We all forget the high dose Vitamin C is a major detoxifier, as when it leaves the body it is always carrying toxins with it. So the more that leaves the lower the toxin load will be!  Somehow when we get excited about what high dose IV Ascorbic Acid can do, we forget we all live on a toxic planet and our patients need the oral forms of Ascorbic Acid TOO on a daily basis, ideally for life, to get the full benefits Ascorbic Acid supplementation can provide.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Article Excerpt:

Medscape Medical News 2009. © 2009 Medscape
March 10, 2009 — Vitamin C supplementation may help prevent gout, according to the results of a prospective study reported in the March 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Several metabolic studies and a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial have shown that higher vitamin C intake significantly reduces serum uric acid levels,” write Hyon K. Choi, MD, DrPH, from Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues. “Yet the relation with risk of gout is unknown.”
From 1986 through 2006, the investigators evaluated the association between vitamin C intake and the risk for incident gout in 46,994 male participants who had no history of gout at baseline. American College of Rheumatology criteria for gout were determined by a supplementary questionnaire, and validated questionnaires administered every 4 years examined vitamin C intake.
There were 1317 confirmed incident cases of gout during 20 years of follow-up. Compared with vitamin C intake less than 250 mg/day, the multivariate relative risk (RR) for gout associated with total vitamin C intake of 500 to 999 mg/day was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71 – 0.97). For intake of 1000 to 1499 mg/day, RR was 0.66 (95% CI, 0.52 – 0.86), and for 1500 mg/day or greater, it was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.38 – 0.80; P < .001 for trend). Per 500-mg increase in total daily vitamin C intake, the multivariate RR was 0.83 (95% CI, 0.77 – 0.90).

Full article: http://magnesiumforlife.com/medical-application/magnesium-and-autism/#arrive

Excerpt:

Research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2002 shows that when the diets of 2,566 children ages 11-19 were studied, less than 14 percent of boys and 12 percent of girls had adequate intakes of magnesium and low magnesium intake was associated with lower measures of several lung functions (including lung capacity and airway flow).[2]
 
     “Magnesium deficiency definitely accentuates the allergic situation,” says Terry M. Phillips, D.Sc., Ph.D., director of the immunogenetics and immunochemistry laboratory at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and author of Winning the War Within. Thus we can extrapolate that magnesium deficiency can provoke the well known leaky gut syndrome, which we will discuss below.
 
     The Department of Family Medicine, Pomeranian Medical Academy, states that dietetic factors can play a significant role in the origin of ADHD and that magnesium deficiency can result in disruptive behaviors.[3] When dealing with autism spectrum and other neurological disorders in children it is important to know the signs of low magnesium: restless, can’t keep still, body rocking, grinding teeth, hiccups, noise sensitive, poor attention span, poor concentration, irritable, aggressive, ready to explode, easily stressed.
 
     When it comes to our children we need to assume a large magnesium deficiency for several reasons. 1) The foods they are eating are stripped of magnesium because foods in general are declining in mineral content in an alarming way. 2) The foods many children eat are highly processed junk foods that do not provide real nutrition to the body. 3) Because most children on the spectrum are not absorbing the minerals they need even when present in the gut. Magnesium absorption is dependent on intestinal health, which is compromised in leaky gut syndromes that the majority of autistic children suffer from. 4) Because the oral supplements doctors rely on are not easily absorbed, because they are not in the right form and because magnesium in general is not administered easily orally.
 

Linda’s comment:  The FIGHT program is a perfect example of how you can fight Lyme disease.  As Dr Patricia Gerbarg, MD has found out.  She has not experienced the FIGHT program to my knowledge, but the protocols she mentioned are all part of the FIGHT program.  It is a must that we reduce the total body burden of toxins and pathogens to fight the Lyme critters.  Lyme loves heavy metals.  We are slammed every time we walk out our front doors with 500 to 600 environmental toxins.  It is a daily battle, but I found the FIGHT program made this all very easy.  I only wish I had  the knowledge of the FIGHT program with the first Lyme infection.

I have never taken any antibiotics and don’t intend to, but I focused on the lifelong daily detox program FIGHT and cleaned up my lifestyle, home and diet.  I got rid of all the GMO foods, gluten, sugar, caffeine, alcohol and my body shakes if I pass a fast-food restaurant….the smell turns my stomach.  Once you clean  up your diet and clean up your homestead, you begin to feel better….Lifestyle is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done….Yes, I cheat, but at least now I have learned to cheat. and can neutralize a toxic food if I eat it.  Once you begin to feel better it makes the journey of cleaning up much easier. Just give the FIGHT program 90 days and you too will feel the difference.

Regards, Linda

Chronic Lyme Disease: Myth or Reality?

By Mehmet Oz, MD

Mehmet Oz, MD, host of The Dr. Oz Show, sorts out the truth. Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, can cause a variety of flu-like symptoms-achy joints, fatigue, fever, headache. But chronic Lyme disease is a different beast. Experts can’t agree on a case definition-or if the condition exists at all. What’s clear is that some Lyme patients, even after taking the standard treatment of antibiotics, continue to suffer long-term and often serious health problems, including poor mental function, migratory joint pain, and sleep disturbances. Whether the condition is an autoimmune or nervous system response triggered by the now-eradicated infection (sometimes called post-Lyme disease syndrome), or a chronic case of the disease directly attributable to an ongoing infection depends on whom you ask-as does the treatment.

The Case for Diagnosing CLD

“There is absolutely no doubt chronic Lyme disease [CLD] exists,” says Richard Horowitz, MD, president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation. What’s more, he adds, many of those who contract Lyme disease can also have tick-borne coinfections like babesiosis, caused by parasites, and their symptoms can easily be mistaken for those of other ailments such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. “Like syphilis, chronic Lyme disease is a great imitator,” Horowitz notes. He has seen more than 11,000 patients whose CLD he has helped to pinpoint using his own broad differential diagnosis, which looks at all possible causes of symptoms. Along with specific treatments for any overlapping conditions, he often prescribes a combination of targeted antibiotics to beat the infection, and says he has seen dramatic recoveries.

The Case Against Diagnosing CLD

“There’s simply no scientific evidence that these symptoms are caused by an ongoing infection of Lyme disease,” says John Halperin, MD, chair of the department of neurosciences at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, and professor of neurology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Halperin agrees that some Lyme disease patients can experience real, ongoing health issues. However, he says, “The best guess is that it has to do with how our nervous systems respond to different stressors. It’s probably due to a fundamental neurobiological trait of some people.” Halperin believes the way to treat the problem is symptomatically. That means everything from therapy for depression to surgery for severe arthritis-but not months of antibiotics, which can result in serious side effects, according to National Institutes of Health-funded studies.

Dr. Oz Says…

Let’s get past the fundamental argument over whether this is a chronic condition or an autoimmune response by acknowledging that it could be both. Someday we might discover that ticks aren’t giving people just a bacterial infection but also a virus or a hybrid bug. Patricia Gerbarg, MD, is the coauthor of How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, and Yoga in Mental Health Care as well as a former Lyme patient. What she found, and what I support, is that certain supplements strengthen the body’s ability to repair itself from the long-term problems associated with CLD. Taking vitamin B12, coenzyme Q10, chromium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, and herbs such as Rhodiola rosea can improve energy and help with cellular repair-all key in recovering from conditions that can be as resistant as Lyme disease. Dr. Oz – Treating Lyme Disease – Oprah.com