Welcome to the seventh edition
of the Alchemist Lab newsletter.
One of the consequences of advanced Hepatitis
C is the inability of the liver to clear ammonia adequately.
Ammonia is a toxic by-product of protein digestion. When
ammonia builds up it affects brain function negatively, resulting
in brain fog or hepatic encephalopathy. Now we have a medicine
L-Ornithine L-Aspartate (LOLA) that clears ammonia without
the side effects associated with
Lactulose. According to
a double blind study from Guangdong Medical College recorded
on Pub Med, "LOLA is effective
for hepatic encephalopathy and has not obvious side effect." PubMed
is the fabulous website run by the NIH and National Library
of Medicine that records medical research. It is the place
on the web to research medicines without any commercial interest.
It is also a free service.
Ammonia is produced in the GI tract by bacterial
degradation of proteins. Normally ammonia is detoxified in
the liver primarily, the kidneys secondarily according to
some researchers by what iscalled the urea cycle, also known
as the ornithine cycle. This was
the very first metabolic cycle discovered, it was found by
Krebs and Henseleit in 1932. In cirrhosis not only are their
less functioning hepatocytes detoxifying ammonia, but also
portosystemic shunting may divert ammonia containing blood
away from the liver to the systemic circulation.
Secondarily ammonia is also consumed by the
conversion of glutamate to glutamine, a reaction that depends
upon the activity of
glutamine synthetase. Glutamine synthetase activity in muscle
increases when there is portosystemic shunting. Muscle wasting
associated with advanced cirrhosis makes hyperammonemia worse.
Brain astrocytes also possess glutamine synthetase, however
the brain in not able to increase glutamine synthetase activity
when there is high ammonia. Converting glutamate to glutamine
in the brain has several drawbacks, first of all it requires
ATP for this process, depleting the brain of energy resources.
Also glutamate is the precursor for GABA, an important neurotransmitter
that has a calming effect on the nervous system. Detoxifying
ammonia in the
liver is vastly preferable than the brain using its limited
resources to clear ammonia.
Specific recommendation for high
ammonia levels:
3-6 grams of LOLA twice daily stirred into water or juice.
Consuming less animal fat, especially red meat.
Taking 5 mg of NADH 15 minutes before breakfast
Eating lecithin granules, a tablespoon twice daily.
Drinking cranberry juice, unsweetened or sweetened with fruit
juice.
Probiotics
Zeolite is a useful product to soak up ammonia in the system.
It's actually used in cat litter for that purpose.
Avoiding constipation by eating more fiber and the herbal
formula we use in the clinic is Milk Thistle Seeds, Dandelion
Root, Red Clover, Fennel Seeds, and the active ingredient
is Cascara Sagarada, also known as Sacred Bark.
We also use Aloe concentrates when someone has Hep C and
is backed up.
LOLA is now available in 100 gram bottles distributed by
Allergy Research for $60, which is a better price per gram
than the Hepa-Merz packets. It also doesn't contain the sweetner
and "Tang" flavorings.
For the special newsletter offer of $45 a bottle call 877-454-HEPC.
We will have it up on the website shortly.
Another note on LOLA. This is a very useful
product for other conditions as well as chronic hepatitis.
In the clinic we use it for Lyme's Disease as well as EBV
infections, both of which impact the liver negatively. It
is very useful in higher doses for liver cancer as well.
We at Alchemist Lab look forward to your feedback
on this new product.
Steven Finkbine L.Ac.
Alchemist Lab, LLC, P.O.
Box 58, San Geronimo, CA 94963, USA
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