Are there alternatives to chemo and radiation?

Part 3: Low-dose naltrexone

Naltrexone was approved as a prescription drug in the USA in 1984. Originally, it was prescribed in high doses in the treatment of heroin or opium addiction.

Dr. Bernard Bihari, MD of New York City pioneered the use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN). He knew that low doses of naltrexone taken once a day (at bedtime) could increase the body’s production of endorphins. He also knew endorphins are highly involved in the regulation of immune function.

The theory behind it was, that very low doses of naltrexone (3-5mg.) will block a person’s endorphin receptors for just a few hours overnight. This signals the body to compensate by creating more endorphins in the pre-dawn sleeping hours when endorphin production is at its highest.

Dr. Bihari initially used low dose naltrexone to treat his HIV/AIDS patients in 1985. Over a period of four years, 85 per cent of his patients on LDN, combined with accepted AIDS therapies, showed no detectable levels of the HIV virus. A large number of his AIDS patients lived symptom free with no disease progression for many years by taking LDN alone – without any other AIDS medications.

Naltrexone’s effect on cancer

Dr. Bihari decided to try LDN on his cancer patients as well, with impressive results. Cancers thought to be most responsive to LDN are those that originate in tissues with high densities of opioid receptors, such as lymphomas and pancreatic cancer. Positive responses have been observed for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s Disease, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, pancreatic cancer, glioma, astrocytoma and glioblastoma brain cancers, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, cancer of the small intestine, lung cancer, neuroblastoma, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

By March of 2004, Dr. Bihari had prescribed LDN to about 450 cancer patients, many of whom had exhausted conventional treatments. Of the 450 patients, 19 per cent died because they were too ill to recover, or had been too damaged by previous toxic treatments. Bihari was not able to follow up on another 21 per cent. Eleven per cent had been on LDN for less than six months and considered “undetermined.” Of the patients who stayed on LDN for six months or more, 19 per cent went into full remission, 28 per cent stabilized with no growth or spread of tumours, and two per cent had not stabilized.

When you consider the five-year success rate of conventional cancer treatment is two per cent, this is quite encouraging. Virtually all of the patients Dr. Bihari treated were considered incurable by conventional methods.

Other applications for naltrexone

Dr. Bihari found that LDN showed beneficial effects for multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, psoriasis, Rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other immune disorders.

Is naltrexone safe?

Naltrexone can carry some risk of damage to the liver in high doses of 300 mg. per day. At low doses of three to five mg. per day, naltrexone is completely safe and non-toxic.

Who does LDN work best on?

Dr. Bihari observed that patients who were most likely to have significant movement towards remission were those who had never done chemotherapy or other toxic treatments such as radiation. LDN therapy may not work as well for patients who are on steroids in doses that suppress immune system functioning.

LDN should not be used at the same time as any narcotic medication such as morphine, Percocet, Ultram, the Duragesic patch, or codeine-containing medications.

It is best to work with a medical practitioner who is familiar with the most effective way to use LDN. It is an inexpensive, non-toxic treatment that may be an ideal complementary treatment for many cancer patients.

For the full report on naltrexone see: Outsmart Your Cancer. Alternative Non-toxic Treatments That Work by Tanya Harter Pierce. Thoughtworks Publishing.

Websites

www.ldninfo.org

www.ldninfo.org/ldn_and_cancer.htm

www.ldners.org

www.ldnresearchtrust.org

www.elaine-moore.com

www.youtube/watch?v=DAZ1fQKdOC8

Books

Moore, Elaine, A. and Samantha Wilkenson. The Promise of Low Dose Naltrexone Therapy: Potential Benefits in Cancer, Autoimmune, Neurological and Infectious Disorders. McFarland & Co., 2008

Bradley, Mary Anne Boyle. Up the Creek With a Paddle: Beat MS and Many Auto-immune Disorders With Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). Publish America, 2005.