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Chronic Painful Back Problems:
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Chronic Back Problems |
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A lack of
vitamin C is specifically involved in the cause and progression of chronic
back problems such as sciatica and spinal stenosis. The premise is basic: long-term inadequacy of vitamin C causes
weak spinal disks. Without
enough vitamin C, the body is unable to make collagen, the protein glue that
holds cells together. When the cells of a cartilaginous intervertebral disk
are not holding together, the disk will degenerate, rupture, herniate, or
“slip.” There is a lot of body weight on the bones of your lower
back. When you flex and move, and the disks are weak or worn down, the bones
can compress nerves emerging from the sides. If only one or two disks are
involved, it may result in the characteristic back and leg pain called
sciatica. STENOSIS It is
worse if multiple vertebrae are involved. Without healthy disks to prevent
it, the center spinal channel can gradually stenose, or narrow. This channel
is very important: it is the hollow through which your nerve superhighway,
the spinal cord, runs. Squeezing or kinking the spinal cord means pain and
problems. Try watering your garden when a cow is standing with its hoof on
your garden hose. While
spinal stenosis is sometimes congenital or caused by a tumor, by far the most
common form is acquired stenosis. The usual way one “acquires” it
is through injury, or osteoarthritis, or both. INJURY Inadequate
vitamin C weakens ligaments and connective tissue, making injury easier, inflammation
likely, and healing much more difficult. OSTEOARTHRITIS Inadequate
vitamin C also causes the cushioning cartilage in your joints to deteriorate,
roughen, and wear ever thinner. As the cartilage degenerates, bone scrapes on
bare bone with each movement. That is osteoarthritis. BONE
SPURS In the
absence of cartilage padding, bone may begin to grow (spur) in the joints of
the spine. This is probably the body’s attempt to brace up and splint
the vertebrae and limit the movement that is causing pain. Unfortunately,
bone spurring can narrow the spinal canal and painfully squeeze the spinal
cord in the center. If bone spurs form in the little joints (facets) of the
sides of the vertebrae, the nerve roots at the sides get pinched. SPONDYLOLISTHESIS Without
enough vitamin C to maintain their strength, ligaments can degenerate,
thicken, and lose their elasticity. This too may narrow the spinal canal. If
disks and ligaments are especially weak, lower-back (lumbar) vertebrae can
slide over each other and squish nerves. All of the above conditions have a common causal
factor: inadequate vitamin C. The good news is that they can all be
significantly helped by administering large quantities of the nutrient. VITAMIN
TREATMENT Doctors
have seen many research studies on drug therapy, but very few on megavitamin
therapy. This does not mean that vitamin therapy will not help; it means that
vitamin therapy has not been applied. Well, not
quite. One of the great proponents of massive dose vitamin C therapy was Dr.
Robert F. Cathcart III, an orthopedic surgeon. One might want to think on
that for a long moment. Cathcart, the inventor of a widely used hip
replacement prosthetic, advocated doses of vitamin C, often in excess of 100,000 mg per day, to reduce severe
inflammation. In decades of practice, he safely and effectively administered
such treatment to tens of thousands of patients. Many had arthritis, back
pain, or injury; some had ankylosing spondylitis. http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
Read, and
have your doctors read, his papers on high-doses vitamin C treatment posted
at http://www.doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
Full
listing of Cathcart’s published articles: http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_cathcart.html
In
scanning Cathcart’s work, one notices that none of his papers are
expressly devoted to “treatment of chronic back problems with vitamin
C.” Patients and doctors may therefore be tempted to walk away from
this line of inquiry. Yet vitamin C is an important and overlooked key to
understanding sciatica and spinal stenosis, and doing something non-surgical
about it. One
question, of course, is whether vitamin C can actually rebuild cartilage. The
answer is this: cartilage cannot be
made without it. The odds greatly favor taking Dr Cathcart's advice over
the "just eat a balanced diet for your vitamin C" line that you so
often hear. There is
more good news about vitamin C: PAIN
RELIEF Very high doses of vitamin C provide
prompt and profound pain relief. Low doses will not work. http://www.doctoryourself.com/pain.html One of
the biggest surprises in analgesia occurred during the 1970's in “Cameron and Baird reported
(in 1973) that the first five ascorbate-treated patients who had been
receiving large doses of morphine or heroin to control pain were taken off
these drugs a few days after the treatment with vitamin C was begun, because
the vitamin C seemed to diminish the pain to such an extent that the drug was
not needed. Moreover, none of these patients asked that the morphine or
heroin be given to them- they seemed not to experience any serious withdrawal
signs or symptoms.” (Cameron and Pauling, Cancer and Vitamin C (1981; revised
1993): page xii) TOBACCO
SMOKING Smokers are in a constant state of
vitamin C deficiency. Do not let anyone tell you differently. William
J. McCormick, M.D., (http://www.doctoryourself.com/mccormick.html
, http://www.doctoryourself.com/mccormick1951.html
, and http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_mccormick.html)
found that just three cigarettes a day robs your body of the RDA of vitamin
C. Therefore, even smokers without any obvious illness symptoms require daily
vitamin C supplementation. Effectively treating illness requires far more. It is not
difficult to see why smokers are much more likely to have serious disk and
back problems. What really is difficult to understand is 1) how
very few physicians order their back-surgery candidates to stop smoking 2) how
very few physicians order their smoking patients to take vitamin C
supplements 3) how
almost no physician offers high-dose vitamin C therapy as a treatment option More
patients would stop cigarettes, and start vitamin C, if they knew why they
absolutely had to. HOW MUCH
IS NEEDED For results, vitamin C needs to be
taken to bowel tolerance. That means exactly what you think it means. http://www.doctoryourself.com/cathcart_thirdface.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
The dose
varies widely from person to person, but the effective amount is in the range
of tens of thousands of milligrams per day, taken in frequent divided doses. http://www.doctoryourself.com/klenner_table.html
and http://www.doctoryourself.com/ortho_c.html
Serious
cases may require vitamin C initially be given intravenously. http://www.doctoryourself.com/vitciv.html
High daily oral amounts, divided into
every-half-hour doses all day every day, may substitute if IV C is not
available. It can almost always be arranged if you really want it: http://www.doctoryourself.com/strategies.html More
hints: http://www.doctoryourself.com/tabtaking.html
In massive doses,
vitamin C (ascorbic acid) strengthens cartilage, reduces inflammation and
relieves pain.
Your doctor may not believe this, but it unless you consult a shaman, your
health care should not be a matter of belief. ABOUT
"OBJECTIONS" TO VITAMIN C MEGADOSES Many people wonder why the medical professions have not
embraced vitamin C therapy with open and grateful arms. Probably the main roadblock
to widespread examination and utilization of this all-too-simple technology
is the equally widespread idea that there MUST be unknown dangers to tens of
thousands of milligrams of ascorbic acid. Yet, since the time megascorbate
therapy was introduced in the late 1940's by board-certified chest specialist
Fred R. Klenner, M.D. http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html
, there has been a surprisingly safe and effective track record of physician
reports for one to follow. When an experienced orthopedic
surgeon such as Dr. Cathcart chose to give patients huge amounts of vitamin
C, it is time to ask why your physicians have not. There are many possible excuses, none
of which should be accepted without examining the evidence. A search
of the medical literature shows that vitamin C does not cause kidney stones. http://www.doctoryourself.com/kidney.html
It is safe even at very high doses. Other mistakenly-believed "side effects" of
vitamin C have been found to be completely mythical. According to a NIH
report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (April
21, 1999), NONE of the following problems are caused by taking "too much
vitamin C": Allegations of Hypoglycemia Allegations of Rebound scurvy Allegations of Infertility Allegations of Destruction of vitamin B-12 This, however, is verifiably true: national On the other hand, pharmaceutical drugs, properly
prescribed and taken as directed, kill well over 100,000 Americans annually. http://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html
Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer from lower back
(lumbar) spinal stenosis, which is now the most common indication for surgery
for those over 60. Vitamin therapy is safer than drug or surgical treatment.
There is very little to lose, and very much to gain, by trying high-dose
vitamin C therapy in advance of, or along with, conventional treatment. OTHER
NUTRIENTS Dr.
Cathcart and other orthomolecular (nutritional) physicians usually give
patients additional nutrients along with megadose vitamin C therapy. Vitamin B12 B12 may
help with injury and with spinal stenosis, although the dose probably needs
to be much higher than 0.5 mg given orally three times daily in this study: Waikakul
W, Waikakul S. Methylcobalamin as an adjuvant medication in conservative
treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. J Med Assoc See also:
Petchkrua W et al. Prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in spinal cord
injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2003 Nov;84(11):1675-9. And: Vitamin B12 deficiency in spinal cord
injury: a retrospective study. [J Spinal Cord Med. 2003] PMID:12828286 Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate Healthy
cartilage contains a large amount of chondroitin
sulfate, which helps strengthen it. Strong cartilage resists compression;
weak cartilage means osteoarthritic changes. 1,200 mg/day is a common
therapeutic dose. Glucosamine sulfate also helps your body rebuild cartilage. And, it relieves pain
about as well as ibuprofen does. 1500 mg/day is a common therapeutic dose. Ruane R,
Griffiths P. Glucosamine therapy compared to ibuprofen for joint pain. Both
chondroitin and glucosamine have
been shown clinically to be exceptionally safe. IT IS NOT
JUST THE PLACEBO EFFECT, EITHER Since
these substances work for horses, they might work for you. Forsyth
R, Brigden C, Northrop A (2006). Double blind investigation of the effects of
oral supplementation of combined glucosamine hydrochloride (GHCL) and
chondroitin sulphate (CS) on stride characteristics of veteran horses. Equine
veterinary journal. Supplement (36): 622-5. PMID 17402494. OTHER
NUTRIENTS Vitamins D and E, the mineral
selenium, the omega-3 fatty acids (“fish
oil”) and gamma-linoleic
acid (GLA) are very important,
too. A search for any of these using the “Search” box at the
DoctorYourself.com main page
will bring up more information. For more
information on ARTHRITIS and DIET: http://www.doctoryourself.com/arthritis.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/arthritis_II.html ADDITIONAL
REFERENCES: Bassleer
C et al. Stimulation of proteoglycan production by glucosamine sulfate in
chondrocytes isolated from human osteoarthritic articular cartilage in vitro.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 1998 Nov;6(6):427-34. Bruyere
O., Reginster J.Y. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate as therapeutic agents
for knee and hip osteoarthritis. Drugs Aging, 2007; 24 (7): 573-580 Kwan Tat
S et al. Chondroitin and glucosamine sulfate in combination decrease the
pro-resorptive properties of human osteoarthritis subchondral bone osteoblasts:
a basic science study. Arthritis Res Ther. 2007 Nov 9;9(6):R117 Pavelka
K, Gatterova J, Olejarova M, Machacek S, Giacovelli G, Rovati LC.
"Glucosamine sulfate use and delay of progression of knee
osteoarthritis: a 3-year, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind
study," Arch Intern Med, 2002 October 14;162(18):2113-23. PMID 12374520 Reginster
JY et al. Long-term effects of glucosamine sulphate on osteoarthritis
progression: a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Lancet, 2001
January 27; 357(9252):251-6. PMID 11214126. Sowers M,
Lachance L. Vitamins and arthritis. The roles of vitamins A, C, D, and E.
Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 1999 May;25(2):315-32. A reader says: “In 2004, I was disabled to the point of being unable to put on my own
socks and underwear. My 4- and 8-year-old sons had to help me get dressed
every day. For three months, my wife had to help me get off the floor in the
morning, because I was unable to lie down in our bed. I couldn’t drive,
fly in a plane, or even sit in a chair. I had lost the ability to function normally.
My condition was diagnosed as sciatica, which in my case was the result of a
bulging disc in my lower back pressing on nearby nerves. This pressure
inflamed the nerves. As a result, I experienced debilitating pain in my lower
back, legs and feet. Bluntly speaking, I was disabled. “During this time,
two of the “When these two
doctors met with me for the last time, the taller of the two stood next to
me, put his arm around my shoulder, and said, ‘You’re just going
to have to learn to live with this condition.’” “So, that was it. The
best minds in medicine decided I was hopeless, and I was just supposed to
support a wife and two kids on whatever I could make standing up. By the time
I hobbled to my wife’s car and crawled across the back seat, I was
genuinely angry. I left that clinic
determined that there had to be a better way to regain my health than trust
it to overpaid pill-pushers. “Determined to find a
way to heal, I searched the web for anything related to inflammation and how
to cure it naturally. Quite by
accident, I stumbled across www.doctoryourself.com,
and began my education as a student of orthomolecular medicine. I learned how
nutrition could be used to treat and cure an amazing array of diseases that
make up the cash cows of modern medicine. “Well, it all looked simple enough: drown the inflammation in vitamin
C, and I might start to feel better. To be fair, I’ve never been the
type of person to go into a program half-heartedly. I crawled back into the
car and my wife took me to the health food store. For about $8, I bought an 8
ounce jar of ascorbic acid powder. We drove home, and using the Klenner
protocol for vitamin C, I started on a regimen of 3 grams (just under 1 tsp)
in a glass of water . . . 10 times a day, for a total of 30,000 mg daily. “By the end of the
first day, nothing had changed. On the morning of the second day, I got up
off the floor by myself. It was difficult, but I did it. My back and legs
still felt like there were ropes of pain burning inside my legs. On the morning of the third
day, I dressed myself, socks and underwear included, and that night I slept
in my own bed for the first time in months. The pain in my legs and back was
still there, but not a constant irritant as before. “On the morning of the fourth day, I was in a state of health. I
dressed myself for outdoor work, grabbed the chain saw, and set to the task
of cutting up a load of slab wood that I’d neglected for the last three
months. When she heard the chain saw fire up, my wife came running out of the
house. ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?’ she shouted above the rumbling saw
in my hands. Shutting off the saw, I assured her that I was completely cured,
had no pain, and couldn’t wait to get back to work. “Over the next two
weeks, I continued the regimen, astonished at the amount of C that my body
seemed willing to absorb. Eventually, I reached bowel tolerance, cut the
regimen by 50% and continued to add other forms of supplementation to my
diet. “Exactly four years
later, I find myself amazed at the difference in my life using the
information on the Doctor Yourself website.
I’ve helped myself, and I’ve been able to assist friends,
relatives and my own family in ways I never thought possible. “One special example
of this is my own mother. In 2006, we lost Dad to lung cancer and a staph
infection. On the same day as my father’s passing, we were told that
Mom had stage 3A colon cancer that would require surgery. After the
operation, Mom was moved to a rehab facility where she was told she would
have to stay for 6-10 weeks. By using supplementation from the very first day
in rehab, Mom was home in 18 days, and driving her own car within another
month. “We now believe in
the value of orthomolecular medicine because we live it. Standing on the
shoulders of giants, we have seen the way to health.” Robert K. McClain "There is a principle which is a
bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which
cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is
condemnation without investigation." (Herbert Spencer) Copyright C 2008 and revised version 2019 by Andrew W. Saul. All rights reserved. Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE YOUR
DOCTOR! How to be Independently
Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
)
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given. |
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