Neurological Disease: Advice You Won’t Hear From Your Conventional Doctor
Written by Wellness Club on July 13, 2011 – 2:06 pm -Neurological Disease: Advice You Won’t Hear From Your Conventional Doctor
By Dr. Dana Myatt
Treating Neurological Disease (M.S., Parkinson’s, ALS)
Recently I’ve had a lot of people asking about what to do for neurological conditions. Here’s my best “general” advice. (I can give more “specific” advice when I work with someone personally. Please read on).
You’ll NEVER hear any of this from your conventional medical doctor, for at least two reasons.
First, there are no known cures for neurological diseases in conventional medicine. In fact, even our symptomatic treatments are fairly lame.
Secondly, when a doctor does have information about a “non standard” (read that: “not conventional medicine”) approach, he or she could lose their medical license by telling you about it.
So don’t be disappointed if your conventional medical doctor, no matter how good or well-respected, doesn’t have much hope to offer. That’s conventional medicine.
What I Would Immediately Do If I Were Diagnosed With a Neurological Disease
If I found out tomorrow that I had a neurological disease, here are the steps I would take right away:
- Have several non-conventional laboratory studies performed, including:
- Hair Mineral Analysis: to evaluate for heavy and toxic metal poisoning. This applies to ALL neuro conditions.
- Food allergy testing: to rule out immune responses to food allergies as a cause for symptoms. (This is especially important in MS).
- Neurotransmitter (NT) Testing: to look at neurotransmitter hormone levels. (This applies to all neuro conditions but is especially important in Parkinson’s, where a dopamine deficiency is often seen).
- Holistic dental evaluation, with removal of all dissimilar dental metals.
NOTE: VERY FEW holistic dentist really understand this, and even fewer conventional dentists “get it.” If you have it done incorrectly (as most “holistic” dentists are likely to do), it can cause more harm than good. Please don’t have any dental work done until you have talked to me first!
How important do I think this is? I have already had all metal removed from my mouth except for one full-gold crown. It is that important. If I hadn’t already had this done, I would get it done immediately, after I confirmed the skill and knowledge level of the attending dentist.
- Diet changes:
- Eliminate all food allergies (see above, laboratory testing).
- The Myatt Diet: low carbohydrate, high Omega-3 fatty acids. This is THE healthiest way to eat, proven by long-lived populations. This plus elimination of known food allergies relieves all dietary stress on the immune and nervous systems. Look for organic foods, too, since pesticide and herbicide toxicity is associated with neurological disease. Additional fish oil should be supplemented in those not regularly consuming wild Alaskan salmon and grass-fed beef. Ketogenic diets such as The Myatt Diet have proven useful for Parkinson’s, ALS and inoperable brain cancers. The diet switches the brain from using sugar for fuel to using ketones for fuel, and this “metabolic switch” is associated with fewer tremors and better movement.
- Discontinue ALL soy products, and milk (cow’s milk / dairy variety),
- Nutritional supplements: I’d make sure that I didn’t have a single nutrient deficiency known to cause or exacerbate a neurological disease. Here are the known connection.
- Parkinson’s: deficiencies of folic acid, B12, vitamins C, E and D are highly associated. Besides getting out in the sun, I’d be taking daily Maxi Multi’s to have achieve the recommended doses of these vitamins. CoQ10 has also shown to slow progression of the disease, but the dose needs to be higher, 1,200mg per day. Avoid iron, as iron overload can cause Parkinson’s and a number of other diseases. (You should be tested for iron overload with a serum ferritin test).
- M.S.: vitamin D deficiency is associated MS. Lower levels of calcium, magnesium, vitamin E and other antioxidant nutrients have been observed in MS patients and appear to slow progression of the disease. Vitamin B1 and niacin have proven to be useful. As with Parkinson’s, I’d get more sunshine and take Maxi Multis to have all of these nutrient bases covered.
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Hi B12, gamma-E tocopherol, zinc, copper, selenium, CoQ10, Alpha-lipoic acid, Acetyl-L-carnitine, creatine, curcumin, DHEA, glutathion, green tea, N-acetylcysteine, grape seed extract (pycnogenol), resveratrol (grape skin extract) and vinpocetin. These vitamins, minerals amino acids and trace minerals have all been shown to alter various aspects of the disease.
- Schedule a telephone consultation with ME, or someone just like me. A physician who is not limited by conventional medical techniques (but is still trained in them and can prescribe all conventional tests and drugs) will be your best bet for obtaining a full and complete evaluation of the causes of neurological disease. The sooner this is done, the better the chance for a more full and complete recovery.
I hope this provides help and comfort to the numerous health-seekers who contacted me recently about neurological concerns!
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