Overview

A degenerative neural disease with no known conventional medical cure.

Please see conventional, complementary, and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative treatments that may be considered include:

Etiology

According to Jenny Thompson, Director, Health Sciences Institute [e-mail, November 20, 2015], "Paralyzed Veterans of America says that since 2008 it's represented more than 6,500 veterans who developed ALS - many of whom served in the Persian Gulf. And men and women who served in the military are twice as likely to get it as the rest of the population." One theory that has been advanced regarding the cause of this doubled incidence in ALS among veterans is that "during the first Gulf War, tens of thousands of soldiers ... received a highly experimental anthrax vaccine ... [that contained an] "adjuvant" called squalene ... Adjuvants like squalene jumpstart your immune system and make vaccines work faster. But squalene has been linked to serious neurological damage.... In fact, a study years ago from Tulane University scientists found that 95 percent of the veterans studied with GWS had antibodies to squalene in their systems."

An anonymous blogger [pseudonym Texas Mak] points out "My husband passed from Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) after a 6 year battle. Though he did not serve in the military, he worked with pesticides and fertilizers that are based on neurogenic compounds.... I have been wondering because of the fast onset of [Gulf War related ALS] if they are even being diagnosed correctly. The symptoms seem more in line with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) than with ALS. MSA is often described as Parkinson's on steroids or ALS and Parkinson's combined. It's progression is much more rapid than ALS."

Dr. Weyrich takes the above reports with a grain of salt, since they lack references to the peer-reviewed literature, but the reports do seem to be worth looking into.

Finally, Jenny Thompson gives the following advice:

  1. Get in touch with a representative from Paralyzed Veterans of America. You can check out their website here. PVA has been able to get ALS claims processed in just weeks.
  2. Check with your state for benefits you may be entitled to. Some states offer property tax reductions or even waive property taxes completely for afflicted vets.

Treatment

Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative Treatments

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

According to [LDN], "given the repeated demonstration of LDN's efficacy in halting progression in all cases of MS, and the possibility of its having a therapeutic effect in [Parkinson's disease], it now may be timely to consider LDN in treating the full spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases whose etiology is unknown - all of which may well have a significant underpinning of immunodeficiency/autoimmunity causing the neurological syndromes. ... Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) [is a] prominent [possibility] that spring[s] to mind."

[LDN_Autoimmune] presents a case review of three patients with ALS who were treated with LDN: "Two patients with advanced disease showed significant improvement in their breathing, as measured by a forced vital capacity (FVC)," which improved to baseline. The third patient showed subjective improvements.

Dr. Weyrich has been trained to use Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). However, Dr. Weyrich has not treated any cases of ALS with LDN.

Please see What is Low Dose Naltrexone? for more information.

Melatonin

In addition to benefiting sleep, melatonin has been reported be protective in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, Huntington's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [Polimeni2014  🕮 ].

Neurotransmitter Balancing

Neuro Research [Hinz2015] reports that other chronic degenerative neural diseases can be benefited by balancing neurotransmitter levels in the body.

Dr. Weyrich has been trained in neurotransmitter balancing protocols, but has not treated Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis using this technique.

Please see What is Neurotransmitter Balancing? for more information.

References