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September, 2004 |
| Hello Everyone. My apologies for being a little late this month, but better late than never. Thalassemia There have been a number of exciting things happening with wheatgrass and thalassemia recently. In my last newsletter, I referred you to an announcement about some scientific research which, on the face of it, may well turn out to be an important breakthrough in the treatment of thalassemia - a serious inherited disorder of hemoglobin that causes reduced oxygen levels in the body and imposes enormous emotional, psychological and physical demands on patients and their families. Thalassemia also makes massive demands on the health budgets of countries where the disorder is prevalent. In the United States for example, where there are some 80,000 thalassemics, the annual medical costs are around three quarters of a billion US dollars. In Thailand, where there are approximately 600,000 sufferers of the disease, the costs are also substantial, so that the national health budget is unable to cope with the problem. The same situation exists in a number of other countries, so that treatment is often sub-standard or simply not available. It follows that in these countries, high mortality rates in thalassemic children occur. If wheatgrass is found to be effective in treating this disorder, the impact could be profoundly positive in many ways. Already this year, there have been two important research findings regarding wheatgrass and thalassemia. 1. In India - 16 children all responded well to consuming freshly juiced wheatgrass daily. Transfusion requirements were significantly lowered both in time between transfusions and the amount of blood required. This finding alone could substantially reduce health costs, using a simple, home-grown remedy. 2. In Melbourne - the wheatgrass extract I use in clinical practice was found to generate high levels of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in an experimental model using gene technology. HbF carries more oxygen than adult hemoglobin, so an increase in concentration could be expected to help thalassemics enjoy a better quality of life. We now have another piece of information that suggests that the positive findings from the Indian study may have been due to wheatgrass inducing trial participants' HbF. (This parameter was not measured in the study.) Two children from the same family who have inherited blood disorders (thalassemia and sickle cell disease), have been taking my wheatgrass extract twice daily since 27 May this year. During the five weeks between their last two tests, there have been significant increases in their fetal hemoglobin levels. In the male child, it increased by 246 percent. This is quite a remarkable figure by comparison to what one could expect from HbF-inducing pharmaceuticals such as hydroxyurea - a drug that can cause serious adverse reactions. Although it is too soon to make any definitive conclusions, the results are promising. I have posted them here. In particular, take note of the HbF levels (in red). I will post more results as they come to hand and, over the next three to six months, we may see a clear pattern emerging. Chronic Wound Healing A 19 year old male presented on 6 August with a split in the centre of his lower lip that had been present for 12 months. He was quite depressed about it because, being so painful whenever he tried to laugh or smile, he had been avoiding contact with his friends. He had been treated by a number of doctors without success. I gave him some of my wheatgrass cream to try, and he returned on 20 August - smiling! The wound healed in a few days. Please click here to see the results. Kind regards, Dr. Chris Reynolds. |
| This newsletter is sponsored by Wheatgrass Pty. Ltd., Australia. We manufacture Dr Wheatgrass skin recovery products and Dr Wheatgrass Supershots - changing the way the world uses and takes wheatgrass. Please go to our website www.drwheatgrass.com for more information and special discount prices. Ask Dr. Chris a question: info@drwheatgrass.com.au |
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