Dr. Mercola January 13 2009 114,986 views
Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) could treat patients with Crohn's Disease, Alzheimer’s, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, AIDS, autism and MS, to name just a few.
Naltrexone is a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist. It has primarily been used at fairly high doses to treat opioid and alcohol addiction. But at very low dosages, naltrexone has been found to have immunomodulating properties.
LDN was first used as a therapeutic agent for people with AIDS. It has been proposed for use in people with malignancies, multiple sclerosis, and autoimmune diseases. A recent publication showed a marked improvement in active Crohn’s disease for people using LDN.
Some leading experts believe that low-dose naltrexone (LDN) holds great promise for the treatment of millions of people suffering with autoimmune diseases, central nervous system disorders, and even cancer and HIV/AIDS.
It’s extremely low-cost, and appears to be virtually free of detrimental side effects.
So why haven’t you heard about this before?
What is Naltrexone?
Naltrexone (generic name) is a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist, conventionally used to treat drug- and alcohol addiction – normally at doses of 50mg to 300mg. As such, it’s been an FDA approved drug for over two decades.
However, researchers have found that at very low dosages (3 to 4.5 mg), naltrexone has immunomodulating properties that may be able to successfully treat cancer malignancies and a wide range of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia, and Crohn’s disease, just to name a few.
At least one physician, Dr. Jacquelyn McCandless, has even found LDN to have a positive effect on children with autism.
Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Burton M. Berkson, MD, for my Inner Circle,expert interview series, and he attested to achieving phenomenal results with low-dose naltrexone (LDN) in both cancer patients and those with autoimmune diseases.
Unfortunately, very few physicians are aware of LDN, and none of the pharmaceutical giants back it, meaning there are no friendly sales reps visiting your doctor talking about the potential benefits of this drug in very low doses.
And why would they?
At an average price of $15 to $40 for a month’s supply, the income potential from LDN doesn’t even come off in the rounding. It’s completely insignificant.
How Does Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Work for Autoimmune Diseases and Cancer?
A growing body of research over the past 20 years indicates that your body’s secretion of endorphins (your internal, natural opioids) play an important, if not central, role in the workings of your immune system.
A review article entitled Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain, published in a 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, states:
"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. 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."
"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.
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."
As explained on the informative website www.lowdosenaltrexone.org, when you take LDN at bedtime -- which blocks your opioid receptors for a few hours in the middle of the night -- it is believed to up-regulate vital elements of your immune system by increasing your body’s production of metenkephalin and endorphins (your natural opioids), hence improving immune function.
In addition to increased endorphin production, Dr. Bernard Bihari (who first discovered LDN as a therapeutic agent for AIDS, in 1985), believes LDNs anti-cancer mechanism is likely due to an increase in:
Dr. Bihari has reportedly treated more than 450 cancer patients with LDN with promising results, including cancers of the bladder, breast, liver, lung, lymph nodes, colon, and rectum.
According to Dr. Bihari, nearly a quarter of his patients had at least a 75 percent reduction in tumor size, and nearly 60 percent of his patients demonstrated disease stability.
Recent Clinical Studies on Safety and Benefits of LDN for Autoimmune Diseases
Although the video above makes it seem as though there are virtually no scientific inquiries into the safety and benefits of LDN, that’s not an entirely accurate assessment. Several studies have been conducted, and more are in the pipeline.
For a more complete list of past and current research, please see the lowdosenaltrexone.org website, but here are a couple of highlights.
LDN for Multiple Sclerosis – Dr. Maira Gironi, an Italian neurological researcher, treated 40 patients affected with Primary Progressive MS (PPMS) with LDN for six months, concluding that LDN was not only safe and well-tolerated, but halted the progression of the disease in all but one patient. The results from this pilot study were published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis in September of last year. LDN for Crohn’s Disease – The first clinical study of LDN published by a U.S. medical journal was Dr. Jill Smith’s article, Low-Dose Naltrexone Therapy Improves Active Crohn’s Disease, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2007. An impressive two-thirds of the patients in her pilot study went into remission, and 89 percent responded to LDN treatment to some degree. She concluded that “LDN therapy appears effective and safe in subjects with active Crohn’s disease.”
LDN for Multiple Sclerosis – Dr. Maira Gironi, an Italian neurological researcher, treated 40 patients affected with Primary Progressive MS (PPMS) with LDN for six months, concluding that LDN was not only safe and well-tolerated, but halted the progression of the disease in all but one patient. The results from this pilot study were published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis in September of last year.
LDN for Crohn’s Disease – The first clinical study of LDN published by a U.S. medical journal was Dr. Jill Smith’s article, Low-Dose Naltrexone Therapy Improves Active Crohn’s Disease, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2007.
An impressive two-thirds of the patients in her pilot study went into remission, and 89 percent responded to LDN treatment to some degree. She concluded that “LDN therapy appears effective and safe in subjects with active Crohn’s disease.”
Other studies currently underway in various parts of the world, include:
Side Effects and Cautionary Warnings
So far, the only adverse events reported in clinical studies have been temporary insomnia and vivid dreaming in some patients. However, there are a few cautionary warnings with this drug, as with most others.
According to lowdosenaltrexone.org, if you fall in any of the categories below, you need to take special precautions:
For more information about low-dose naltrexone, LDNers.org is another good resource.
And, if you or someone you love suffers from any of the autoimmune diseases listed in the article links below, please review them for my personal recommendations on how to resolve the underlying problems of your ailment.
Naltrexone, has been FDA approved since 1984 for reversal of narcotics overdose. It reverses the sedating effect of opiates by binding to the opioid receptors in the brain.
The beneficial effect of low dose naltrexone, LDN, was discovered by Bernard Bihari, MD, a physician in New York City who found that a small dose (3 - 4 mg) of naltrexone taken as a capsule at bedtime blocks the opiate receptors in the brain for a few hours during sleep, which then stimulates the brain to increase production of endorphins over the next 24 hours. These endorphins then stimulate the immune system. Although Bihari did much of the early clinical work, Zagon did much of the groundwork with animal research studies at Pennsylvania State University. A recent publication in the Jan 2007 was the first breakthrough publication to appear entitled, Low-Dose Naltrexone Therapy Improves Active Crohn's Disease by Jill Smith MD. I have seen about 70% of patients respond dramatically to LDN.
Low dose naltrexone has obviously helped relieve the symptoms for quite a few conditions.
While I was writing "The Doctor Who Cures Cancer" naltrexone received some publicity for being able to help alcoholics. So I looked into it, since Dr. Revici had been successful in treating both alcoholics and drug addicts.
It turns out that if one takes naltrexone and drinks any alcohol or takes any drugs, it can produce a serious outcome for the patient. Patients with liver problems can be poor candidates for naltrexone...and what alcoholic doesn't have at some liver problems, either clinical or subclinical?
Revici's treatment removed the desire to drink or do drugs in as little as 15 minutes, whereas it takes much longer for naltrexone.
Revici's medicines cost far less than naltrexone which costs about $4 per dose in the mid-1990's. To read more about it, see my blog:
itsnotjustforsex-1.blogspot.com/.../doctor-who-cures-cancer-cures.html
Curlytop, to tell someone they have an emotional component to their illness is not the same thing as saying "Your weak, toughen up, get over it." The mind is incredibly powerful, and for a doctor to finally say they are linked should be a step forward not backward. When my doctor's told me my pains were in my head, that was their way of saying it wasn't real. I believe that when Dr. Mercola says emotions play a role he is admitting the symptoms are REAL, and real solutions need to follow. I don;t know you personally, but I'll throw it out there. My father died this past year, and that affected my Crohn's. I reject the idea this makes me weak, and I need to get over it, but I whole-heartedly accept the idea that negative feelings have negative REAL impacts, and I had REAL symptoms associated with it. It's humbling, yes, but it doesn't make you weak. We're people, we're imperfect, we all have issues. My issues happen to tag along with a weakened and compromised immune system.
Thanks for writing about Low Dose Naltrexone, which has been used for years to treat many conditions. LDN is one of four treatments I wrote about in “Four Lifesaving Medical Treatments: Not So ‘Anecdotal,’ After All,” at http://www.honestmedicine.com/2008/05/four-lifesaving.html . In all four cases, I had to conclude that doctors call these promising treatments “anecdotal,” despite patient evidence to the contrary. Sadly, patient evidence, no matter how compelling, doesn’t convince them, and they insist on seeing double blind randomized clinical trials proving these treatments work before they’ll prescribe them. But, as David (dp2001) points out, doctors don’t want to spend time researching “unproven” treatments, and drug companies don’t want to spend the money on them. There is good news, though. Several studies are being done (or have been done) on LDN, including one at UCSF that was patient-funded -- a highly unusual occurrence! Also, there are several LDN websites, including www.lowdosenaltrexone.org and www.ldners.org. And there are books on the topic: two by patients/family members: Up the Creek With a Paddle, by Mary Anne Boyle Bradley, and Google LDN! by Joseph Wouk. Also, The Promise of Low Dose Naltrexone Therapy, by health writer Elaine Moore and MS advocate (and LDN user) SammyJo Wilkinson, has been written for physicians. (You can buy it for your doctor on Amazon.com.) I am very hopeful that soon more doctors will be prescribing and recommending LDN (and other not-so-anecdotal treatments) to their patients.
I'm no expert in LDN and how it works however I would say that in my experience auto-immune diseases are actually diseases caused by infections of various types that have been called auto-immune because the medical professsion has not identified the organism yet. Could it switch off the immune system so as not to react to the infection (which could lead to temporary relief as with steroids?) or does it boost / re-set the immune system ?
There are numerous examples of "auto-immune" diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohns, Fibromyalgia, MS, Lupus that have been shown to respond to long term antibiotic treatment (of the correct types). Personally I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1995 and chose to be treated solely with "herbal" antibiotic treatments since then, with great success. The main protaganist is normally the causative organism of Lyme Disease - Borrelia sp which uncouples the immune system allowing a multitude of other infections into the body such as mycoplasma, HHV6(important in MS), Candida, microbacteria, parasites etc etc etc. Everybody's disease is then slightly different due to the mix of co-infections that are allowed into a compromised system. The Borrelia bacteria may come from a tick bite or can actually be passed on from human to human.
Deanaskew,
I was infected with Borellia back in late 2000. It took me 9 months to find the diagnosis and another 9 months or so for a cure. My husband also came down with Lyme like symptoms but never tested positive. He was treated for his symptoms and improved. He had arthritic symptoms off and on over the next several years. Being an ultramarathoner we thought it was just from overtraining. Then 15 months ago after completing a 100 mile run in Arizona he became very sick with general malaise, fever, a strange rash on his forearm, and arthritis. His health history becomes complicated after this point. At this point in time he's so arthritic he can hardly hobble from one room to the next. I'm interested in talking to you about your thoughts on Lyme....person to person contact....other opportunistic infections etc.
My twin granddaughters have had Lyme for years and my daughter has tried everything after the conventional failed. She's currently using a Rife machine which seems to be working. I really think Lyme is in pandemic mode and a lot of med establishment types are in denial.
Amamama, are you meaning LDN-Low Dose NOVANTRONE(chemotherapy) infusions? LDN(Low Dose Naltrexone is not take in treatments but in continuous nightly 3mg to 4.5mg in capsules for life. Your description of how you did sounds like many who have taken Novantrone infusions.
BrendaLDNer, LDN user 5 1/2 years for MS, progression has been halted 5 1/2 years on LDN 4.5mg, Dx'd MS 1989.
Amamama wrote......
Amamama
I was diagnosed with MS in '94, discovered LDN in '04 and I was thrilled when I finally met a doc who would give me LDN in '07. So I started treatments in June '07, and immediately responded well. I forgot it one night and that made the next few days living hell, but after three days I was fine again. Better than I'd been in years. Then I slowly started going downhill. I had the second worst winter ever (the worst was in 95-6), and my tally after 13 months was more symptoms and 18 kg (20 lbs) gained weight. I weaned myself off LDN this summer, and now feel better than ever, working with EFT to combat symptoms and increase immune function. Plus I don't wake up at night to pee any more, so I get uninterrupted sleep, which is a big bonus. And I admit I'm quite happy that my morning urine doesn't smell like a chemical factory.
I guess I'm the one exception to the rule, unfortunately not everyone benefits from LDN. What baffles me, is that I started with such positive results.
From my MS website I understand that many patients have banded together to fund a clinical trial for this treatment because it has had such good results in so many cases.
The first LDN conference in Europe is in Glasgow on the 25th of April.
www.glasgowldn2009.com admission is free. Dr Tom Gilhooly and Dr Berkson are amongst the speakers.
marja, you say you have seen improvement is psoriatica...is that psoriatic arthritis? Would it also help the redness and itching of psoriasis? As well as trying to find out the reason how it was triggered in the first place.
There have been many excellent comments on this article. I have only one thing to point out to the Mercola community: there is an herb that has similar pharmacology as naltrexone. It's called salvia divinorum. It is a sacred herb used by the Mazatec tribe of southern Mexico. It has powerful mind-altering effects (like naltrexone). Its main active ingredient is salvinorin A, a diterpene (like an esssential oil) compound that is active in the microgram dosage range. This herb, like naltrexone, acts as an opioid antagonist. Unlike naltrexone, which I believe is a broad-spectrum antagonist, meaning it affects most types of opioid receptors, salvia divinorum/salvinorin A act as a kappa opioid antagonist, which are a very specific subset of opioid receptors, which is why it has a unique and powerful effect on consciousness.
Let me be very clear: this substance is tremendously powerful and must be approached and used with reverence and respect. My point is that it may turn out to be a more holistic alternative to naltrexone when used properly.
To address some of the other comments and tie it together holistically, this herb addresses the way we store experience in our bodies. Ths is not metaphorical, but literal, in that molecular signaling by endogenous opioids is likely the mechanism of imprinting experience into cells. Salvia has the ability to modify these pathways.
This is an area that requires more study in the hands of competent, caring, highly ethical, and very intrepid practitioners. To my knowledge this has not been done by anyone, anywhere, except the Mazatecs themselves in their indigeous healing rites.
Salvia is a legal herb, but is controversial. If you choose to investigate this, please use respect and caution.
Thanks for a natural alternative. Sure sounds like it is worth exploring
Though I've never done Salvia Divinorum myself, I know several people who have. They all experienced physical reactions (like feeling someone was pushing hard on their shoulder forcing them to spin around) and they were all mentally completely "out there", disconnected from reality for about 10 minutes. Some said it was even stranger than LSD. Even though these people generally like mind-altering drugs, none really wanted to experience Salvia again.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be investigated, or that it isn't potentially valuable. As an herbalist I know there's often a big difference between using an herb fresh in it's natural state vs. buying it (old or adulterated) from a health food store or head shop, but when it comes to the more powerful herbs, the uninitiated should definitely use caution.
Many mind-altering plants have great potential for healing and their millions of user's experiences should be considered more than just anecdotal.