Methylation talks at the OHM meeting

[Guest guest]

Hi, all.

The 12th annual scientific meeting of the Society for Orthomolecular

Health Medicine was held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San

Francisco on Feb. 24-26, 2006. I would estimate that the attendance

was between 100 and 200 people total, some coming only for part of

the meeting. Most of the attendees are M.D.s or other licensed

healthcare professionals who practice alternative medicine, focusing

on the use of orthomolecules rather than xenobiotics (that is,

substances that are natural rather than pharmaceutical). This has

always been a very stimulating and cutting-edge conference, and this

year's meeting was no exception. The talks were all recorded, and

audio CDs are available from Professional Audio Recording.

The first three talks focused on methylation, related nutrigenomic

testing, and nutritional supplements and RNA as treatment.

The first talk was presented by Dr. Kunin, the president of

the Society. He has been interested in methylation problems for

some years, and reports that the vast majority of his patients

(which he termed " end of the road " patients, meaning that most have

seen many other physicians before coming to him) exhibit genetic

variations in the MTHFR enzyme or related enzymes. The main thrust

of his talk was to emphasize to the doctors present the importance

of testing for these genetic variations and responding accordingly.

He listed a large number of substances in the body that depend on

methylation for their synthesis or modification.

The second talk was to be given by Dr. Amy Yasko, but she did not

make it to the meeting, though copies of her intended slides were

printed in the syllabus. Instead, Dr. Garry Gordon, who works with

Dr. Yasko, spoke. The main thrust of Dr. Gordon's talk was to

emphasize the importance of the genetic characterizations that Dr.

Yasko is doing and of the RNA treatments that he and Dr. Yasko

together are promoting. He noted that the pharmaceutical industry

is attempting to get up to speed on the use of RNA-related drugs for

treating disease, and that in fact there was another conference

underway across town in the Moscone Center at the same time at which

they were discussing this. He felt that he and Dr. Yasko were ahead

of them, and what's more are using natural RNA rather than

pharmaceutically-modified RNA, which the drug industry is working to

develop, so that it can be patented, monopoly positions can be

secured, and prices can be raised to guarantee revenue sufficient to

fund the required FDA testing and also to produce a handsome

profit. Of course, he and others in OHM are fundamentally opposed

to that approach, believing that the body does much better with the

bioidentical versions.

Dr. Gordon noted that he and Dr. Yasko had presented a very long and

detailed explanation of their work at another conference they

sponsored the previous weekend (the annual conference of the Gordon

Research Institute), including about eleven hours of talks and four

hours of questions and answers, that the DVDs for that conference

will be available for shipping this April, and that they could be

ordered for a reduced price at the OHM meeting. They are called GRI-

2006, " A Comprehensive Analysis of Autism: From Metals to Mutations

DVD Set. " The information sheet says the DVDs will

cover " Underlying Factors Leading to Autism, RNA, Genetic Testing,

Biomolecular Nutrigenomics, Heavy Metals, the Role of Stress, the

Relationship between Metals and Microbes, and more! " Dr. Gordon is

quite a promoter, but based on what I've seen so far, I do think

that Dr. Yasko's work is valuable and that it applies to CFS as well

as autism, so I ordered a set. If anyone else is interested and can

find the coins in their budget, the DVDs can be ordered from the

website http://www.longevityplus-rna.com at the " low low " price of

one nickel short of two hundred dollars! By the way, I did speak to

Dr. Gordon about the issues that have been discussed here on the

list concerning the poor quality of the audio on Dr. Yasko's

previous DVDs as well as the problems people are having with

volatile substances coming from her book Genetic ByPass. He thanked

me for telling him, said that they would look into printing their

future books differently, and told me that he had spent $12,000 on a

professional company to make the new DVDs, including the audio, and

that he expected the quality to be very good this time.

Though I don't have a copy of Dr. Yasko's slides now as a result of

the burglary from my car yesterday, I will comment from memory about

a few things that were in them. First, I would say that they agreed

with what is in Genetic ByPass. One of the notable ways in which

Dr. Yasko's treatment differs from that of the DAN! doctors is as

follows: She uses two forms of supplemental folic acid (folinic or

5-formyltetrahydrofolate and

L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate or Metfolin or FolaPro), depending on the

particular genetic variations present. I don't think the DAN!

doctors use the latter. (Metfolin is patented and trademarked by

Merck and is sold only to licensed practitioners through Metagenics

under the trademark FolaPro.)

In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave the

body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

she defeats the viruses.

Dr. Yasko intends to continue to increase the number of genetic

variations that she studies. Dr. Gordon said that she is currently

looking at forty of them.

Dr. Gordon spent quite a bit of time discussing the benefits of RNA

supplementation, and Dr. Yasko's slides did, as well. I still have

a lot to learn about this, but they apparently get the RNA from

yeasts, and somehow they are able to have different varieties of RNA

to treat different aspects. Dr. Yasko's slides made the point that

the body must put together large amounts of RNA and DNA continuously

to make new cells to replace those that die. Many of the building

blocks are recycled, and some come in from the diet, but supplying

additional ones is beneficial and can be used to change the gene

expression.

Dr. Yasko's slides emphasized the importance of matching the

supplementation to the particular gene variations of the person.

She cited a paper showing that either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, I

can't recall which, correlates with supplementing with ordinary

folic acid, and by inference, that it is possible to cause more

problems if you don't supplement with the proper supplements to

match the genetic picture.

I think those are the main things I recall. I hope to learn more

about Dr. Yasko's work when I get the new DVDs, but that will be a

few weeks hence.

The third talk was given by Dr. Tapan Audhya, whom I had met at the

DAN! conference last October. He spoke on evaluating the SAM/SAH

ratio and other parameters in an effort to develop a way of

evaluating the operation of the methylation cycle. He has now done

measurements on about 500 children, and plans to do a total of

1,000, which he expects will take 6 months to a year. Now that he

has done more children, he finds that this ratio is not as precise a

measure of the health of the methylation cycle as he thought it

would be when he had measured only 50.

I spoke with him afterward, also, and asked him what he now thinks

would be the best way to evaluate the methylation cycle. He said he

thinks that SAM, SAH, and homocysteine should all be measured, and

the absolute values of each should be reported, not just the ratio

of SAM to SAH. He also said that he is not yet in a position to

specify what the limiting values should be for the normal ranges,

but hopes to be able to do that after he has evaluated 1,000

children. He also noted that the parameters vary with age, sex and

ethnic background, so it isn't simple to set normal limits.

So this was a little disappointing, since many of us had been

hopeful that this ratio would be a clear marker for problems in the

methylation cycle. The situation seems to be more involved than

originally thought, perhaps partly because of the various

combinations of possible genetic variations in enzymes impacting the

methylation cycle.

I note here that Dr. Gordon said that Dr. Yasko looks at plasma

amino acids and urine organic acids as well as at genetic

variations, and possibly also some other testing as well, in order

to formulate a protocol for a given patient. I think all of us

would like to get this down to a " cook book " procedure that anyone

could follow, but the current understanding of it still doesn't seem

to allow this. Dr. Gordon said that Dr. Yasko has quite a big

backlog of cases from people who want her to analyze them

personally, and it is very time consuming to do each one. Her plan

is to computerize this process, I guess as an extension of what she

did in Genetic ByPass.

I think I'll stop this post here, since the methylation section of

the meeting is probably of most interest to people on the list.

I'll comment on the other talks and conversations I had with some of

the people there in other posts.

After hearing these talks, I continue to believe that this work is

applicable to CFS, and in fact that it goes to the root causes of

many cases of CFS. I passed out a revised version of the post I

made to the list in early January on autism and CFS, and I gave a

pitch for it from the floor microphone during the public comments.

Quite a few people picked up a copy of my write-up, so I'm hoping

they will think about it. I also gave a pitch for the Yasko book

Genetic ByPass and the Pangborn and Baker book (by the way, Amazon

is currently out of the latter, so I ordered a replacement for the

one I lost from www.autismresearchinstitute.com).

Rich

[Guest guest]

Now they tell me. I wish I had known about this and was tested for metals

BEFORE I started on officinalis tincture in place of the $425.00 per

month Valtrex.

I am very much better, in terms of the viral issues.

mjh

In a message dated 2/28/06 9:20:44 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

ellenelle@... writes:

The group mb12 valtrex goes by this theory, that treating the viruses

(with valtrex, in this case) will allow metals to be excreted, often without

any chelation.

Ellen

> In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave the

> body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

> she defeats the viruses.

[Guest guest]

Great stuff! In my own personal experience it was important to raise

Glutathione before chasing the virus.

Regards

CS

[Guest guest]

The group mb12 valtrex goes by this theory, that treating the viruses

(with valtrex, in this case) will allow metals to be excreted, often without

any chelation.

Ellen

> In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave the

> body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

> she defeats the viruses.

[Guest guest]

>Rich wrote:

>

> In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave

the

> body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

> she defeats the viruses.

>

Rich and all, there is a publication about viruses and heavy metals

on Yasko's Neurological Reseach Institute website (you may have

already seen it):

" A Unique Approach to Metal Detoxificaton "

The URL is http://www.holistichealth.com/pub4.htm

The theory is very compelling, but they would inspire more confidence

if they would provide more documentation for their ideas.

P.S. Would somebody tell me how to highlight URL's in a

document? Thanks

Vickie

[Guest guest]

< P.S. Would somebody tell me how to highlight URL's in a

document? Thanks >

Vickie, they probably look " unhighlighted " because you have already

clicked on them to research the site. They show up as bright blue

until they're clicked on by the computer user. That's the easy

answer. I'm not proficient in " history " and " cookies. "

> >

> > In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> > children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> > that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave

> the

> > body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> > metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch

how

> > she defeats the viruses.

> >

> Rich and all, there is a publication about viruses and heavy metals

> on Yasko's Neurological Reseach Institute website (you may have

> already seen it):

>

> " A Unique Approach to Metal Detoxificaton "

>

> The URL is http://www.holistichealth.com/pub4.htm

>

> The theory is very compelling, but they would inspire more

confidence

> if they would provide more documentation for their ideas.

>

> P.S. Would somebody tell me how to highlight URL's in a

> document? Thanks

>

> Vickie

>

[Guest guest]

HI Vickie and Rich,

Thanks for posting all the Dr. Yasko info so far. . . I appreciate that you

are getting some info out there.

I have been a little overwhelmed lately to help out and anxiously waiting my

test results.

I missed the meeting and I am grateful Rich attended and is able to share his

experience somewhat.

Again I believe . .. . between Dr. Yasko and the Dan! program my to health

will drastically improve.

I hope the same for others. It just takes the right direction in research and

patience.

Best wishes, Sue T

Vickie <vickie77077@...> wrote:

>Rich wrote:

>

> In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave

the

> body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

> she defeats the viruses.

>

Rich and all, there is a publication about viruses and heavy metals

on Yasko's Neurological Reseach Institute website (you may have

already seen it):

" A Unique Approach to Metal Detoxificaton "

The URL is http://www.holistichealth.com/pub4.htm

The theory is very compelling, but they would inspire more confidence

if they would provide more documentation for their ideas.

P.S. Would somebody tell me how to highlight URL's in a

document? Thanks

Vickie

This list is intended for patients to share personal experiences with each

other, not to give medical advice. If you are interested in any treatment

discussed here, please consult your doctor.

[Guest guest]

> >

> > In addition, Dr. Yasko does not chelate heavy metals in autistic

> > children. She has found that viruses sequester heavy metals, and

> > that if the viral infections are defeated, the metals will leave

> the

> > body. Dr. Gordon suggested that the viruses may use the heavy

> > metals as protection against the immune system. I didn't catch how

> > she defeats the viruses.

> >

> Rich and all, there is a publication about viruses and heavy metals

> on Yasko's Neurological Reseach Institute website (you may have

> already seen it):

>

> " A Unique Approach to Metal Detoxificaton "

>

> The URL is http://www.holistichealth.com/pub4.htm

>

> The theory is very compelling, but they would inspire more confidence

> if they would provide more documentation for their ideas.

>

> P.S. Would somebody tell me how to highlight URL's in a

> document? Thanks

>

> Vickie

>

[Guest guest]

>Ron wrote:

>

> Amy Yasko has more hits for me than anything in the past 20 years.

> Thanks to all who have shown the light. Now my brain doesn't want to

> connect the dots.

> --Ron

>

Hi Ron, I know what you mean. I am reading, re-reading, and re-reading

again. Now I need to make charts and notes to help my poor fried brain

remember it all. It is just going to take time, lots of time. But it

will all be worth it if I can learn what is wrong with me, for the sake

of my kids if for nothing else.

Kind regards,

Vickie

[Guest guest]

IF anyone can come up with a synopsis of her stuff I'd love to have it on the

CFS Phoenix website.

Vickie <vickie77077@...> wrote: >Ron wrote:

>

> Amy Yasko has more hits for me than anything in the past 20 years.

> Thanks to all who have shown the light. Now my brain doesn't want to

> connect the dots.

> --Ron

>

Hi Ron, I know what you mean. I am reading, re-reading, and re-reading

again. Now I need to make charts and notes to help my poor fried brain

remember it all. It is just going to take time, lots of time. But it

will all be worth it if I can learn what is wrong with me, for the sake

of my kids if for nothing else.

Kind regards,

Vickie

This list is intended for patients to share personal experiences with each

other, not to give medical advice. If you are interested in any treatment

discussed here, please consult your doctor.

[Guest guest]

IF anyone can come up with a synopsis of her stuff I'd love to have it on the

CFS Phoenix website.

Vickie <vickie77077@...> wrote: >Ron wrote:

>

> Amy Yasko has more hits for me than anything in the past 20 years.

> Thanks to all who have shown the light. Now my brain doesn't want to

> connect the dots.

> --Ron

>

Hi Ron, I know what you mean. I am reading, re-reading, and re-reading

again. Now I need to make charts and notes to help my poor fried brain

remember it all. It is just going to take time, lots of time. But it

will all be worth it if I can learn what is wrong with me, for the sake

of my kids if for nothing else.

Kind regards,

Vickie

This list is intended for patients to share personal experiences with each

other, not to give medical advice. If you are interested in any treatment

discussed here, please consult your doctor.