Why shut down the immune system when you need it the most?

 

The immune system is the most sophisticated and effective defence mechanism the body has. It comprises of an arsenal of amazing and very effective defensive and offensive weaponry, that would put any army to shame and just like any other complicated mechanism, it can develop issues and begin to misbehave, causing problems; some of which can be devastating.

However, as it has been the case for many decades, the approach has been to shut the immune system down or severely dampen it, in order to treat the condition, without any regard to what this actually means for the body. Shutting the immune system down can open your body to a myriad of infections and diseases. So why is it that we blindly follow old habits and as long as we see superficially positive results in the short term, this process of dampening the immune system, seems to be the way chosen by most in dealing with these conditions.

At present, autoimmunity is our focus and that is where I want to direct my attention. Yes, in autoimmunity, the immune system appears to attack the body and cause diseases as diverse as dermal conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, rosacea etc to arthritis and then to conditions such as Muscular Sclerosis MS etc.. I say appears as not all of the immune response is directed fully towards attacking the molecules of the body. Only a few of the immune systems arsenal of weaponry seem to be causing all of the damage and research to date, has only identified a few and treatment has been directed towards knocking these effectors. Although, these treatment strategies have been shown to be effective, when used for long periods of time, their efficacy is reduced and do not remain viable. Furthermore, there are side effects that in themselves can be very damaging and in the long term, some can present worse than the disease itself.

What if I told you, you don’t need to shut the immune system down in order to treat autoimmune conditions? What if I told you, there was a method of giving back control to the immune system to rescind its over-activity and naturally bring back autoimmunity?

We are doing a clinical trial of a naturally sourced product, which will provide the immune system with the basic ingredients to produce a compound made by the immune cells in order to signal the activated immune response back to normal levels.

Who should care about the medications you take for your condition; you or your doctor?

When you have a medical issue, the first thing most people do is to go and see their doctor. Your doctor will make a diagnosis and will prescribe medication to treat your condition. If they are not sure of the diagnosis, they will send you for some tests and if it turns out to be more complex, they will send you to see a specialist.

The approach that most doctors take is to treat the symptoms, which in most cases will work and that’s that, but what if it turns out to be something more; a condition that there are no cures for and the usual treatment comes with side effects. Depending on the side effects, most people are willing to go ahead and take the medication, but in many chronic conditions, when people need to take their medication prophylactically, then the side effects can more often rear their ugly head and cause more problems, when used in the longer term.

The issue of taking drugs with side effects is a complex one. The traditional pharmaceutical industry has a way of calculating the benefit versus the side effects. What this means is that for such drugs, the benefits must outweigh the side effects, however, when it comes to drugs, such as steroidal products, where the side effects are accumulative, then in my opinion, over time the side effects outweigh the benefits. In the case of steroidal use, not only are there side effects to contend with, which can be worse than the original condition you set out to treat, but also the steroid dependency, which in itself can be a harrowing experience.

The use of steroidal products can be very effective in the short term, in treating inflammatory conditions, in particular dermal conditions such as: eczema, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and rosacea. But when the short term turns into a longer term and your condition doesn’t respond as well as before, before you know it, you are using higher and higher concentrations of the steroidal product to get some relief. At this point, you remember your doctor’s advice, that you should not use the steroidal product for a long term, as it thins your skin and causes other side effects. So now it’s become so complicated, you are damned to use the product and damned not to use it.

This is the point where most people feel they should have thought longer and harder about what drugs they are using and the consequences. At the time, their doctor warned them about using the steroid cream only for a few days. The irony is that the same doctor then continues to prescribe for them the same drug or even higher concentrations of the product. Sadly at this point the only option left open to you is to continue using these products and move up to the next drug, which comes with its own set of side effects and issues.

In today’s information technology, everyone can access and find out information just about anything. So the onus is on you to make sure you understand what products you take and what effects they have on you. You should always consult your doctor, but learn about the drugs you take and what side effects they have on your body and whether there are alternatives for treating your condition.

Does ‘natural’ mean good to use or is only ‘good natural’ good to use?

Next time you see a product being advertised as being ‘all natural’ ingredients, think about what that means. Does it mean that the product is good to use? We automatically assume that it’s going to be safe to use and because it’s ‘all natural’, surely it’s going to be good for your body.

Unfortunately that is not the case. Just because it’s natural it does not mean it’s going to be good. Because of my experience with steroids, I would like to take this as an example, but there are many other examples that can be used as effectively.

The following are the list of natural steroids:

• Glucocorticoids: alclometasone, prednisone, dexamethasone, triamcinolone, cortisone
• Mineralocorticoid: fludrocortisone
• Vitamin D: dihydrotachysterol
• Androgens: oxandrolone, oxabolone, testosterone, nandrolone(also known as anabolic–androgenic steroids or simply anabolic steroids)
• Oestrogens: diethylstilbestrol (DES) and estradiol
• Progestins: norethisterone, medroxyprogesterone acetate, hydroxyprogesterone caproate.

These are natural hormones and are produced by our body. They are very important in our daily life and they control and manage a range of biological processes within our body. However, they are highly regulated and are managed, so that they produce the desired effects. This ranges from controlling your metabolism, immune response and development, to balancing your body’s salt, muscle building to sexual development. These natural steroidal products are natural, but there is a synthetically manufactured version, that when used, introduces a new balance in your body and although for a time they can be effective for managing certain issues in the body, long-term use will certainly lead to many other problems not previously foreseen. This is because our body will try and counter this externally introduced product(s) in order to maintain a homeostasis, a stable state for the body, which in turn causes other imbalances in the body and with prolonged use of steroidal products and the imbalance, a withdrawal will develop, which can at times be worse than the original condition we set out to treat.

I see everyday products being advertised as being totally natural and herbal, for the treatment of Eczema, Psoriasis and Rosacea… Just recently the UK National Health sent out a warning about a product: YIGANERJING as containing high concentrations of steroids and antifungal and for people using them to stop immediately using this product.

YIGANERJING cream – Contains high concentrations of steroids.

So, just because it claims to be ‘all Natural’ does not mean it is good for you. Also in Australia, the TGA similarly to the FDA, is the regulatory body and any product with such claims, should be with the TGA and have a relevant TGA number.

You wouldn’t use steroids on your kids; why then use them on yourself?

As responsible parents, we are very cautious about what products we use to treat our kids. There are more children with eczema today than ever before and unfortunately a visit to the local GP usually leads to a prescription for a cortisone cream, with a caution that you should not use for more than a few days or a week at most. Sadly, when the itching and stubborn eczema just does not go away, it is no surprise to see that steroid cream is used for longer than it should be and even when you go to see your doctor, he might consider a steroidal product used on a long-term basis.

Steroids work by shutting down the cellular replication and reproduction function at molecular level. What this means, is that if you use a topical cream, the cells where you are applying the steroid cream, have a reduced ability to make proteins and other molecules and that’s how they reduce the production of immune related mediators, that are responsible for the damage due to eczema. This might sound all well and good, but if your immune system is shut down, it will not evolve and develop as should be the case in children and that would certainly lead to issues in their adult life. This is only some of the damage long-term use of steroids can have on you. The other is steroid dependency and steroid withdrawal, which at times can be worse than the condition you set out to treat.

I started this article about why, when as responsible parents we hesitate and I hope do not treat our children with steroidal products, would we then use it on ourselves. I have heard it said by a number of GPs, that patients with atopic dermatitis (eczema) request a steroid / cortisone product for a quick fix and they seem to be too busy to even take the time to consider the long-term damage that this is doing to their body. I have also had interactions with people who have used steroids over a long period of time and have developed steroid withdrawal. This is probably one of the most heart breaking things I have come across. Patients in pain and suffering and bravely putting up with the withdrawal and blaming their doctor and just about everyone else for the condition they are now in. So this is a loud and clear warning to the busy adult. Please beware that using steroidal products for more than a short period of time and this is strictly a few days and not a few weeks or months, will lead to side effects and withdrawal and invariably health related issues when you get older.

Mosquito bites, Psoriasis, Eczema, Rosacea; ENDOR will work for all of them

ENDOR™ Cream and ENDOR™ 3.5 are topical creams, which contain the precursors for a compound that can be made by the immune cells, to signal the activated immune response back to normal. These are the only products that do not contain any drugs yet they can induce the person’s own immune cells to produce a natural anti-inflammatory compound. The current anti-inflammatory products are either steroidal based ointments and creams, that are not recommended for long-term use and most parents do not like to use them for their children, or other drugs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, that are associated with severe gastrointestinal side effects. ENDOR™ Cream and ENDOR™ 3.5 do not contain any drugs and are totally safe to use for as long as necessary. We have designed ENDOR™ Cream for babies and children up to 12 years old and ENDOR™ 3.5 is for more severe cases, for children and adults, 12 years and above.

As an example, I would like to bring to your attention, Christian, at the time, a 7-year Australian living in Sydney. Christian is very sensitive to insect bites (mozzie bites). His mum wrote to us asking if ENDOR™ Cream would help with the mosquito bites. When Christian used to get bitten by a mozzie, his skin used to swell at the point of bite and then go into a blister. His mum had taken him to their doctor who had prescribed antibiotics, which had no effect. I suggested she could use ENDOR™ Cream to reduce the inflammation and the subsequent blister. The next time Christian was bitten by a mozzie, his mum put ENDOR™ Cream on it within an hour of the bite. Christian’s skin had a small amount of inflammation, that had occurred from the bite, prior to applying ENDOR™ Cream and from the time he started putting ENDOR™Cream on his skin, the inflammation did not progress any further and soon his skin began to return to normal.

Similar to mosquito bites, ENDOR™ Cream and ENDOR™ 3.5 will reduce inflammation, which is the main cause behind the skin rash in Psoriasis, Eczema and Rosacea and allow the natural healing processes to return the skin back to normal healthy looking skin.

It is very important to remember that ENDOR™ products do not contain any drugs, and they require the person’s immune cells to be available and ready to convert the precursors into the active compound. So, if you have been using immune inhibiting (dampening) products, such as steroidal products, you will need a wash out period for your body to rid itself of these drugs, to get the best results from ENDOR™ products.

For more information, please either visit our website: www.gnpau.com or contact us and ask for Dr. Iraj on +61 2 9011 8006.