WOW!! (Announcement Of Sorts)

[Guest guest]

I am SO excited!!!

One of the difficult things about having stage IV cancer (and there are many

rather unpleasant things about it, of course), has been having to give up on the

idea of being able to donate my organs in order to help other people - thus

depriving me of one way of making meaning out of what is otherwise a meaningless

and awful thing.

But now my Integrative Specialist, Dr. Plotnikoff of the Penny Institute,

has given me back a little bit of that meaning.

He was so impressed by the relief from pain and other symptoms after he

prescribed the LDN for me that he spent the last few months gathering up the

resources and information... and now he, in partnership with Minnesota Oncology

& Hematology (the practice in which my oncologist works) and the Piper Breast

Center (the center where my breast surgeon practices), is going to be doing a

study on LDN in women with metastatic breast cancer!! All because I spent the

last year fighting for the prescription, and finally got it... and got relief.

From my POV the study is not perfect - it will be on women who are taking

Aromatase Inhibitors for their cancer, and I'm not entirely clear on whether

they are looking for relief from side effects of the AI's or whether they are

looking for relief from side effects of the cancer itself. And I have some

doubts as to whether women on hormonal treatments are the best candidates for a

study on LDN, and even whether breast cancer is the best/most responsive cancer

to be testing on.

BUT along with studying for symptom relief (pain, etc), they will also be

measuring whether the LDN increases NK cell levels in the study subjects over

the period of treatment. So it should have some bearing on LDN as a treatment

for other cancers and conditions.

So it's not a perfect study (IMO, of course), but it's a study. And other women

who are suffering may get relief - and if the NK arm of the study bears out it

may help LDN get studied further for other types of cancer - and all of THAT is

a blessed, wonderful thing, something that creates some meaning out of this

awful situation of mine. It's a bittersweet thing for me, but the sweet is

definitely there!

~Eileen

[Guest guest]

---------- Forwarded message ----------From: mary frontino <mfrontino@...>

Date: Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 11:07 PMSubject: Re: [low dose naltrexone] WOW!! (Announcement Of Sorts)jaxi <jaxi.schulz@...>

Eileen,

 

This is sort of wonderful in a wierd kinda way.  I say that as you may have read in an earlier post when asked about NK cell activity Dr. Zagon was of the opinion that there would be a decrease.

 

I have found in the book " The Promise of Low Dose Naltrexone Therapy " that a Dr. Plotnikoff, a professor in the College of Pharmacy in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago has somewhat of a different opinion in that he reports that there is increase in  levels of NK lymphocytes. 

 

Both doctors do agree that LDN restores homeostasis - it allows the body to heal itself.

 

Your Dr. Plotniknoff is from Minnesota.  The book's  Dr. Plotnikoff is from Illinois

Is this just a coincidence....or maybe they are related.

 

Nevertheless this is an EXCITING announcement.  If they can prove this via a test, it would be wonderful to track the effectiveness of LDN and then you could lower or up the dose of LDN to fit the patient. 

 

 > I am SO excited!!!>

> One of the difficult things about having stage IV cancer (and there are many rather unpleasant things about it, of

course), has been having to give up on the idea of being able to donate my organs in order to help other people - thus depriving me of one way of making meaning out of what is otherwise a meaningless and awful thing.

>> But now my Integrative Specialist, Dr. Plotnikoff of the Penny Institute, has given me back a little bit of that meaning.>> He was so impressed by the relief from pain and other symptoms after he prescribed the LDN for me that he spent the last few months gathering up the resources and information... and now he, in partnership with Minnesota Oncology & Hematology (the practice in which my oncologist works) and the Piper Breast Center (the center where my breast surgeon practices), is going to be doing a study on LDN in women with metastatic breast cancer!!  All because I spent the last year fighting for the prescription, and finally got it... and got relief.

>> From my POV the study

is not perfect - it will be on women who are taking Aromatase Inhibitors for their cancer, and I'm not entirely clear on whether they are looking for relief from side effects of the AI's or whether they are looking for relief from side effects of the cancer itself.  And I have some doubts as to whether women on hormonal treatments are the best candidates for a study on LDN, and even whether breast cancer is the best/most responsive cancer to be testing on.

>> BUT along with studying for symptom relief (pain, etc), they will also be measuring whether the LDN increases NK cell levels in the study subjects over the period of treatment.  So it should  have some bearing on LDN as a treatment for other cancers and conditions.

>> So it's not a perfect study (IMO, of course), but it's a study.  And other women who are suffering may get relief - and if the NK arm of the study bears out it may help LDN get studied

further for other types of cancer - and all of THAT is a blessed, wonderful thing, something that creates some meaning out of this awful situation of mine.  It's a bittersweet thing for me, but the sweet is definitely there!

>> ~Eileen>> ------------------------------------>>