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New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> Beets Helped Me!
(Message started by: Zy on Nov 9th, 2004, 1:03am) |
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Title: Beets Helped Me!
Post by Zy on Nov 9th, 2004, 1:03am
I've had clusters for 20 years. They come every year or so for 8-12 weeks. This year they lasted 4 months and were very bad. I can usually manage them with Prednisone and Oxygen but this current cycle was horrible -- until I went to my daughter's play -- a Neil Simon remake of "The Good Doctor" -- and they mentioned Borscht, beet soup. I had some intuition, so the next day my wife picked up some beets for me. I cut them up and boiled them with a few cups of water. I threw in some carrots, celery and spices. I made it thick and strong. I ate it with some sour cream -- just like in Russia. That night I slept like a baby for the first time in weeks. Even my shadows were gone the following day. Still, I heated up the leftover soup and ate some more. The next few days I juiced beets instead. I mixed them with carrots in the juicer. My clusters have been gone for over one week. One day, I didn't have any beet soup or beet juice and I felt a shadow. I made some juice and the shadow left -- no cluster. I've been off the Prednisone and Oxygen ever since the first day that I made the beet soup. Of course, I could have been at the end of my cycle, but I feel an obligation to share my experience with other cluster sufferers. If you decide to try this, please post your results for others. Thanks for listening. |
Title: Re: Beets Helped Me!
Post by floridian on Nov 9th, 2004, 8:27am
Trimethylglycine & proanthocyanidins. Mmmmm, good. More people should eat beets, even if it doesn't affect CH.
Quote:| Proanthocyanidins also help promote tissue elasticity, help heal injuries, reduce swelling and edema, restore collagen and improve peripheral circulation. Proanthocyanidins also prevent bruising, strengthen weak blood vessels, protect against atherosclerosis, and reduce histamine production. |
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Quote:| Betaine (trimethylglycine) functions very closely with choline, folic acid, vitamin B12, and a form of the amino acid methionine known as S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe).1 2 All of these compounds function as “methyl donors.” They carry and donate methyl molecules to facilitate necessary chemical processes. The donation of methyl groups by betaine is very important to proper liver function, cellular replication, and detoxification reactions. Betaine also plays a role in the manufacture of carnitine and serves to protect the kidneys from damage.3 Betaine is closely related to choline. |
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Trimethylglycine can sometimes improve serotonin metabolism, especially when it is underproduced.
Proanthocyanidins in 'blood of the dragon' block CGRP:
Quote:J Invest Dermatol. 2001 Sep;117(3):725-30. Inhibition of neurogenic inflammation by the Amazonian herbal medicine sangre de grado.
Miller MJ, Vergnolle N, McKnight W, Musah RA, Davison CA, Trentacosti AM, Thompson JH, Sandoval M, Wallace JL.
Department of Pediatrics, Albany Medical College, Albany, New York, New York 12208, USA. millermj@mail.amc.edu
This study was designed to determine if the Amazonian medicinal sangre de grado, confers benefit by suppressing the activation of sensory afferent nerves. METHODS: (i) vasorelaxation of rat mesenteric arteries in response to calcitonin gene-related peptide; (ii) rat paw edema in response to protease- activating peptide receptor 2-activating peptide; (iii) rat paw hyperalgesia in response to low-dose protease-activating peptide receptor 2-activating peptide or prostaglandin E2; (iv) gastric hyperemia in response luminal capsaicin; (v) a clinical trial of a sangre de grado balm in pest control workers. The parent botanical was fractionated for evaluation of potential active components. In preconstricted rat mesenteric arteries, highly diluted sangre de grado (1:10,000) caused a shift to the right of the calcitonin gene-related peptide dose-response curve (p < 0.01). Paw edema in response to protease-activating peptide receptor 2-activating peptide (500 microg) was reduced by as single topical administration sangre de grado balm (1% concentration, p < 0.01) for at least 6 h. Hyperalgesia induced by either low-dose protease-activating peptide receptor 2-activating peptide (50 microg) or prostaglandin E2 was prevented by sangre de grado balm. A fraction possessing analgesic and capsaicin antagonistic properties was isolated and high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis indicated that it was a proanthocyandin oligomer. In pest control workers, sangre de grado balm (Zangrado) was preferred over placebo, for the relief of itching, pain, discomfort, edema, and redness in response to wasps, fire ants, mosquitoes, bees, cuts, abrasions, and plant reactions. Subjects reported relief within minutes. We conclude that sangre de grado is a potent inhibitor of sensory afferent nerve mechanisms and supports its ethnomedical use for disorders characterized by neurogenic inflammation. |
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