Excellent report & information. I have also heard that some of these doctors have been prescribing medical marijuana.
http://tatoott1009.com/2015/07/23/explosive-the-real-reason-holistic-doctors-are-being-killed-and-vanishing/
Please help to protect me as I am those who helped me with this explosive information share everywhere so it is less likely they will come for me like they have for these now deceased doctors. Read this article first please:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/mo…
https://gcmaf.se/
http://www.faim.org/autism/gcmaf-trea…
http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/10/dr…
http://gcmaf.timsmithmd.com/book/chap…
http://www.betterhealthguy.com/gcmaf
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/hea…
http://www.dr-gonzalez.com/index.htm
July 28, 2013
Dr Burzynski Posted on October 9, 2012 by tatoott1009.com Welcome to the Burzynski Clinic What makes us different is that we find and treat the cause and stimulation of your cancer SRB Innovative and cutting-edge Personalized Gene Targeted Cancer Therapy Customized treatment for over 50 types of malignancies Currently approved for Phase III Clinical Trial for
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Dr. Bradstreet, Nagalase, and the Viral Issue in Autism
JeffBradstreet
By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.
Although my daughter is not a patient of Dr. Jeff Bradstreet I’ve always had an enormous amount of respect for the good doctor. I’ll usually go on his website once or twice a month to find out what has most recently attracted his interest. Often it seems we’re looking at similar questions; which either means great minds think alike, or we suffer from some of the same delusions.
I was intrigued by his October 11, 2011 entry, “An Update on Viral Issue in Autism” since it dovetailed with some of my own recent investigations.
In the past months Dr. Bradstreet has become interested in nagalese, which he describes as an enzyme “produced by cancer cells and viruses.” He thinks it unlikely that children with autism have undiagnosed cancers, and thus suspicion falls on a viral etiology. Dr. Bradstreet writes, “Viruses make the nagalese enzyme as part of their attachment proteins. It serves to get the virus into the cell and also decreases the body’s immune reaction to the virus-thereby increasing the odds of viral survival.”
Further on Dr. Bradstreet writes, “It is reasonable and likely that the nature of the immune dysfunction and the frequently observed autoimmune problems in autism are mediated by persistent, unresolved viral infections.” He claims to have tested approximately 400 children with autism for the viral marker, nagalese, and found that nearly 80% have significantly elevated levels. He hopes to publish soon on this study and believes this information “is one of the most important developments in the clinical treatment of children on the spectrum that I have experienced in the last 15 years.”
Dr. Bradstreet’s article got my attention because of my daughter’s own nagalese testing. I had her tested back in May (when she’d endured three hospitalizations due to uncontrolled seizures) and her reading was 3.3 (reference range 0.35-0.95). In desparation we tried the ketogenic diet (high fats and low carbs), and although there have been some rough patches since May we have avoided further hospitalizations.
And her stools normalized.
Yes, I know all of you realize how important that is. We’re talking months and months of good stools. Seizures down at least 80%. So of course, your friendly neighborhood science teacher was interested in what her nagalese levels might be, so we did a retest in late September. This time her reading was 1.7. It was about a 50% drop, and while it’s still abnormal, it is progress. It makes me wonder if a low-carb diet starves viruses of an energy source.
There are critics of nagalese testing. Dr. Enlander, a specialist in chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, another disease which may be viral in origin, doesn’t believe the tests are sensitive enough to be of any value. And he may be right.
Dr. Bradstreet also discusses a substance called GcMAF, which I don’t have enough information about to make an informed judgment, and that after viral clearance, the possibility of using neuronal stem cells which can cross the blood-brain barrier. I really can’t comment on the advisability of either suggestion.
But if you are like me, still looking for that clue which might help your child join the ranks of the recovered, you might investigate nagalese.
Kent Heceknlively is a Contributing Editor to Age of Autism
GcMAF for the treatment of cancer, autism, inflammation, viral and bacterial disease
by David Noakes
Human GcMAF, otherwise known as Vitamin D binding protein macrophage activating factor, holds great promise in the treatment of various illnesses including cancer, autism, chronic fatigue and possibly Parkinson’s. Since 1990, 59 research papers have been published on GcMAF, 20 of these pertaining to the treatment of cancer. 46 of these papers can be accessed through the GcMAF web site.
GcMAF is a vital part of our immune system which does not work without it; and is part of our blood. GcMAF stimulates the macrophage element of the immune system to destroy cancer cells. It also blocks the supply of nutrients to cancer cells by stopping blood vessel development to the site (anti-angiogenesis). Cancer cells are weakened and starved, making them more vulnerable to attack by the GcMAF stimulated macrophage system. Research has shown macrophage activation and stopping diseased blood vessel development can also help in various neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory conditions, and diabetic retinopathy.
In the case of autism, Dr. James Bradstreet has so far treated 1,100 patients with GcMAF with an 85% response rate. His results show a bell curve response with 15% of the patients showing total eradication of symptoms and 15% showing no response.
In addition, experimental and clinical evidence confirms that GcMAF shows multiple powerful anti-cancer effects that have significant therapeutical impact on most tumors including breast, prostate, and kidney. GcMAF is created in the body by the release of two sugar molecules from a GcProtein molecule.
However, tumors release an enzyme known as Nagalase. Nagalase degrades GcProtein to the point it is unable to become GcMAF. Since GcMAF only lives for about a week in the body, without continuous conversion of GcProtein the stores of GcMAF are depleted rapidly in the presence of Nagalase. However, Nagalase can only destroy GcProtein and not GcMAF. Thus the introduction of external GcMAF through injection into the body has been shown to be effective.
GcMAF has no side effects of its own, but in under 10% of cases the immune system, which will be rebuilt in just three weeks, can produce considerable side effects in autistic children. The treatment consists of an injection with a tiny diabetic sized syringe once a week. The duration depends on the severity of the disease. Research also reveals that in cancer cases that are stage I and II, the success rate approaches 90% inside 6 months. Nagalase and immune system levels can be measured in the blood and thus offer a marker for cancer and other diseases.
In conclusion, GcMAF restores the energetic balance in the cell. Cancer cells driven by sugar metabolism become healthy oxygen driven cells, so tumor cells no longer behave as parasitic organisms. GcMAF stimulates macrophages to consume the cancer cells and cells invaded by viruses. This stimulation of the immune system and the anti-angiogenetic effect surrounding the tumor is beneficial in cancer and several neurological disorders like autism, chronic fatigue, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s, and it is available to the general public.
The following testimonials are from the gcmaf.eu web site:
Autism
Hello Dr. Bradstreet, After 13 weeks of the GCMAF, we are happy to report that she continues to have tremendous gains in all areas. Increased socialization and speech, better performance in the school as well as community settings, decreased tantrums and less vocal protests, she is able to change activities and transition to non preferred tasks. It has been absolutely amazing, all her therapists, teachers, other parents have remarked about her good behavior in public places (for example, grocery stores, department stores such as Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, The Zoo, Bowling, the library, parks and playgrounds. In the past, we never went to these places in fear of her stimming, or her behavior (45 minute tantrums). Now, she surprises us as well as others with her appropriate comments and follows direction very well. Before she would only eat one thing (french fries) and now she eats everything including vegetables!!!!! I’ve sent some pictures to show her progress. We are so excited to see what more phenomenal things are in the future to come!
Ovarian and lung cancer
I first contracted cancer in the form of a granulosa cell tumour in 2005. After 2 operations and 3 months of chemo by January 2010 it had reached stage 4 and had spread from my ovaries to my lungs. After that scan in January I was told the chemo had failed, my 5 tumours were still growing, given Tamoxifen hormone, told I had between 3 months and 2 years left to live, and sent on my way.
I started taking GcMAF at the age of 56 on 16th May 2010; the only feeling or side effect I have from GcMAF is I felt almost from the beginning that I had my old energy back and was feeling much better and fitter in myself. After 8 weeks of taking only GcMAF and Tamoxifen I went for a scan. This showed all tumours had shrunk, the four in my lungs were now hardly noticeable and that the aggressive tumour in my pelvis had shrunk from 7.4cm to 4.1 cm. This is a significant decrease in size.
The stand-in consultant was very excited, and said these were excellent results. As I did not know her, and she did not ask, I did not tell her why.
On the 21st Oct I had another scan; the improvements continued; the secondaries appeared to be merely scar tissue, and the pelvic tumour had shrunk to 3.5 cm
In the winter my improvements seemed much slower; we now know because GcMAF needs normal vitamin D levels. But I’ve just got back from a wild month in Australia and Thailand, the sunshine should have done wonders for my vitamin D levels, and for my next scan. I will keep you updated. But I am over the moon and feel better than ever. And yes, you can phone me if you like. Gail in London.
Breast cancer
“I have the opportunity to treat patients from all over the World and the addition of GcMAF for my cancer patients is truly adding a new dimension not previously available to us. Recently I have been following a 42 year old women who had already undergone surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for stage IIIB breast cancer. I obtained a nagalase test through ELN (Holland) and it returned in the very elevated range of 4.20nmol/min/mg (normal reported by this lab does not exceed 0.95). Her other tumor markers were not elevated, but her PET scan demonstrated a likely metastatic site in the hip bone.
After discussing her options the patient wanted to try GcMAF therapy prior to considering more radiation or chemotherapy. After 6 weeks of GcMAF 100ng/week subcutaneous injections (much like a shot of insulin) her repeat nagalase test returned at 2.10 (a 50% reduction). All of her other tumor markers remain negative and she is taking the dose of Vitamin D3 required to optimize her blood levels (9000 iu/day). It is too soon for her PET to be repeated but we will follow this soon to determine the course of the bone metastasis. The nagalase test may be a more sensitive marker for tumor burden than other more accepted blood tests. GcMAF given via simple patient administered once weekly injections is clearly able to reduce the nagalase level dramatically over a short period of time. In previous published studies, nagalase response to GcMAF was correlated with reduction and eventual elimination of cancer. This is an encouragement to us all and I will keep you posted on the patient’s progress.”
Stephen Crohn, Who Furthered AIDS Study, Dies at 66
His boyfriend was dying of a disease without a name.
Beginning in 1978, Stephen Crohn cared for Jerry Green, a handsome gymnast, as he lost 30 pounds, went blind and was ravaged by the kinds of infections that rarely harmed otherwise healthy people.
Mr. Green was one of the first people to die of the disease that became known as AIDS. In the ensuing years, scores of Mr. Crohn’s friends died of it. He had taken no special precautions, and he had been as sexually active as his friends.
But he never got sick.
Mr. Crohn’s resistance helped lead to a deeper understanding of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, simply by staying alive and working with doctors to help figure out why he was.
“What he contributed to medical knowledge is really quite extraordinary,” said Dr. Bruce D. Walker, the director of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, M.I.T. and Harvard.
Mr. Crohn died on Aug. 23 in New York City at 66. The cause was suicide, his sister Amy Crohn Santagata said on Friday in confirming the death, which was not announced at the time.
Mr. Crohn’s immune system and its quirks earned him unsought renown. In 1996, the British newspaper The Independent called him “The Man Who Can’t Catch AIDS,” and he told his story in documentary films and newspaper interviews around the world.
Mr. Crohn had first come to the attention of Dr. Bill Paxton, then a scientist at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York. Dr. Paxton had been looking for gay men who seemed resistant to infection. Working with Dr. David Ho, now the chief executive of the Diamond Center, Dr. Paxton exposed Mr. Crohn’s cells, and those of another promising volunteer, to H.I.V.
“I couldn’t infect the CD4 cells,” he said in an interview. “I’d never seen that before.”
The CD4 white blood cells, which H.I.V. normally penetrates to start the process of disease, locked out the virus. Even at H.I.V. concentrations thousands of times greater than would be encountered outside a test tube, nothing happened.
Years later, researchers isolated the cause. H.I.V. gets into cells by fitting into two receptors on CD4 cells. But thanks to a genetic defect, the second receptor on Mr. Crohn’s CD4 cells was flawed. The malfunctioning receptor, CCR5, had no negative effect on his health and kept H.I.V. from getting in. As he put it in a “Nova” documentary on PBS: “It’s like a key — the virus comes with this. It’s looking for a two-holed keyhole. I don’t have one of the holes. Period. It’s never going to attach to me.”
The genetic anomaly, known as the delta 32 mutation, which produces the flawed receptor, is found in less than 1 percent of the population.
Stephen Lyon Crohn was born on Sept. 5, 1946, in Manhattan to Richard Crohn (who also had the gene) and the former Janet Goren. He was raised in Dumont, N.J., and was educated at New York University, City College of New York and the Art Students League of New York. He lived in Saugerties, N.Y.
Besides Ms. Santagata, Mr. Crohn is survived by two other sisters, Carla Crohn Friedman and Judith Bloom, as well as many nieces and nephews.
Mr. Crohn was an artist and worked as a freelance editor for Fodor’s Travel. His paintings, mainly abstract works that evoked landscapes, were exhibited in New York, San Francisco and elsewhere.
“My brother saw all his friends around him dying, and he didn’t die,” Ms. Santagata said. “He went through a tremendous amount of survivor guilt about that and said to himself, ‘There’s got to be a reason.’ ”
“He was quite extraordinary, and then also quite ordinary,” she said.
Mr. Crohn was the great-nephew of Burrill B. Crohn, a leading gastroenterologist who first described the disease that carries his name.
Mr. Crohn felt he was carrying on “his family’s tradition” by helping researchers, said Dr. Paxton, now a professor of infection and immunity at the University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health.
The research based on Mr. Crohn’s immune system has led to advances in fighting H.I.V. A drug that blocks the CCR5 receptor, maraviroc, is now used to keep infection from spreading in patients who have contracted the virus. And in 2006, an AIDS patient in Berlin was effectively cured of the disease after receiving bone marrow transplants from a matching donor who had the delta 32 mutation.
“This is a classic case of medical science learning from patients,” said Dr. Walker of the Ragon Institute. “Most of the immunology we know comes from studying other animal models,” he said. “We need to study humans who have real diseases.”
He explained, “You take the extreme examples and try to see how those people are different from the average person with the disease.”
So, he said, Dr. Paxton and colleagues asked, “How is Steve different from the average person with H.I.V. infection? And bingo, they found it.”
Dr. Paxton and Mr. Crohn remained friends. “He was the type of guy who walks into the room, and it lights up,” he said. “I was going to call him this weekend.”
Anti-vaccine doctor behind ‘dangerous’ autism therapy found dead. Family cries foul.
James Jeffrey Bradstreet’s life was full of controversy. To thousands of supporters, he was a savior: a physician who claimed vaccines caused autism and promoted radical procedures to treat those afflicted, including his own son.
To many others, however, he was a crackpot: a man who, despite his medical license, ignored science and championed dangerous, discredited and occasionally deadly treatments.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that Bradstreet’s death is proving equally divisive.
On the afternoon of June 19, a fisherman spotted Bradstreet’s lifeless body lying in the Broad River in the tiny town of Chimney Rock, N.C. He had a gunshot wound to his chest, authorities said. A gun was found in the water nearby.
That’s about all that everyone can agree on.
Like his research, Bradstreet’s death has become a Rorschach test in which his supporters see a conspiracy, while most everyone else — including law enforcement — sees a slow downward slide towards suicide.
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating Bradstreet’s death, but that the wound appears to have been self-inflicted.
Bradstreet’s family, however, has set up an online account to raise funds for “an exhaustive investigation into the possibility of foul play.”
“Jeff dedicated his life’s work to finding answers, always pushing the envelope, and never giving up, even at the risk of being perceived as controversial,” wrote his niece, Cali Bradstreet Howell, on the gofundme Web site. “Now, in this moment, we find ourselves in a position, where we too are in search for answers … and we intend on finding them.”
[Disneyland measles outbreak strikes in anti-vaccination hotbed of California]
Bradstreet had been a leading voice in the anti-vaccine, or “anti-vaxxer,” movement for nearly two decades.
He was a former preacher who traded the pulpit for a physician’s gown, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. Bradstreet received his medical degree from the University of South Florida and completed his residency at the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in Texas, according to a paper he wrote.
His interest in autism was as much personal as professional. He made no secret about the fact that family had been touched by the disorder. “Both [my] son and stepson have autism spectrum disorders and have experienced significant recovery as a result of intensive biomedical interventions,” he claimed.
On his blog, Bradstreet detailed the painful story of how his own son’s struggles had pushed him to study autism — and increasingly controversial therapies.
“It takes a lot of courage to face the world with autism,” he wrote in a 2012 birthday letter to his autistic son:
From an easy pregnancy and simple delivery you progressed as a sweet and happy baby boy right up until 8 months when that first ear infection struck. It didn’t want to go away easily and ultimately you needed tubes to drain the infection. Prior to that we tried a lot of antibiotics and none worked. We didn’t realize back then that you had a primary immune deficiency and couldn’t make enough IgM to defend your body.
I can’t even talk about the next year and all the things that happened. But your mother and I had to watch our precious boy change without understanding what was happening. The first time you pulled the pans out of the kitchen cabinets and banged on them it was cute. The next 20 times it was obvious something was wrong. And then you just didn’t seem to cry when you fell and hurt yourself. I had never seen that before.
The worst part of those early years was the horrific diarrhea that would actually burn your bottom within seconds. That was so sad and so hard to treat. Back in those days we understood so little about the gut connection to autism.
Ultimately, secretin ( a simple hormone) give IV made a huge difference in that problem. It was an immediate change and even got you the attention of Bernie Rimland and the National Enquirer. Your response to secretin made you an immediate hit with about 10 million readers of the Enquirer and neither your nor my life has been the same since.
But as the National Enquirer coverage suggests, some of these treatments were salacious but scientifically iffy. (A 2012 study, for instance, found “no evidence that single or multiple dose intravenous secretin is effective” for treating autism.) Bradstreet also wrote about including his son in an intravenous immunogloblin (IVIG) trial that “made a huge difference.” But another study found IVIG only helped 10 percent of patients and “should be undertaken only with great caution.”
Nonetheless, his son’s case helped convince Bradstreet that vaccines caused autism. He took his message to the highest levels of government. Twice he testified about the supposed link between vaccines and autism before the U.S. House of Representatives.
“He was a very happy, well connected child prior to his MMR at approximately 12 months of age,” Bradstreet told representatives in 2002, presenting copies of his son’s various tests. “Matthew completely lost about 2 months after his MMR vaccine.”
From his clinic in Buford, Ga., Bradstreet treated patients from around the world, many who sought him out online. Desperate parents seeking answers for their children’s maladies would write to him on his blog, begging him for help.
But leading autism experts say Bradstreet was simply wrong, and that the autism therapies he espoused were “dangerous.”
“There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism,” Peter Jay Hotez, dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told The Washington Post. “It is pseudoscience based on a misunderstanding of the whole neurobiology of autism.
“But there are a lot of worrying conspiracy theorists that keep on making up allegations about vaccines,” he said. “Every five years, the main variables change. I’ve seen about six iterations of this. As soon as one pseudoscience theory is debunked, someone comes up with something new.”
Hotez, who also has a child with autism, said it was understandable that Bradstreet and others sought answers to the still somewhat mysterious disorder.
“If you Google something on the Web, you can get a quick and easy fix,” he said. “Unfortunately that’s what a lot of parents do, and there is a lot of garbage on the Internet.”
Bradstreet’s beliefs were doubly dangerous, Hotez said. Not only did they scare people off of vaccines — something that has led to a resurgence of measles in the U.S. — but the treatments themselves can also be deadly.
[The devastating impact of vaccine deniers, in one measles chart]
“Bradstreet was promoting chelation therapy, which is dangerous and without any benefit,” Hotez said. Chelation involves the use of chemicals to remove metals from a patient’s blood.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says chelation can be used in cases of acute poisoning, but Bradstreet believed the procedure could treat autism by removing mercury — supposedly introduced by vaccines — from an autistic person’s blood.
The FDA, however, has warned against such “chelation therapies” for autism: “Chelating important minerals needed by the body can lead to serious and life-threatening outcomes.”
“Chelation therapy never made any sense from a scientific standpoint,” Hotez added. “So in the zeal to chelate mercury, which, again, there is no basis showing [it is the problem], Bradstreet would also chelate the calcium, and that would cause a very toxic reaction.”
“Chelation is certainly not appropriate” for treating autism, Michael Katz, a senior adviser to the March of Dimes and professor emeritus at Columbia University, told The Washington Post. He added that numerous studies have debunked the link between mercury in vaccines and autism, rendering chelation pointless.
Bradstreet was also a believer in hyperbaric oxygen chambers and stem cell therapy for the autistic.
It is unclear what role Bradstreet’s controversial research and therapeutic techniques might have played in his death. According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, the FDA and Georgia’s Drugs and Narcotics Agency raided his Buford clinic in the days before his death.
“Multiple law enforcement officials said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration searched Bradstreet Wellness Center last week,” the newspaper reported on June 26. “On Monday, [June 22] plastic sheets covered the windows of the two suites the office takes up in a complex off Commerce Drive, and the doors were locked. ”
It’s still unclear why the raid was carried out. For many, however, the timing seemed to fit with the official explanation of a suicide. Bradstreet’s body was found near where he and his wife vacation, the Daily Post reported. And, although less frequent than bullets to the head, suicide shots to the chest are not uncommon.
But Bradstreet’s family and broad network of supporters see a nefarious scheme in the series of events leading to his death.
“He was a fighter and would never just quit,” Bradstreet’s former wife, Lori, wrote on the gofundme Web site. “What we were told happened really does defy all reason. Thank you for all your help to find the truth.”
The Bradstreet family did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“I can not accept the notion that Jeff would take his own life,” wrote former colleague, John Reinhold Sr. “His research was a threat to many representing huge financial losses in the hundreds of billions, if the direction his research was validating came to be accepted as ‘fact.’ We discussed this many times when he was in the earliest stages of his work. The public is unaware of how easy it is for someone knowledgeable whose financial interests are threatened to make a phone call and simply state, ‘He’s an annoyance we don’t need right now,’ and that simple statement putting plans in motion. If Jeff’s strong suspicions are right regarding cause and causes of autism, legal actions against those corporations implicated would be staggering and possibly unprecedented in the history of world finance. Jeff was brilliant and had every reason to live. Although we’ve not been in touch in recent years I can not fathom that he checked himself out.”
Others expressed their thanks for the miracles that Bradstreet had allegedly worked upon their autistic children, while quickly decrying his “murder.”
“I will always remember how helpful his office in Melbourne Fl. was to my very ill autistic child,” Marla Peters wrote. “My daughter is now 19, she was 5 when we first went to his office. No one would help her with her gut pain but this group of Dr.s helped her and myself. Forever grateful and sad because his work was not done! May God have vengeance quickly on the evil doers who murdered him!”
“One of the best doctors my son had in 21 years,” echoed Andrea Parker. “He did not kill himself! I simply don’t believe it at all. He was super religious and had an Autistic son himself. This looks really dirty to me.”
Hotez said passions run high in the autism debate. He and his family have received angry messages and e-mails but never death threats, he said.
And while he couldn’t comment about Bradstreet’s death, Hotez wondered if the homicide theories were, like vaccine conspiracies, half baked.
“There is a deep seated paranoia” in the anti-vaccine movement, he said. “There is a deep seated feeling that there must be something bad out there.”
GcMAF
Update July 2015: GcMAF is no longer available as the company that made it was shutdown by overseas regulatory agencies. As always, consult your doctor before making any medical decisions on any therapy you may be considering.
GcMAF (Gc protein macrophage activation factor) is an immune-regulating compound from Europe that may have benefit for those of us struggling with immune system health. It has been used in HIV and cancer for several years. More recently, doctors and researchers have been considering GcMAF for use in patients with illnesses that most of us will recognize.
From gcmaf.eu, “In its role of immune system regulator, research shows GcMAF can reverse other diseases that attack the immune system like Autism, CFS, XMRV, Lyme disease, Aids, HIV, Fibromyalgia (all of which we’ve begun to have success with ourselves), osteoporosis, Hodgkin’s, Lupus, MS, Parkinson’s, various bacterial and viral infections and various types of Immune dysfunction.”
I first heard about GcMAF almost a year ago. At the same time, I had first learned about “nagalase”, a blood test that is used to in part determine whether or not one might be a candidate for GcMAF therapy. Nagalase is an enzyme that prevents Vitamin D receptors (VDR) from being activated on the surface of the macrophage. As a result, macrophages are not “activated” and our immune systems are not able to properly respond to invaders.
Here are some points that I have learned thus far on GcMAF:
GcMAF has reportedly been tested more for safety, purity, etc. than other human blood products.
Macrophages are cultured, destroyed, and the GcMAF receptors are purified.
Treatment is via injection 1x/week for 8-20 weeks. Dose is titrated initially to avoid exacerbation or Herx responses as much as possible.
A commonly used dose is .25ml once weekly (a 2.2 ml vial should last 8 injections).
The primary test used in looking at whether or not GcMAF may be a reasonable intervention is nagalase.
Nagalase inactivates macrophages.
I personally would NEVER consider this option without having a baseline nagalase test. Normal is < 0.95. Mine was 2.9.
The practitioner I worked with suggested that 2.9 was in the range of someone with HIV or cancer in terms of the impact on the immune system. I’d like to hear from others in the Lyme community as you get test results as well to see if there is a pattern of elevated nagalase in those with Lyme disease. Whether or not Lyme itself has anything to do with nagalase elevation is something I have not been able to find anything on. We certainly all have underlying viral co-factors that are likely in play as well, but I suspect that Borrelia may also play a role in nagalase elevation.
In healthy college students, a nagalase 0.4 is not uncommon (the lower the better).
At 2.9, my practitioner was surprised that I did not have more cognitive deficits such as memory loss and other cognitive issues.
It has been suggested that ongoing antimicrobial therapy without a working immune system is like leaving the house with the door wide open inviting burglars in. By using GcMAF to activate macrophages, nagalase drops, and one may regain a functional immune system. The door is then closed to further invaders and we may no longer serve as a microbe hotel.
Maintenance therapy should not be needed once the immune system is once again properly functioning.
Activated macrophages only remain active for 7 days so any negative responses are generally short-lived. That said, some people do have strong inflammatory responses that are not believed to be typical die-off reactions.
It has been indicated that in some cases, other medications may be needed in order to manage the inflammatory response. This is another reason that one needs to be working closely with a knowledgeable practitioner before considering GcMAF in my opinion. In the CFS and GcMAF world, this more severe form of a die-off reaction is called IRIS.
VDR genetics do not seem to play a role in predicting response as earlier thought according to one practitioner that I have spoken with. That said, Vitamin D levels do correlate with the positive response rate of GcMAF. Thus, Vitamin D supplementation may be required in order to optimize outcome.
Other than die-off reactions or activation of symptoms (inflammation), no other side effects are generally expected.
Nagalase should be monitored every 1-2 months while on treatment to determine the required duration of the therapy. Target nagalase after treatment would be 0.4 to 0.6.
Elevated nagalase has a profound detrimental effect on the immune system. Elevated nagalase is often presumed to be related to microbes of viral origin or cancer. Viruses that are nagalase producers open the door to chronic infections.
Hemagglutinin contains nagalase and is also found in flagella of some bacteria so it could also be the case that some bacteria may produce nagalase.
Parents with ASD children also often have elevated nagalase.
A practitioner I spoke with likened Lyme disease to a “peat moss fire” burning below the surface. Activating macrophages should help to deal with the fire.
GcMAF should be helpful in dealing with other infections that are not of viral origin; for example, Borrelia, Bartonella, and other infections commonly associated with Tick-Borne Infections (TBIs). GcMAF is active against many cancers and many different kinds of microbes.
Neopterin is another test that is sometimes used as an indicator of immune suppression. As macrophages become activated, neopterin may rise and later fall. If one is in the normal range for neopterin and has an immune-related illness, this could be an indication that the immune system is suppressed and not responding appropriately.
People with autoimmune conditions can generally use GcMAF. However, GcMAF may be contraindicated in people with Multiple Sclerosis.
Reduction in nagalase is generally seen early in the course of treatment; within the first 3-6 weeks. In some studies, nagalase dropped by over 50% in less than six weeks.
Cancer patients may initially feel as bad on GcMAF as they do on chemotherapy, but often feel much better after the first month.
Anti-inflammatories may limited the effect of GcMAF.
Enzymes and biofilm-reducing supplements may have a negative impact on GcMAF therapy and may be best avoided. It is still too early to know what the impact may be, but one practitioner I spoke with feels that it is best to avoid these.
One should not be on any immune-suppressing agents while on GcMAF as the immune system must be partially functional in order to respond appropriately to the treatment.
A common pattern is to see elevated lymphocytes, high nagalase, and low NK cells. Once nagalase drops, it may be the case that NK cell function could be positively impacted. CD57 is a type of NK cell. It is too early to know if this proves to be true, but it is one of the things I’m quite interested in.
In November 2011, I listened to a presentation by Dr. Kenny de Meirleir on GcMAF. This video is an absolute must-watch if you are considering GcMAF. You can find it here. A few of my takeaways from watching this presentation include:
With compromised immune activation, increased nagalase cuts off the conversion to GcMAF – result is a deglycosylated Gc protein that cannot activate macrophages.
If you have increased nagalase, you have less GcMAF and your Gc protein is not effectively transferred into GcMAF.
Nagalase is part of the gp120 enzyme in HIV. HERV’s or other viruses active in cells may produce nagalase.
Several intestinal bacteria are producers of nagalase. Editor’s Note: I found this connection to be quite interesting; the gut is big.
Similar to HIV, CFS patients have many infections and reactivate endogenous herpes viruses – EBV, CMV, HHV-6, HSV-1, as well as Herpes 7.
Healthy controls have very low nagalase enzyme activity. Normal people do have some, but it should be very low. There is a clear difference in those with pathology.
395 CFS/ME patients – average nagalase in Kenny de Meirleir study was 1.72 with range of 0.28 to 4.0. Controls had < 0.69 with range of 0.35 to 0.68. Only 12/395 had normal nagalase levels resulting in 97% having increased nagalase activity.
Dr. Cheney did a small study of 50 patients. Average nagalase was 3.0 with range of 0.8 to 6.7. He has a much sicker patient population than de Meirleir.
Origin of nagalase in CFS may be: retrovirus?, herpes viruses, intestinal bacteria, HERVs.
Find Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in the blood from gram negative intestinal bacteria (less so from gram positive bacteria). High LPS suggests increased intestinal permeability or leaky gut syndrome.LPS is one of the most immunogenic substances in the body. Extremely ill and moderately ill patients have increased circulating LPS and thus leaky gut syndrome.
Altered intestinal flora and changes in gut permeability may be a major factor in this entire clinical picture.
GVDR-Fok1 and GVDR-Bsm1 polymorphisms in CFS – response to GcMAF is dependent on the VDR gene polymorphism. VDR is involved in skeletal metabolism, modulation of immune response, and regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. Many CFS patients have osteoporosis. Editor’s Note: The VDR connection to GcMAF efficacy seems to be an ongoing topic of debate.
In 185 patients looking at VDR genetics, FF/bb is a higher responder. Ff/Bb is a moderate responder, and Ff/BB is a low responder. de Meirleir takes VDR genetics into account when giving and dosing GcMAF.
Africans are higher responders and Norwegians and Scandanavians are lower responders.
GcMAF and LPS activate macrophages. Majority of CFS patients have increased bacterial transfection from gut to blood. GcMAF stimulates macrophages through a different mechanism than LPS without the negative effects of LPS. LPS and GcMAF cannot stimulate macrophages simultaneously – it is one or the other. Affinity of macrophages for GcMAF is higher than for LPS. GcMAF will induce a “good” phagocytosis without the bad IL-1 and TNF-alpha release. “Bad” macrophage activation by LPS is diminished by the competitive action of GcMAF in the macrophages.
de Meirleir uses 100 nanogram (1/10,000 of an mg) in 1ml serum. Editor’s Note: This is different than GcMAF.eu potency which is 100ng in .25ml
Can be done IV or SC once per week at dose of 25-100ng per week. The Dose depends on how activated the immune system is and the VDR genetics. If a patient is a low responder genetically and has low activation of complement in the immune system, the dose might be 100ng per week. Otherwise, much lower dosages may be used. Treatment duration is 5-40 weeks with 15 week being the average.
Symptoms such as fatigue, sleep quality, pain, neurocognitive function, recovery/less payback, digestive problems, and orthostatic intolerance improved in over 50%. Of 108 patients, 68 of these had noticeable improvement. Of these, 44 of the 68 had decrease in fatigue.
Risks – GcMAF is natural and normal people produce it. T-cell activation in patients with a Th1 -> Th2/Th17 shift could in theory develop or increase auto-immunity. That said, it has not happened once in his cases. He did have a few people that developed autoimmune thyroid conditions; but that is not uncommon in the normal patient group that he sees.
Patients with increased TGF-b1, high IL-6, high ANA, and thyroid antibodies are temporarily excluded.
Overstimulation with GcMAF can lead to IRIS – immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. IRIS has been seen in the past in HIV. In HIV, this is rarely discussed given the severity of the condition they are treating. IRIS occurs when the immune system is heavily damaged by viruses other co-infections are present. The immune cells start to regenerate and the immune system produces an exaggerated response to the co-infections. It is not the GcMAF itself but the result of significant co-infections. IRIS has been replicated in mice.
20-30% of GcMAF CFS patients experience IRIS. It is more common in those with co-infections and in those with activated T-cells or a low number of T cells.
de Meirleir monitors IRIS with C4a, cytokines, CD25, and HLADR+.
Attempts to prevent IRIS with a broad screen for fungal, viral, intracellular bacteria, and parasites.
Start with a low dose and titrate up slowly. In 7 patients that had IRIS, de Meirleir found active Babesia.
Nagalase: Friend and Foe?
What is Nagalase?
Nagalase is a protein made by all cancer cells and viruses (HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza, herpes, Epstein-Barr virus, and others). Its formal, official chemical name is alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase, but this is such a tongue-twisting mouthful of a moniker that we usually just call it “Nagalase.” (Sometimes, when I want to impress friends with my brilliance, I’ll say the entire word real fast: “alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase.” I have found that it’s important to practice beforehand if one doesn’t want to embarrass oneself.)
Why is Nagalase important?
Nagalase causes immunodeficiency. Nagalase blocks production of GcMAF, thus preventing the immune system from doing its job. Without an active immune system, cancer and viral infections can grow unchecked.
As an extremely sensitive marker for all cancers, Nagalase provides a powerful system for early detection.
Serial Nagalase testing provides a reliable and accurate method for tracking the results of any therapeutic regimen for cancer, AIDS, or other chronic viral infection.
Nagalase proves that cancer cells break all the rules
Normal healthy cells cooperate with one another in a concerted effort to further the good of all. Cancer cells refuse to play ball. Their disdainful attitude toward the rest of our cellular community is appalling. For example, these cellular scofflaws ignore clear messages to stop growing and spreading and encroaching on their neighbor’s space. How would you like it if your neighbor moved his fence over into your backyard?
Of all the rules cancer cells break, none is more alarming than the production of Nagalase, the evil enzyme that completely hog-ties the immune system army’s ability to stop cancer cells.
Virus particles also make Nagalase. Their goal is the same as that of the cancer cells: survival by incapacitating their number one enemy: the immune system.
Nagalase precision
Like a stealth bomber, the Nagalase enzyme synthesized in and released from a cancer cell or a virus particle pinpoints the GcMAF production facilities on the surface of your T and B lymphocytes and then wipes them out with an incredibly precise bomb. How precise? Let me put it this way: Nagalase locates and attacks one specific two-electron bond located at, and only at, the 420th amino acid position on a huge protein molecule (DBP), one of tens of thousands of proteins, each containing millions of electrons. This is like selectively taking out a park bench in a major city from six thousand miles away. More astonishing, if that is possible, Nagalase never misses its target. There is no collateral damage.
As you already know, GcMAF is a cell-signaling glycoprotein that talks to macrophages, enabling them to rapidly find, attack, and kill viruses and cancer cells. By activating macrophages, GcMAF triggers a cascade that activates the entire immune system. Blockage of GcMAF production by Nagalase brings all this wonderful anti-cancer and anti-viral immune activity to a screeching halt, allowing cancer and infections to spread.
What does Nagalase actually do? How does it destroy immune functioning and deactivate macrophages?
Once synthesized and released into nearby tissue or into the bloodstream, Nagalase, like that drill sergeant at boot camp, shouts harsh commands at the vitamin D binding protein (DBP) that is about to be turned into GcMAF. Nagalase demands that DBP not, under any circumstances, attach itself to a specific sugar molecule (galactosamine). If DBP has already grabbed (i.e., connected to, using a two-electron, “covalent” bond) a galactosamine sugar molecule, it is commanded to immediately let go. “Leave galactosamine alone, or you’ll be in big trouble!!!” is the Nagalase sergeant’s command. We’ll probably never know whether or not, on some deeper level, DBP knows that Nagalase’s motives are dastardly—but it doesn’t really matter: DBP will definitely always obey. Like the army private, the DBP literally has no choice. Because of the way hierarchies work in cellular biology, proteins must do the bidding of their enzymes. The enzymes, like Nagalase, are the drill sergeant and the proteins, like DBP, are the privates. That’s just the way it is. Obeying the drill sergeant’s command means DBP can’t do its assigned task, that of becoming GcMAF. It is rendered useless. For DBP, on a molecular level, life no longer has meaning.
Unfortunately for cancer and viral patients, DBP had been on its way to becoming GcMAF until the Nagalase drill sergeant so rudely interrupted. Now GcMAF—the one protein our bodies need in order to activate our immune systems—can’t be made. Immune activity screeches to a halt. The defense system protecting us from cancers and viruses has been snuffed out.
Nagalase, using this astonishingly simple yet cunningly subversive technique, emasculates the GcMAF precursor protein (DBP) by knocking off its three sugar molecules. One quick whack by Nagalase and the DBP protein that would have become a GcMAF molecule now limps off into the sunset, permanently disfigured and disabled. With one simple, swift maneuver, Nagalase has brought the entire immune system to its knees.
Here’s how Dr. Yamamoto put it (for clarity, I’ve replaced some of the technical words):
“Serum vitamin D3-binding protein (DBP) is the precursor for the principal macrophage activating factor (GcMAF). The precursor activity of serum DBP was reduced… These patient sera contained alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (Nagalase) that deglycosylates (removes the sugars from) DBP. Deglycosylated DBP cannot be converted to GcMAF, thus it loses the GcMAF precursor activity, leading to immunosuppression.” (Microbes Infect. 2005 Apr;7(4):674-81. Epub 2005 Mar 22. Pathogenic significance of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase activity found in the hemagglutinin of influenza virus. Yamamoto N, Urade M.)
Nagalase testing: former mass murderer now works for the good guys
It’s easy to be a little schizy about Nagalase. On the one hand, this nasty protein’s behavior toward us has been reprehensible and disastrous. Working in cahoots with cancer and HIV—not shy about getting into bed with our mortal enemies—Nagalase can rightfully claim direct responsibility for billions of human deaths. And it would just as soon add you to the list, so we don’t have to be shy about placing Nagalase in the “genocidal murderer” column.
With the advent of Nagalase testing, however, this bad actor now will be harnessed to a useful purpose. By providing us with precise and reliable advance information about enemy operations, Nagalase blood level testing becomes a “Deep Throat” double agent for cancer. He helps us by giving us an early warning sign.
Early detection (using AMAS or Nagalase) saves lives
You don’t want a cancer to have gotten out of control by the time you find and start treating it. When cancers are still young and small, gentle natural therapies are the most effective. Alternative treatments work best on early small cancers by enhancing immune functioning and removing the source of the inflammation that is causing the cancer in the first place. Cancers that have become large enough to see on imaging pose a much more significant threat, and the big guns now become necessary.
The current method for diagnosing most cancers requires us to wait until a mass shows up on imaging (e.g., a mammogram, chest X-ray, or colonoscopy). This approach wastes valuable time and causes needless deaths. But long before imaging can find it, a positive Nagalase (or AMAS test) can tell us that early stage cancer exists somewhere in the body. By enabling earlier and therefore less invasive treatment options, this information provides a huge head-start.
Normally present at only trace levels, Nagalase shows up in the blood when a cancer or virus appears
The malignant and viral entities that make Nagalase are not normally present, so its appearance is a big deal from a diagnostic perspective. When Nagalase shows up, even in very small amounts, we have the earliest glimpse of a new cancer or viral infection. The old adage, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” applies here. A positive Nagalase test notifies us that a cancer (or a nasty virus) lurks within.
Nagalase appears in the blood stream when a nascent cancer is just a minute cluster of abnormal cells, long before conventional diagnostic methods can detect it. Through blood testing, we can find this red flag, even when present at exceedingly low levels. Providing us with this early warning sign might not quite qualify Nagalase for the “Good Samaritan” award, but I could go with “extremely useful.” Like a rehabilitated criminal on parole, the potential for harm is still there. For now, however, he’s staying out of trouble and doing community service. Turn your back and he’s a mass murderer again.
Using Nagalase testing to track cancer treatment
Rising Nagalase levels indicate a cancer or virus is growing and spreading. Conversely, Nagalase levels will decrease if the cancer or infection is being effectively destroyed.
Any treatment that lowers cancer cell (or viral numbers) will lower Nagalase levels. Nagalase will, for example, always drop after surgery (whether or not the entire tumor was removed). Chemotherapy and radiation also reduce Nagalase levels. So does GcMAF. If, after these treatments, the depressed level begins to rise again, this is the warning sign that the cancer was not completely removed, and/or that metastatic disease is hiding out somewhere. With viral infections, increasing Nagalase levels indicate return of the infection.
Consecutive rising Nagalase levels are therefore a red flag, warning us it may be time to entertain new treatment options. Conversely, if levels are going down, stay the course: the cancer or virus is going away.
Flat-earth medicine
Many medical professionals don’t feel comfortable with “nonspecific” tests like Nagalase. It drives them nuts to discover that a cancer is lurking somewhere inside without knowing exactly where it is located. “How,” they ask, “do you expect me to treat a cancer I can’t see? Why, I’m not going to tilt at windmills!” This may be a signal that you need to find a different doctor, perhaps one who works in an alternative cancer clinic. Here you will find highly-trained professionals who understand the concept that cancer is a molecular biological change long before it presents visually (by this I mean becomes viewable on imaging).
When GcMAF becomes available, the answer will be easier: a six month course of weekly 100 ng GcMAF intramuscular injections with monthly Nagalase level tests to follow the Nagalase level as it goes back down to baseline. The cancer can be declared cured, even though it never reached life-threatening proportions. (We have a long way to go before this kind of medical behavior will be commonplace and acceptable. The sooner the better, however.)
Nagalase role “under-appreciated”
Nagalase, arguably our most immunosuppressive protein molecule, poses an enormous threat in terms of cancer perpetuation and viruses’ ability to continually defeat us. Yet cancer researchers have not shown any interest in it. (Maybe I’m being a little too generous here; perhaps “clueless” would be more a more accurate depiction.) Why don’t they get it that blasting cancer cells into oblivion with chemo and radiation is usually not sufficient to stop advanced disease and does nothing to address the cause: immunosuppression. Even if we ignore for the moment the excessive collateral damage caused by chemo drugs and radiation, the patient also needs—requires—a healthy immune system to finish the job. If we don’t revive immune function by disabling Nagalase, the cancers and viruses will just keep roaring back. Restoring immunocompetence by negating the stultifying effect of Nagalase should therefore become a primary research goal.
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