Re: Re: Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

[Guest guest]

oh opps I didnt realise that

O well never mind I was just looking around and thought it may have been

good

Re: Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

> Hi ,

>

> don't know where you ran about this article. Sorry, but it's stone-

> old. Young, who wrote this story died in 1997 and I haven't

> heard much about the use of l-arginine after that. It might be an

> interesting substance, but we discussed the pros and cons several

> years ago and decided that GSH is the better way to go. I am eagerly

> looking forward to the results of the GSH study.

>

> Peace

> Torsten

>

>

> > Thought this was intersting

> > O'Neill mum to Liam who has finally put on some weight!!

> >

> > Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

> >

> > While attending Brigham Young University in October, 1995 I

> found quite

> > by accident an article in the February, 1971 issue of

> Pediatrics by Dr.

> > Clive Solomons detailing a small scale study he had done using

> inhaled

> > l-arginine in patients with cystic fibrosis. The article is:

> Solomons,

> > Clive C., PhD, et al. " The Use of Buffered L-Arginine in the

> Treatment

> > of Cystic Fibrosis. " _Pediatrics_ Vol. 47, no. 2. (Feb.,

> 1971). Pages

> > 384-391.

> >

> > I began inhaling l-arginine at the end of March, 1996. I had an

> > appointment at the CF clinic five days later, and my FVC was

> up about

> > 10% and my FEV1 up slightly less. The most pronounced effect

> was much

> > better oxygen saturation: 98% at room air, despite FVC of 49%

> and FEV1

> > of about 32%. After five weeks of inhaling l-arginine, my FVC

> had

> > increased 28% to 63% and my FEV1 had increased 16% to 41%. For

> the

> > previous 18 months, my FVC had been under 50% and my FEV1

> under 30%. For

> > the previous six months my FVC had been under 35%, my FEV1

> under 25%. My

> > small airway capacity had increased from 5% to 14%.

> >

> > At the time I began inhaling l-arginine, I was on oxygen, was

> short of

> > breath from walking at a normal pace any distance, had dropped

> out of

> > school, was being evaluated for a lung transplant, and was

> unable to

> > work. Within a couple of weeks, I was reenrolled in school,

> working

> > eight hours a day on my feet and lifting, and no longer

> eligible for a

> > lung transplant. I had much better exercise tolerance and

> increased lung

> > functions gave me a better appetite, and made it much easier

> for me to

> > do my secretion clearance treatments.

> >

> > To make the solution, I dissolved 0.9g of l-arginine free-base

> and 15g

> > of l-arginine hydrochloride in 300ml of purified water.

> (Solomons used

> > tap water.) This mixture should have a pH of 7.4-7.6 and

> should be

> > refrigerated. In Solomon's study, it was inhaled four times a

> day for

> > thirty minutes (I don't do it quite as much or in such even

> doses).

> >

> > 100g of l-arginine hydrochloride lasts me eight to twelve

> weeks, and

> > 100g of l-arginine free base should last over two to three

> years. The

> > chemicals can be purchased from Advanced Scientific, in

> Florida, at

> > . It costs $95 for 100g bottles of both, plus

> shipping.

> > 1000g of l-arginine hydrochloride (enough for 2 years) costs

> only two or

> > three times more than 100g. The chemicals also be obtained

> from Sigma

> > Chemical. They supplied the chemicals for Dr. Solomon's study.

> Their

> > phone number or . However, they

> will not

> > sell to individuals, but will sell to institutions, medical

> researchers

> > and laboratory supply companies. They also charged much less

> (as I

> > remember). You may be able to order it from Sigma by asking a

> chemical

> > supply shop to special-order it from them for you.

> >

> > Sigma Chemical, which is still in business carried L-arginine

> > hydrochloride (at least, that's what they said on the phone)

> while I

> > could only get arginine hydrochloride (no " L " ) from Advance

> Scientific.

> > I don't know how important this difference is, though I do

> know that

> > left-polarized amino-acids are more biologically efficient,

> though I

> > don't know if this applies to it's mucolytic action (and, even

> when

> > undifferentiated, I would imagine much of what I use is left-

> polarized,

> > too).

> >

> > It may not be wise to use the l-arginine found health food

> stores since

> > it is almost always l-arginine free base (which is very

> caustic) derived

> > from l-arginine hydrochloride.

> >

> > 16-24 hours after I began inhaling it I became extremely

> congested, more

> > congested than when I'm sick, and was coughing up the most

> vile looking,

> > foulest smelling mucous. Even when I've been sick, it doesn't

> look that

> > gross! And " coughing up " is an overstatement: mostly, it just

> slid out

> > of it's own accord. This continued for a couple of days. My

> breath

> > smelled REALLY bad, too, but this also went away.

> >

> > After inhaling it for a long time, I am sometimes short of

> breath for

> > 15-30 minutes afterward, but have found that adding 0.5cc of

> Ventolin

> > alleviates this(though I rarely do it).

> >

> > The article says that L-arginine has a detergent effect and

> loosens

> > mucous because of it's calcium and metal-ion binding effects

> and by

> > reducing fibril aggregation. The article also reported that

> staph.

> > aureus and hemophilus disappeared from the cultures of those

> who inhaled

> > l-arginine, although it did not affect the presence of

> pseudomonas. The

> > authors expected that this treatment would work best as a

> preventative

> > measure in patients who had not suffered much lung damage.

> Despite this,

> > the patients who used it averaged a 10% increase in lung

> functions, as

> > the l-arginine liquefied mucous plugs, although their lung

> functions

> > stopped increasing after about three weeks. The most

> pronounced effect

> > was increased arterial Po2.

> >

> > The article also suggests oral use of L-arginine, but their

> suggested

> > dose was 1g/kg/day, up to 25g, which is a lot of L-arginine.

> Oral use

> > resulted in weight gain, better fat absorption, and 100%

> success in

> > relieving ALL intestinal cramping. Since this study was done,

> drugs

> > treating absorption problems in CF have become more effective

> and

> > prevalent. The study also noted that, to achieve it's

> preventative

> > effects, it might be sufficient to take l-arginine orally, as

> a small

> > amount ends up in the bronchial fluids.

> >

> > Most CF doctor's haven't had a problem with using l-arginine

> (although

> > most didn't think it would help much, either). L-arginine has

> no

> > side-effects, as was confirmed in a letter to Pediatrics (I

> can't

> > remember the date) by Dr. Solomons two or three years after he

> published

> > his study.

> >

> > What happened to L-arginine? Apparently this treatment was

> studied at

> > the time but " lost " in the excitement over a related drug with

> similar

> > effects, N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst). (Which, incidently, has

> serious

> > side-effects and is now rarely used in CF.)

> >

> > A Dr. reading the Cystic-L mailing list found an article in

> Pediatrics

> > 1975, vol. 55, p. 96 by an East German group which compared l-

> arginine

> > with Nacetyl cysteine and found it inferior. They did not

> recommend it's

> > use. Solomons wrote a rebuttal in Pediatrics, 1976, vol. 76,

> p. 166

> > where he criticized the methodology of the East German study,

> arguing

> > that the researchers should have dissolved the l-arginine in

> water,

> > instead of sodium hydroxide, and that this could actually

> cause lung

> > inflammation and that arginine needed to buffered by its own

> salt. The

> > doctor who dug up this information concludes, " Since then I

> can find no

> > reports either in the mainstream literature or main CF

> conference

> > meetings. "

> >

> > Before trying this treatment, I would urge you to get a copy

> of the

> > original article. Any library should have it, or your doctor

> can get it

> > for you. Also, in light of the above information, l-arginine

> should

> > probably not be mixed with saline (which is what my own CF

> doctor did

> > when he researched it himself -- which produced marginal

> results). Be

> > careful to be sure to mix it in the proper proportions, as

> inhaling it

> > at the wrong pH could pose a problem. If you don't have access

> to a

> > scale, pocket-sized scales that can measure to 0.1g can be

> purchased for

> > around $100 from scale or laboratory supply shops.

> >

> >