Chronic Illness Workshop

Road to Recovery from Chronic Illness

Hosted by Christ's Church of Marion County

 6768 SW 80th St. 

Therapy Tip

Many processed foods today are supplemented with vitamin D. Dietary avoidance of vitamin D is often necessary to maintain serum 25-D at a level that doesn't suppress the immune system (less than 30 ng/mL). But if your 25-D is not elevated, it's okay to relax your restriction of foods that contain vitamin D. Check 25-D

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Have you enjoyed this newsletter?

Greetings!        

Here at Chronic Illness Recovery, where we are completing our fifth year of service, we have been busier than ever!

If you have used our website, enjoyed our emails, or if you have benefited from our educational and outreach services, perhaps you can support us now with a financial gift. Your generous donations help ensure that our work continues to grow and every gift we receive is appreciated.

We can never say thank you enough, so thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged us during the past five years!

Meg Mangin, Executive Director

Belinda Fenter, Financial Director

You may have many questions about autoimmune diseases, inflammatory symptoms, diagnosis, the immune system, vitamin D deficiency and Inflammation Therapy. If you have a scientific background, our peer-reviewed paper, published in the October issue of Inflammation Research provides many details and references.

Inflammation and Vitamin D: the Infection Connection

For those of you who need a simpler explanation, the following article explains the key concepts of our scientific theory.

Bacterial Etiology Theory of Non-resolving Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a sign of immune system dysfunction; a probable cause is found in the ability of cell wall deficient bacteria (CWD) to invade nucleated cells. These pathogens persist within cellular cytoplasm by using strategies to evade destruction.

One of those strategies appears to be downregulation of the vitamin D receptor (VDR). This is evidenced by elevated 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol), in the absence of hypercalcemia. High levels of calcitriol suggest that bacterial ligands are able to antagonize or otherwise inhibit VDR function and prevent the receptor from expressing enzymes necessary to keep calcitriol in a normal range. Calcitriol activates the immune system by binding to the VDR to genomically induce transcription of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) which eliminate pathogens.

Normally, renal production of calcitriol is tightly self-regulated, with the end product down-regulating its own further production. Production of calcitriol in extra-renal cells is controlled by cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, nitric oxide and intracellular vitamin D binding protein; when extra-renal tissues are parasitized by CWD bacteria, excess calcitriol production is stimulated and renal control of calcitriol production is lost.

Elevated calcitriol indicates the immune system recognizes the presence of parasitic bacteria and is attempting to combat them by increasing the production of calcitriol in order to transcribe antimicrobial peptides. The result is chronic low-grade inflammation, persistent intracellular infection, and eventual multi-morbidity. Administration of the angiotensin blocker olmesartan medoxomil demonstrates reversal of immune system dysregulation. When used at higher than the standard antihypertensive dose, olmesartan appears to be an agonistic VDR ligand which upregulates the bacterially-inhibited VDR. This is evidenced by a significant reduction in elevated calcitriol. In addition, an apparent increase in AMP transcription and thus, elimination of intracellular bacteria, is evidenced by symptoms of Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction and eventual reduction in inflammatory symptoms.

Minocycline suppresses activation of nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFAT1) in human CD4+ T cells.

These findings provide a novel mechanism for minocycline induced suppression of CD4(+) T cell activation and may better inform the application of minocycline as an immunomodulatory agent.

Human Carboxymethylenebutenolidase (CMBL) as a Bioactivating Hydrolase of Olmesartan Medoxomil in Liver and Intestine

"...the medoxomil-ester prodrug is rapidly and completely converted to its pharmacologically active form in the gastrointestinal mucosa, portal blood, and liver before it comes into systemic circulation."

"My exuberant Doctor truly believes in IT and when I signed up he said it was the most exciting day of my life!" Sandpiper

"I continue to be SO thankful for this therapy and the doctors, nurses, and family of CIR patients who are brave, smart, and strong." LeAnne

We are contacted daily by people with chronic illnesses who are looking for an effective treatment. Many ask us to provide evidence of efficacy in the form of statistics or stories. If you have recovered your health or had significant symptom improvement with Inflammation Therapy, please help us 'pay it forward' by telling your story. We will post it in the public section of our website to encourage others. Any report, short or long, with or without objective data (e.g., lab results, imaging reports) would be helpful. Please email your story to us. Thank you!

To see the latest recovery reports, click here.

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