I’m not sure if Melinda is following the comments closely.

I would recommend asking for a list of Spanish doctors at CureMyTh1.org. Volunteers can answer that any other questions you have free of charge.

¡Buena suerte!

Best,
Amy

I’m so glad to hear you have an appointment with a potential MP doctor. Way to go!

The video you watched does bring up some complicated concepts but in my opinion, your worries are unwarranted. While it’s true that antimicrobial peptide production (AMP) is slowed in Crohn’s disease, their production is also slowed in patients with nearly all the other diseases the MP aims to treat.

We have proof of concept that many of the bacteria that cause not just Crohn’s disease, but other inflammatory diseases as well, create ligands capable of blnding and slowing the activity of the Vitamin D Receptor. Since the Vitamin D Receptor transcribes the bulk of the body’s antimicrobial peptides, when the receptor is slowed, so are production of the peptides.

Thankfully, as the MP begins to kill the bacteria creating ligands that block the VDR, the receptor is able to function once again and better transcribe the AMPs. So in your case, and in the case of people with other inflammatory diseases the MP renews the body’s ability to produce the AMPs. So while production may be slow when you first start the MP, it will gradually rise. And having low antimicrobial peptide production is common to every disease the MP treats, not just Crohn’s.

I are quite confident that the removal of your intestines will not become an issue at all. If you IP were to get out of control it could almost certainly be temporarily managed by steroids before such a dramatic procedure would ever have to be performed.

Also, yes, Benicar will help your antimicrobial peptides function once again because it activates the VDR. It also naturally blocks TNF-alpha production which has no impact on AMP production, but instead helps mitigate the inflammation generated when your bacteria start to die.

So while at some point I may write a few shorter pieces on Crohn’s, there is really no difference between how the MP works in Crohn’s patients and in patients with other diseases.

If you want a good review of the MP at large be sure to watch my video “Overview of the Marshall Protocol”

http://bacteriality.com/2008/05/07/mpintro/

Best,

Amy

This is all kind off topic, but this interview gets the closest to the subject of my questions. I read this article all the time to boost morale. It encourages me with the irritable bowel issue. I’ve emailed you before and truly appreciate the response you sent. I am currently still searching for a doctor. However, this Friday, I am seeing an actual MP doctor who treats lots of patients with the MP, so I’m hoping this appointment will end the “searching for a doctor” phase, and begin the actual MP phase. I have Crohn’s disease, and now Lyme disease (which has actually has created OPPOSITE symptoms of Crohn’s….a major decrease in motility). Anyway, last night I watched the video clip Trevor posted in 2006 from the La Jolla conference on the Crohn’s link. It has me pondering whether my body will be able to fight off the bacteria or not (given the ARB of course). The speaker was saying that Crohn’s patients have a decrease in defensins and produce fewer antimicrobial peptides, and reduced bacterial killing activity. And some have a genetic defect, although Trevor implies this is not causal. I’m hoping I’m understanding correctly that the cause is pathogenic. (I’ve read the genetic article several times). But is Crohn’s an exception to this theory? Do Crohn’s patients really have a decreased ability to fight offf the infection? When given the Benicar, are we even able to overcome this obstacle? I tried wrapping my brain around paneth cells, cathelicin peptides, etc. I am also puzzled about TNF inducing certain defensins, yet we decrease (?) TNF/ cytokines with Benicar. Ugh. My brain WILL work one of these days. Also, one other question I am pondering….should the unthinkable happen, if my IP gets to strong and in a worst case scenario, a surgeon removed all of my small intestines, would my body still have the ability to produce enough AMPs to continue on the MP? Basically, I am wondering if there is any chance of you writing an in-depth article on Crohn’s and inflammatory bowel disease, and how the MP works on it. : ) Your articles are wonderful and encouraging. I look forward to every one you write. Thanks so much Amy for all your hard work!!!!

LeAnne

It’s very nice of you to express an understanding of the pain Melinda had to endure before starting the Marshall Protocol, but her bowel symptoms have resolved thanks to the treatment. I believe she says:

“My colitis and IBS symptoms have improved immensely. I can’t even think of the last time I had diarrhea or colitis-like symptoms.”

Melinda shared her story on this site because she wants others to realize that the Marshall Protocol is the only curative treatment option that exists to date that fully resolves bowel symptoms. By allowing patients to kill the bacteria at the heart of inflammatory bowel diseases, the treatment allows for actually recovery from, not just management, of IBS symptoms.

The Marshall Protocol is a phase open-based internet study trial monitored by the FDA. Visit http://www.marshallprotocol.com for inclusion criteria.

Those people who recover on the MP do not have to eat a special diet or in particular take supplements of any kind. in fact the MP has a no supplement policy unless the supplement is needed for a very marked deficiency.

Also anyone, whether on the MP or not, must be very careful when consuming oils, as many of them contain vitamin D – a secosteroid that slows the ability of the immune system to function. Read more about the negative effects of vitamin D on people with bowel disease here:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/09/15/vitamind/

So if you are experiencing bowel difficulties I urge you to stop using a specific diet or palliative supplements. They may tone down or cover up the problem, but do not get at the root cause.

If you are interested in learning more about the Marshall Protocol, this video provides a good overview of the molecular modeling and clinical research that forms the backbone of the the treatment:

http://bacteriality.com/2008/05/07/mpintro/

Best,

Amy

I’m so sorry to hear about your son. I am not a doctor, but hopefully I can give you some helpful feedback about your son’s condition.

For one thing, once a patient has sarcoidosis in any area of the body it does not go away. Unfortunately, it is a myth that sarcoidosis can go away on its own or go into spontaneous remission. It may seem to go away for a while, but it always comes back.

Many argue that the most accurate study of sarcoidosis to date is the 2003 NIH ACESSS study, which followed 215 sarcoidosis patients for two years – a period during which it is sometimes mistakenly thought that the disease can go into remission. The study found that measures of sarcoidosis severity remained unchanged over the two-year period, despite the fact that many patients were using corticosteroids and other drugs.

In fact, in the NIH ACCESS study there were no documented cases of spontaneous remission. Even in the positive-sounding “improved” category for clinical markers, the percentages described were at best “improved”, not “better” and certainly not “cured.” The study also concluded that most patients with persistent sarcoidosis at two years were “unlikely to have resolution of the illness” and that “end-stage pulmonary sarcoidosis usually develops over one or two decades.”

In simple terms, the study found that not one patient recovered over a two year period, and that any patient to remain ill with sarcoidosis for two years is likely to die from the disease over the following ten to twenty years.

So, what I’m saying is that once your son was diagnosed with sarcoidosis he surely still has the disease. However the important thing to keep in mind is that recent discoveries have confirmed that sarcoidosis is a bacterial disease. The specialists that are handling your son’s case will probably not agree with such a statement because these discoveries are so new and they were not taught about them in medical school.

However, as is discussed on this site, molecular modeling and other clinical research has confirmed that sarcoidosis is caused by L-form bacteria – bacteria that have mutated from classical forms of bacteria, lost their cell walls, and are able to live undetected inside the cells of the immune system. Read more about them here:

“Understanding L-form bacteria:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/08/15/l-forms/

Here’s an article with a scientist who works with them:

“Interview with Nadya Markova: L-form expert:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/09/09/markova-interview/

One of the top scientists who currently work with L-form bacteria has stated that every species of bacteria known to man is almost certainly able to convert into the L-form. That means that there are many, many different species of these bacteria that people acquire out there causing different forms of disease. The main reason L-form bacteria have not been given full credit for causing chronic disease (yet!) is that they don’t show up on conventional blood tests. So doctors can run every test in the book on a patient, and still tell them they are ok because they will not pick up on the L-forms.

L-form bacteria cause a variety of inflammatory diseases, not just sarcoidosis. Among these diseases are epilepsy, and diseases that cause patients to develop lumps and tumors. What seems to have happened in your son’s case is that the L-form bacteria that first affected his lungs have spread to other areas of the body (his head etc) where they have infected new tissues and are causing new symptoms.

The good thing is that no matter what type of L-form bacteria you son now harbors, or what your specific type of sarcoidosis he may have, a new treatment called the Marshall Protocol can effectively kill all forms of L-form bacteria, allowing patients to completely recover. Patients on the Marshall Protocol (MP) take pulsed, low dose antibiotics along with a medication that activates the immune system to kill the bacteria. Read more about the treatment here:

“About the Marshall Protocol”

http://bacteriality.com/about-the-mp/

“Getting it right: how to correctly target L-form bacteria:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/10/11/antibiotics/

The treatment is being used by physicians worldwide and is run by the staff of the Autoimmunity Research Foundation, a California-based non-profit agency. Over 200 health professionals are members of the study site, and discussions are moderated by a group of volunteer nurses. There is no charge to use the website or the treatment and all patients are welcome to participate.

More information about the MP can be found at the Autoimmunity Research Foundation study site:

http://autoimmunityresearch.org/

And also at the Marshall Protocol study site – the treatment is part of phase II trials monitored by the FDA. This forum is a good place to start reading more about the treatment:

http://www.marshallprotocol.com/forum2/

If your son’s current doctors are not willing to put him on the MP, then you can request a list of doctors in your area who use the Marshall Protocol at this link, and maybe he can switch physicians:

http://www.marshallprotocol.com/forum11/

In my opinion, children or young adults seem to respond to the MP very well. There are many other children on the treatment. Here are interviews with the mothers of two children who have used the MP to recover from conditions also caused by L-form bacteria:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/10/28/interview6/

http://bacteriality.com/2008/03/15/interview18/

I understand that you may want to continue to seek a diagnosis for your son, but since most of the diagnoses he would be given can be treated with the Marshall Protocol, he may just want to start the treatment as soon as possible. If anything, the treatment will assure that the sarcoidosis in his lungs will not return.

I’m sure you have many more questions about the Marshall Protocol. A good place to post them is on the following website:

http://www.curemyth1.org (Th1 refers to diseases caused by L-form bacteria, hence the name Cure My Th1). The patient advocates on that site, who volunteer for Autoimmunity Research Foundation, will answer your questions free of charge.

I wish you the best!

Amy