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This is the lead article in a series of articles about rheumatoid arthritis which discuss potassium nutrition and physiology.
The word "arthritis" = rheumatoid arthritis = RA in these articles (for a summation of potassium and copper nutrition, click here)
CONTENTS of OTHER CHAPTERS
II. Arthritis Research -- III. Arthritis and Potassium -- IV. Roles of Potassium in the Body -- V. Electrolyte regulation (sodium and potassium) -- VI. Purpose of cortisol -- VIII. Nutritional Requirements -- IX. Potassium in Foods -- X. Processing Losses -- X continued,. Losses in the kitchen -- XI. Potassium supplementation -- XII. Side effects and heart disease -- XIV. Potassium and thiamin in heart disease
Strategies for Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia --------- When blood potassium is too high
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It is my contention that potassium deficiency is either causing, or greatly making worse, rheumatoid arthritis, which I will shorten to "arthritis" in these articles. In assessing the possibility of this hypothesis people have little to go on. Virtually any textbook in the past would devote no more than a paragraph to potassium which would state that potassium is never deficient in the diet, or give one exception to the dozen or more known ways of loss, or in some only under clinical conditions.
The reason for this careless treatment of potassium is probably because potassium is present in almost all foods as grown in large quantities. Professionals think about it as if it were air or water. However even air and water can be deficient and if voluminous texts are not written about these deficiencies, it is because both of those deficiencies can be detected by our senses. Extremely powerful emotions and instincts impel people to correct those deficiencies immediately and at any cost. Potassium is odorless, colorless, and, in the usual concentrations, tasteless. There is no way to detect a deficiency and cell content can not even easily be assessed in the body by modern analytical procedures. Whole body cell content is virtually "invisible".
There is not any indication in the literature that potassium has ever been tried by scientists as a cure for arthritis. A rather exhaustive search of the medical literature has failed to disclose any experiment. This includes Exerpta Medica 1947 to 1974, and a computer search by the Central Library of the American Medical Association from 1965 on back. In addition no search of mine since has revealed an experiment. It is only recently that a clinical trial has been performed by Rastmanesh with very encouraging results [Rastmanesh]. Even in the present, an extensive book on arthritis fails to even mention potassium [Koopman]. Even extensive books on electrolytes fails to mention arthritis [Halpern] [Narins].
I will discuss potassium physiology and nutrition and what can be done to remove an actual deficiency and thus heal any tissue that has not actually been destroyed. Please keep in mind, though, that potassium ramifies through every cell and process in the body, has no storage, and has a dangerous dependence on its precise control for nerve impulse transmission. This makes it a mineral to be cautious about. In particular I recommend getting as much as possible from food. Even food requires a little care because it has a wide range of concentrations. You must take responsibility for your own intake and I assume no liability for the correctness of advice in this article. You use this information at your own risk.
Getting potassium from food is reasonably safe for normal people with reasonably sound kidneys. Even if you doubt my thesis of a connection between arthritis and potassium, you have nothing to lose by getting all the potassium that was originally in your food. It will even taste better. It will, in addition, help protect you from potassium's known link to heart disease. As the 12th century physician Maimonides expressed it: "A doctor should begin with simple treatments, trying to cure by diet before he administers drugs. No illness that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means" or as Hippocrates expressed it in 460 - 377BC "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." A healthy lifestyle has been known for a long time.
Anything a doctor or dietitian can learn about nutrition, you can also. If you do not know the meaning of a word in these articles, for a definition click on http://www.m-w.com (Mirriam-Webster), - or a medical encyclopedia or a comprehensive encyclopedia..
Dr. Reza Rastmanesh from Iran has recently performed a large controlled clinical trial testing potassium supplements against rheumatoid arthritis with dramatic decreases in pain in all subjects and increases of cortisol [Rastmanesh]. He would now like to continue his clinical research testing potassium in conjunction with other nutrients, especially magnesium, in an English speaking country. His credentials are impressive. If you know of any rheumatology or nutrition department able to employ him, please contact me with this email; isoptera atatt.net
Arthritis or rheumatism is a major crippling disease in America. Nearly 1 in 3 adults living in the United States has either doctor-diagnosed arthritis or chronic joint symptoms that have not been diagnosed by a doctor. This number is up from 1 in 6 adults in 1998, and the number continues to increase as the population increases. Arthritis is second only to heart disease as a cause of work disability. More women than men are afflicted with arthritis. Arthritis costs the U.S. economy $86.2 billion per year. When both direct and indirect costs (such as lost wages) are combined, arthritis costs the U.S. economy more than $124 billion per year. Those figures include both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis. A Brazilian study indicates that one half a per cent have rheumatoid arthritis as opposed to about 4% for osteoarthritis in that country The CDC says that at least 65 billion dollars are lost each year for medical costs and loss of productivity, but that figure does not a even begin to measure degradation of quality of life. There is an estimate that individual costs average $5700 per year and present estimates for direct and indirect costs add up to 128 billion dollars. It causes more disability in its victims than heart disease. Two thirds of the victims are women, most of them over 45 [Rodman]. The terrible pains associated with arthritis, reminiscent of and similar to the medieval torture racks must surely be among the top causes of contemporary misery. These pains along with the actual physical disability, weak joints, loss of energy, and other systemic symptoms that accompany them, cause an enormous loss of productivity. Half the patients will stop working within 10 years. Arthritis is probably a considerable part of the cause of increasing welfare roles. Even industrial accidents are related to this monstrous and onerous burden that society carries. Small jolts and falls that should do little more than bring out some colorful language results in loss of hours and even months. It is more than just the loss of time itself. It is also the super caution that blocks even fairly healthy people from making fast, risky moves when they see some of the debacles their friends get into.
Nor is arthritis confined to North America. Countries at such extremes of latitude as Finland and Jamaica have even higher rates than we do [Kellgren]. The simple life is not any guarantee against misery either, nor is a simple life a guarantee of good nutrition. The Masai tribesmen of Africa have high rates [Best p768] and eat a diet low in vegetables. Political or economic ideologies are not barriers. Arthritis crosses the iron curtain, is also present in nomadic hunters, and cave men, cave bears, and ancient Egyptians are thought to have had it [Bach][Crain], although Rothschild believes it first started among Tennessee Indians 4000 years ago and spread from there. It shows no obvious clear association with any culture even though it is very variable, with very low rates in tribes near the Masai (including villages in Nigeria [Silman] ) and Laplanders near the Finns in Finland, as well as insane people in Massachusetts [Allander p260] and an absence of arthritis on the island of Triton da Cuhna [Kellgren]. There is no evidence of rheumatoid arthritis among early Australian aborigines [Roberts-Thompson] or among Eskimos [Phelps]. The rates are very variable within regions of North America, within ethnic and economic groups, and age groups 15.2% of white people. 15.5% of black people, 11.3% of Hispanics, and 7.3% of Asian Pacific islanders have rheumatic conditions [Helmick] (but not all rheumatoid).
A considerable fraction of the people who have pains in the joints have them because of arthritis. The pains usually strike first in the outer joints like wrists, carpels, fingers on both sides or joints with a history of injury. If a patient completely lacks hand and wrist pain involvement, a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is doubtful. Load bearing joints are also vulnerable. Joints look much different in rheumatoid than they do in osteoarthritis. The pain is most likely in the early morning. It is often accompanied by stiffness. It is not to be assumed that the disease is localized because the pain is, Arthritis is present throughout the body and can affect kidneys, pericardium of the heart, and connecting tissue [Strukov][Ropes] (mesenchyme tissue). It is a disease largely associated with humans [LaMont-Havers], probably partly because animals can not talk (or in the case of rodents possibly because they make no use of cortisol), but I suspect primarily because animals usually do not have access to refined food low in potassium. Arthritis has few externally observable symptoms, especially in early stages. There are no known consistent biochemical changes in arthritis (which word in these articles will be equated with "rheumatoid arthritis" or RA) except a lower cellular potassium content than normal [LaCelle][Sambrook], and a somewhat higher plasma copper content along with a protein which binds the copper in the serum [Schubert]. However there are reports of some changes, which show up in a high proportion of arthritics. There have been reports of low salivary potassium (the only consistent difference from normal they found) [Syrjanen], low serum potassium [Cockel], calcium, phosphorus, lysozyme, and IgA peptide in the saliva of juvenile arthritics [Siamopoulou et al] (which form of arthritis could be similar to the adult form). The immune peptide hormones, IL18, MIF, CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CXCL9 and CXCL10, are statistically higher in juvenile arthritis [Jager]. The sodium/potassium ATPase activity is lower in erythrocyte (red blood cell) membrane [Masoon-Yasinzai] and lower than in normal, osteoarthritis, or gout [Testa]. Autoreactive T cells from patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus or arthritis are mainly CD4(+)CCR7(-)CD45RA(-) effecter memory T cells (T(EM) cells) with elevated Kv1.3 potassium channel expression [Beeton]. The steroid hormone dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA) is statistically lower in arthritics [Dessein] as is cortisol, pregnanediol and basal DHEAS [Imrich], even though ACTH is higher, as is aldosterone [Khetagurova]]. The aldosterone being higher suggests that there is something besides the low potassium itself that is involved in the cause of arthritis since aldosterone stimulates excretion of potassium and has a positive feedback. See “History of Arthritis” for proposals of what this something might be. There is a different spectrum of amino acids in the blood serum of arthritics. The ratio of IL6 peptide immune hormone to cortisol is statistically correlated to number of swollen joints and low grip strength. There has been an effort to use changes in some of the body's other proteins in diagnosis, but with limited success so far, although some of the other rheumatic diseases can be almost diagnosed from blood proteins alone [Waller]. As nearly as I can tell most of the above seemed to be the consensus for arthritis at the 1982 Pan American Conference on Arthritis and largely remains so today. There are significant correlations between IgM RF and IgA immune proteins and a higher disease activity [Chen] but the correlations are not perfect and IgM RF and C reactive protein are commonly used in modern testing labs. There is lower glycosylation of immune peptides (addition of sugar molecules) during arthritis [Axford]. I do not know what the significance of this is although addition of sugars may prevent the peptides from being normally active. C3 and C4 compliments are said to be the best of the other discriminators [Sari, et al]. In epithelial sodium channels, alpha and beta subunits are higher than normal in rheumatoid arthritis but not present in osteoarthritis [Trujillo, et al]. There is high activity of collagenase and elastase in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which is about 30 times higher than that found in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis [Bazzichi]. Arthritis sometimes has fatigue associated with it. The settling rate of red blood cells (erythrocytes) is said to be different in arthritis [from a dead URL], but is very variable and unreliable. Adrenomedulin, a peptide hormone, is three times higher in synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis than it is in osteoarthritis [Matsushita]. Also there is a high level of human leucocyte antigen in saliva of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythmatosis, and none in normal saliva [Adamashvili].
In the past arthritis was associated with old age in people's minds and there was a tendency to suffer it stoically as inevitable. It is a serious disease, though, with a much reduced life span and a 27% mortality at ten years. While the medical profession has intellectually abandoned an assumption that only people in old age are affected, many laymen still assume this is the case. The concept that this is "old age" is pervasive, even creeping into common cultural media as modern as "Star Trek". This is not to indicate that the victims did not often attempt to do something. Arthritis has a long history of quack nostrums and screwball procedures. These quack remedies were assisted by the numerous spontaneous remissions that occur with arthritis or by pain deadening chemicals. It was not necessary to cure everyone, since those who were "cured" were very grateful and those who were not were fatalistic, since their doctors could do nothing either.
It is my contention that arthritis is either a potassium deficiency or is strongly affected by one. I suspect that some poison or some infections or decline in kidney function with age degrades our ability to concentrate potassium and thus makes it impossible to get adequate potassium from food from which almost every processing procedure removes potassium these days. Arthritics characteristically have poor nourishment [Morgan et al] [Stone] including magnesium, which is necessary for potassium absorption [Kremer]. A poison that I suspect damages the kidneys in such a way as to prevent potassium retention, is the very poisonous bromine gas, since it probably affected me that way 55 years ago. It is possible that the glucocorticosteroid response modifying peptide hormone (GRMF) to be discussed in the cortisol chapter may be the system involved in the case of infection triggers.
One technique, which seemed to have some success, was the use of spas. At least their popularity would seem to indicate some success. The Dead Sea water has a reputation for healing arthritis and has been successfully investigated with healing lasting up to three months [Sukenik]. It has two and a half to ten times as much potassium chloride by weight as sodium chloride (which is almost equal number of molecules) and an even greater ratio of magnesium chloride by weight. One would think that warming the water high enough to open sweat gland pores would increase the speed of the affect if most of the potassium was entering through their mucous lining. That king-sized spa, the ocean, has been given credit for anti-arthritic tendencies also. This is plausible because the ocean contains potassium in about the same concentration as normal blood fluid. Sea mud is also given credit for curative properties [Veinpalu]. The spa at Bath, England, has potassium content less than one tenth that of ocean water [Riley]. If it is typical of spas, then unless they were drinking the water, it is hard to see how it could have helped.
There have been closer associations with potassium. At one time sulfurated potash was used to combat arthritis [Osol p1092]. It is not surprising that it fell into disfavor associated with such a useless anion. An anion is a negatively charged substance which neutralizes the positive charge of an ion like potassium. The first person to definitively link potassium to arthritis in no uncertain terms was DeCoti-Marsh in a book published in England in 1957 [deCoti-Marsh]. He claimed numerous case histories. He recommended many anions to go with the potassium, His pioneering efforts enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that encourages people to use potassium supplements in order to bring cell potassium up to normal and it has helped more than 3500 people.. Recently potassium supplements in connection with drugs gave a good response in similar diseases [Casatta].
A successful technique was the raw vegetable diet described by Holbrook in Europe during the forties [Holbrook]. This diet became quite popular, even though most people must have found it fairly unpalatable. Eppinger hinted that the success of this diet might have been due to its high potassium content [Eppinger]. It might have become more popular if a recommendation to use fried vegetables, soup, or to drink the boil water had been made, which would have permitted the same potassium intake as raw. It would be a good idea to find out what in raw vegetables was responsible, especially since it has been found that cooking some food increases the growth rate of animals, probably because interfering materials are destroyed in some of the vegetables by the cooking, something that would be especially important for children. There have been experiments with vegetarian diets in recent years but they have been changed merely by removing meat from the diet which is probably why only moderate success has been attained. However recently improvement has been noted using a diet that had increased amounts of vegetable juice and unpolished rice [Fujita]. There also has been a study that showed a strong negative correlation with cooked vegetables in Greece [Linos] and in Italy [[LaVecchia]. Dr. Saul has described a case in which vegetable juice and vegetables healed a woman. Kjeldsen-Kragh explored the affect of a vegetarian diet [Kjedsen-Kragh]. He found that fasting followed by a vegetarian diet has a favorable influence on disease activity in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This effect cannot be explained entirely by psychobiologic factors, immune suppression secondary to energy deprivation, changes in the plasma concentration of eicosanoid precursors, or changes in antibody activity against dietary antigens. Fasting should not be prolonged because muscle wasting during arthritis is dangerous and weight reduction is not a factor in amelioration from vegetarian diets.
That diet is deeply involved in arthritis seems almost certain because when people migrate from areas with very low arthritis rates and start eating processed food, they come down with arthritis.
At the present time there are several books relating diet to arthritis. Jarvis stresses honey and vinegar in his book [Jarvis]. Since honey is extremely low in potassium, it would be counter productive. The vinegar could be very beneficial if well fed people are failing to metabolize [Winegrad] all of the acetate ion or the acetate is being excreted by the kidneys before it has a chance to enter the cells, because the acid hydrogen ion interferes with potassium at the excretion site as will be developed later. I know of no tests reported in the literature testing this concept. Jarvis hints at other dietary changes also, which if followed, would increase potassium intake inadvertently. Kombucha, a vinegar like ferment, is said to be helpful for arthritis.
Dong and Banks prescribe a diet free of chemicals, milk, meat and sugar, and low in fat [Dong]. If his diet were followed it would definitely increase potassium intake, especially since he stresses unprocessed vegetables. However, he attributes its success to freedom from allergens and chemicals, so that philosophically he tends to be in the same general physiological category as the autoimmune hypothesis is in, to be discussed in History of Arthritis, Chapter II. I am fairly certain that those who have success with his diet do so because of the lucky quirk that potassium increases at the same time. I think a good case could be made for keeping chemicals out of food. Some, like sulfite, which destroys vitamin B-1, are known to be harmful (except to people low in potassium, where it is protective against heart and kidney disease [Folis] ), some like dyes are fraudulent and/or harmful. I doubt if removing them would have more than a small affect on arthritis though. An exception to this last statement may be fluoride, which can produce symptoms resembling arthritis. Alexander recommends vitamin D against arthritis. However like Dong he also speaks of low sugar and raw vegetables [Alexander. It has been proposed that vitamin D has an affect dampening the immune system [Cantorna]. This concept has been followed up on and oral vitamin D in the form of alphacalcidiol, which improved most of a group within 3 months. Those using Alexander’s diet must have had less trouble with tooth decay, tuberculosis [Wilkinson], muscle cramps, and rickets. Also vitamin D is necessary for magnesium reabsorption in the kidneys [Ritchie], which magnesium in turn is necessary for powering some of the electrolyte pumps, and is necessary for potassium absorption, and perhaps explain why it took so long to have an effect, given that it takes a long time for pumps damaged by magnesium deficiency to repair. This may be the reason why women taking vitamin D have less arthritis than those who do not. [Merlino]. The majority of people are too low in vitamin D. recommended blood contents and intake are discussed here.
Allergy has been proposed as a possible cause, but stressing allergens naturally present in food. It is quite conceivable that allergens damage the kidneys' ability to retain potassium. However, no one has established this yet. More likely is that the decline in cortisol during a potassium deficiency [Mikosha (in guinea pigs) ] stimulates the allergic response. It is also suggested by an experiment in which cortisol was increased by potassium chloride given to people [Ueda]. There is good evidence, though, of beneficial results from defeating allergy in specific cases. It is possible that allergens affect that part of the immune system involved in arthritis. Asthma and hay fever were cleared up in 2-3 days using potassium supplements [Abt].
Evidence from individual case histories that I have seen myself and the known characteristics of potassium physiology supports the proposal that arthritis is either a potassium deficiency or that a deficiency much enhances its most important symptom. There is also a single case history in which a subject was injected with various steroid hormones for a short time each to determine their effect. The only consistent change during the course of the experiment was that his daily intake of potassium was raised to 3500 milligrams per day. His arthritic symptoms showed a consistent improvement throughout the course of the experiment even though some of the hormones used increase potassium excretion [Clark]. Also an unpublished experiment has been performed by Rudin on arthritics in which potassium supplements showed favorable results on eight patients [private communication].The replete body contains about 75 times as much potassium or more as is usually in the processed diet, so if it is increased, it will still take quite awhile to come up to normal if it as much as 30% low. However there should be satisfying initial results in a month or two or even less if the other nutrition is adequate, especially magnesium [Kremer][Schoner] and maybe inositol [Charalampous] and probably less time yet if potassium is taken as the chloride (potassium as the chloride is possibly not a good idea if you have high blood pressure since chloride increases blood pressure or suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or CFIDS).
I have been almost alone in proposing potassium as being central to rheumatoid arthritis (but see Dr. Jan de Vries' article). Also the pioneering efforts about potassium for arthritis by Charles de Coti-Marsh in the 1950s and 1960s enabled him to form a foundation currently active in England that promotes the use of potassium and has helped 3500 people. Das has recently suggested that glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) therapy might suppress tumor necrosis (TNF) which is thought to produce some of the symptoms of arthritis [Das]. However there is no substitute for an experiment, which has never been reported in a journal until Rastmanesh’s clinical trial recently [Rastmanesh], because scientists are specialized and sometimes have trouble being interested in simple approaches, as are their funding agencies. A doctor has reported to me that potassium and magnesium had inconclusive results, but it is possible that some of the subjects had osteoarthritis or chronic fatigue syndrome so I am unwilling to accept this as negative evidence yet. While you are waiting patiently for further experiments there is nothing stopping you from eating nutritious food and making sure you do not lose any of the potassium by your own preparations. I am virtually certain that you will be healthier and will certainly have less risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and kidney stones. I wish you good health.
Chapter II, will describe current and past research.
Other chapters will follow after that, which discuss potassium nutrition and physiology, derivation of requirements, etc., links for which as shown at the beginning of this site.
The author, Charles Weber, has a degree in chemistry and a masters degree in soil science. He has researched potassium for over 50 years, primarily a library research. He has cured his own early onset arthritis (33 years old). He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974), Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999, 2007, 2008).
All printed rights to this article are reserved. Electronic rights are waived.
Email to; isoptera at att.net
SOME LINKS TO HEALTH ARTICLES
See this site for evidence of a correlation between magnesium deficiency and cancer. The taurate is proposed as the best magnesium supplement. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is an acidic chemical substance sulfonated rather than carboxylated found in high abundance in the tissues of many animals (metazoa), especially sea animals. Taurine is also found in plants, fungi, and some bacterial species, but in far less abundance. It is an amine with a sulfonic acid functional group, but it is not an amino acid in the biological sense, not being one of the twenty protein-forming compounds encoded by the universal genetic code. Small polypeptides have been identified as containing taurine, but to date there has been no report of a transfer RNA that is specifically charged with taurine [from Wikipedia]. It is essential to babies. It has been found that supplements of the amino acid, taurine, will restore the abnormal electrocardiogram present during a potassium deficiency by an unknown mechanism. This information has been used in several case histories by George Eby to control a long standing type of cardiac arrhythmia called pre atrial contractions (PACs), a benign but irritating and nerve racking heart problem, with 2.5 grams of taurine with each meal. Taurine is said to be low in the diets of vegetarians. The 2,500 grams recommended by the American Heart Association causes diarrhea in some people and should probably be reduced in those people. Taurine has been used for high blood pressure, migraine headache (I suspect that less than 1000 milligrams can remove the headache caused by allergy to peanuts), high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may desirable. Taurine may make a copper deficiency worse, based on a single case history [Brien Quirk, private communication]. This may be because taurine may be mobilizing copper and zinc into the plasma [Li]. So if you should decide to take taurine, make sure your copper intake is more than adequate, as well as your zinc.
It has been found that borax will cure rheumatoid arthritis. It will also get rid of fluoride in the body.
See this site for some links to health articles.
For a procedure that discusses tetrathiomolybdate for removing copper and thus preventing further solid cancer growth and Hodgkin’s, see this site. This might buy some time until you can persuade a doctor to try tumor necrosis factor or interferon or an opioid antagonist drug called Naltrexone (Naltrexone in the large 50 mg size, originally manufactured by DuPont under the brand name ReVia, is now sold by Mallinckrodt as Depade and by Barr Laboratories under the generic name naltrexone) that blocks some endorphin receptors. Said blockage is thought to cause the body to temporarily secrete more endorphins, especially after midnight at night. These endorphins are thought to stimulate the immune system, and in particular to stimulate the TH-1 or type 1 antiviral response by decreased interleukin-4 and with increased gamma interferon and interleukin-2 and a simultaneous decrease of type 2 anti bacterial response [Sacerdote].
It appears to be especially effective for minimizing symptoms and retarding progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) There are drugs listed in this site that should not be taken with low dose Naltrexone, including cortisol. Advice how to proceed if you have been taking cortisol may be seen here. (also see these sites; this site and this site and a trial) . A few doctors have had
encouraging results in Crohn's Disease, and even to some extent in cancer. Low doses of Naltrexone (LDN), 1.5 to 4.5 milligrams, at bedtime is used (timing is important, and it is important not to buy slow release forms). It is said to have no known bad side effects at those doses other than insomnia the first week or two in some. There is also reports from an extensive survey in this site. and an extensive discussion at this site.
I think some clinical studies on Naltrexone are in order, and it should not be a prescription drug (I have a petition to make Naltrexone an over the counter drug with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
FDA Rockville MD 20857, Re; Docket No. 2006P-0508-CPI. Perhaps if enough people wrote supporting the petition it could be enacted). Though side effects appear unlikely, it is not proven over longer periods. If you try it (it is a prescription medicine in the USA), it seems likely that you should discontinue if you get a bacterial infection in view of its inhibition of antibacterial response.
There are suggestions on how to obtain Naltrexone without a prescription in this site.It is also being explored for AIDS by Dr. Bernard Bihari, 29 W 15th St. New York, NY 10011, 212) 929-4196 who is still prescribing Naltrexone for HIV/AIDS. (and currently Executive Director of the Community Research Initiative). Dr. Gale Guyer of Advanced Medical Center located in Zionsville, Indiana also is using it for cancer. Dr. Bihari has shown promising results for a large percentage of his cancer patients.
Olive leaf extract has shown clinical evidence of effectiveness against a wide range of viruses, including AIDS [Bihari], herpes, and cold viruses. It sometimes produces a Herxheimer or pathogen die off symptoms (from effectiveness against bacteria?). There is evidence that it is synergistic (reinforce each other) with Naltrexone. There have been a few case histories of improvement in what were probably arthritis patients and CFIDS patients. The active ingredient is said to be oleuropein or enolate. There has been very little follow up research done on it.
Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere.
Here is an article with anecdotal evidence for pressurized oxygen, zinc, vitamin B6, and vitamin C after head injuries. They also claim keeping a fair percentage of prison inmates from psychiatric disorders after head injuries.
A site is available which shows. foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, or for those who must restrict another nutrient because of a genetic difficulty with absorption or utilization
You may find useful a search for abstracts of journal references, "Gateway".. or a list of medical search engines or Google’s “scholar” feature for journal articles only.
There is a site that contains reviews of natural remedies for many diseases . and also a site with several links to potassium nutrition articles.
If you use medication for arthritis, you may see technical evaluations and cautions of drugs at the bottom of this site.
The very extensive USDA Handbook #8 may be seen here. To access the information you must press "enter" to search, and then divide Kcal into milligrams of potassium. This last table is very comprehensive, is used in search mode, and even lists the amino acids. There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available here Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table that has already done the potassium calculation is here in descending concentration or here in alphabetical order. There is a free browser called Firefox, which is said to be less susceptible to viruses or crashes, has many interesting features, imports information from Iexplore while leaving Iexplore intact. You can also install their emailer. A feature that lists all the URLs on a viewed site can be useful when working on your own site.
Abt AF 1939 Note on oral administration of potassium chloride in the treatment of hay fever, nasal allergy, asthma, and sinusitis. Am. J. Med. Sci. 198; 224-238.
Alexander DD 1977 Arthritis and Common Sense. Witkower Press, Hartford, Conn.
Adamashvili I, Pressly T, Gebel H, Milford E, Wolf R, Mancini M, Sittg K, Ghali GE, Hall V, McDonald JC. 2002 Soluble HLA in saliva of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Rheumatol Int. 2002 Jun;22(2):71-6. Epub 2002 May 04
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Arthritis Foundation 1978 Arthritis the Basic Facts. Arthritis Foundation, Georgia
Axford JS,. 2000 Glycosylation and rheumatic disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine's 5th Jenner Symposium (Glycobiology and Medicine conference),10-11, July 10-11, 2000. 2001
Bach TF editor 1947 Arthritis and Related Conditions. FA Davis Co., Philadelphia
Bazzichi L Ciompi ML Betti L Rossi A Melchiorre D Fiorini M Giannaccini G Lucacchini A 2002 Impaired glutathione reductase activity and levels of collagenase and elastase in synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin. Exp. Rheumatol. 20; 761766.
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Best CH & Taylor NB 1960 The Physiological Basis of Medical Practice, 5th ed. Williams & Wilkins Co. Baltimore
Bihari B 1995 Efficacy of low dose Naltrexone as an immune stabilizing agent for treatment of HIV/AIDS [letter] AIDS Patient Care 9; 3.
Blumberg BS et al 1961 A study of the prevalence of arthritis in Alaskan Eskimos. Arthritis and Rheumatism 4; 325
Buchan JF 1957 The biochemical changes in rheumatoid arthritis. British Journal of Phys. Med. 120; 196
Cantorna, M., Hayes, C. and DeLuca, H.,1998a, 1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol inhibits the progression of arthritis in murine models of human arthritis. Journal of Nutrition, v. 128, p. 68-72.
Casatta L Ferraccioli GF & Bartoli E 1997 Hypokalaemic alkalosis, acquired Gitelman's and Barter's syndrome in chronic sialoadenitis. British Journal of Rheumatology 36;1125-1128
Charalampous FC 1971 Metabolic functions of myoinositol: VIIII - Role of inositol in Na+-K+ transport and in Na+ and K+ activated adenosine triphosphate of KB cells. Journal of Biol. Chem> 246; 455 & 461
Chen I 1995 The diagnostic significance of rheumatoid factors in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Chung Hua Nei Ko Tsq Chih 34 (7); 449-451 (from abstract)
Clark WS et al 1956 The relationship of alterations in mineral and nitrogen metabolism to disease activity in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Acta Rheum. Scand. 2;193.
Cockel R, Kendall MJ, Becker JF, Hawkins CF: Serum biochemical values in rheumatoid disease. Ann Rheum Dis 1971; 30(2):166-70.
Crain DC 1959 Help for Ten Million, 1st edition. JP Lippicott Co, NY
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