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Ultra Low Dose Enzyme Activated Immunotherapy (LDA)
Post Traumatic Environmental Stress Disorder
Peace of Mind:
Holistic Approaches to Anxiety and ADD (on "New Life Journal"
Website)
Bipolar Disorder Can Be Treated
With Medication and Naturally
ALLERGY REDUCTION:
Improving Mood and Energy
Hidden Factors Behind Your Persistent
Illness
Adult
ADD:
To Medicate or Go Natural
Cancer
– Finding Your
Best Advisor
Overweight - The Risk and the Remedy
Loss of Sexual Interest
Approaches in Helping Bipolar Sufferers
Help for Panic and Anxiety Sufferer
Seasonal Affective Disorder: The Winter Blues
Depression Relief Speeds Health Recovery
Amino Acids & Other Considerations in
Depression Evaluation
Integrative Medicine & Psychiatry
Blood Pressure -
A Wake up Call
Addictions - Breaking the Cycle
Spirituality:
The Core of Healing in Integrative Psychiatry
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Ultra
Low Dose Enzyme Activated Immunotherapy (LDA)
By
Ronald R. Parks, MD
Traditional conventional allergy shots
and treatments have proven to be very effective for certain pollen
and other specific types of allergy; however, they have more limited
value for patients with allergy to multiple inhalants and have
generally been ineffective for patients with autoimmune diseases,
food and chemical allergy, and intolerances. A newer method of
advanced immunotherapy called, "Ultra Low Dose Enzyme Activated
Immunotherapy" or "Low Dose Allergens" (LDA) is an effective
alternative in the treatment of many types of allergy; intolerance
to inhalants; some autoimmune diseases; and sensitivity caused by
foods, pollens, molds, dust and chemicals.
People who have used LDA treatment
have found this to be cost-effective, very comparable cost-wise to
"standard" immunotherapy and often no further testing is required to
begin LDA therapy. Since fewer and less frequent injections are
required, it is preferred by many -- especially needle-weary
patients. LDA has been very successful in easing the total body load
of environmental and allergy stressors, and has been helpful in
treating multiple chemical sensitivity patients. It is a very safe
type of therapy and treatment that reaches a far wider spectrum of
the population with allergy related conditions. Before starting this
therapy, patients are prepared and instructed about LDA treatment
requirements, including being asked to review and study a patient
education manual prepared by Dr. Shrader, a leading expert and
authority on the use of LDA in environmental related illnesses.
LDA was originally developed and used
under the name, "Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization" (EPD) as a
unique method of immunotherapy -- originally developed in England by
Dr. McEwen in the 1960's, which involved treating all types of
allergy with combinations of a large variety of extremely low dose
allergens. Over at least a thirty-five year period, Dr. McEwen had
both a high degree of success with EPD therapy and found extreme
safety in its use. EPD is a cell-mediated type of immunotherapy. It
has been a successful treatment for multiple conditions, and appears
to be a long lasting treatment option for allergy and autoimmune
illnesses. It has also been a treatment for many conditions not
generally thought to be due to any type of allergy or autoimmune
disease.
EPD is no longer available in the USA
and has been replaced by, "Ultra Low Dose Enzyme Activated
Immunotherapy" (LDA). For history of the development of LDA, go to
Dr. Shrader's website:
www.drshrader.com.
Conditions that have benefited from an environmental medicine
approach with LDA treatment include allergies -- sensitivity and
intolerance to inhalants (pollens, dust, mites, danders, etc.),
foods and chemicals; rhinitis, asthma, seasonal and perennial hay
fever; all types of food allergy; hyperactivity/ADD; eczema;
irritable bowel syndrome; migraine headaches; rheumatoid arthritis;
post viral syndrome (ME, CFIDS or CFS); multiple chemical
sensitivities; Tourette's syndrome; and many other environmentally
associated health problems.
LDA is a method of immunotherapy
enhanced by a small dose of the enzyme, beta-glucuronidase. The
beta-glucuronidase activates extremely low amounts of various
allergens (extremely small amounts when compared to standard allergy
injection materials) and stimulates the production of "T-suppressor
cells."
These cells turn off the "helper cells" that causes the
misidentification of normal substances in the body that get
mislabeled as allergens or as foreign invaders, which in turn leads
to an abnormal immune reaction, causing illness symptoms and
problems. Since T-suppressor cells
take a while to mature in the bloodstream, LDA only needs to be
administered every two to three months for the first six to eight
months; then less often as treatment progresses -- fewer treatments
are required for simple dust and pollen allergies. An LDA
treatment consists of injections on the inner aspect of the forearm
with a small amount of the injection (1/20 cc.) given intra-dermal
in the first layer of skin.
LDA includes mixtures of over 300
allergens that allow patients -- who are allergic or intolerant to
most substances and those with diverse medical conditions -- to
respond to treatment. Available LDA mixtures include inhaled
pollens, danders, dust and mites, fungi, yeast including Candida
species, molds, foods, many food additives, most common chemicals
and perfumes (except pesticides and herbicides), and formaldehyde.
LDA should not be used during pregnancy. The use of LDA is limited
in the USA because it is only available by prescription for specific
physicians’ patients and is not available as a retail product. The
compounding pharmacies are not allowed to advertise LDA to the
public, so this is not widely known. As physicians are allowed to
use compounded products formulated by themselves or products
formulated by other physicians, physicians trained in EPD or LDA
therapies in the USA (most of whom have used EPD in the past) have
chosen to use LDA in their offices. LDA
treatments are not generally covered by insurance companies as LDA
has not been widely accepted by the conventional medical community
nor insurance carriers at this point in time.
Overall efficacy for EPD, the
predecessor of LDA, for all conditions treated was 75% (for approx.
60 diverse conditions, according to American EPD Study - see Dr.
Shrader's website:
www.drshrader.com).
The conclusions of a seven year study of over 10,000 patients who
received at least 175,000 injections of EPD was that the healing and
health potential of EPD for use to treat allergy and autoimmune
disease was significant. The study -- in comparing EPD to
conventional immunotherapy -- concludes that EPD is an extremely
safe (without incidence of fatality or serious side effects)
available treatment that prevents the occurrence of life-threatening
reactions as a result of acute food allergy, is as successful as
conventional immunotherapy (for the very limited conditions for
which conventional immunotherapy is used to treat), can be used to
successfully treat a vastly greater number of conditions, and is
more convenient than conventional immunotherapy which often requires
frequent injections and treatments every two weeks. LDA treatment
can reduce the amount and/or number of drugs required to be taken by
patients on average by at least fifty-percent; has several major
advantages over conventional escalating dose immunotherapy; is
30-60% more cost-effective; is administered far less frequently with
an earlier and more complete endpoint; can be discontinued without
complete relapse of symptoms; and treatments can be extended to very
long intervals of a year or more.
Dr. Parks is an active member of the
American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM); has received
training in environmental medicine, allergy treatment and LDA
therapies through AAEM; and has been a guest faculty and lecturer at
AAEM meetings. He is board certified in psychiatry and fully
specialty trained in internal, family and preventive medicine. Dr.
Parks is well respected in his clinical, diagnostic and treatment
work with a wide array of medical, psychological, emotional,
behavioral and environmental related problems. In addition to his
work as a Holistic Psychiatrist and Integrative Medicine specialist,
Dr. Parks also treats environmental illnesses. For more information
call Dr. Parks' office 828-225-1812 or go to his website:
www.macrohealthmedicine.com -- for other information on LDA and its
history go to the website of W. A. Shrader, JR., MD, Santa Fe,
NM:
www.drshrader.com.
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