Amyelotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aka Lou Gehrig's disease
Amyelotrophic lateral sclerosis (or Lou Gehrig's disease, a motor neuron disease) appears to have an autoimmune component associated with it. Whenever the immune system is involved (particularly the phagocytic cells such as macrophages and granulocytes), there are usually oxygen radicals being produced at the affected site. In order to protect the nervous system from oxidative damage, you need to be able to get antioxidants across the extensive membranes of nerve cells into the cytoplasm or have the antioxidants dissolve into the lipid bilayer; that is, some antioxidants (vitamin C, proanthocyanidins) are particularly water soluble while others (vitamin E, beta-carotene [vitamin A
> precursor], co-enzyme Q10) are fat soluble. Since proanthocyanidins can cross the blood-brain barrier, we can surmise that they have at least some lipophilic properties.
Vitamin C is a difficult molecule to get to diffuse across the barrier; however, recent studies have shown that an oxidized metabolite of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) called dehydroascorbic acid can penetrate the blood-brain barrier in significant concentrations. Dehydroascorbate is derived during the oxidation of normal vitamin C, so the only way I see to achieve elevated blood concentrations of dehydroascorbate is to take large, but safe, doses of vitamin C (500-1000 mg/day).
Once in the nerve cell, the regenerated (reduced) vitamin C molecule can help to maintain the vitamin E in an unoxidized state in the membranes. The nerve cells have extensive membranes that wrap around the cell body numerous times, so it is beneficial to keep plenty of vitamin E dissolved in the membranes. It is thought that co-enzyme Q10 can help vitamin E insert itself into the cell membranes, and of course co-enzyme Q10 is a critical constituent of mitochondrial membranes and helps to shuttle electrons for energy production. Like vitamin E, it too should help protect against lipidperoxidation. I hope this discussion helps.
===================================================
I have a cousin with ALS (Lou Gerighs) . When he first found out he has this disease, he went up in Va., to what he thought was an herb and vitamin specialists (only to find out he was going to a quack.) She put him on something like 50 pills daily at a cost of like $1000.00 a month.
When I got in the MA business, I went to him and showed him our line and I told him "Gary, I would like for you to try our vitamins and explained the delivery system and I told him,"you know and I know there is no cure for this disease, but I look up daily this disease, and if I do my part to help, you could do your part and at least try, all I can offer you is hope.
I started him off on OPC-3 and after the first 3 days they were so excited how easy his bowels moved on their own. (His wife had been giving him suppositories plus having to dig his bowels out, She said things we just take for granite in life like bm's they get excited about.) I know this may sound awful to some of you, but my whole point is we really take our health for granite sometimes till we lose it, but this precious cousin of mine is really trying.
He lives on 6 cans of Ensure a day plus Isotonix Vitamins and if you walked in the room and seen him, you'd never know he was sick, he looks like a picture of health. This disease robs the body of so much and as long as it's been around, a cure should have already been found, but we can certainly hope and pray for a miracle one day. Whenever he is about to run out of vitamins , he lets me know he needs more. At least he still has HOPE ! He knows he will be looked after till God is ready for him and I certainly will keep on doing my part as long as I'm able also.
May God Bless all the people who have this disease and hope in some way our vitamins play a part in helping. Karen Allred Lex.,NC
===================================================
