Linda’s comment:  FINALLY a doctor that gets it…..

Excerpt:

Today, clinicians have major concerns with Toxic Body Burden, consisting of toxic heavy metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and pathogen load, and how these poisons adversely affect the nutritional status of their patients. A particularly critical example of the interference of toxins with nutritional status and biochemical function is the competitive aspect of Mercury and Magnesium.     

Mercury, Magnesium and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

Mercury specifically competes with Magnesium and interferes with all Magnesium-dependent metabolic pathways, such as production of energy from ATP and GTP, which directly leads to lack of chemical energy. Every cell in the body requires chemical energy derived from ATP or GTP to function, heal and regenerate. Adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide that is critical as the “molecular currency” of intracellular energy transfer. In this role, ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. It is produced as an energy source during the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration and consumed by many enzymes and a multitude of cellular processes, including biosynthetic reactions, motility and cell division. In signal transduction pathways, ATP is used as a substrate by kinases that phosphorylate proteins and lipids, as well as by adenylate cyclase, which uses ATP to produce the second messenger molecule cyclic AMP. If Mercury is present, this cannot occur.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21106777&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Several infectious agents may cause arthritis or arthropathy. For example,
infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease,
may in the late phase manifest as arthropathy. Infections with
Campylobacter, Salmonella or Yersinia may result in a postinfectious
reactive arthritis. Acute infection with parvovirus B19 (B19V) may likewise
initiate transient or chronic arthropathy. All these conditions may be
clinically indistinguishable from rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we present
evidence that acute B19V infection may elicit IgM antibodies that are
polyspecific or cross-reactive with a variety of bacterial antigens. Their
presence may lead to misdiagnosis and improper clinical management,
exemplified here by two case descriptions. Further, among
33 subjects with proven recent B19V infection we found IgM-enzyme immuno
assay
(EIA) positivity for Borrelia only, for Borrelia and Salmonella, for
Borrelia and Campylobacter, and for Borrelia, Campylobacer and Salmonella in
26 (78.7%),
1 (3%), 2 (6%), and 1 (3%), respectively, however, examined by Borrelia
LineBlot all samples were negative. These antibodies persisted over 3 months
in 4/13
(38%) patients tested. Likewise, in a retrospective comparison of the
results of a diagnostic laboratory, 9/11 (82%) patients with confirmed acute
B19V infection showed IgM to Borrelia. However, none of 12 patients with
confirmed borreliosis showed any serological evidence of acute B19V
infecion. Our study demonstrates that recent B19V infection can be
misinterpreted for secondary borreliosis or enteropathogen-induced reactive
arthritis. To perceive correct diagnosis we emphasize caution in
interpretation of polyreactive IgM and exclusion of recent B19V infection in
patients examined for infectious arthritis or arthropathy. 

Linda’s comment:  This is all part of the FIGHT protocol…however, I do take other things added to this like a good probiotic, etc., etc., etc.

Dr. Gordon’s Comments: You are not taking enough fiber to keep your intestinal flora happy unless you are on Beyond Fiber. With the epidemic of food sensitivities today just consuming a great probiotic is not enough, as you must feed the new flora. I hope you will learn more about stabilized rice bran with artichoke and EDTA, as found in Beyond Fiber!

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

Link: http://www.nhiondemand.com/hsjarticle.aspx?id=958&utm_source=NHI+OnDemand+Newsletter+List&utm_campaign=3dc63070d1-HSJ_Dec7_2010&utm_medium=email 

Excerpt:

Cardiovascular disease or heart disease is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels (arteries and veins). There are several risk factors for cardiovascular disease that are essentially immutable. These are older age, male gender, and a family history of CVD. Additionally, three major risk factors identified include cigarette smoking, dyslipidemia (high cholesterol), and hypertension. Other identified factors associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease include physical inactivity, sleep problems, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, excessive intake of alcohol, thrombotic and fibrinolytic factors, elevated homocysteine levels, certain infections and inflammation, exogenously administered estrogens and androgens, certain psychosocial factors, increased fasting glucose. and frequency of migraines. The synergism of the presence of multiple risk factors must also be considered.

Dietary fiber is a general term that refers to a wide variety of compounds from plants that are resistant to the digestive enzymes produced by humans. Because dietary fiber is resistant to digestive enzymes, it is not broken down or absorbed, which means it does not provide calories or energy to the body. In general, high fiber diets are associated with significantly reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause mortality. It is generally recommended that Americans should strive to achieve a total dietary fiber intake of 25 to 30 grams/day, which should preferentially come from foods, not supplements. However, dietary surveys indicate that dietary fiber intake among adults in the United States averages about 15 grams/day, or approximately half the recommended amount.

A relatively common defect involving Sialic acid –sets the stage for patients to develop autoimmune related illnesses! I continue to discuss my FIGHT program, as the best way to approach any autoimmune related condition.www.gordonresearch.com

Possibly, in the future, with evidence this strong, genetic testing for this variant could lead to patients being advised to go on my FIGHT program before they have the symptoms of one of the over 100 different autoimmune related conditions. The best statistics today indicate that over 40% of us have difficulty with either dairy or gluten. So, before we start seeing auto-antibodies to our tissues, those with this variant might want to eliminate those foods and do the rest of the FIGHT program too.

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

Full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/20555325?dopt=Abstract&holding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn

Excerpt:

Functionally defective germline variants of sialic acid acetylesterase in autoimmunity.
Surolia I, Pirnie SP, Chellappa V, Taylor KN, Cariappa A, Moya J, Liu H, Bell DW, Driscoll DR, Diederichs S, Haider K, Netravali I, Le S, Elia R, Dow E, Lee A, Freudenberg J, De Jager PL, Chretien Y, Varki A, Macdonald ME, Gillis T, Behrens TW, Bloch D, Collier D, Korzenik J, Podolsky DK, Hafler D, Murali M, Sands B, Stone JH, Gregersen PK, Pillai S.
Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

Abstract
Sialic acid acetylesterase (SIAE) is an enzyme that negatively regulates B lymphocyte antigen receptor signalling and is required for the maintenance of immunological tolerance in mice. Heterozygous loss-of-function germline rare variants and a homozygous defective polymorphic variant of SIAE were identified in 24/923 subjects of European origin with relatively common autoimmune disorders and in 2/648 controls of European origin. All heterozygous loss-of-function SIAE mutations tested were capable of functioning in a dominant negative manner. A homozygous secretion-defective polymorphic variant of SIAE was catalytically active, lacked the ability to function in a dominant negative manner, and was seen in eight autoimmune subjects but in no control subjects. The odds ratio for inheriting defective SIAE alleles was 8.6 in all autoimmune subjects, 8.3 in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis, and 7.9 in subjects with type I diabetes. Functionally defective SIAE rare and polymorphic variants represent a strong genetic link to susceptibility in relatively common human autoimmune disorders.

Full article: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v64/n9/abs/ejcn2010107a.html#top

Excerpt:

 The purpose of this study was to investigate whether vitamin B₆ supplementation had a beneficial effect on inflammatory and immune responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

In the group receiving vitamin B₆, plasma IL-6 and TNF-α levels significantly decreased at week 12. There were no significant changes with respect to immune responses in both groups except for the percentage of total lymphocytes in the vitamin B₆ group when compared with week 0 and week 12. Plasma IL-6 level remained significantly inversely related to plasma PLP after adjusting for confounders (β=−0.01, P=0.01).

Excerpt:

The aim of this study is to report three cases of patients with
endometriosis and infertility, and associated with Lyme disease.
The medical files of 405 women with endometriosis and 200 without
endometriosis were studied retrospectively. We report 3 cases
with endometriosis and Lyme disease. Of 405 patients with
endometriosis treated in our study over a 6-year period, 3(0.8%)
had Lyme disease. All cases presented with typical erythema
migraines, fever and fatigue. The serological findings were
positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, for 3 cases. Two out of 3
women underwent IVF-ET procedures and one of them conceived in
the first cycle without complication during pregnancy or after
childbirth recorded. We concluded that women with endometriosis
are more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome, systemic lupus
erythematous, Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple
sclerosis, and other autoimmune inflammatory and endocrine
diseases. A review of the literature confirms the uniqueness of
the co-existence of Lyme disease in women with endometriosis in
these cases.

Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology Department, Cerrahpasa Medical
Faculty, Istanbul University, Kocamustafapasa, 34303, Istanbul, Turkey.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a disease that was prominent with
increased inflammation response in immune system, appeared mostly with
peripheral arthritis and endogenous and exogenous antigens play a role
in the pathogenesis of disease. Two major reasons were thinking to be
considerably important. First of them is immunological predisposition
and the second one is environmental factors. Continued