Eight years ago, New Yorker Herbert Smith did the unthinkable -- he swallowed thousands of pig whipworm eggs in a desperate attempt to combat his advancing Crohn's disease.
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I've been reading with interest about this new treatment for Crohn's disease: pig worms.
But there is another treatment for Crohn's disease that I think patients might find much less distasteful: LOW DOSE NALTREXONE (LDN). LDN is an off-label low-dose use of a drug that was approved by the FDA at much higher doses in the mid-1980s for another purpose.
Since the mid-80s, it has been used in very low doses by some doctors to raise endorphin levels and "modulate" the immune system.
Crohn's is one of the diseases LDN has helped.
Here are pub med links to two LDN/Crohn's studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320
In a 2007 study by Jill Smith, MD et al, “Low-dose naltrexone therapy improves active Crohn's disease,” published in American Journal of Gastroenterology, concluded that “Eighty-nine percent of patients exhibited a response to therapy and 67% achieved a remission.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937
A 2011 study, also conducted by Dr. Smith, titled “Therapy with the opioid antagonist naltrexone promotes mucosal healing in active Crohn's disease: a randomized placebo-controlled trial,” published online journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Again, the results were similar with “at least a 70-point decline in CDAI scores compared to 40% of placebo-treated patients.” (NOTE: CDAI scores refer to the Crohn's Disease Activity Index score.)
I hope your readers will find my comment helpful.
Thanks much. Julia Schopick www.HonestMedicine.com Author of the book, "HONEST MEDICINE"
I've been reading with interest about this new treatment for Crohn's disease: pig worms.
ReplyDeleteBut there is another treatment for Crohn's disease that I think patients might find much less distasteful: LOW DOSE NALTREXONE (LDN). LDN is an off-label low-dose use of a drug that was approved by the FDA at much higher doses in the mid-1980s for another purpose.
Since the mid-80s, it has been used in very low doses by some doctors to raise endorphin levels and "modulate" the immune system.
Crohn's is one of the diseases LDN has helped.
Here are pub med links to two LDN/Crohn's studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320
In a 2007 study by Jill Smith, MD et al, “Low-dose naltrexone therapy improves active Crohn's disease,” published in American Journal of Gastroenterology, concluded that “Eighty-nine percent of patients exhibited a response to therapy and 67% achieved a remission.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937
A 2011 study, also conducted by Dr. Smith, titled “Therapy with the opioid antagonist naltrexone promotes mucosal healing in active Crohn's disease: a randomized placebo-controlled trial,” published online journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Again, the results were similar with “at least a 70-point decline in CDAI scores compared to 40% of placebo-treated patients.” (NOTE: CDAI scores refer to the Crohn's Disease Activity Index score.)
I hope your readers will find my comment helpful.
Thanks much.
Julia Schopick
www.HonestMedicine.com
Author of the book, "HONEST MEDICINE"