ALS

Dear Dr. Meletis,

I was diagnosed at Mayo Clinic with ALS—Lou Gehrig’s disease. I have been using Vitamin D3, 5,000 IU, regularly. I would like to add a good antioxidant (Grape seed?) or Resveratrol—would this be beneficial? Also, there is a new research study beginning this fall in the use of Zinc to offset a neurotoxin that is damaging motorneuron brain connections. I would like to start Zinc now. Any suggestions for me—at this time, primarily being affected with upper motor neuron difficulties—walking and loss of balance. Would appreciate your perspective, Thanks.

Ms. M.

Dear Ms. M.,

I appreciate your question and also the need to approach this globally. I will assume you have had very thorough Lyme disease testing. As you likely know, not all Lyme testing is equal and I clinically consider any positive response worthy of treatment for my patients. Relative to the Vitamin D3, the goal is to get blood levels up to a minimum of 55 (range 20-100) and often higher for 25-OH Vitamin D. Routine testing every 2 months would be prudent to help ensure optimal levels. Also making sure that your homocysteine levels are at or below 7 will be important.

To answer your question, the antioxidants that would be strongly worth considering include: Trans-Resveratrol (Extension Resveratrol), 2 to 3 per day, along with Lipoic Acid 500 mg, 2 times per day. Also LipoCeutical™ Glutathione would be a strong consideration. These dosages of course would need to be discussed with your primary care provider or neurologist to fine tune for your health, weight and other personal considerations.

Making sure that you do not consume MSG or other sources of glutamate is important, as it is believed to play a role in nerve damage. Also making sure that you have adequate Vitamin B12 levels is essential. I routinely will even have my patients with blood B12 levels that are adequate supplement with methylcobalamin to ensure that this biologically active form is readily present, as some people have the inability to adequately convert to the more active forms.

In terms of Zinc, dosing is critical and really depends to some degree on exposures to metals such as copper, mercury, lead and cadmium in the past. A heavy metal testing for these elements can be helpful and offer essential information relative to how best to aggressively approach your goal. My basic starting dose for my patients is 50 milligrams of Zinc Monomethionine with food, yet depending on your results of the above test, additional Zinc may be needed. Your doctor can assist with the testing.

I would also encourage you to read about Neuron Growth Factors (NGF™), as I use this with many of my patients with neurological health optimization goals. There are a couple of nice articles on the website relative to its proposed mechanism.

Lastly, beyond ruling out Lyme disease, autoimmune disease is often screened for, along with making sure that no oxygen deprivation is occurring due to undiagnosed or under treated sleep apnea.

Working closely with your neurologist and primary care physician (PCP) is important.

Sincerely,

Chris D. Meletis, ND