Category Archives: Fibromyalgia

A Life long battle with arthritis, fibro, auto-immune disease, and scoliosis. A brighter future with inForce Immune Builder with PSK

Deborah Anne Kaufman says:
I was born with Scoliosis, Pediatric Fibromyalgia and a weakened auto-immune system. What that means is from infancy, until the age of 11 years old, I woke up in the morning to start my day, unable to open my eyes.

They were glued shut from an excess accumulation of mucus overnight, which would harden and interlock my eye-lashes thus, by dawn my eyes were sealed shut. My mother’s daily routine was to place hot, wet towels over my eyes to loosen the mucus and remove it without removing my eye-lashes as well. Once that was done and I could open my eyes to see, my mother would drive me to my doctors office, where I would have to sit at a machine, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner sucking excess mucus from each nostril. It was a painful, childhood experience which I will never forget.

Because of scoliosis, I had to wear a full metal brace from my neck to my tail bone with special shoes which forced me to walk on the heels of my feet.

Because of my weakened auto-immune system and multiple allergies, I had numerous weekly shots. Every year, as the seasons mildly changed, in Los Angeles, CA, from summer to fall I would become sick with a cold, flu and/or bronchitis throughout winter until the following year’s spring season.

For over 40 years, I suffered the flu, bronchitis and asthma during the fall and winter seasons. In spite of my health problems; since I was a hyperactive creative child, I participated in competitive and non-competitive sports, art, music and dance. I have had a full life of activity and the idea I might someday suffer from illness, disease and disorders never entered my conscious mind. That was until the day I lost my health and wellness. For me, I did not recognize and appreciate how fortunate I was until I lost what I had, something more important than any money or material one could buy. I lost my health and wellness.

For over 20 years in young adulthood, my body rapidly declined with illnesses, which generally do not occur until old adulthood. In my 30’s suddenly I was faced with severe illnesses which included adult fibromyalgia, scoliosis, osteoporosis, arthritis, degenerative disc disease and an auto-immune deficiency. These illnesses caused further disorders and diseases to my endocrine, nutritional, metabolic systems, blood and blood-forming organs (acute anemia, liver, kidney and gall bladder), nervous system and sense organs, circulatory and respiratory systems (asthma, bronchitis and acute pneumonia), digestive and genitourinary system (stomach, intestines and bladder), gynecological (infertility and early menopause), musculoskeletal systems and connective tissue (muscle spasms and atrophy, fractures, torn ligaments and tendons). My auto-immune system deficiency was so severe, I could not walk into a room with any ill-health individuals without contracting a cold, virus, flu or other ailments and would take months, often entire seasons to recover.

In 1990 at 28 years old, I lost the use of both arms and was in chronic pain 24/7 365 days of the year. All I could do was sit in the corner of a room and cry. After dozens upon dozens of doctor visits, the medical profession had no idea what was wrong with my body, nor how or what to do to restore my health. I was told this was how I would be for the rest of my life, there was NO CURE, and “the sooner I would be able to accept my lot in life the better.”

What was my response? To their surprise and disappointment, I responded, “NO WAY! I refuse to accept this as my lot in life. I will do and did anything necessary to find a way to improve my health and wellness! I refuse to give up inLife!”

Long-term chronic pain and illness not only affected my body physiologically, but also affected my mind – my memory, cognitive abilities, and sleep patterns suffered tremendously as well. In the end, as it is darkest before the dawn, I had become isolated, only venturing outside for doctor appointments, treatment(s) and physical therapy.

It has been a long journey, filled with challenges and tragedy, which I have learned to overcome with adversity. After 20 years of ill health, the last 10 of which were filled with chronic pain 24/7/365 days, I have survived 29 surgeries and almost died, to the best of my recollection, at least 15 times. Of the 29 surgeries, 27 were not to improve my health and wellness from illness, disease and disorders. Rather, they were emergency surgeries to repair the damage done to my body as a direct result of allergies and side-effects to pharmacological medications. These medications were given to me by numerous, well-intentioned, highly educated medical practitioners.

I met my inLife mentor, teacher and role-model, Brian B Bush, just a few months before my 29th surgery in December 2009. Barely able to walk, let alone function, Brian introduced me to the electronic cigarette, which I immediately purchased and utilized in preparation for surgery.

In March 2010, I underwent an anterior cervical discectomy. Just one hour following surgery, for the first time in 10 years, I awoke in recovery with NO continuous electrical current running down my spine radiating down both arms and legs. It was gone! Thanks to one of the top neurological surgeons in our country, I was pain free at last and given a new lease on life! I was ecstatic. I enjoyed my positive smoking alternative, the electronic cigarette, in the hospital with glee!

I was so elated to have my health restored, I had forgotten about my weakened auto-immune system and immediately began attending conferences and events to make up for lost time personally, professionally and financially. Within one week, I had attended two events with over 400 people in attendance. At some point, I had come into contact with someone who had ill health and immediately suffered the consequences. For 6 weeks I had a temperature of 103 and had to go to the emergency room on two occasions because I could not breathe. For 6 weeks, I was given strong antibiotics and large quantities of Ibuprophen, but could not break my fever. The hospital ran a full blood panel, which told them that my white blood count, auto-immune system and more, were significantly below normal. Hepatitis C, from blood transfusions over 20 years earlier had returned, my liver, kidney, intestines, stomach and other organs ceased to function properly and were shutting down.

That was when inLife introduced the nutritional supplement inForce Immune Builder with PSK (Polysaccharide Krestin) and PSP (Polysaccharide Peptide) from the Coriolus Versicolor mushroom. What is Coriolus Versicolor? It is a mushroom, which has been documented and utilized in Eastern Medicine, since the Ming Dynasty in the 1300s. Within 24 hours of taking inForce, my fever broke and I was able to breathe, get out of bed, bathe and eat! On the 8th day using inForce the hospital ran my blood levels again. My numbers went from significantly below normal to above normal. After using inForce for 30 days, the hospital ran my blood levels again. My numbers went from above normal to significantly above normal.

For the first time in 10 years, not only was I able to breathe, eat and bathe, but I was also able to sleep, regain memory and improve my cognitive abilities. I could walk without falling and fracturing bones. I could eat meat, vegetables and carbs in the same meal, without spending two days in bed rolling around in excruciating pain. I began applying to, and interviewing for, employment in my field of practice.

During this process, I have learned through experience something crucial to achieving optimal health and wellness. One of the problems involved when people have issues with health and wellness is that they stop doing what they did to restore their health and wellness. Through no intention of my own, I miscalculated my inForce intake and ran out of inForce for one week. In just 7 days, a dormant infection rapidly worsened and I had to undergo an emergency root canal. My neck suddenly looked like I had a golf ball on the inside of my throat, and my entire face swelled. The day of my emergency root canal my inForce shipment arrived. Within 24 hours back on inForce, the swelling and infection were gone, not dormant, but gone! Because of this, I continue to maintain a higher dosage of inForce on a daily regimen and make sure I order enough to not run out, EVER. It has now been 4 months since I began taking inForce.

For the first time in my life, at 48 years old, when summer turned to fall, I did not get sick. For the first time in my life, I am working with people who have illnesses of one kind or another, and I am not getting sick.

I have more energy and feel better than I have ever felt before. After years of chronic pain, fatigue and hopelessness, I did not think it would ever be possible to feel well again. Today, I have more joy, health, and wellness and hope than I ever imagined possible.

Because of my story, I have met hundreds, thousands possibly, of sick people with all kinds of health problems, many of which are life-threatening diseases, with no hope for a cure, no hope for the future, their children and grand-children.

Today, I get to work in the fields of medical and mental health. On a daily basis, I work on educating, teaching and role-modeling a life of fulfillment, health and wellness, a meaningful purpose – heart, mind, body, and soul. If my story can save just one person from suffering physically, psychologically, emotionally, and/or spiritually, then everything I have experienced has been well worth it. Through my experience, strength and hope, today, I get to spend my days helping people to improve their health and wellness, their families, their friends and community – to empower people to heal, find their meaningful purpose in life, and achieve their dreams and desires. Everything is about personal, professional, and financial freedom – so everyone can spend their days, their lives with their families, friends and community.

Today, I get to be a member of a special group of people, who believe as do I, in the infinite universe of abundance, the laws of attraction, to pay it forward. We are all connected – heart, mind, body, and soul – in an incredible world where we live and love inLife!

I invite you to stop working to live. Rather live and love to work inLife to help one another to achieve our fullest potential, meaningful purpose, personal, professional, and financial freedom… to do what we all wish to do more than anything else on earth – to live, love and spend TIME with our families, friends and loved ones. Join us – to be people helping people.

God bless you and welcome to becoming changed, to live and love inLife!

Your global friend,

Debórah Anne Kaufman

Mushroom immunutrition in Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome

In the recently published edition of the Journal of Integrated Medicine (Online version), Dr. Jean Monro of the Breakspear Hospital outlines the impact of Coriolus versicolor supplementation as immunonutrition in thirty-six (36) Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) patients over a six week period.

The 36 patients were selected on the basis of international criteria for the diagnosis of CFIDS. Ages ranged from 17 years to 83 years and there was a female-to-male ratio of 2:1. In addition, the patients had a combination of high antibody levels to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and/or Herpes Simplex 6 virus (HHV6) and/or Cytomegalovirus. (CMV).

Patients were given Coriolus versicolor (non-extracted) 6 tablets daily for 15 days (3 g/day), followed by 3 tablets daily for 45 days (1.5 g/day). Immune parameters were measured before and after the sixty (60) day supplementation period.

Results were noted in two areas:

1) Natural Killer Cells–before treatment the average NK cell level was average=129.64/mm3. After treatment this had increased to 175/mm3, an increase of 35%.

2) T cells (CD3 CD26)–there was increased activation in 66% of patients and T cell depression in 22% of patients. T cell level was unchanged in 11% of the patients.

Conclusion

Supplementation with non-extracted Coriolus versicolor showed improvements in both immune parameters and viral levels in the majority of the thirty-six (36) CFIDS patients, indicating that Coriolus versicolor supplementation has the potential to play a significant role in the treatment of CFIDS.

Clinical Trial Results Show Proof-of-Concept For Use Of Coriolus Versicolor As Immunonutrition In HPV Patients With Cervical Lesions (LSIL)

(Medical News Today – 4/29/2008) The results of a year long clinical trial examining the effects of mushroom supplementation in patients with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) have recently been presented at congress. Dr. Jose Silva Couto and Dr. Daniel Pereira da Silva of the Cervical Pathology Unit of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Coimbra, Portugal presented their findings at the 20th European Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, in Lisbon Portugal. This study provides a promising set of results and demonstrates proof-of concept for the question as to whether immunonutrition supplements can be successfully used to improve HPV status in patients.

The poster presentation detailed the results of the evaluation of the Efficacy of Coriolus versicolor Supplementation in patients infected with HPV with low-grade squamous intraepthithelial lesions (LSIL). The Coriolus versicolor mushroom supplied for the study was produced by Mycology Research Laboratories Ltd in tablet form (500 mg/tablet).

Dr. Silva Couto et al. found that Coriolus versicolor supplementation over a period of one year substantially increased regression of the dysplasia (LSIL) and induced clearance of the high risk sub-types of the HPV virus responsible for cervical cancer.

a) Coriolus versicolor supplementation demonstrated a 72% regression rate in LSIL lesions compared to 47.5% without supplementation.

b) Coriolus versicolor supplementation demonstrated a 90% regression rate in the high risk HPV virus sub-types compared to 8.5% without supplementation.

Study Design

The year long study was funded by Mycology Research Laboratories Ltd. The Portuguese pharmaceutical firm Aneid-Produtos Farmacêuticos Lda acted as collaborative partners.

Forty-three (43) patients with HPV Lesions (LSIL) were divided into two groups:

– A Control group (21 patients) who did not receive any treatment

– A treatment group (22 patients) who each received Coriolus versicolor supplementation for a period of one year (6 tablets/day i.e. 3g/day)

Protocol Design

At first observation, patients were examined with colposcopy, biopsy and HPV tipification (hybrid capture). Cervical cytology exams (Pap smear tests) determined the patients’ LSIL status and this was confirmed through colposcopy and biopsy.

Four months after the first observations, colposcopy and cervical cytology was again carried out on all patients. At the same time, there was an evaluation of the possible side effects from Coriolus supplementation.

After one year, (at the end of the supplementation period), colposcopy, cervical cytology and HPV typing were carried out on all patients.

Success Parameters

The authors measured the efficacy of Coriolus supplementation in LSIL patients in terms of the evolution of HPV status from High Risk HPV+ status to High Risk HPV- status. High Risk HPV, refers to certain strains of HPV that are known to be associated with causing cervical cancer, such strains include HPV 16, 18, 31 and 45. The persistence of cervical lesions as measured by colposcopy and cytology was also determined.

Study Population

Out of the 43 patients enrolled, 39 completed the trial. Of the four (4) who did not complete the trial, 1 patient left the country and 3 discontinued supplementation due to mild side-effects. The side-effects were not serious and did not warrant further medical intervention.

The age distribution of the two groups was very similar. Patients receiving Coriolus versicolor supplementation had an average age of 31.7 years (minimum age of 19, maximum age of 49 years). The control group had an average age of 33.4 years (minimum age of 19 and a maximum of 51 years).

Results

Of the 39 patients who completed one year of follow-up, 18 took Coriolus supplementation, while the other 21 patients received no therapy (Control group). After 1 year 13 of the 18 patients in the Coriolus group showed normal cervical cytology (72.5%) while only 10 of the patients in the control group did (47.5%).

Of the 39 patients, 22 were positive for high risk HPV subtypes.10 of these patients were in the Coriolus group and 12 in the control group. After 1 year 9 of the 10 in the Coriolus group had reverted to HPV- status (90%) while only 1 of the 12 in the control group had (8.5%).

What do these results mean for HPV patients?

The results from this study are encouraging and provide insight into the effectiveness of Coriolus versicolor as a useful immunonutrition agent. Using Coriolus supplementation for one year resulted in 72.5% of recipients reverting to normal cytology compares with only 47.5% of the control group. Encouragingly, 90% of the Coriolus recipients reverted to a HPV- status compared with only 8.5% in the control group.

While the study sample size is limited in number, the results strongly suggest that using Coriolus versicolor as a food supplementation agent offers doctors a useful nutritional tool when treating HPV (LSIL) patients over the age of 35 or those HPV (LSIL) patients with compromised immune systems.

It is also likely that Coriolus versicolor could be beneficial in HSIL patients who have undergone surgery but who experience recurrent lesions caused by persistent HPV viral infection; the eradication or “control” of the viral infection is key to both LSIL and HSIL patient care.

According to Dr Silva Couto, one of the study authors “At present, we believe that the optimal supplementation period may actually be as short as six months. Further testing is required to determine the best way to reduce the time period from the one year period used in this study.”. A shorter period of treatment would aid compliance as well as reducing the already minimal overall cost of therapy.

Why Coriolus versicolor?

As already stated, the mushroom Coriolus versicolor has been used in traditional Asian medicine for a long time. It is now known that Coriolus contains high quantities of Beta-glucans that act to stimulate the immune system. Studies have shown that Coriolus can double the number of natural killer cells after only 8-weeks of treatment.1,2 The benefits of treatment with the fungus has also been tested in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Coriolus versicolor (strain CV-OH1) is grown aseptically on sterile, edible grain, harvested and then produced as a tablet following good manufacturing practice according to pharmaceutical guidelines. It is free from pesticide, heavy metals and contaminants.

1. Jean A. Monro, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. J Integrative Medicine 2004;8:101-108

2. Jean A. Monro Treatment of Cancer with Mushroom Products. Arch Env Health 2003;58:533-537

Source: Medical News Today
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105573.php