its deed.
Naltrexone blocks those receptors, so the heroin can't have an effect. Think
about it like a puzzle piece-- some brain cells have a piece that accepts
opium and its derivatives, and the Naltrexone simply matches that piece.
When the heroin floats around, it has no where to go.

OK, that's all well and good, but what relevance is there to Multiple
Sclerosis?

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Posted by: Cyndi Lenz | July 10, 2007 at 02:42 PM

Dr. Robbins sense of humor comes across on his video and I am elated to see a doctor who is also an advocate for his patients. Health care is and will remain a major issue for this generation and for current and future baby boomers. The time to find solutions is now - no matter to what political party you belong. The will and the desire to make that happen is what Michael More's movie SICKO suggests quite strongly and to quote him from one of his interviews "Americans are good at finding solutions".

to view more of the Musician Physician <<< CLICK

Cyndi is a nurse and filmmaker. Her Husband, Skip Lenz is a doctor of pharmacy.
Skip is a known Chemist and is also a known source for LDN.

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Low Dose Naltrexone, or LDN , is a drug developed to treat addiction that has extensive anecdotal evidence of effectiveness in MS. The LDN Research Trust is a UK organization that has been raising funds to get a trial going. This article tells a bit about their story and progress.

Click these links to learn more of:

- LDN - http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org

- The Trial - http://www.theherald.co.uk/display.var.1494742.0.0.php

- The LDN Research Trust Organization - http://www.ldnresearchtrust.org/

...... LDN: The Latest News

...... LDN Homepage


As of May 2007:
NCI Hosts Conference on LDN and Related Substances. On the afternoon of April 20th, at its offices in Rockville, Maryland, the National Cancer Institute (part of the US government's National Institutes of Health, or NIH) held a conference entitled “Low Dose Opioid Blockers, Endorphins, and Metenkephalin: Promising Compounds for Unmet Medical Needs.”

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...... LDN and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/ldn_and_ms.htm

In Brief
Over the past few years, growing experience with the clinical use of LDN demonstrates its consistency in preventing further attacks in people with MS. In addition, a majority of such patients note reductions in spasticity and fatigue.

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Sent to me from Robin in Alabama:

Stu, This is the man that came to our MS support group meeting. He is the reason I started the LDN. Please read this wonderful story. I know for a fact he was very very sick. I saw with my own eyes how well he could walk. It was a great testimony..This was a in our New Paper a while back. So he is doing even better today.
Robin

SYLACAUGA — The Fire Department is assisting a former firefighter and a nationwide group in raising funds to get trials under way for a new drug for multiple sclerosis.

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An Un-Official LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) Survey
entered on Monday - February 19, 2007

If you are using LDN or have used it in the past your help is needed to provide knowledge to those who seek answers about Low Dose Naltrexone.

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