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| Conditions & Diseases A - Z | ADD / ADHD | ALS / Lou Gehrig's Disease | Alzheimer's Disease | Cancer |
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| Helicobacter Pylori | Migraine Headaches | Hypoglycemia | Muscle Spasms / Cramps | Osteoporosis | Prostatitis |
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ALS / Lou Gehrig's Disease: Nutritional Causes, Prevention & Therapies
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressive, fatal,
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neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells (motor neurons) in the brain and the spinal column. They
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control the voluntary muscles, which in turn allow movement. The progressive degeneration of the motor
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neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis eventually leads to their death.
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Over a period of months or years, ALS causes increasing muscle weakness, inability to control muscle
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movement, and problems with speaking, swallowing, and breathing. However, thinking ability, bladder and
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bowel control, sexual function, and the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) are unaffected. Each year,
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1 to 2 per 100,000 people develop ALS, with men being affected slightly more often than women.
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ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries, and although it may
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develop at any age, it is most common in middle-aged and older adults.
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Therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis include the FDA-approved medication Rilutek, while the drug
Neurontin is sometimes prescribed for ALS as well. Other drugs reported to have stabilized ALS symptoms
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include Tamoxifen, used for breast cancer, and the antibiotic Minocycline, which has shown to delay onset or
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slow the progression of ALS symptoms in a mouse model. Minocycline, also used to treat acne, is thought to
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work by blocking release of a molecule that triggers cell death.
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The findings may lead to new ways of treating ALS / Lou Gehrig's disease, or other neurodegenerative
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disorders. Neurological syndromes developed in patients suffering from Lyme disease generated enough
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interest that a number of ALS patients were tested for Borrelia Burgdorferi antibodies in serum, resulting in
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a 'significant' positive outcome.
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When measuring nutritional aspects, or the intracellular chemistry of patients diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's
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disease, they comprise abnormal sulfur levels, which is also seen with Alzheimer's disease - except that
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ALS patients present with elevated sulfur levels and above-normal selenium levels, while patients suffering
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from Alzheimer's disease present with very deficient sulfur levels, but not always very low selenium levels.
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Both - Sulfur and Selenium - affect the central nervous system, provoking an inflammatory response as a
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result of excessive uptake / retention (such as with ALS), and provoking a degenerative response as a result
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of insufficient uptake / retention (such as with Alzheimer's disease). Subsequently, dietary and supplemental
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sources of sulfur should be adjusted accordingly when dealing with either one of these conditions. It should
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be noted however that diet is not the cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but the disease presents with
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excessive storage of cellular sulfur and selenium.
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Lowering selenium and sulfur levels on a trial basis with either selenium and sulfur antagonists, or with
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electro-acupuncture therapy along strategic acupuncture points to suppress sulfur and selenium activity
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has resulted in a pronounced, short-term improvement of ALS symptoms, such as speech and muscle
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coordination in ALS patients. (see Acu-Cell "Selenium & Sulfur" for a list of selenium and sulfur antagonists).
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In contrast, some rare forms of ALS or Parkinson's-like diseases are actually attributable to mercury
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poisoning, in which case selenium supplementation may be a consideration for its mercury-lowering effect. ¤
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