PCA-Rx Parkinsons and More

Parkinson’s Disease: Can Oral Clathration Help?
PCA-Rx and NG-Rx

Can detoxification with oral clathration agents and other nutritional
antioxidants aid persons suffering from Parkinson’s disease? The
answer would appear to be that both oral clathration (which is an
advancement over chelation therapy) and nutritional intervention
with antioxidants can indeed be helpful to such persons.

To be sure, this information is on the cutting edge of
complementary medicine. If you have Parkinson’s disease or know
someone who does, you or that person should discuss the
information in this report with a treating physician. Its importance,
however, may be particularly relevant to prevention and for those
persons with the early stages of the disease, and, possibly, if the
benefits of one’s medications are waning.

Parkinson’s Disease Detoxification Background

Data regarding . . . hepatic detoxification enzyme systems and the
body's mechanisms of regulating them suggests the ability to
efficiently detoxify and remove xenobiotics can affect these and
other chronic disease processes [e.g., Parkinson’s disease], notes
by DeAnn J. Liska, Ph.D., in the June 1998 issue of Alternative
Medicine Review.

“If research into Parkinson’s disease continues at its present pace,
this dreaded disease may well be fully understood and largely
preventable early in the 21st Century,” opines Hans R. Larsen, M.Sc.
Ch.E. Dr. Larsen asserts that it is now increasingly clear not only
what causes Parkinson's, but also how it can be prevented and its
relentless progress slowed down.

Neurotoxicity and Parkinson's Disease

Since Parkinson's results from destruction of the dopamine-
producing cells, the usual treatment for such patients is to give
them L-dopa-containing drugs, along with other medications. This
insight has also led researchers to focus on possible destructive
influences on the L-dopa producing cells. It is probable that
Parkinson’s is a multi-factorial disease with a variety of influences,
both genetic and environmental, on its causation. It makes sense,
then, to address all potential causes of the disease.

One promising area of research into causes of the disease is its link
with environmental neurotoxicity, which may be caused by oxidative
stress and heavy metal poisoning.

Many studies have shown that the disease attacks those persons
with low levels of natural antioxidants (glutathione and superoxide
dismutase) and high levels of iron in the substantia nigra areas of
their brains, notes Dr. Larsen. Iron is susceptible to oxidation and
may exacerbate free radical reactions that destroy dopamine-
producing cells.

Other metals, especially manganese, cadmium, copper, and
mercury (from dental amalgams), have also been implicated as
causative factors in the development of Parkinson’s disease.
Exposure to aluminum and pesticides (possibly those containing
mercury) has been linked to disease onset. Such xenobiotics may
also trigger free radical reactions (i.e., oxidative processes) or
damage other structural units of the nervous system.

DID YOU KNOW? Preventing Parkinson’s — Genetics vs.
Environment

Prevention (avoiding toxic exposures) and nutritional intervention
may be extremely important for reducing the risk of Parkinson's
disease, especially since it is not believed to be primarily genetically
or age related. The disease probably stems from inherited
susceptible genes combined with environmental influences.

Thus, its onset is not by any means determined at birth.
Nevertheless, a family history of the disease is important to take
note of, since there may be some genetic susceptibility. Persons
with family members who have contracted the disease need to be
especially careful to pay attention to prevention early on in life. Even
if the disease is not genetic in origin, the same environmental
influences that led to its onset in one family member may also
cause the disease in other family members.

Help for Parkinson’s Patients

Nutritional intervention for Parkinson's patients may yield its best
results early on in the disease process or as a preventive measure,
since cumulative damage may be difficult to reverse. There is only a
small amount of data to evaluate when it comes to chelation
therapy and Parkinson's disease. Nonetheless, complementary
therapy based on an approach utilizing either chelation or oral
clathration combined with specific antioxidants, is probably a better
healing pathway for such patients than simply adhering to allopathic
methods.

We present three such clinical examples that suggest positive
results:

* At the Caring Medical & Rehabilitation Clinic, Oak Dale, Illinois, a
73-year-old woman with poor leg circulation and Parkinson's was
treated with chelation therapy. This patient had a history of stroke
and Parkinson’s since 1996, depression, hypertension, high
cholesterol, and blocked arteries in both legs. The patient
underwent 24 intravenous chelation treatments and experienced no
more tremors since beginning the treatment.
* At the Department of Neurology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center,
Jerusalem, Israel, a 47-year-old female dentist suffered from
hemiparkinsonism, in which one side of the body is grossly more
affected than the other. (Within a few years, the other side becomes
affected in virtually all cases.) A baseline urinary mercury excretion
analysis indicated very high levels (46 micrograms per day). In this
case, the patient was treated with the chelating agent d-
penicillamine for one week. Chelation therapy resulted in clinical
improvement of Parkinsonism and in dynamic changes in daily
urinary mercury excretion with a prompt increase to 79
micrograms/day and a subsequent decline. During a follow-up
period of five years, the neurological status remained unchanged
after the initial chelation-induced improvement.
* Chelation may also aid patients whose medications’ effectiveness
is waning. In a case reported in Clinical Neuropharmacology, a 42-
year-old man had suffered from Parkinson's disease for five years.
Levodopa was effective, but the wearing-off phenomena were
severe. When the chelating agent D-penicillamine was administered,
it increased plasma levodopa concentrations, thereby improving his
Parkinsonian symptoms. We propose that D-penicillamine facilitates
levodopa absorption and, hence, the efficacy of the
antiparkinsonian drug.

FYI: Diet & Parkinson’s Disease

Diet can also reduce risk of Parkinson’s disease. A high intake of
refined sugar can increase its risk. Diets high in vitamin C and
carotenoids will reduce risk. Intake of animal fats, which accumulate
environmental toxins, is associated with a five-fold increase in the
risk of developing the disease.

Besides PCA-Rx, consider using vitamin C supplements to delay the
need for L-dopa medication. Flavonoids such as grape seed and
pine bark extracts, as well as coenzyme Q10, may also be beneficial.


Case Histories: PCA-Rx Oral Clathration

PCA-Rx is different from chelation agents. It works on the principle
of clathration. Its contingent of specifically-sequenced peptides form
a lattice or inclusion complex. Multiple receptor sites attach to a
toxic molecule with irreversible bonds, literally wrapping around the
toxic substance to prevent additional reactions with tissues or
organs as it is eliminated from the body.

Case #1. In one case, a mercury-exposed patient began on PCA-Rx
for approximately nine days. Post-provocation results showed that
with PCA-Rx, mercury excretion increased 2,650 percent from .009
milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) to .239 mg/kg. Other toxic metals
that increased in the stool were arsenic, cadmium, lead, platinum,
and thallium.

Case #2. A 58-year-old female was known to be mercury toxic from
a dimercaptopropane sulfonate challenge in June 2000. Her
amalgam fillings had been removed only two months earlier. Her
levels were in the very elevated range. In July, pre-challenge urine
and stool samples were collected. The patient then took three doses
of PCA-Rx the first day and another urine sample was collected the
following morning. The patient was then placed on one dose per day
for the following four days. On the fifth day, another urine and stoop
sample was taken. PCA-Rx increased lead excretion in the stool by
almost fivefold and mercury excretion, also in the stool, by twofold.
Urinary excretion increased for lead, arsenic, tin, and thallium.

Prescription for Healthy Living:
Parkinson’s Disease Complementary Treatment Protocol

PCA-Rx. Oral clathration with PCA-Rx from ASN™/Maxam™
Nutraceutics™ appears to be an equally, if not more effective,
method of reducing heavy metal burdens without clinical side effects
of chelation therapy with medical drugs. Unlike methods of
chelation, PCA-Rx does not remove essential minerals or other
nutrients while providing often-superior heavy metal removal.
Directions: The usual dosage is one to eight sprays under tongue
one or more times a day on an empty stomach; hold for one to two
minutes. For best results, do not consume anything within 30
minutes of taking.

Antioxidant Environmental Toxin Protection. ASN™/Maxam™
Nutraceutics™ also produces an excellent antioxidant formula known
as Antioxidant Environmental Toxin Protection with recommended
antioxidants (including pine bark, grape seed, and green tea) for
Parkinson’s patients. Directions: Spray into mouth and hold for
approximately one to two minutes before swallowing. Use five to ten
sprays one or more times each day. No food or drink 30 minutes
before or after use.

NG-Rx. NG-Rx is a neurotropic agent thought to aid neural
regeneration and should be used in consultation with your treating
physician as a complementary therapy. It contains acetyl l-carnitine;
phosphatidyl serine; dimethylamino ethanol (DMAE); l-tyrosine and
Ginkgo biloba. An experimental study reported in Life Sciences in
1982 showed that supplementation with six to seven grams of
tyrosine daily increased the dopamine formation in the brain of
patients with Parkinson's disease. However, the nutrient particle
sizes in ASN™/Maxam™ Nutraceutics™ products are formulated in
nanometers and in a natural colloid that the body recognizes it as a
nutrient. These colloidal nanometer particles are better absorbed
and, thus, the dosage required for similar benefits may be less.

Availability. Both PCA-Rx and Antioxidant Environmental Toxin
Protection are available at natural health centers and from health
professionals at ASN/Maxam Nutraceutics. To obtain PCA-Rx or
Antioxidant Environmental Toxin Protection, order direct by calling
ASN™/Maxam™ Nutraceutics™ toll-free at (800) 800-9119.
[Back to Index]

Tuesday, 28 May, 2002
The Doctors’ Prescription for Healthy Living

Teen Behavior Problems: Are Today’s Teens More Toxic?
Oral Clathration Therapy

“For decades, researchers have focused on the human health
consequences of toxic metals – mainly asking, do they cause
cancer?” notes environmental writer Peter Montague, adding “New
research seems to be telling us that we should also be looking at
the way these pollutants are affecting human behavior.”

Meanwhile, J. Robert Hatherill, Ph.D., a research scientist and faculty
member of the Environmental Studies Department, University of
California, Santa Barbara, seriously questions whether teens today
carry a heavier toxic burden than at any time in history. “Perhaps in
addition to checking our children for guns and explosives we should
be checking their blood for elevated levels of toxic chemicals,” he
says. Neurotoxicity Theory of Teen Behavioral Problems Sociologists
have known for a long time that violent crimes occur more in some
places than in others. Some U.S. counties have only 100 violent
crimes per 100,000 people per year; other counties have rates of
violent crime that are 30 times as high. The question is why some
places have high crime rates and others don't.

Effects of Toxicity
According to the neurotoxicity theory, toxic pollutants (especially
toxic metals) cause learning disabilities, an increase in aggressive
behavior and, most important, loss of control over impulsive
behavior. This has a ripple effect through the network of children,
causing even generally mild children to become progressively more
defensive themselves in response to the uncontrollable, impulsive
behavior by a few. These traits combined with poverty, social stress,
alcohol and drug abuse, individual character, and other social factors
contribute to producing individuals who commit violent crimes. In
fact, pollution robs children's intelligence and causes them to
commit violent crimes including homicide, aggravated assault,
sexual assault and robbery, according to new research by Roger D.
Masters and co-workers at Dartmouth College. Thanks to the
Dartmouth College research and other studies we now know five
major points about the neurotoxic theory of crime:

1. Individuals who engage in criminal behavior are more likely to
have absorbed toxic chemicals than a comparable control
population. In fact, studies now show that low-level lead and
manganese poisoning is associated with learning disabilities and
attention deficit disorder, which are themselves associated with
deviant behavior. Seven additional studies show that violent
prisoners have significantly elevated levels of lead, manganese,
cadmium, mercury or other toxic metals, compared to prisoners who
are not violent. Two additional prospective studies suggest that
future violent behavior of young people can be predicted based on
their exposure to toxins. Lead uptake by age seven is associated
with juvenile delinquency and increased aggression in teenage and
early adult years. The largest study of 1,000 black children in
Philadelphia showed that both lead levels and anemia were
predictors of the number of juvenile offenses, the seriousness of
juvenile offenses, and the number of adult offenses, for males.

2. A wealth of studies shows how lead and manganese cause
changes in the development of the brain, and in the functioning of
neurotransmitters in the brain. Different pollutants harm the brain
differently. Lead in the brain damages glia, a type of cell associated
with inhibition and detoxification. Manganese has the effect of
lowering levels of serotonin and dopamine, which are
neurotransmitters associated with impulse control and planning. Low
levels of serotonin in the brain are known to cause mood
disturbances, poor impulse control, and increases in aggressive
behavior, effects that are increasingly treated with Prozac.

3. Children who are raised from birth on infant formula and who are
not breast-fed will absorb five times as much manganese as breast-
fed infants. Calcium deficiency increases the absorption of
manganese. A combination of manganese toxicity and calcium
deficiency adds up to reverse Prozac. Also, because metals such as
lead diminish a person’s normal ability to detoxify poisons, lead
may heighten the effects of alcohol and drugs.

4. Children are receiving doses of toxic metals sufficient to be
associated with violent behavior. Despite recent significant
decreases in lead in the environment, because of bans on leaded
gasoline and paint in towns where automobile traffic has historically
been high and in towns where industries have released large
quantities of toxic metals for years, many local soils still contain
toxic quantities of lead, cadmium, and manganese sufficient to
poison children who play in the dirt. Aging water delivery systems
very likely contribute lead and manganese because lead pipes and
even iron pipes contain these toxins.

5. Children absorb up to 50 percent of the lead they ingest,
compared to eight percent for adults. Even low exposures in the
womb and in early childhood can have permanent effects on
intelligence and behavior. It is now known that children exposed in
utero to polychlorinated biphenyls the mother absorbs through
consumption of contaminated seafood grow up with lowered IQ, and
poor comprehension and reading skills. Current lead levels are
known to have direct effects on neurotransmitters that are known to
affect cognition and to influence impulse control, and the highest
levels of lead uptake are reported in precisely the demographic
groups (inner city minority youths) most likely to commit violent
crimes.

FYI: Toxic Metals & Diet

Studies show a synergistic effect between toxic metals and poor
diet. It has been thoroughly documented that uptake of lead is
greatly increased among individuals who have a diet low in calcium,
zinc and essential vitamins. Similarly, as noted above, calcium
deficiency greatly increases one’s absorption of manganese.
Amounts of lead and manganese that wouldn’t harm a well-
nourished individual may poison undernourished children.

Federal studies show that black teenage males consume, on
average, only about 65 percent as much calcium as whites. The
calcium needs of pregnant or breast-feeding women are higher than
average, which creates a particular problem for minority women. Non-
Hispanic black women get only 467 milligrams (mg) of calcium per
day compared to 642 mg for white women, according to government
studies.

Infant formulas should be considered possible toxicity potentiators
because of increased manganese absorption by babies who drink
infant formulas and who are not breast-fed. Poor mothers tend not
to breast-feed their babies. By 1986-87, 73 percent of infants born
to mothers with more than 12 years of education were breast-fed,
compared with 49 percent of infants born to mothers with 12 years
of education and 31 percent born to mothers with less than 12 years
of education. Furthermore, white infants are more than three times
as likely to be breast-fed as black infants. The effects of
manganese toxicity associated with infant formula are thus greatest
for the poor, for ethnic minorities, and for those with little education.
Alcohol increases the uptake of toxic metals, at least in laboratory
animals, and probably has a similar effect on humans.

Personal Counsel…

Childhood exposure to heavy metals is such an important issue. It
is not the only cause of maladapted teen behavior. But, no caring
parent should turn a blind eye to this possibility in the event that a
child engages in seemingly unexplainable violent behavior or
outbursts; suffers from poor comprehension, reading skills, or
attention deficit disorder; or is involved in criminal activities.

Test for metal contamination if a child is demonstrating symptoms
of neurological toxicity, if only to rule it out as a possible causative
or exacerbating influence. Detoxification may be required to save
the child from a life of crime and heartache if blood, urine, fecal or
hair levels are above normal range for metal contamination. Many
avenues of detoxification are available. Low-heat saunas are proven
to aid in the elimination of heavy metals, pesticides, and other
industrial toxins.

Using PCA-Rx
Use of PCA-Rx may be the most important nutritional avenue
available to parents who seek to aid their children in detoxification.
Clinical lab reports indicate its efficacy is comparable to medically-
prescribed chelation agents. PCA-Rx is an oral clathration formula
that goes beyond typically employed metal chelation agents such
ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), dimercaptosuccinic acid
(DMSA), d-penicillamine, and dimercaptoproponol.

Chelation therapy may be described as one dimensional. In
contrast, oral clathration is a three-dimensional process. PCA-Rx is
comprised of specifically-sequenced glycoproteins and peptides that
form a lattice or inclusion complex and its multiple receptor sites
attach to a toxic molecule with irreversible bonds, literally wrapping
around the toxic substance to prevent additional reactions with
tissues or organs as it is eliminated from the body. Unlike the ionic
bond utilized to transport metals from the body with chelation
therapy, oral clathration therapy utilizes ionic, covalent and
hydrogen bonds. Not one but three major types of bonds at multiple
points are created. Also, DMSA and DMPA are drugs that can stress
the body and pose risks for side effects. They are not suitable for
long-term therapy, and heavy metal poisoning of children requires
long-term therapy. Because of its lack of toxicity and side effects,
PCA-Rx is a better choice.

PCA-Rx is said to have a high bonding affinity for heavy metals.
Most toxins or heavy metals that attach to cell receptors do so in a
manner that is competitively reversible, so if molecules like those in
PCA-Rx come along with greater affinity, the toxins can be
dislodged from the receptors – which then once again can be
receptive to neurotransmitters. Because of the formula's
tremendous affinity for heavy metals, this is an improvement over
chelation therapy, which has a much more difficult time removing
heavy metals from cell receptors.