Miscellaneous Remedies

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"Give with a free hand, but give only your own."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien The Children of Hurin
- Miscellaneous Remedies -

In my searches through the backwaters of the Internet, I have run across some interesting ideas that I present here for your consideration. Research everything thoroughly and discuss things with your physicians.

Research "ketogenic diets" along with curcumin and standard therapies. Cancer cells crave sugar, glucose to be specific, but the rest of the cells in your body can use "ketone bodies" if glucose is not available. So the idea is to starve the cancer cells by restricting carbohydrate and protein calories while allowing ketone-generating foods. The idea is to attack the cancer on multiple fronts, not to replace standard therapies, but rather to make them more effective.

Metabolic management of brain cancer.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2010 Sep 8.
Seyfried TN, Kiebish MA, Marsh J, Shelton LM, Huysentruyt LC, Mukherjee P.
Abstract

Malignant brain tumors are a significant health problem in children and adults. Conventional therapeutic approaches have been largely unsuccessful in providing long-term management. As primarily a metabolic disease, malignant brain cancer can be managed through changes in metabolic environment. In contrast to normal neurons and glia, which readily transition to ketone bodies (β-hydroxybutyrate) for energy under reduced glucose, malignant brain tumors are strongly dependent on glycolysis for energy. The transition from glucose to ketone bodies as a major energy source is an evolutionary conserved adaptation to food deprivation that permits the survival of normal cells during extreme shifts in nutritional environment. Only those cells with a flexible genome and normal mitochondria can effectively transition from one energy state to another. Mutations restrict genomic and metabolic flexibility thus making tumor cells more vulnerable to energy stress than normal cells. We propose an alternative approach to brain cancer management that exploits the metabolic flexibility of normal cells at the expense of the genetically defective and metabolically challenged tumor cells. This approach to brain cancer management is supported from recent studies in mice and humans treated with calorie restriction and the ketogenic diet. Issues of implementation and use protocols are presented for the metabolic management of brain cancer.
PMID: 20804725 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20804725

Fasting Cycles Retard Growth of Tumors and Sensitize a Range of Cancer Cell Types to Chemotherapy.
Changhan Lee, Lizzia Raffaghello, Sebastian Brandhorst, Fernando M. Safdie, Giovanna Bianchi, Alejandro Martin-Montalvo, Vito Pistoia, Min Wei, Saewon Hwang, Annalisa Merlino, Laura Emionite, Rafael de Cabo, and Valter D. Longo.
Science Translational Medicine, Feb 8, 2012 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003293

Abstract
Short-term starvation (or fasting) protects normal cells, mice, and potentially humans from the harmful side effects of a variety of chemotherapy drugs. Here we show that treatment with starvation conditions sensitized yeast cells (S. cerevisiae) expressing the oncogene-like RAS2val19 to oxidative stress and 15 of 17 mammalian cancer cell lines to chemotherapeutic agents. Cycles of starvation (fasting) were as effective as chemotherapeutic agents in delaying progression of specific tumors and increased the effectiveness of these drugs against melanoma, glioma, and breast cancer cells. In mouse models of neuroblastoma, fasting cycles plus chemotherapy drugs—but not either treatment alone—resulted in long-term cancer-free survival. In 4T1 breast cancer cells, short-term starvation resulted in increased phosphorylation of the stress-sensitizing AKT and S6 kinases, increased oxidative stress, caspase-3 cleavage, DNA damage and apoptosis. These studies suggest that multiple cycles of fasting promote differential stress sensitization in a wide range of tumors and could potentially replace or augment the efficacy of certain toxic chemotherapy drugs in the treatment of various cancers.
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/02/06/scitranslmed.3003293

Fasting Weakens Cancer in Mice
ScienceDaily (Feb. 8, 2012) — ...a study that found chemotherapy drugs work better when combined with cycles of short, severe fasting... For example, multiple cycles of fasting combined with chemotherapy cured 20 percent of mice with a highly aggressive type of children's cancer that had spread throughout the organism and 40 percent of mice with a more limited spread of the same cancer...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120208152254.htm

Angelo John appears in the October 2001 issue (Volume 57, Number 4) pages 429-431 of the prestigious journal Medical Hypotheses.
...It has been well established that caloric restriction in the daily diet reduces tumor size in laboratory animals. Kritchevsky's studies with rats show that just a ten percent caloric restriction reduced tumor size and that a forty percent caloric restriction caused tumors to disappear completely. (l5) I contend one reason that caloric restriction results in tumor shrinkage is that it contributes to the increase of ketones in the blood. This in turn inhibits the activity of phosphofructokinase an enzyme that plays a key role in the regulation of glycolysis...
http://www.newtreatments.org/Cancer Treatment/ga/366

Green tea and its major constituent epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) prevents cancer cells from growing by binding to an enzyme called "dihydrofolate reductase".

Curcumin: The yellow extract of the curry spice turmeric is actively being studied for its ability to inhibit several types of cancer. It appears to be especially effective with cats and dogs since their livers do not break down curcumin as quickly as the human liver. However, if one takes piperine (a chemical found in black pepper) at the same time as curcumin, the liver will be prevented from breaking it down for a couple of hours. This might give it time to be more effective. However, piperine might interfere with other drugs that need the liver to be effective. There might be a "window of time" in one's day that will allow for the use of curcumin/piperine. Curcumin with piperine is available from well-stocked health food stores or online. It is sold as an anti-inflammatory for people with arthritis. This is not a replacement for standard therapies, but as an adjunct to attack the disease from a different angle.

So, do what the physicians say, go through "standard therapies", but if you find something like some of the above that don't conflict with the physician's programs, and if they don't cost too much, why not gamble a few bucks?

Myricetin:
Myricetin induces pancreatic cancer cell death via the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway.
Cancer Lett. 2011 Sep 28;308(2):181-8. Epub 2011 Jun 14.
Phillips PA, Sangwan V, Borja-Cacho D, Dudeja V, Vickers SM, Saluja AK.
Source: Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, United States.
Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths and is a disease with poor prognosis. It is refractory to standard chemotherapeutic drugs or to novel treatment modalities, making it imperative to find new treatments. In this study, using both primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer cell lines, we have demonstrated that the flavonoid myricetin induced pancreatic cancer cell death in vitro via apoptosis, and caused a decrease in PI3 kinase activity. In vivo, treatment of orthotopic pancreatic tumors with myricetin resulted in tumor regression and decreased metastatic spread. Importantly, myricetin was non-toxic, both in vitro and in vivo, underscoring its use as a therapeutic agent against pancreatic cancer.
PMID: 21676539
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21676539

Research the "Jump and Bump" method, or modifications of it. This is a purely mechanical technique that will hopefully use the "water hammer" effect to drive out a stone. Basically, it goes like this. At the first sign of kidney stone pain, start drinking 2 to 2-1/2 pints of water in 20 minutes. Then, while leaning on a window sill or other convenient surface to put your back at a 45 degree angle, rise up on your toes and come down hard on your heels several times. This may move the stone down the ureter. Do this every 5 minutes, and pee in between "jump". A stone at the entrance to the bladder is more likely to enter the bladder when it is emptying.

As far as I know, calcium oxalate kidney stones (the most common type), are basically rocks. I am not aware of anything that will dissolve them (unlike the less common uric acid stones). However, some people swear by the "Coke and Asparagus" technique:

Research Coke and asparagus. Drink 6 cans of Coke in 2 hrs, followed by eating 1/2 can of asparagus. Some say diet Coke and caffeine free Coke work just as well. The asparagus is used as a diuretic.

I can't say if this really works or not, but in desperation one time, after suffering with a rather large stone at the UVJ (the place where the ureter enters the bladder) for several weeks, I tried drinking 6 cans of Coke and eating a can of asparagus. Even though I love Coke, and I'm fond of asparagus too, 6 cans in 2 hours followed by a can of asparagus did a number on my stomach. Nothing happened. At least to the stone.

The next weekend, I tried it again. After finishing the last Coke (this time I used caffeine-free Coke), out popped one big nyucker of a spiny calcium oxalate stone. OUCH! I didn't even get to the asparagus. So, did the Coke do the trick? Well, it didn't dissolve or break up the stone, but maybe it causes the urinary tract to get slick, or the urine, or maybe make it more viscus. I don't know, but it seems to me that drinking a few cans of Coke might not be too big of a gamble.

On to some more "scientific" ideas. Some researchers from Harvard are said to have published a paper in the Journal of Urology in 1974 stating that adding (at least?) 300mg of magnesium oxide and 10mg of vitamin B6 will reduce the risk of recurrent calcium oxalate stones by 92.3% I found a reference to a 1967 paper in The America Journal of Clinical Nutrition that does indeed back up this idea (See citation below.)

In 1991, another study was published in the British Journal of Urology about a 5-year study that found taking about 1 tablespoon (10g) of rice bran twice daily after meals would reduce calcium oxalate kidney stone formation by 83.4%. The rice bran idea sort of makes sense. Brans in general (from grains) are high in phytic acid. This stuff is such a strong chelator of minerals that in poor countries where people eat a lot of unrefined grains, they sometimes become malnourished because the phytic acid depletes the minerals from their food. Calcium is a mineral that phytic acid likes to mop up. But, while I wouldn't mind getting rid of excess minerals in my system, I don't want to get rid of them all. So, maybe a mere 2 tablespoons per day wouldn't be so bad. I suppose other "brans" would work too, if they are high in phytic acid.

I followed up on all of the above two ideas a bit and confirmed the "research" cited. If the research turns out to be bogus, well, little harm will be done. Even so, adding B6 and magnesium seems like a pretty safe gamble to take in the mean time. Rice bran, on the other hand, is a bit hard to find these days. I remember seeing it at my local health food store, but the last time I checked (2010), they no longer carried it. I do remember that it was a bit pricey.

I have also read, and even been told by my urologist, that many times, chronic calcium oxalate stone formers just simply eat too much salt. So, adopting a low salt diet may be enough to end the days of human rock quarry.

Another culprit may be excessive animal protein in the diet. I said excessive. That means cutting back, not cutting out.

So, for those of us who are diagnosed with "idopathic urolithiasis" (i.e. "you're forming kidney stones and we don't know why") of the calcium oxalate variety, if we add 300mg of magnesium oxide, 10mg of vitamin B6, 20g of rice bran, adopt a standard low-salt, low animal protein diet that seems to be all the rage these days (although personally, I don't think food without salt has much flavor), maybe us human rock quarries could get some relief. These things aren't expensive to try, and maybe even more healthy in other ways.

Here are some references:

Effect of daily MgO and vitamin B6 administration to patients with recurring calcium oxalate kidney stones.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1967 May;20(5):393-9.
Gershoff SN, Prien EL.

...Patients with histories of recurring calcium oxalate renal stone formation have been given daily oral supplements of 200 mg of MgO [magnesium oxide] and 10 mg of pyridoxine [vitamin B6] for extended periods of time. Thirty of 36 patients maintained on this program for 5 years or more have shown no recurrence or decreased recurrence of stone formation. After 1 year on this regimen, urines obtained from 51 patients showed a marked increase in their capacity to maintain calcium oxalate in solution, significantly raised calcium and citric acid levels, and decreased xanthurenic acid levels. No significant changes were observed in urinary magnesium, oxalic acid, phosphate-P or pyrophosphate-P values. Decreases in serum f3-lipoproteins were also observed in a group of 25 of these subjects...
PMID: 6023850 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6023850
Free articlie: http://www.ajcn.org/content/20/5/393.long

This article by Gershoff and Prien also mention some research showing "a reduction in a dramatic clinical improvement in many cases of coronary heart disease":

MALKIIL-SHAPIRO, B., AND I. BERSOHN.
Parenteral magnesium sulfate therapy in coronary heart disease.
Med. Proc. 2: 455, 1956.

[The results of conservative treatment of oxalate urolithiasis in children].
Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2003 Jul;15(85):51-4.
[Article in Polish]

Rogowska-Kalisz A, Tkaczyk M, Bilińska W, Nowicki M.

Klinika Nefrologii i Dializoterapii Instytutu Centrum Zdrowia Matki Polki w Łodzi.
Abstract

Hyperoxaluria is defined as urinary oxalate excretion exceeding 0.45 mmol/1.73 m2/day and accounts for 15% of recurrent urolithiasis. There have been only a few reports on the prevalence and treatment of oxalate urolithiasis in children.

THE AIM: Of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of the protocol of intensive and combined treatment of hyperoxaluria in children.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventeen children at the mean age of 11.5 +/- 4.5 years with positive history of urolithiasis and diagnosis of hyperoxaluria were studied. In this group hyperoxaluria was an isolated defect in 9 of 17 children, but in 3/17 it was accompanied by hyperuricosuria, in 5/17 by hypomagnesuria and in 1 case by hypercalciuria. During the 12-month period the children were intensively hydrated and received a low-oxalate diet and supplemental therapy with vitamin B6, magnesium, citrates and lactic acid bacteria preparations.

RESULTS: In all but one child oxaluria decreased below 0.45 mmol/1.73 m2/day (decrease by 45%). No new stone formation was seen during the observation period. In all patients abdominal pain and haematuria subsided.*

CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the intensive, complex, conservative treatment of hyperoxaluria in children is effective and safe. It allows to decrease hyperoxaluria and prevent the recurrence of urolithiasis.

PMID: 14593960 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14593960

*I noticed a similar, very much welcomed effect after a few weeks on a regimen of 250mg of "chelated" magnesium (amino acid chelate and magnesium oxide) and 25mg vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine HCL) per day. I would call it more "flank pain" on my left and right sides than "abdominal pain". I didn't even realize that it was there until I started taking the MG and B-6 and the discomfort faded away. I know I still have several existing stones that I'll have deal with, but if I can reduce the occurance of more, that will be well worth the cost and bother of the the supplements.

PubMed search on "rice bran" and oxalate:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term="rice bran" oxalate

Results of long-term rice bran treatment on stone recurrence in hypercalciuric patients.
Br J Urol. 1991 Mar;67(3):237-40.
Ebisuno S, Morimoto S, Yasukawa S, Ohkawa T.

Department of Urology, Wakayama Medical College, Japan.
Abstract

A series of 182 calcium stone formers with idiopathic hypercalciuria underwent treatment with rice bran for 1 to 94 months. Urinary calcium excretion was considerably reduced, but there was some increase in urinary phosphate and oxalate. Urinary excretion of magnesium and uric acid, serum calcium, magnesium, phosphate, uric acid, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and ALP was unaffected. There were no obvious changes in serum iron, zinc and copper even when patients were treated for long periods. Rice bran was well tolerated in almost all cases and there were no serious side effects; 49 patients have undergone treatment for more than 3 years (average duration of administration 5.09 years). The frequency of new stone formation was drastically reduced (individual stone formation rate (no./year) from 0.720 +/- 0.533 to 0.125 +/- 0.204; group stone formation rate (no./patient-year) from 0.721 to 0.120) compared with the 3-year period before treatment. During treatment, 61.2% of patients remained in remission. Although rice bran therapy should be effective in correcting absorptive hypercalciuria, there may be limits to the overall ability of rice bran monotherapy to prevent recurrence.

PMID: 1902388 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1902388

[Estimation of the concentration of urinary ionic calcium and its clinical role in urolithiasis].
Nippon Hinyokika Gakkai Zasshi. 1990 Dec;81(12):1896-903.
[Article in Japanese]

Minakata S.

Department of Urology, Wakayama Medical College.
Abstract

The concentration of urinary ionic calcium was estimated using an ion-selective electrode and ion analyzer for healthy controls and patients with calcium urolithiasis. The following results were obtained: 1) After calculating the ionic strength and calibrating the standard solutions of ionic calcium in each urine, the urinary ionic calcium was estimated using an ion-selective electrode and ion analyzer. The reproducibility and accuracy of the value of urinary ionic calcium were satisfactory. 2) There was a significant correlation between the concentration of urinary ionic calcium and the total calcium excretion. Although the percentage of ionic calcium did not show any correlations among the total calcium, oxalate and urinary pH, it had an inverse relation to urinary citrate and phosphate. 3) In calcium stone formers, the excretion of ionic calcium was higher than in healthy controls significantly. 4) In hypercalciuric calcium stone formers, the concentrations and excretions of total and ionic calcium were significantly higher than in normocalciuric calcium stone formers. However, the percentage of ionic calcium was not different. 5) When the patients were treated with citrate orally, the excretion of urinary citrate was increased, and the excretion of ionic calcium and the percentage for total calcium were decreased significantly. There were significant reductions of ionic calcium in the urine after oral administration of rice-bran. 6) The estimation of urinary ionic calcium might be important to evaluate the urinary risk in recurrent calcium stone, and to estimate the effects of the preventive treatments for its recurrence.

PMID: 2292824 [PubMed]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2292824

[Rice bran in the treatment of idiopathic hypercalciuria in patients with urinary calculosis].
Rev Paul Med. 1989 Jan-Feb;107(1):19-24.
[Article in Portuguese]

Noronha IL, Andriolo A, Lucon AM, Wroclawski ER, Chade J, Borelli A, Leite MO, Sabbaga E, Arap S.
Abstract

Ten patients with recurrent nephrolithiasis and hypercalciuria were given rice bran during 60 days. Hypercalciuria was reduced in all patients in an average of 40%. Urinary magnesium was reduced in 28% and oxalate excretion was increased in 28%. The rate of decrease of urinary calcium was 65% in the absorptive type and 33% in the renal type of hypercalciuria.

PMID: 2616974 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2616974

Rice-bran treatment for calcium stone formers with idiopathic hypercalciuria.
Br J Urol. 1986 Dec;58(6):592-5.
Ebisuno S, Morimoto S, Yoshida T, Fukatani T, Yasukawa S, Ohkawa T.
Abstract

The efficacy of rice-bran therapy was studied in patients with hypercalciuria who were suffering from calcium stones. The frequency of stone episodes was reduced dramatically, especially in "active recurrent stone formers". Urinary calcium excretion was considerably reduced, while urinary phosphate and oxalate were slightly increased. Urinary magnesium, uric acid, serum calcium, phosphate, magnesium and uric acid were not affected. There were no changes in serum iron, copper and zinc even when patients were treated for long periods. The treatment was tolerated well and there were no serious side effects. Rice-bran therapy is particularly useful in patients with hyperabsorptive hypercalciuria and it is effective in the prevention of recurrent urinary stone disease.

PMID: 3801813 [PubMed]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3801813

Found this while poking around on the Web:

Remedy I use is small amount of mag chloride in water on empty stomach to run Mg ions thru the kidney which should take out a little bit off the surface of any kidney "stone" present. Done slowly over time, one would never notice
Found here: http://curezone.org/forums/am.asp?i=2145367

I haven't researched this. I'll leave that as a homework assignment for you.