Theraputics: Low Dose Naltrexone

For a number of years I have been following the progress of a therapy known as low dose Naltrexone with great interest. With the recent publication of the study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology showing a positive response rate of about 89% and a remission rate of about 67% for patients with Crohn’s disease, I feel it is time to start offering this therapy to my patients. Low dose Naltrexone is not only a promising therapy for many difficult illnesses, but an instructive story about the etiology of disease and a good cause for the new Fourfold Clinic we are founding.

The drug Naltrexone has been in use for many years. It is classified as an opiate receptor antagonist, as its action is to block the many opiate receptors in our bodies. For a person with an acute heroin overdose, a single dose of 50 mg of Naltrexone reverses this almost immediately. As a matter of fact, in the 1970s Naltrexone at a dose of 50 mg was used before methadone to detox drug addicts from opiates. Its use was eventually abandoned because it was so effective at blocking these receptors that the person felt terrible, apparently from having their endogenous endorphin receptors (which use the same receptors as heroin and the other opiates) significantly blocked.

An addiction specialist in New York City, Dr. Bihari, when using Naltrexone in this way, began to notice that many of his addicts who were also sick with AIDS had very low endogenous endorphin levels. Subsequently, it was clearly demonstrated that the endorphins we produce in our bodies (by the pituitary and adrenal glands) are the master regulators of immune function. The endorphins seem to control Natural Killer cells, cell-mediated immunity, white blood cell activation and a host of other immune functions. Dr. Bhiari then noticed that if he gave a very low dose of Naltrexone right before bedtime to people suffering from illnesses of immune function, this stimulated their production of endorphins, and the disease, over time, would remit. This was particularly effective in many auto-immune diseases, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome and cancer. Over the years the approach was refined, the indications expanded and papers were written confirming its complete absence of toxicity and effectiveness.

The interesting thing about the Naltrexone story from the Fourfold Healing perspective is that, while low dose Naltrexone is the most effective agent in elevating endorphin levels we know of, other things have also been shown to raise these levels. These include exercise, acupuncture, diet (well, chocolate specifically), and iscador. In fact, these protocols are among the various modalities we will be offering at our clinic. For more information about low dose Naltrexone, visit the website lowdosenaltrexone.org. If you have further questions, please feel free to email or call the office for an appointment.