Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

Low dose naltrexone (LDN), where naltrexone is used in doses approximately one-tenth those used for drug/alcohol rehabilitation purposes, is being used as an "off-label" treatment for certain immunologically-related disorders. The use of LDN for such diseases as cancer was discovered and developed by Ian Zagon, PhD in animal and in vitro research, and LDN's broader clinical effects in humans were discovered by Bernard Bihari, MD.

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...

The results of a successful open-label pilot study at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine were reported to an international gastroenterology conference in Los Angeles in May 2006. The trial demonstrated the safety and efficacy of LDN in a group of patients with Crohn's disease, thought of as an autoimmune disorder by many Drs. Dr. Jill Smith, Professor of Gastroenterology at Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, found that two-thirds of the patients in her pilot study went into remission and fully 89% of the group responded to treatment to some degree. She concluded that "LDN therapy appears effective and safe in subjects with active Crohn’s disease."[1] Smith and her colleagues have since received a substantial NIH grant and are proceeding with a definitive Phase II placebo-controlled clinical trial.

In addition, there is some in vitro data that indirectly suggest the potential benefits of LDN therapy. Many anecdotal accounts and case reports have also been cited in favor of LDN therapy. Some of the many conditions for which LDN has been reported as beneficial include multiple sclerosis (in particular, the primary progressive variant[2]), Crohn's disease, HIV/AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, ALS, autism in children, and cancer. Several clinical trials have been planned and a few are currently taking place.

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...

LDN boosts the immune system, activating the body's own natural defenses.
Up to the present time, the question of "What controls the immune system?" has not been present in the curricula of medical colleges and the issue has not formed a part of the received wisdom of practicing physicians. Nonetheless, a body of research over the past two decades has pointed repeatedly to one's own endorphin secretions (our internal opioids) as playing the central role in the beneficial orchestration of the immune system, and recognition of the facts is growing.

Witness these statements from a review article of medical progress in the November 13, 2003 issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine: "Opioid-Induced Immune Modulation: .... Preclinical evidence indicates overwhelmingly that opioids alter the development, differentiation, and function of immune cells, and that both innate and adaptive systems are affected.1,2 Bone marrow progenitor cells, macrophages, natural killer cells, immature thymocytes and T cells, and B cells are all involved. The relatively recent identification of opioid-related receptors on immune cells makes it even more likely that opioids have direct effects on the immune system.3"

The brief blockade of opioid receptors between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that is caused by taking LDN at bedtime each night is believed to produce a prolonged up-regulation of vital elements of the immune system by causing an increase in endorphin and enkephalin production. Normal volunteers who have taken LDN in this fashion have been found to have much higher levels of beta-endorphins circulating in their blood in the following days. Animal research by I. Zagon, PhD, and his colleagues has shown a marked increase in metenkephalin levels as well. [Note: Additional information for Dr. Zagon can be found at the end of this page.]

Bihari says that his patients with HIV/AIDS who regularly took LDN before the availability of HAART were generally spared any deterioration of their important helper T cells (CD4+).

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...

In human cancer, research by Zagon over many years has demonstrated inhibition of a number of different human tumors in laboratory studies by using endorphins and low dose naltrexone. It is suggested that the increased endorphin and enkephalin levels, induced by LDN, work directly on the tumors' opioid receptors — and, perhaps, induce cancer cell death (apoptosis). In addition, it is believed that they act to increase natural killer cells and other healthy immune defenses against cancer.

In general, in people with diseases that are partially or largely triggered by a deficiency of endorphins (including cancer and autoimmune diseases), or are accelerated by a deficiency of endorphins (such as HIV/AIDS), restoration of the body's normal production of endorphins is the major therapeutic action of LDN.

Bernard Bihari, MD, as well as other physicians and researchers, have described beneficial effects of LDN on a variety of diseases:

• Bladder Cancer
  
• Breast Cancer
  
• Carcinoid
  
• Colon & Rectal Cancer
  
• Glioblastoma
  
• Liver Cancer
  
• Lung Cancer (Non-Small Cell)
  
• Lymphocytic Leukemia (chronic)
  
• Lymphoma (Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's)
  
• Malignant Melanoma
  
• Multiple Myeloma
  
• Neuroblastoma
  
• Ovarian Cancer
  
• Pancreatic Cancer
  
• Prostate Cancer (untreated)
  
• Renal Cell Carcinoma
  
• Throat Cancer
  
• Uterine Cancer
  
• ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
  
• Alzheimer's Disease
  
• Ankylosing Spondylitis
  
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
  
• Behcet's Disease
  
• Celiac Disease
  
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  
• CREST syndrome
  
• Crohn's Disease
  
• Emphysema (COPD)
  
• Endometriosis
  
• Fibromyalgia
  
• HIV/AIDS
  
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
  
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
  
• Parkinson's Disease
  
• Pemphigoid
  
• Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
  
• Psoriasis
  
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
  
• Sarcoidosis
  
• Scleroderma
  
• Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS)
  
• Systemic Lupus (SLE)
  
• Transverse Myelitis
  
• Ulcerative Colitis
  
• Wegener's Granulomatosis
  

LDN has demonstrated efficacy in thousands of cases.
Cancer.

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...

As of mid-2004, Dr. Bihari reported having treated over 300 patients who had a cancer that had failed to respond to standard treatments. Of that group, some 50%, after four to six months treatment with LDN, began to demonstrate a halt in cancer growth and, of those, over one-third have shown objective signs of tumor shrinkage.

Autoimmune diseases. Within the group of patients who presented with an autoimmune disease (see above list), none have failed to respond to LDN; all have experienced a halt in progression of their illness. In many patients there was a marked remission in signs and symptoms of the disease. The greatest number of patients within the autoimmune group are people with multiple sclerosis, of whom there were some 400 in Dr. Bihari's practice. Less than 1% of these patients has ever experienced a fresh attack of MS while they maintained their regular LDN nightly therapy.

HIV/AIDS. As of September 2003, Dr. Bihari had been treating 350 AIDS patients using LDN in conjunction with accepted AIDS therapies. Over the prior 7 years over 85% of these patients showed no detectable levels of the HIV virus — a much higher success rate than most current AIDS treatments, and with no significant side effects. It is also worth noting that many HIV/AIDS patients have been living symptom-free for years taking only LDN with no other medications.

Central Nervous System disorders. Anecdotal reports continue to be received concerning beneficial effects of LDN on the course of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS—Lou Gehrig’s disease), and primary lateral sclerosis. Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless has found a very positive effect of LDN, in appropriately reduced dosage and applied as a transdermal cream, in children with autism.

What dosage and frequency should my physician prescribe?
The usual adult dosage is 4.5mg taken once daily at night. Because of the rhythms of the body's production of master hormones, LDN is best taken between 9pm and 3am. Most patients take it at bedtime.

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...

Notable exceptions:

People who have multiple sclerosis that has led to muscle spasms are advised to use only 3mg daily and to maintain that dosage.
For intial dosage of LDN in those patients who have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with hypothyroidism and who are taking thyroid hormone replacement medication, please read Cautionary Warnings, below.
Rarely, the naltrexone may need to be purchased as a solution — in distilled water — with 1mg per ml dispensed with a 5ml medicine dropper. If LDN is used in a liquid form, it is important to keep it refrigerated.

The therapeutic dosage range for LDN is from 1.75mg to 4.5mg every night. Dosages below this range are likely to have no effect at all, and dosages above this range are likely to block endorphins for too long a period of time and interfere with its effectiveness.

Buy Naltrexone Ethylex at Anabolic247.com...