243 lines
18 KiB
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243 lines
18 KiB
HTML
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<head><title>Blocking Tissue Destruction</title></head>
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<body>
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<h1>
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Blocking Tissue Destruction
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</h1>
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<p>
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There always seems to be a rough balance between tissue regeneration and tissue degeneration, with growth
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and repair occurring when the equilibrium shifts in one direction,and with atrophy or degeneration occurring
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when the balance shifts in the other direction. If we can understand the mechanisms of atrophy, and how to
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retard or to block tissue destruction, then we can restore the balance to a degree which might allow
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regeneration to occur, even if we don't clearly understand the mechanisms of growth.
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</p>
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<p>
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Skin and bones are such different types of tissue that it will be useful to start with them, because if we
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can see similar processes of degeneration or regeneration in them, then the chances are good that the same
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processes will occur in other tissues too. Bone is a relatively stable tissue, while skin is a tissue whose
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cells divide rapidly.
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</p>
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<p>
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It is common medical knowledge that cortisone and realted glucocorticioid-type hormones cause skin to
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atrophy, becoming thinner. Using topical applications of a synthetic derivative of cortisione,CM Papa and A
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M. Kligman showed that the atrophy extended to the pigment cells,reducing theirr size and eliminating most
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of their dendritic branches. Some animal studies have found that estrogen caused the skin to become thinner.
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The other steroids they tested,progesterone, testosterone,and pregnenolone, acted in the opposite direction,
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making aged and atrophied skin thicker and more regular. They also made the pigment cells larger, and
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increased their branchinhg.l Since these hormones were already known to have protective actions against
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cortisone and estrogen, these results were not too surprising, though they did directly contradict the
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claims of people who made estrogen-containing cosmetics.
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</p>
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<p>
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Since progesterone and pregnenolone do not cause healthy, young skin to thicken, their effect in damaged
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skin is probably partly to replace the deficiency of that type of steroid which occurs with aging, and to
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offset the damaging effects of the catabolic hormones, whose influence does not decrease with age.
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</p>
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<p></p>
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<p>
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Many years ago it was found that in old age a woman's estrogens were increasedd relative to the 17-keto
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steroids adrenal androgens. Later, it was found that the conversion of androgen to estrogen increases with
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age in both men and women, and that this occurs largely in fat cells. Several years ago, P. K. Siiteri found
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that low thyroid modified the enzymes of fat cells in a way that would tend to increase the conversion of
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androgen to estrogen. More recently, it was found that adding progesterone to the enzymes had the opposite
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effect of aging and hypothyroidism, protecting the androgen from conversion to estrogen. These researchers
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(C. J. Newton and colleagues, of London) concluded that the decreased output of progesterone after the
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menopause might account for the increased production of estrogen.3 Since progesterone declines in aging men,
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too, this could account for the same process in men.
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</p>
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<p>
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Vitamin A's effect on the skin opposes that of estrogen.4 There are several mechanisms that could account
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for this. Vitamin A is used in the formation of steroids, and since the skin is a major site of steroid
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metabolism, vitamin A might help to maintain the level of the anti-catabolic steroids. A deficiency of
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vitamin A causes excessive release of the lysosomal enzymes, acid hydrolases, resulting in tissue
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catabolism.5 Also, vitamin A is necessary for the proper differentiation of cells in skin and other
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membranes. A deficiency tends to cause an increased rate of cell division, with the production of abnormal
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cells, and a substitution of keratinized cells for other types. Estrogen also promotes keratinization and
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speeds cell division. A deficiency of vitamin A can cause leukoplakia in the mouth and on the cervix of the
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uterus; although this is considered "pre-cancerous," I have found it to be very easily reversible, as I have
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discussed elsewhere.6 I suspect that the intracellular fiber, keratin, is produced when a cell can't afford
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to do anything more complex. Adequate vitamin A speeds protein synthesis,7 and allows it to be used more
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efficiently.
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</p>
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<p>
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Prolactin (which is promoted by estrogen, and inhibited by progesterone) increases with stress and with age.
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It probably affects every tissue, but it seems to have its greatest efects on the secretory membranes. It is
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known to have strong effects on the kidney, gut and skin (sweat and oil glands, hair follicles, and feathers
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inbirds), and on the gills of fish. Its involvement with milk production suggests that it might mobilize
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calcium from bones, and inf fact it does contribute to osteoporosis. This was foreseen by G. Bourne, in his
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book on the metabolism of hard tissues, when he suggested that estrogen, acting through the pituitary, might
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be expected to promote osteoporosis.
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</p>
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<p>
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Since reading Bourne's book, I have doubted that it was rational to use estrogen to prevent osteoporosis,
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especially when it is known to be carcinogenic and when the ratio of estrogen to and
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</p>
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<p>
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androgens and progesterone increases after menopause. Now that several publications have appeared clearly
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showing that estrogen increases prolactin, that prolactin increases with
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</p>
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<p>
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cancellous bone; adrenal androgens. Thyroid. Rate of formation, overall metabolic rate.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>ARTHRITIS AND NATURAL HORMONES</strong>
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</p>
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<p>
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A very healthy 71 year-old man was under his house repairing the foundation, when a support slipped and let
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the house fall far enough to break some facial bones. During his recovery, he developed arthritis in his
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hands. It is fairly common for arthritis to appear shortly after an accident, a shock, or surgery, and Han
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Selye's famous work with rats shows that when stress exhausts the adrenal glands (so they are unable to
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produce normal amounts of cortisone and related steroid hormones), arthritis and other "degenerative"
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diseases are likely to develop.
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</p>
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<p>
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But when this man went to his doctor to "get something for his arthritis," he was annoyed that the doctor
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insisted on giving him a complete physical exam, and wouldn't give him a shot of cortisone. The examination
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showed low thyroid function, and the doctor prescribed a supplement of thyroid extract, explaining that
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arthritis is one of the many symptoms of hypothyroidism. The patient agreed to take the thyroid, but for
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several days he grumbled about the doctor 'fixing something that wasn't wrong' with him, and ignoring his
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arthritis. But in less than two weeks, the arthritis had entirely disappeared. He lived to be 89, without a
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recurrence of arthritis. (He died iatrogenically, while in good health.)
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</p>
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<p>
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Selye's work with the diseases of stress, and the anti-stress hormones of the adrenal cortex, helped many
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scientists to think more clearly about the interaction of the organism with its environment, but it has led
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others to focus too narrowly on hormones of the adrenal cortex (such as cortisol and cortisone), and to
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forget the older knowledge about natural resistance. There are probably only a few physicians now practicing
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who would remember to check for hypothyroidism in an arthritis patient, or in other stress-related
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conditions. Hypothyroidism is a common cause of adrenal insufficiency, but it also has some direct effects
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on joint tissues. In chronic hypothyroidism (myxedema and cretinism), knees and elbows are often bent
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abnormally.
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</p>
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<p>
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By the 1930's, it was well established that the resistance of the organism depended on the energy produced
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by respiration under the influence of the thyroid gland, as well as on the adrenal hormones, and that the
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hormones of pregnancy (especially progesterone) could substitute for the adrenal hormones. In a sense, the
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thyroid hormone is the basic anti-stress hormone, since it is required for the production of the adrenal and
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pregnancy hormones.
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</p>
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<p>
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A contemporary researcher, F. Z. Meerson, is putting together a picture of the biological processes involved
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in adapting to stress, including energy production, nutrition, hormones, and changes in cell structure.
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</p>
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<p>
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While one of Selye's earliest observations related gastrointestinal bleeding to stress, Meerson's work has
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revealed in a detailed way how the usually beneficial hormone of adaptation, cortisone, can cause so many
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other harmful effects when its action is too prolonged or too intense.
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</p>
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<p>
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Some of the harmful effects of the cortisone class of drugs (other than gastro-intestinal bleeding) are:
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Hypertension, osteoporosis, delayed healing, atrophy of the skin, convulsions, cataracts, glaucoma,
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protruding eyes, psychic derangements, menstrual irregularities, and loss of immunity allowing infections
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(or cancer) to spread.
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</p>
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<p>
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While normal thyroid function is required for the secretion of the adrenal hormones, the basic signal which
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causes cortisone to be formed is a drop in the blood glucose level. The increased energy requirement of any
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stress tends to cause the blood sugar to fall slightly, but hypothyroidism itself tends to depress blood
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sugar.
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</p>
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<p>
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The person with low thyroid function is more likely than a normal person to require cortisone to cope with a
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certain amount of stress. However, if large amounts of cortisone are produced for a long time, the toxic
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effects of the hormone begin to appear. According to Meerson, heart attacks are provoked and aggravated by
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the cortisone produced during stress. (Meerson and his colleagues have demonstrated that the progress of a
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heart attack can be halted by a treatment including natural substances such as vitamin E and magnesium.)
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</p>
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<p>
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While hypothyroidism makes the body require more cortisone to sustain blood sugar and energy production, it
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also limits the ability to produce cortisone, so in some cases stress produces symptoms resulting from a
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deficiency of cortisone, including various forms of arthritis and more generalized types of chronic
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inflammation.
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</p>
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<p>
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Often, a small physiological dose of natural hydrocortisone can help the patient meet the stress, without
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causing harmful side-effects. While treating the symptoms with cortisone for a short time, it is important
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to try to learn the basic cause of the problem, by checking for hypothyroidism, vitamin A deficiency,
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protein deficiency, a lack of sunlight, etc. (I suspect that light on the skin directly increases the skin's
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production of steroids, without depending on other organs. Different steroids probably involve different
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frequencies of light, but orange and red light seem to be important frequencies.) Using cortisone in this
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way, physiologically rather than pharmacologically, it is not likely to cause the serious problems mentioned
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above.
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</p>
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<p>
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Stress-induced cortisone deficiency is thought to be a factor in a great variety of unpleasant conditions,
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from allergies to ulcerative colitis, and in many forms of arthritis. The stress which can cause a cortisone
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deficiency is even more likely to disturb formation of progesterone and thyroid hormone, so the fact that
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cortisone can relieve symptoms does not mean that it has corrected the problem.
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</p>
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<p>
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According to the Physicians' Desk Referenc, hormones similar to cortisone are useful for treating rheumatoid
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arthritis, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, synovitis of osteoarthritis, acute gouty arthritis, acute
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nonspecific tenosynovitis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, acute and subacute bursitis, and
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epicondylitis.
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</p>
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<p>
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Although cortisone supplementation can help in a great variety of stress-related diseases, no curewill take
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place unless the basic cause is discovered. Besides the thyroid, the other class of adaptive hormones which
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are often out of balance in the diseases of stress, is the group of hormones produced mainly by the gonads:
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the "reproductive hormones." During pregnancy these hormones serve to protect the developing baby from the
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stresses suffered by the mother, but the same hormones function as part to the protective anti-stress system
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in the non-pregnant individual, though at a lower level.
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</p>
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<p>
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Some forms of arthritis are known to improve or even to disappear during pregnancy. As mentioned above, the
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hormones of pregnancy can make up for a lack of adrenal cortex hormones. During a healthy pregnancy, many
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hormones are present in increased amounts, including the thyroid hormones. Progesterone, which is the most
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abundant hormone of pregnancy, has both anti-inflammatory and anesthetic actions, which would be of obvious
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benefit in arthritis.
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</p>
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<p>
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There are other naturally anesthetic hormones which are increased during pregnancy, including DHEA, which is
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being studied for its anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity effects. (One of the reasons that is
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frequently given for the fact that this hormone hasn't been studied more widely is that, as a natural
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substance, it has not been monopolized by a drug patent, and so no drug company has been willing to invest
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money in studying its medical uses.) These hormones also have the ability to control cell division, which
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would be important in forms of arthritis that involve invasive tissue growth.
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</p>
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<p>
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While these substances, so abundant in pregnancy, have the ability to substitute for cortisone, they can
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also be used by the adrenal glands to produce cortisol and related hormones. But probably the most
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surprising property of these natural steroids is that they protect against the toxic side-effects of
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excessive adrenal hormones. And they seem to have no side-effects of their own; after about fifty years of
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medical use, no toxic side effects have been found for progesterone or pregnenolone.
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</p>
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<p>
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Pregnenolone is the material the body uses to form either progesterone or DHEA. Others, including DHEA,
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haven't been studied for so long, but the high levels which are normally present in healthy people would
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suggest that replacement doses, to restore those normal levels, would not be likely to produce toxic side
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effects. And, considering the terrible side effects of the drugs that are now widely used, these drugs would
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be justifiable simply to prevent some of the toxic effects of conventional treatment.
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</p>
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<p>
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It takes a new way of thinking to understand that these protective substances protect against an excess of
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the adrenal steroids, as well as making up for a deficiency. Several of these natural hormones also have a
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protective action against various poisons; Selye called this their "catatoxic" effect.
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</p>
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<p>
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Besides many people whose arthritis improved with only thyroid supplementation, I have seen 30 people use
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one or more of these other natural hormones for various types of arthritis, usually with a topical
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application. Often the pain is relieved within a few minutes. I know of several other people who used
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progesterone topically for inflamed tendons, damaged cartilage, or other inflammations. Only one of these, a
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woman with rheumatoid arthritis in many joints, had no significant improvement. An hour after she had
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applied it to her hands and feet, she enthusiastically reported that her ankle had stopped hurting, but
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after this she said she had no noticeable improvement.
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</p>
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<p>
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We often hear that "there is no cure for arthritis, because the causes are not known." If the cause is an
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imbalance in the normal hormones of adaptation and resistance, then eliminating the cause by restoring
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balance will produce a true cure. But if it is more profitable to sell powerful drugs than to sell the
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nutrients needed to form natural hormones (or to supplement those natural hormones) we can't expect the drug
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companies to spend any money investigating that sort of cure. And at present the arthritis market amounts to
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billions of dollars in drug sales each year.
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</p>
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<p>
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© Ray Peat 2006. All Rights Reserved. www.RayPeat.com
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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