January 2018
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
As the new year begins, we hope that you are planning on a year with much improvement in your health. The following update represents somewhat of an overview of all we have learned and all we believe. With this, we again emphasize our disclaimer. The only real credential we have for the guidelines offered here-in is that after 6 years of a one year death sentence from Bulbar ALS, Kim is walking, talking, driving, swimming and playing golf. All of the opinions stated herein, though not mainstream AMA certified, are supported by medical minds that have the courage and foresight to look outside the box. We are indeed grateful for them. (Google is a great tool. Use it freely.)
The medical field acknowledges that there are too many free radicals, too much glutamate and too many misfolded proteins in someone with ALS. They prescribe Rilutek/Riluzole for the glutamate but acknowledge that it is not a cure but may give some ALS patients two or three more months to live. They are now trying to address the free radicals with Radicava, which has its own scary list of side effects. I have added what I found about Radicava under our post for August of 2016 that discusses Rilutek side effects and other drugs.
We do believe that most doctors really are caring people, trying to help their patients in the methods by which they have been trained. Neurologist and other specialists are trained to address their specialty. We believe they often fail to look at what else in going on in the body to create the problems. We believe there are many issues going on in an ALS patient that are creating those ALS symptoms. Since the specialist may not look beyond the nerves, we often must become our own detectives or search for a functional doctor that can help identify some of the things going wrong. The following is a review of several major issues we believe can cause ALS:
Free radicals can be created by excessive exercise, excessive stress and excessive music stimulation. Free radicals can be kept in check with adequate magnesium, adequate glutathione, and lots of antioxidants like astaxanthin, Vitamins C & E.
Excessive amounts of glutamate can be created by too much MSG (dangerous food additive) in the food supply, gluten from wheat and other gluten grains and perhaps also dairy. Dietary changes can help address these. (See our April update in 2017 to understand that issue better.)
Heavy metals. These can include mercury from silver fillings, aluminum (everywhere in our environment), fluoride (in our water supply and toothpastes) , lead poisoning, uranium poisoning, etc. Even a heavy iron overload in our bodies can create neurological problems.
Drugs. We believe statin drugs are a cause ALS. There is a book written by a Doctor Hannah Yoseph, MD, about how statins cause neurological issues. Statin drugs also kill our glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath, that protective coating around nerves that have been damaged in ALS. Other sources state proof that high cholesterol does not cause heart disease. Our bodies need cholesterol. Our brains are mostly fat and without fat, we have no functioning brain. All drugs are acidic and by law cannot be natural substances. Therefore, it would seem logical that our body has trouble assimilating them.
Issues with the liver. The liver has to be healthy in order to process the toxins from our body. One school of thought is that the liver has become coated with a hard plaque from gluten (which is a glue) thereby preventing the flow of toxins out of the body. Beer made with barley would also be another gluten source.
Lyme disease, Epstein Barr virus, parasites, biofilms, other viruses. Some doctors find that every most ALS patient they treat has Lyme disease. They likely practice in an area that is heavy with Lyme disease. We have heard of people that were injured and then shortly after received an ALS diagnosis but also found to have Lyme disease. It could be that the Lyme was relatively dormant and that the injury flared up in that area and then the ALS diagnosis came about. Lyme and parasites live on heavy metals in the body and also the sugars and grains that we eat. Here is an article on why Lyme is so difficult: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lyme-bacteria-hides-inside-parasitic-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases-300270742.html
Mold and fungus. Living in a moldy environment certainly predisposes us to illnesses and ALS is no exception. You cannot heal the health issues from mold if you remain in a moldy environment. The fungus issue is one that we very likely create from the grains and sugars we eat.
Pesticides, herbicides, Roundup, GMO Foods. All are poisons. How long can we eat foods covered with poison and expect to not have problems?
Digestive problems can be created from the use of too many antibiotics and not enough corrective use of probiotics or probiotic foods like raw sauerkraut. Sadness, grief, anger, depression, and all negative emotions prevent the uptake of nutrition from the foods we eat.
Acidity. Having a highly acidic body, leads to disease of many kinds. Most of the foods we love are acidic while the alkaline foods are fruits and vegetables. Sulphur vegetables are especially helpful for neurological issues, i.e., cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, cauliflower.
Fats. The fats we consume affect our health. All vegetable oils are Omega 6 oils. The fats from all meats produced using corn are Omega 6 oils. The ratio in our diet should be maybe 2 Omega 6 oils to 1 Omega 3 oils. In our modern foods diet the ratio is probably 50 to 1 instead of 2 to 1.
Magnesium deficiency. Our foods have become so depleted with magnesium that it is nearly impossible to get adequate magnesium from what we eat. Magnesium is responsible for hundreds of functions in the body including muscles. When magnesium is trying to rid the body of free radicals, toxins from the drugs the doctors prescribe, toxins from the foods we eat, the air we breathe and the toxins we rub on our skin, then there is very little magnesium left to do its other work. One important job of magnesium is to keep calcium where it belongs. Equal amounts of magnesium to calcium intake is what it takes to accomplish that job. Magnesium can relieve anxiety, panic attacks, even depression. When given the depressing ALS diagnosis, magnesium can be burned right out of the body trying to handle that new challenge.
Damaged Myelin Sheath. The myelin sheath which is a coating to protect the nerves has been chewed up, probably by free radicals and other toxins. Apples and grapes contain malic acid which make glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath.
Mind power. Our bodies have an incredible ability to heal, but it is our mind that has to give the body those directions. We have been programed to believe that doctors can fix all our problems. Sitting in the doctor’s office and getting an ALS diagnosis is traumatizing. Though most neurologists are kind as they say it, some are not. However, they all say nothing can be done but take my drug, get a feeding tube and go to the ALS clinics which are there to follow you on the downward path. Most of us in life have had challenges that leave us lacking in the joy department. The power of your mind to put behind you the negative thoughts is not easy, but is so necessary if you want to heal. Healing and taking up nutrition can only be accomplished when you are in a positive state of mind. Believing that you can be the captain of your healing journey is where you begin.
To summarize, the path that we believe leads to healing is below. We almost always think all we have to do is to fix the physical and all will be well. Without the emotional, mental and spiritual healing, the physical healing does not come.
Mind power. Includes prayer, meditation, mental imaging, positive mental attitude, positive self-talk, hope, being too stubborn to let ALS get in the way of your plans, determination to win the battle.
Detoxing. Ridding the body of toxins through safe means. An IV chelation can be very dangerous for someone with ALS. There are many methods such as sleeping properly, magnesium, foot baths, cilantro, increasing water intake, etc. Expect a year of detoxing to accomplish the cleansing of the liver. Ozone is likely another great detox system.
Environmental corrections: See our checklist.
Proper Food. Our bodies were designed to eat the food God put on the earth, not all the chemical fakes that our food industry produces.
Proper supplements. After years of eating what we love instead of what we should eat, our body is starving for the foods that help us heal and supplements help us get some of those vital nutrients.
Oxidative therapies. Some doctors say oxygen should not be given to someone with ALS. Kim likely would not be alive without the oxidative therapies he received. The hyperbaric chamber was the first place he felt he was getting adequate oxygen to breathe due to his severe breathing issues. He has been in our hyperbaric chamber over 800 times and he is still doing well. We believe the ozone therapies helped rid his body of toxins. Now that we have started EWOT - exercise with oxygen therapy - he feels that is even more helpful than the hyperbarics as it is giving him safe exercise plus the added oxygen. The cost is just a tiny fraction of the cost of hyperbarics and can be done in your home at your convenience. (We purchased our EWOT equipment from www.ewot-usa.com. A discount is available if you mention Kim's name or ALS, but shop around.) We have also found a much easier system for doing ozone that may be as effective as Kim's ozone IVs. Here is a link to that system:
https://www.becancerfree.com/product/synergy-wps-100-ozone-machine-steam-sauna-package
Sleep. We don't believe you can heal if you don't get proper sleep. That means sleeping in a dark room between about 10 and 6 with no electronics, especially a cell phone. These hours are the time our bodies make melatonin which makes glutathione , our master antioxidant (another detoxing agent.) Turning on a light in the night stops the melatonin production for the night. Sleeping properly will help detox and heal the body.
Service, joy, gratitude, forgiveness. Lastly, we feel these four positive attributes are necessary in the healing process. Giving of any kind of service to others helps you forget your challenges and focus on lifting others. Joy brings love to your heart and to others; Gratitude shows God that you believe he has given you so much; Forgiveness is critical for a positive mental attitude. These attributes are best taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether or not you are Christian.
Which of these do you need to work on along your path to healing? We believe they are all important. You can't leave out good sleep and heal. You can't leave out good food and heal, and so on.
Our love and prayers are with you.
Kim and Kay Cherry
Disclaimer: We are not medical experts. We are just sharing the insights we have gathered since starting this healing ALS journey. We cannot tell you what to do, only what we have done. You must study and determine your own best course of action.
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
As the new year begins, we hope that you are planning on a year with much improvement in your health. The following update represents somewhat of an overview of all we have learned and all we believe. With this, we again emphasize our disclaimer. The only real credential we have for the guidelines offered here-in is that after 6 years of a one year death sentence from Bulbar ALS, Kim is walking, talking, driving, swimming and playing golf. All of the opinions stated herein, though not mainstream AMA certified, are supported by medical minds that have the courage and foresight to look outside the box. We are indeed grateful for them. (Google is a great tool. Use it freely.)
The medical field acknowledges that there are too many free radicals, too much glutamate and too many misfolded proteins in someone with ALS. They prescribe Rilutek/Riluzole for the glutamate but acknowledge that it is not a cure but may give some ALS patients two or three more months to live. They are now trying to address the free radicals with Radicava, which has its own scary list of side effects. I have added what I found about Radicava under our post for August of 2016 that discusses Rilutek side effects and other drugs.
We do believe that most doctors really are caring people, trying to help their patients in the methods by which they have been trained. Neurologist and other specialists are trained to address their specialty. We believe they often fail to look at what else in going on in the body to create the problems. We believe there are many issues going on in an ALS patient that are creating those ALS symptoms. Since the specialist may not look beyond the nerves, we often must become our own detectives or search for a functional doctor that can help identify some of the things going wrong. The following is a review of several major issues we believe can cause ALS:
Free radicals can be created by excessive exercise, excessive stress and excessive music stimulation. Free radicals can be kept in check with adequate magnesium, adequate glutathione, and lots of antioxidants like astaxanthin, Vitamins C & E.
Excessive amounts of glutamate can be created by too much MSG (dangerous food additive) in the food supply, gluten from wheat and other gluten grains and perhaps also dairy. Dietary changes can help address these. (See our April update in 2017 to understand that issue better.)
Heavy metals. These can include mercury from silver fillings, aluminum (everywhere in our environment), fluoride (in our water supply and toothpastes) , lead poisoning, uranium poisoning, etc. Even a heavy iron overload in our bodies can create neurological problems.
Drugs. We believe statin drugs are a cause ALS. There is a book written by a Doctor Hannah Yoseph, MD, about how statins cause neurological issues. Statin drugs also kill our glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath, that protective coating around nerves that have been damaged in ALS. Other sources state proof that high cholesterol does not cause heart disease. Our bodies need cholesterol. Our brains are mostly fat and without fat, we have no functioning brain. All drugs are acidic and by law cannot be natural substances. Therefore, it would seem logical that our body has trouble assimilating them.
Issues with the liver. The liver has to be healthy in order to process the toxins from our body. One school of thought is that the liver has become coated with a hard plaque from gluten (which is a glue) thereby preventing the flow of toxins out of the body. Beer made with barley would also be another gluten source.
Lyme disease, Epstein Barr virus, parasites, biofilms, other viruses. Some doctors find that every most ALS patient they treat has Lyme disease. They likely practice in an area that is heavy with Lyme disease. We have heard of people that were injured and then shortly after received an ALS diagnosis but also found to have Lyme disease. It could be that the Lyme was relatively dormant and that the injury flared up in that area and then the ALS diagnosis came about. Lyme and parasites live on heavy metals in the body and also the sugars and grains that we eat. Here is an article on why Lyme is so difficult: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lyme-bacteria-hides-inside-parasitic-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases-300270742.html
Mold and fungus. Living in a moldy environment certainly predisposes us to illnesses and ALS is no exception. You cannot heal the health issues from mold if you remain in a moldy environment. The fungus issue is one that we very likely create from the grains and sugars we eat.
Pesticides, herbicides, Roundup, GMO Foods. All are poisons. How long can we eat foods covered with poison and expect to not have problems?
Digestive problems can be created from the use of too many antibiotics and not enough corrective use of probiotics or probiotic foods like raw sauerkraut. Sadness, grief, anger, depression, and all negative emotions prevent the uptake of nutrition from the foods we eat.
Acidity. Having a highly acidic body, leads to disease of many kinds. Most of the foods we love are acidic while the alkaline foods are fruits and vegetables. Sulphur vegetables are especially helpful for neurological issues, i.e., cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, cauliflower.
Fats. The fats we consume affect our health. All vegetable oils are Omega 6 oils. The fats from all meats produced using corn are Omega 6 oils. The ratio in our diet should be maybe 2 Omega 6 oils to 1 Omega 3 oils. In our modern foods diet the ratio is probably 50 to 1 instead of 2 to 1.
Magnesium deficiency. Our foods have become so depleted with magnesium that it is nearly impossible to get adequate magnesium from what we eat. Magnesium is responsible for hundreds of functions in the body including muscles. When magnesium is trying to rid the body of free radicals, toxins from the drugs the doctors prescribe, toxins from the foods we eat, the air we breathe and the toxins we rub on our skin, then there is very little magnesium left to do its other work. One important job of magnesium is to keep calcium where it belongs. Equal amounts of magnesium to calcium intake is what it takes to accomplish that job. Magnesium can relieve anxiety, panic attacks, even depression. When given the depressing ALS diagnosis, magnesium can be burned right out of the body trying to handle that new challenge.
Damaged Myelin Sheath. The myelin sheath which is a coating to protect the nerves has been chewed up, probably by free radicals and other toxins. Apples and grapes contain malic acid which make glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath.
Mind power. Our bodies have an incredible ability to heal, but it is our mind that has to give the body those directions. We have been programed to believe that doctors can fix all our problems. Sitting in the doctor’s office and getting an ALS diagnosis is traumatizing. Though most neurologists are kind as they say it, some are not. However, they all say nothing can be done but take my drug, get a feeding tube and go to the ALS clinics which are there to follow you on the downward path. Most of us in life have had challenges that leave us lacking in the joy department. The power of your mind to put behind you the negative thoughts is not easy, but is so necessary if you want to heal. Healing and taking up nutrition can only be accomplished when you are in a positive state of mind. Believing that you can be the captain of your healing journey is where you begin.
To summarize, the path that we believe leads to healing is below. We almost always think all we have to do is to fix the physical and all will be well. Without the emotional, mental and spiritual healing, the physical healing does not come.
Mind power. Includes prayer, meditation, mental imaging, positive mental attitude, positive self-talk, hope, being too stubborn to let ALS get in the way of your plans, determination to win the battle.
Detoxing. Ridding the body of toxins through safe means. An IV chelation can be very dangerous for someone with ALS. There are many methods such as sleeping properly, magnesium, foot baths, cilantro, increasing water intake, etc. Expect a year of detoxing to accomplish the cleansing of the liver. Ozone is likely another great detox system.
Environmental corrections: See our checklist.
Proper Food. Our bodies were designed to eat the food God put on the earth, not all the chemical fakes that our food industry produces.
Proper supplements. After years of eating what we love instead of what we should eat, our body is starving for the foods that help us heal and supplements help us get some of those vital nutrients.
Oxidative therapies. Some doctors say oxygen should not be given to someone with ALS. Kim likely would not be alive without the oxidative therapies he received. The hyperbaric chamber was the first place he felt he was getting adequate oxygen to breathe due to his severe breathing issues. He has been in our hyperbaric chamber over 800 times and he is still doing well. We believe the ozone therapies helped rid his body of toxins. Now that we have started EWOT - exercise with oxygen therapy - he feels that is even more helpful than the hyperbarics as it is giving him safe exercise plus the added oxygen. The cost is just a tiny fraction of the cost of hyperbarics and can be done in your home at your convenience. (We purchased our EWOT equipment from www.ewot-usa.com. A discount is available if you mention Kim's name or ALS, but shop around.) We have also found a much easier system for doing ozone that may be as effective as Kim's ozone IVs. Here is a link to that system:
https://www.becancerfree.com/product/synergy-wps-100-ozone-machine-steam-sauna-package
Sleep. We don't believe you can heal if you don't get proper sleep. That means sleeping in a dark room between about 10 and 6 with no electronics, especially a cell phone. These hours are the time our bodies make melatonin which makes glutathione , our master antioxidant (another detoxing agent.) Turning on a light in the night stops the melatonin production for the night. Sleeping properly will help detox and heal the body.
Service, joy, gratitude, forgiveness. Lastly, we feel these four positive attributes are necessary in the healing process. Giving of any kind of service to others helps you forget your challenges and focus on lifting others. Joy brings love to your heart and to others; Gratitude shows God that you believe he has given you so much; Forgiveness is critical for a positive mental attitude. These attributes are best taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether or not you are Christian.
Which of these do you need to work on along your path to healing? We believe they are all important. You can't leave out good sleep and heal. You can't leave out good food and heal, and so on.
Our love and prayers are with you.
Kim and Kay Cherry
Disclaimer: We are not medical experts. We are just sharing the insights we have gathered since starting this healing ALS journey. We cannot tell you what to do, only what we have done. You must study and determine your own best course of action.