1 in 6 Americans infected with herpes
About 16 percent of Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 are infected with genital herpes, making it one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
Black women had the highest rate of infection at 48 percent and women were nearly twice likely as men to be infected, according to an analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 21 percent of women were infected with genital herpes, compared to only 11.5 percent of men, while 39 percent of blacks were infected compared to about 12 percent for whites, the CDC said.
There is no cure for genital herpes, or herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), which can cause recurrent and painful genital sores and also increases the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting the AIDS virus. It is related to herpes simplex virus 1, or oral herpes, which causes cold sores.
Several drugs are available to treat herpes symptoms and outbreaks, including acyclovir, which is available generically or under the Zovirax brand name, and valacyclovir, known generically as Valtrex — both made by GlaxoSmithKline PLC . Ganciclovir, sold as Zirgan, is made by privately-held Sirion Therapeutics, Inc.
The CDC estimates that more than 80 percent of people with genital herpes do not know they are infected.
“The message is herpes is quite common. The symptoms can be often very innocuous,” Dr. John Douglas of the CDC said in a teleconference.
“Because herpes is so prevalent it becomes … a really important reason to use condoms on a consistent and correct basis with all of your partners,” Douglas said.
Douglas said the increased rate of infection in blacks is not do to increased risk behavior but likely due to biological factors that make women more susceptible as well as the higher rate of infection within black communities.
The CDC estimates that there are 19 million new sexually transmitted disease infections every year in the United States, costing the health care system about $16 billion annually.
Source: Reuters
For information on using dietary BHT as a treatment for Herpes see:
http://www.ilifelink.com/bht_butylated_hydroxytoluene_250_mg_x_500_capsules.html
Download the latest eBook on BHT here
CardioPeptase™
Cardiopeptase is LifeLink’s brand of serrapeptase — a substance extracted from the microorganism Serratia sp.E15. Serrapeptase is a ‘protease’ enzyme — that is, it is a protein that destroys certain other kinds of proteins by chopping them into pieces.
Serrapeptase was discovered in the 1960s by Japanese researchers who were studying silkworms.1 Silkworms spin silk into cocoons, which protect them while they transform into adult insects: silkmoths. When the transformation is complete, the moths escape by dissolving holes in the cocoon’s silk. They do this by making use of the Serratia bacteria that live in the insects’ digestive tracts and which make serrapeptase.
The early investigators of serrapeptase realized its potential as an agent for clearing fibrous deposits in the body. They soon discovered that it also has anti-inflammatory properties1 and that it improves the tissue penetration of antibiotics.2 During the next two decades it became widely used clinically in Europe and Asia.3 Its reputation eventually worked its way to the United States where it is now increasingly used as a supplement and treatment for various conditions.
What we can’t tell you
In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of CardioPeptase™ to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
Serrapeptase has found a variety of usages based, presumably, on its ability to destroy specific kinds of proteins. These usages include:
- Hastening recovery from acute or chronic ear, nose or throat disorders.4
- Reducing symptoms of coughing in patients with “chronic airway disease”.3
- Treating chronic pulmonary disease.5
- Reducing swelling and pain after sprains and torn ligaments.6
- Reducing swelling and pain after surgery.7,8,9,10
- Dissolving blood clots and arterial plaques20
- Improving penetraton of antibiotics in inflamed or infected tissues.11,12
- Treating carpal tunnel syndrome.13
- Enhancing the ability of antibiotics to prevent infections after implant surgery.14
- Treating breast engorgement15 (a condition during breastfeeding that occurs when more milk accumulates in the breasts than the infant consumes).
- Reducing the ability of food-poisoning bacteria to infect human tissues.16
Cardiovascular applications
Serrapeptase has aroused a great deal of interest as an agent for preventing or treating cardiovascular disease — in particular, atherosclerosis (‘hardening of the arteries’). According to current thinking on this subject, plaques form where artery walls have been injured by the immune system. The plaques accumulate debris from dead immune cells, fatty materials, and fibrous proteins like fibrin, elastin, and collagen.19 The plaques are held together by the fibrous proteins; serrapeptase can destroy fibrous proteins; therefore, it should come as no surprise to find that serrapeptase weakens arterial plaques and helps them to dissipate.
Absorption
It was once widely believed in medical circles that proteins like serrapeptase cannot possibly be effective when used orally because they would be destroyed by acids in the stomach and therefore could not reach the tissues where they are needed. This has turned out to be false — studies have shown that serrapeptase and certain other enzymes can pass through the stomach intact and stlll be active after being absorbed into the blood.17
Low toxicity
One of the reasons for the increasing popularity of serrapeptase as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever is that, unlike aspirin and many other anti-inflammatories, serrapeptase does not cause ulcers or stomach bleeding. Its toxicity is extremely low18 and (unlike most other anti-inflammatories) it rarely causes unwanted side effects.
Conclusion
Are CardioPeptase™ supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
Biotin
Biotin is a water-soluble B-vitamin that is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It is essential for life, growth, food utilization, maintenance of epidermal tissues, normal bone development, and sexual function.
Biotin’s bioavailability varies widely with different sources, but deficiencies in humans are rare. Certain drugs and supplements (such as alpha-lipoic acid), and raw eggs, can cause deficiencies; the symptoms usually begin with dry skin and expand to include brittle nails, dermatitis, hair loss, fatigue, depression, nausea, muscle pains, high cholesterol, heart problems, anemia, and birth defects.
Studies suggest that high biotin consumption may correct diabetic hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and weight-gain, particularly when combined with chromium picolinate.
Recommended biotin dosages range from about 150 mcg/day (minimum requirement) to 15 mg/day (5 mg x 3 times per day) for diabetic use. Alpha-lipoic acid users should probably take several milligrams of biotin per day (but not at the same time as an alpha-lipoic acid dose, since they compete for absorption). Biotin is without side effects up to at least 40 mg/day.
Bioperine®
ioperine is a standardized extract from the fruits of black pepper (Piper nigrum) or long pepper (Piper longum). Its piperine content is 95% or more, compared to only 3-9% found in raw forms of these peppers.
Black pepper extract has been used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine to treat fevers, digestive disorders, urinary difficulties; rheumatism, neuralgia, and boils.
Recent scientific studies have shown that piperine can greatly increase the bioavailability of many other compounds — such as vitamins, minerals, drugs, and herbal substances. For example, in humans the bioavailability of curcumin was increased by a factor of 20 when used with piperine. Piperine improves the absorption of these compounds in the intestine, promotes their retention in cells, and prevents their being metabolized in the liver.
Piperine has also shown promise as an agent for preventing diarrhea, gastric ulcers, stimulating digestive enzymes, suppressing the induction and spread of lung cancer, preventing epileptic convulsions, and stimulating melanin production.
This supplement is usually used at 5-10 mg/dose. It is rapidly absorbed and its effects on bioavailability of other compounds lasts 1-2 hours. Doses higher than 10 mg require careful consideration of potential drug interactions.
How does BHT work in the body?
BHT, distantly related in structure to vitamin E, is an antioxidant that was once widely used to protect food from damage by oxidation and microorganisms. It is frequently used as an anti-aging supplement.
What we can’t tell you
In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of BHT to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
How does BHT work in the body?
BHT’s medical usefulness is due to two unrelated characteristics: its antioxidant properties, and its effects on biological membranes. BHT’s antioxidant properties are responsible for its benefits vis-à-vis aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain damage; its membrane effects are responsible for its anti-viral benefits.
As an antioxidant, BHT terminates certain kinds of chain reactions that damage structures in living cells. These chain reactions normally occur during the extraction of energy from fats and sugars, a process which takes place in sub-cellular organelles called “mitochondria”.1 The molecular apparatus for energy extraction has been evolving here on Earth for several billion years, but is still far from perfect — and harmful byproducts are generated along with the energy. One of these byproducts, called the “peroxide radical”, gives rise to chain reactions in which repeated molecular damage takes place until the chain reaction is forcibly terminated by an appropriate antioxidant molecule. The body produces such antioxidants, but not in sufficient amounts to prevent some damage to DNA and other essential biological structures. This is why we benefit from adding antioxidants through supplementation — they neutralize some of the chain reactions that the body’s own antioxidants miss. BHT can serve as such an antioxidant.2
In BHT’s other function, as a membrane manipulator, molecules of BHT merge with the lipid membranes of cells and of viruses that have lipid envelopes (such as the herpes virus). The presence of enough BHT molecules in a viral envelope can alter the envelope’s physical properties enough to make the viral particle incapable of infecting a human cell. This can bring a halt to a viral infection’s spread within the body.
What is BHT good for?
According to the medical research literature, BHT can be useful for:
- preventing viral infections, such as herpes, and terminating their outbreaks3,4,5,6
- prevention of DNA damage and cancer by certain carcinogens7,8,9
- protection of the brain from damage by alcohol10
- increasing the tissue concentrations of Vitamin E11
- preventing birth defects in diabetic pregnancies12
- preventing atherosclerosis13
- protection from manganese toxicity14
BHT for herpes infections
To put it briefly, BHT has been shown to lower the incidence of herpes outbreaks, and to shorten the duration of those outbreaks that do occur.15,4,16 It appears to work better in some people than in others — perhaps because the susceptibility of human cells to membrane-altered viruses varies from person to person. For some people BHT may be an excellent prevention; for others it may ineffective. There’s no way to predict in advance whether it will work for you — you simply have to try it to find out.
A good, readable review of BHT as a herpes fighter is the one by Ed Sharpe at the Delano.com website.6 As Sharpe points out, the evidence for BHT’s effectiveness comes both from the medical literature and from numerous anecdotal reports. Since Sharpe’s review was written there have been a few more studies5,3 and lots more anecdotal reports, such as the experiment reported on by Lucky Phoswa of South Africa in his blog.7
While people’s genetic susceptibility to herpes viruses probably varies between individuals, the herpes virus’s susceptibility to interference by BHT probably does not vary from strain to strain. Viruses can develop resistance to antibiotics, which act upon specific viral protein structures that are determined by specific viral genes, but viruses are highly unlikely to develop resistance to a substance like BHT, which alters membrane properties that are not determined by viral genes.
The myth of BHT toxicity
During the 1970s and 1980s, neurotic food-activists scared the public into thinking that BHT and other food preservatives were highly carcinogenic. They succeeded in getting preservatives removed from most food products — and as a result, thousands of cases of food poisoning, some of them fatal, now occur every year that would otherwise have been avoided. Those preservatives were protection against the production of toxic chemicals in food by microoganisms. But at realistic doses BHT is not carcinogenic — in fact, it is anti-carcinogenic.17,8 Our society has paid dearly in both money and health for caving in to the irrational demands of those food-activists.
At high doses, on the other hand, many substances, both synthetic and naturally-occurring, are carcinogenic — they can initiate or promote the growth of cancer cells. All plants, including those we use for food, produce many kinds of substances that cause cancer when fed at huge doses to lab animals.18,19 Cooking generates even more carcinogens in food.22,23 But so what? At lower doses many of them actually protect against cancer. We don’t consume these substances in carcinogenic amounts, and we don’t consume BHT in such amounts, either.
The medical literature suggests that oral doses of BHT up to at least 6 grams/day have no toxicity.20 There is one report of someone who took 80 grams and suffered temporary light-headedness, headache, slurred speech, and unsteady gait.20 It has also been shown that applying BHT to the skin in the amounts used in cosmetics does not lead to any toxic effects.21
Conclusion
Are BHT supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
Benfotiamine
Benfotiamine is a substance that, when taken orally, is converted into thiamine (Vitamin B-1). It is found naturally in plants of the onion family, but the amounts present are miniscule.
Thiamine has been used for many years to treat neurological disorders. But this form of the vitamin is poorly absorbed and rapidly metabolized, making it difficult to achieve therapeutic levels in the body.
Benfotiamine, being fat-soluble, solves this bioavailability problem.1 Taken orally, it is well absorbed and remains in the body for days.2 Consequently, benfotiamine can raise thiamine concentrations in the blood and tissues about 5 times higher than oral thiamine consumption can.3
What we can’t tell you
In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of Benfotiamine to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
Applications
Medical research has found evidence supporting the use of benfotiamine for preventing the following conditions:
- diabetes-induced vascular damage
- neuropathy due to diabetes4,5,6 or alcohol7 consumption
- diabetic retinopathy5,8 and nephropathy5
- tissue damage and aging due to protein cross-linking
- genetic damage in late-stage kidney disease9
- nerve damage due to vitamin B-1 deficiency after gastric bypass surgery.27,28
How does it work?
Generally speaking, benfotiamine supplements serve as a source of thiamine and therefore increase the concentrations of this vitamin in the body. Thiamine itself plays at least two biological roles:
- increasing the rate at which glucose is converted to other sugars;8
- maintaining conduction of information along nerve fibers.10,11,12
Thus, thiamine works to prevent high concentrations of glucose from developing in cells and thereby decreases the damaging effects which glucose has on the body’s tissues. And thiamine also helps to maintain nerve function.
How can glucose be damaging to the body? Isn’t it one of the body’s main sources of energy? Yes, glucose is the most common of all sugars — it is a basic constituent of honey and table sugar, and is the building block of starches and other carbohydrates. Nevertheless, glucose has two tragic down-sides:
- during the metabolism of glucose (i.e., when cells break down glucose to extract its energy), free radicals are produced which then proceed to damage the surrounding tissues;
- a small portion of the glucose molecules, instead of being metabolized, react chemically with proteins in the tissues, producing crosslinks (‘AGEs’) that impede or inactivate the proteins. The result is a loss of flexibility and function in skin, muscle, and all other living tissues.
Both of these side effects of glucose consumption are destructive to the body. They are considered major contributors to the aging process as well as to the failure of organs and tissues in diabetes.13,14,15
But this damage can be limited if glucose levels in the body’s cells can be kept low. And they can be kept low if excess glucose can be rapidly converted to less harmful substances. Thiamine is a biological cofactor that does exactly this16 — it promotes the conversion of glucose into other, less harmful sugars, as well as promoting the breakdown of glucose into carbon dioxide, water, and energy. Since benfotiamine is converted into thiamine in the body, benfotiamine supplementation is equivalent to dramatically increasing the bioavailability of thiamine.17
Diabetic applications
Diabetes causes tissue damage in many — perhaps all — bodily tissues. This is to be expected, since the hallmark of diabetes is a failure to limit the body’s exposure to high glucose levels — levels that will cause damage to any type of tissue. However, some kinds of glucose-related damage can be prevented, or even reversed, by benfotiamine. Among these are:
- vascular damage due to protein cross-linking;18
- damage to limbs caused by wounds and inadequate blood supply;19
- damage to retina and other tissues by free radical production;20
- dysfunction of nerves and kidneys due to a variety of mechanisms.5
Alcoholism
Alcoholics absorb thiamine poorly, and often show symptoms of thiamine deficiency.21 One of the results of such deficiencies is nerve damage, especially in the extremities. Benfotiamine supplements can reverse some of these neuropathic symptoms. For example, in a 2001 study, patients with alcoholic polyneuropathy were given benfotiamine at 450 mg/day for 2 weeks followed by 300 mg/day for 4 weeks. The researchers reported a regression in sensor and movement disorders, as well as some neuropathy symptoms.22
Nerve conduction
Indirect evidence suggests that thiamine plays a fundamental, but still-obscure, role in cell signalling — not only in mammals, but throughout the biological world. During the evolution of nerves as specialized communication cells, this role of thiamine evolved, too. For example, thiamine came to be involved in controlling the pores in nerve cell membranes through which ions pass during neural activity.12 Thus, thiamine levels seem to be correlated with the efficiency with which nerves conduct information.
Gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery can leave some patients with nutritional deficiencies because certain vitamins, such as vitamin B-1, normally get absorbed in the parts of the digestive tract that have been bypassed.27 Symptoms of such B-1 deficiencies include numbness and weakness in arms and legs, and cognitive failures.28
Injections of vitamin B-1 are sometimes used to correct such B-1 shortages, but benfotiamine offers a more convenient approach that can — and should — be followed soon after surgery rather than waiting for symptoms of nerve damage to appear.
Why not just take oral B-1 supplements after gastic bypass surgery? Because benfotiamine’s ability to raise B-1 levels in the body is 5 times greater than that of oral B-1 supplements or of other B-1 derivatives.3,26
Bodybuilding
Because of benfotiamine’s reputation for improving nerve conduction and preserving tissue flexibility, it has become popular with body-builders. Bodybuilders know from experience that muscles perform better when the nerves controlling them work better and when the muscle tissue itself is flexible.23
Safety
Benfotiamine has an excellent safety record. No reports of toxicity can be found in the medical literature.24
Reviews
A good overview of Benfotiamine and its uses is the one by Thorne Research.24 Another good Thorne Research review is their discussion of peripheral neuropathy.25
Conclusion
Are Benfotiamine supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
L-Arginine
Dietary L-arginine is found in both plant and animal products; during the past two decades it has also become popular as a dietary supplement.4 Arginine is a ‘semi-essential’ amino acid — which means that it is produced in the body in limited amounts, but that an external source is required during periods of maximal growth, severe stress, and injury.1 It serves as a precursor for protein, polyamine, creatine and nitric oxide biosynthesis.3
What we can’t tell you
In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of L-Arginine to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
Arginine plays many roles in the body and has significant effects on:1,2
- tissue growth, including muscle and bone
- wound healing
- energy metabolism
- modulation of vascular tone and cardiovascular function
- atherosclerosis
- inflammation
- immune function
- response to infection
- hormone secretion
- insulin sensitivity
Some, but not all, of these physiologic effects result from arginine’s role as the sole source of the multifunctional messenger molecule ‘nitric oxide’.2,3
Arginine supplementation improves outcomes in animals with infections, wounds, burns, and other injuries, with no significant detrimental effects.1 It functions as a secretagogue, stimulating the release of growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor type 1, insulin, and prolactin. Arginine also stimulates T-cell and natural killer cell activity and influences pro-inflammatory cytokine levels.3
Wound healing
Arginine enhances collagen deposition and tissue strength in artificial incisional wounds in rodents and humans. Arginine supplementation has been proposed to normalize or enhance wound healing in humans.5
In a randomized double-blind study of the effect of oral arginine supplementation on wound healing and T-cell function in people more than 65 years of age, forty-five elderly, healthy volunteers received experimental wounds in one shoulder and in the upper thigh. Daily supplements of 17 gm free arginine (in the form of arginine aspartate) were given to thirty subjects for two weeks. The fifteen other wounded subjects received a placebo syrup. The results suggested that arginine supplementation improves wound healing and immune responses.8
Growth factors and muscle function
L-arginine supplements have been popular for years as promoters of growth hormone production in the human body. Clinical trials to test this idea produced little more than confusion until it was realized that very large doses (around 40 grams per day) are required when arginine is used by itself.16
Dual amino-acid supplementation with L-arginine and L-lysine, on the other hand, increases growth hormone levels without the need for large doses of either supplement. Studies using 1200-1500 mg of each supplement showed that significant increases in growth hormone levels take place in the blood from 30 to 90 minutes after consumption.12,13 It appears that the best time to take arginine+lysine is when one is resting — not when one is about to exercise. Exercise itself causes growth hormone levels to rise, and this effect nullifies the advantage gained from the supplements.13
Muscle function in the elderly typically declines, regardless of the amount of exercise performed. Among the important causes of this decline are deficiencies in the growth factor ‘IGF-1’ (insulin-like growth factor) and the amino acid ‘cysteine’. Supplemention with arginine and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) can correct these deficiencies. A clinical trial in 2003 showed that the muscular response to physical exercise in frail geriatric patients was ‘strongly enhanced’ by arginine+NAC supplementation.14
IGF-1 is a key promoter of muscle growth in people of all ages — in fact, the growth effects of growth hormone and of anabolic steroids like testosterone may result from the induction of IGF-1 production in the body rather than any direct effects on the muscles by these hormones themselves. It is therefore of interest that the production of IGF-1 is promoted directly by arginine at doses somewhat smaller than that required to raise growth hormone concentrations. One study showed that 17 grams/day of arginine caused significant elevation of IGF-1 levels.8
Bone injuries and osteoporosis
In experiments with guinea-pigs, it was shown in 2004 that high-dose arginine supplements taken orally for 4 weeks accelerated the healing of bone fractures and resulted in stronger bones.9
Experiments have demonstrated that the amino acids arginine and lysine, used in combination, stimulate the growth of bone cells and improve the structure of collagen in osteoporotic bone tissue. Researchers concluded that “administration of these amino acids may be useful in clinical treatment and prevention of osteoporosis.”17 Arginine by itself does not work — a clinical trial using 14.8 g/day of L-arginine in postmenopausal women showed no prevention of bone loss.18 When the medical world eventually gets around to studying the arginine+lysine combination as an osteoporosis therapy, smaller dosages will undoubtedly be used — like those mentioned above in ‘Growth factors and muscle function’.
Cardiovascular effects
Arginine is the body’s sole source of nitric oxide, a substance which serves as a messenger in the blood and regulates vascular tone and blood dynamics. It is therefore not surpising that arginine has effects on processes that damage the cardiovascular system. Compelling evidence shows that the administration of arginine reverses the damage to blood vessels and heart that is associated with major cardiovascular risk factors (high cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, and aging) and ameliorates many cardiovascular disorders, such as coronary and peripheral arterial disease, injuries caused by blood clots, and heart failure.10,11
Immunity, surgical complications
Thirty cancer patients undergoing major operations were studied in a clinical trial of 25 g/day of arginine as an immune booster to prevent post-surgical complications. Supplemental arginine significantly enhanced immune responses, and the investigators concluded: “As a nutrient substrate, arginine was nontoxic, and may benefit surgical patients who are at increased risk of infection.”15
Conclusion
Are L-Arginine supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA; also known as ‘thioctic acid’) role in the body
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA; also known as ‘thioctic acid’) is a substance made by cells of many kinds — bacterial, plant, and animal. There are two forms of ALA: R-ALA and S-ALA — the R-form is the one found in nature; the S-form results from synthetic production of ALA in which both forms are made in equal amounts. Supplements are available containing either the R-form alone or a 50:50 mixture of R- and S-.
ALA’s role in the body
ALA serves as a cofactor in several biochemical processes in the body, including the process by which energy is extracted from carbohydrates (sugars).1
ALA is also an antioxidant that neutralizes several kinds of oxygen radicals and related reactive molecules, including hydroxyl, peroxyl and superoxide radicals, singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous acid, peroxynitrite, and nitric oxide. Several of the body’s other antioxidants can be regenerated by ALA: vitamins C and E and glutathione.2 These antioxidant properties make ALA nature’s most powerful defense against the ravages of ‘reactive oxygen species’ (ROS).
Reviews
Many good review articles about ALA are available, but most of them are under the control of unscrupulous scientific journals which charge outrageous fees to read them. Of the reviews freely accessible on the Internet, we recommend the Wikipedia article1, the review on ALA and cardiovascular disease by Wollin and Jones2, the review on ALA and exercise by Sen and Packer,3 all of which are somewhat technical but contain many passages useful and interesting to non-technical readers. The review on ALA and peripheral neuropathy by Head4 and the excellent review by Kidd5 on neurodegeneration, dementia, and aging are considerably less technical.
What we can’t tell you
In the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of Alpha-Lipoic Acid to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
ALA has been of great interest to medical biologists since it was discovered in the 1950s. Nearly 2500 scientific articles that deal in some way with this substance have appeared since then, and numerous clinical trials have been conducted to test its effects on various medical conditions. As a result of this attention, the list of conditions for which ALA has been successfully applied is a long one, and includes:
- Aging6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
- Insulin resistance14,15
- Metabolic syndrome16
- Diabetes17,18,19,20
- Diabetic neuropathy21,22,23
- Diabetic retinopathy24
- Peripheral neuropathy4
- Cancer25,26,27
- DNA damage28,11
- Neurological disorders29,30: memory,31 learning,32 dementia,33 Alzheimer’s34,35,36, Parkinson’s,29,37 Huntington’s38, ALS39
- Burning mouth syndrome40,41
- Cardiovascular disease2
- Atherosclerosis19
- Hypertension42,43
- Vascular flexibility and function20,44,9
- HIV45,46
- Multiple sclerosis47
- Chronic fatigue syndrome48
- Cataracts49
- Copper toxicity50
- Lead toxicity51
- Iron depletion52,53,54
- Exercise55,3
- Altered taste perception56
- Pigmentation,57 skin bleaching58
- Cell signalling59
- Down’s Syndrome5
Let us look at several of these applications in a bit more detail.
Aging may be slowed by ALA
Evidence that ALA interferes with the aging process comes from lab experiments of several kinds:
- ALA decreases intracellular build-up of lipofuscin (a granular debris that is considered to be a fundamental cause or symptom of aging).10
- It prevents oxidative damage to cells’ mitochondria (energy extractors) and other structures.8,12
- ALA improves brain function in aging rats by improving the levels of neurotransmitters.30
- ALA extends the lifespan in roundworms (a favorite test animal for aging research).13
- It restores vascular function in aged rats to conditions usually seen in younger animals.44
Neuropathy and retinopathy reduction by ALA
Many studies have been conducted to test ALA on diabetes-related neurological conditions, such as neuropathy4 and retinopathy.60 These studies have utilized tissue culture,24 lab animals,61 and humans.23 Many of the older clinical studies used intravenous injections of ALA solutions; while these experiments have generally shown significant benefits, they are essentially useless as clinical trials since daily intravenous treatments are impractical in most cases. The research money would have been better spent on studying oral ALA treatments.
Fortunately, more recent studies have tended to use orally dosed ALA — and have also shown significant benefits.
- Oral treatment for 4-7 months tends to reduce neuropathic deficits.22
- Oral treatment with ALA improved neuropathic symptoms and deficits in a study of 181 diabetic patients who received once-daily oral doses of 600 mg, 1,200 mg, or 1,800 mg of ALA or placebo for 5 weeks.21,23
ALA for other neurological disorders
Dysregulation of energy production, and inadequate suppression of free radical damage (‘oxidative stress’), have been implicated as promoters of conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s37, Huntington’s, cognitive aging, and various other neurological and neuromuscular diseases.29 Experiments in tissue culture, lab animals, and in humans have provided evidence that ALA can counteract the promoters of these ailments and reverse their symptoms:
- In mice with a genetic predisposition to develop extreme Alzheimer’s symptoms, treatment with ALA reversed oxidative stress and improved cognition.31
- ALA and its derivatives “improve the age-associated decline of memory”.8
- ALA produced significant increases in survival in transgenic mouse models of Huntington’s Disease.38
- ALA protects brain tissue from lipid peroxidation — a process that contributes to neuron destruction in Alzheimer’s disease.35
- In mice with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), “administration of lipoic acid in the diet produced a significant improvement in survival.”39
ALA for cardiovascular conditions
Oxidative stress is increasingly implicated as a major causative factor in atherosclerosis. It triggers inflammatory events that generate peroxides, superperoxides and hydroxyl radicals within the endothelial tissue of blood vessels. These processes damage the vasculature.2 ALA has been shown to improve endothelial function in the heart arteries of old rats,62 and to “possess a lipid lowering effect… ”63and it “reduced the athero-lesion formation in rabbits fed a high cholesterol diet.”64
Oxidative stress is also highly correlated to hypertension (high blood pressure). In experiments with mice, “the development of hypertension could be either totally prevented or markedly attenuated by chronic treatment with potent antioxidative therapies such as alpha lipoic acid.”42,43
Use with biotin
Since ALA competes with vitamin B7 (biotin) for access to certain enzymes and molecular transporters, it would be sensible to take a biotin supplement if one is supplementing with ALA.65 A dose of a few milligrams of biotin per day should be adequate. The biotin should be taken at a different time than the ALA supplement, since they compete for absorption.
Conclusion
Are Alpha-Lipoic Acid supplements useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
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