Re: Antioxidants to Percy

[Guest guest]

percy wrote:

I talked to my doctor about antioxidant treatments as I have learned that s=

ome

of people w/CP had success with adding them to their regeim for pain contro=

l.

> Has anyone else heard about this?

(snip) heard some where that some 22% had success with antioxidants (thats=

not bad odds).

Percy,

I've been taking the antioxidants listed below for nearly three years now, =

and

do believe they help with my overall health and with my pain situations wit=

h

CP. I'm printing a copy of an article I recently sent in to the message bo=

ard on

this very subject.

Drug Watch: Antioxidant Therapy for Recurrent Pancreatitis

There is little to offer patients with recurrent pancreatitis in way of tre=

atment.

Thesepatients suffer considerable pain, and about the only measure that wil=

l

guarantee long-term pain relief is near-total pancreatectomy - which carrie=

s

the penalties of malabsorption and brittle diabetes. Though the number of

patients with chronic pancreatitis will be small across the UK, there may b=

e

pockets of relatively high prevalence, largely in deprived areas. These

patients will consume significant amounts of health service resources - eve=

n

more if near-total pancreatectomy is carried out. Any therapy which can be =

shown to be effective in chronic pancreatitis will therefore have an

impact on healthcare provision.

Causes of pancreatitis

There is accumulating evidence that oxidant stress resulting from an excess=

of pro-oxidant over antioxidant has a key role in acute oedematous

pancreatitis aswell as painful exacerbations of chronic disease. Cytokines =

like

platelet activation factor (PAF) have also been shown to be involved with

development of the acute disease in animal models, but it is likely that th=

e

prime insult which triggers pancreatitis is oxidant stress.

Antioxidant therapy?

From this, it would seem likely that therapy with antioxidants should help =

to

prevent

pancreatitis - especially recurrent pancreatitis. A randomised, controlled,=

double-blind, double dummy, crossover study from the Manchester Royal

Infirmary has shown this to be the case. Twenty patients with chronic

pancreatitis (8 idiopathic, 7 alcoholic and 5 idiopathic acute) entered the=

study in which micronutrient antioxidant therapy was compared with placebo,=

each for a 20-week period. Patients took six tablets of selenium Ace (Wasse=

n

International) and eight tablets of methionine ( Medical Ltd) in divid=

ed

doses, giving a daily total of:

600 µg organic selenium

9000 IU beta-carotene

0.54 g vitamin C

270 IU vitamin E

2 g methionine

Results

This was a thorough and detailed study. The bare-bones of the results werth=

at

while six patients had an attack while on placebo, not one had an attack wh=

ile

on active medication.

Pain scores were significantly lower on active treatment than on placebo an=

d

at baseline. The blood concentrations of a free radical 'marker' - the

percentage molar ratio of 9,11-linoleic acid to 9,12-linoleic acid - were

elevated at baseline and in patients on placebo, but was normalised by acti=

ve

treatment.

Benefits and costs

Treatment would entail a maximum cost of about £15 a month (1990 prices),

with possibly a 50% reduction after six months. This financial outlay is sm=

all

compared with the cost in terms of the mortality, morbidity, narcotic use, =

malnutrition and brittle diabetes of near-total pancreatectomy.

Reference:

S Uden et al. Antioxidant therapy for recurrent pancreatitis: placebo contr=

olled

trial.

Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics 1990 4: 357-71.

Questions to be Answered

Q: What need is met by this therapy?

A: Treatment of patients with chronic or recurrent acute pancreatitis.

Q: What happens now?

A: Patients are treated with analgesics, or may go on to near-total

pancreatectomy resulting in malabsorption and diabetes.

Q: Is quality improved?

A: Yes - patients on this treatment do not have pain.

Q: What does the treatment cost?

A: Less than £15 per month per patient.

Q: Can cost savings be made?

A: Yes - though not quantified, the cost of treatment with antioxidants is =

=

likely to be much

less than present treatments.

Advice to Health Authorities and GPFHs

Will increase quality and effectiveness.

May result in reduced costs.

Worth considering in specification.

I hope this helps.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep

PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or opinion

only, and shoud not be substitued for professional medical consultation.