Lymphoma: Glandulars Supplements

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An acquaintance of mine on veg.web is a big believer in both natural feeding AND a certain Dr. Goldstein, DVM. Dr. Goldstein advocates both natural feeding and his own version of natural healing using raw, healthy animal glands. You can buy a cheap used copy of his book on amazon.com to learn about his theory of illness and healing.

Although his book presents several good topics about cancer, nutrition, and the problem with over-vaccination that I can agree with, I personally do not buy into the glandular approach to healing. That being said, since animal (usually bovine) glands are just food substances, even if it does not help, it does not do any harm either. For that reason alone, it is worth a try, I think.

Besides, if your ferret was on a natural diet, they would be eating these bits and parts already. If your ferret is on a kibble diet, you could just consider this a nutritional supplement.

ADMINISTRATION & DOSING

From D. Fasano, DVM regarding her use of glandulars in the treatment of dogs & cats: "Glandulars are very safe and food like but I usually dose down from the human amount and give about 1/10 to 1/4 the dose once or twice a day."

Personally, since the capsules/tablets on the market are available in human doses ranging from 140-200mg, I think 10mg once (under 1kg) or twice a day (over 1kg) for a ferret is reasonable. Since they are capsules or tablets, you would need to crush them and then administer. (Amount is crushed and then eye-balled for approximate measure. Remember it is only a 'food substance'.) If you go through a holistic vet, however, you may be able to purchase it in powered form already.

The Miller Pharmacal brand below is what the one vet I know uses, so that is a reputable brand. I also know that Solaray happens to be one of the long-standing reputable brand names with good quality control also; however, read their label closely! Solaray tends to add other 'herbs' to the mix that may not be appropriate for your ferret.

MAJOR MANUFACTUER'S GENERAL PRODUCT INFO

PURCHASING

ALMOST ALL GLANDULARS CAN BE BOUGHT THROUGH THESE 3 SITES:
shopping.com
amazon.com
Sortprice

SPECIFIC GLANDS ONLY:
Lymph: HerbsPro
Adrenal (very hard to find pure adrenal): iHealthTree
Heart: amazon

COMMENTS

One user shared their thoughts about the glandulars system on the FHL here:
The basic idea is using prepared/concetrated forms of the organ affected. For example: giving dried liver to an animal with liver disease, or giving adrenal, pancreas etc etc. One can use glandulars in treating hyperadrenal OR hypoadrenal--the idea is that you are supplementing an unhealthy organ with healthy.
...
I have used glandulars with some success but I will say that they are most useful in treating chronic conditions, they are NOT a cure, and I don't think they would be effective against cancer, except perhaps inhelping the pet's overall system to better fight disease--sort of in a tonic type way.

Other therapies including glandulars discussed here on the FHL.

Other therapies including glandulars discussed here on Natural Ferrets.


Disclaimer:
I am not a DVM. Advice is offered after my own extensive research and/or experience and should be undertaken at your own risk. Consult with your licensed DVM before undertaking any treatment!


No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means -- electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise -- without the written permission of the copyright owner. All copyrights of their respective owners.

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Lymphoma: Turmeric as supportive therapy

UPDATES on Ferret Food Recalls
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I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

TURMERIC ROOT
Latin: Curcuma longa
Chinese: Jiang huang / Yu jin

WHAT IT DOES: Turmeric root is bitter in taste and warming in action. It strongly reduces inflammation and mucus in all parts of the body, protects the liver, lungs and intestines, and helps prevent and treat cancer.

RATING: Gold

SAFETY ISSUES: Due to mucin-reducing effects, do not use the concentrated extract (curcumin) or oil in high doses, especially if you have bile duct obstruction, gall stones, or stomach ulcers. Use turmeric as a spice freely.

Turmeric is a common tuberous vegetable spice used all over the world. It stimulates gastric juices, and it is used in Indian households in most vegetable dishes as an anti-food poisoning agent that also reduces mucous formation.

Turmeric root is used externally by TAM doctors to treat skin diseases, and as a plaster to reduce swelling. It is a valuable anti-inflammatory. Modern research has shown it to be a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hepatotoxic herb, useful in the treatment of many inflammation-related conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, arthritis, diarrhea, psoriasis, eczema, asthma and smoking related lung inflammation (Pandey et al., 1996).

Turmeric rhizome is yellow in color and egg-shaped (called jiang huang), with numerous secondary garlic bulb-like projections (called yu jin). TCM doctors report that these two parts have different medicinal properties. Though similar in action, the larger jiang huang is used to invigorate the blood, relieve menstrual cramps, and treat the pain and swelling associated with trauma. The smaller yu jin is cooler in action and used more to break up blood stasis and relieve constrained liver energy with symptoms of internal tension.
READ THE COMPLETE ENTRY HERE

Petra M. Burgmann, DVM on turmeric:
"The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties of turmeric and curcumin are undergoing intense research. Several studies indicate that curcumin can suppress tumor initiation, promotion and metastasis of a number of types of cancer cells. Pharmacologically, curcumin has been found to be fairly safe, with human clinical trials indicating no dose-limiting toxicity when administered at doses up to 10 g/day. All of these studies suggest that curcumin has enormous potential in the prevention and therapy of cancer. Tumeric could be added to any herbal anti-cancer regime at a dose of 100 milligrams a day."
Taken directly from Dr. Petra's article, download here.

II. CHOOSEN THERAPY & DOSING:

Do you have a one gram spoon? If not a trick learned from my favorite TCM doctor is that 1/2 US teaspoon is equal to 1 gram. Just measure it with the spoon, put it on wax paper, and 'cut it' into halves over and over until you have 10 doses like it was ferret cocaine . The rest can go in one of those weekly pill boxes for storage. Slightly too much or too little won't hurt him so you can be not so perfect in cutting it and not worry.

You can dissolve that 1/10 gram in a little warm water and administer as is (good luck with that.), mixed with treat or oil of choice, or hidden in food. Dissolving in warm water and letting sitting for a few minutes is recommended, but not required. Instructions on dissolving from the San Jiu company can be downloaded here. Of course, as I said above, you do not want to dissolve it like that. Just take the amount of extract you need and dissolve in a little warm water covered for 2-3 minutes is probably easiest. It does say to refrigerate the extract packets though.


EXAMPLE DOSING 1
EXAMPLE DOSING 2:
Referring to the Tillotson information above about the 2 different types of turmeric and other related studies, the following plan was outlined for patient 00. Explanation in brief below:

Actually, under TCM they identify two types of turmeric root. They both have slightly different actions. In all my resources, although turmeric is recommended for use in cancer supportive treatment, I can't find a single source that specifies which one. I choose the Yujin form since although both are anti-inflammatories, according to TCM theory, cancer is brought about through (amoung other things) liver stagnation. As you can see from the Tillotson book quote Yu jin works by relieving the liver. Hence the choice of Yu jin form of turmeric over the Jiang huang form.

III. TIMING OF ADMINISTERING HERBAL THERAPIES:

Most homeopathic remedies are best given at least 20 minutes before… a meal. Ideally there should be no food residue in the mouth. Drop the liquid directly into the animal's mouth or on the gums... If this proves impossible for your companion, then mix the remedy with a small amount of food or a treat. (Clip taken from the Only Natural Pet store.)

It should be noted that giving herbal medicines 20+ minutes before any food is ingested has been standard operating procedure in over 3000 years of Chinese medicine, even for humans. Of course, in the interest of actually getting them to take it at all, we frequently bow to necessity and mix it with food as in the case of patient 00. At least they are taking it, even with reduced effect. It is always better to not cause anymore stress.

IV. POSSIBLE DRUG INTERACTIONS:

Always double check with your Holistic DVM first, but Minimal.
Check the links on the right in the Complimentary & Supportive Therapies section under the Drug Interactions / Toxic Reactions / Poison Control subheading to research it. And remember to search under the Latin name or Chinese name to make sure you are getting the most accurate information. More links to be added to that section in the future.

Need a holistic DVM? Research for the closest one to you here at the official American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

Disclaimer: I am not a DVM. Advice is offered after my own extensive research and/or experience and should be undertaken at your own risk. Consult with your licensed DVM before undertaking any treatment!


No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means -- electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise -- without the written permission of the copyright owner. All copyrights of their respective owners.

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Case Study 00 - treating mulitple diseases

UPDATES on Ferret Food Recalls
Responses from Whole/Natural Prey Suppliers

Patient: Male, Champagne Ferret, Private Breeder approx. 4 years old, ---- gm
Diagnosed Aliments: Lymphoma, Cardiomyopathy (dilated with a faulty valve)
Highly Suspected Aliments: Adrenal (not officially tested for but HIGHLY likely)

He has two vets. A general vet and a holistic vet. The holistic vet is Dr. Ronald Anders in Ohio. My only complaint so far is that this vet recommended a way WAY higher starting dosage than is normally prescribed. His body is already under enough stress without that. It was knocked it down immediately after the first night's scare to the usual starting dose of 1/8 a US teaspoon every day. They plan to up it to the higher prescribed dose gradually. Details to follow.

CURRENT HOLISTIC VET

RONALD ANDERS , DVM BS
COUNTY ANIMAL CLINIC
604 NORTH MILL ST
COLDWATER , OH 45858
Phone: 419-678-3610
Fax: 419-678-4838
Modalities Practiced:
Acupuncture
Acupuncture (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified)
Bach Flower Remedies
Chinese Herbs
Chiropractic
Clinical Nutrition
Color Therapy
Conventional Medicine
Nutrition
Western Herbs
animaldoctor.petplace.com

TCM DIAGNOSIS:
TCM to address KIDNEY YIN; LIVER QI; LIVER BLOOD; SPLEEN QI;AND PROMOTE YIN.

He is addressing kidney, liver and spleen. The spleen is the root of problems with digestion (the whole system from start to finish. It controls digestion.) and the kidney is the root of the problem for the heart and liver.

His whole mouth is purple. (due to blood stagnation) I also asked him if he thought a lot of his belly weight/mass was fluid, and he thought it was entirely possible. He said the fluid was part of the problem, in that it affected the heat of the body. The fluid tries to cool it down. On the follow-up visit, the holistic vet said he felt the bloating in the belly was fluid. (Dr Higgins, the conventional vet, felt it was fat).

REGARDING FLUID BUILDUP:
Bloating looks like a ferret whose organs are swelling up from disease and he is just 'big'. He is hard. Sometimes, it looks like he is pretty uncomfortable. My best guess, is, it is a little bit of several things going on. Enlarged liver, spleen, and other organs, extra fat laying down due to the pred, and a bit of extra fluid, although more furosemide should keep that pulled off.

As to what is causing the fluid build up, pred will cause fluid retention. A poorly functioning heart will cause fluid retention, and lymphoma, itself, will cause fluid leakage. Plus, if his kidneys are not functioning properly, that can also cause fluid build-up.

CURRENT HOLISTIC THERAPIES

started 09/19/2007

General anti-inflammatory: TURMERIC
dosage: 1/10 gram every day once a day. Ideally given on an empty stomach, but bowing to necessity, given with food in this case.

Glandular Therapy: Adrenal, Lymph, Heart
dosage: 10mg of EACH every day once a day. (Amount is crushed and then eye-balled for approximate measure. Remember it is only a 'food substance'.)

Essiac
dosage: 08/17/2007 - 10/18/2007. Stopped after 2 months of use. (Previously, 1.0ml twice a day.) Restarted on ------ at ---- dosage levels.

2 Chinese Medicines:
dosage: 1/8 US teaspoon (1/4 gram) every day once a day for first month. (The two formulas are mixed together.) After the first month dose increased to same amount twice a day.

Ba zhen tang (Eight Treasure Decoction):
Best Information
Follow Up Link 1
Follow Up Link 2

Ba Wei Di Huang Wan (Eight-Ingredient Pill with Rehmannia):
Best Information
Follow Up Link 2
Yes, by reading the Chinese name, I can tell you this is the same formula as the one right above. This is just a classic example of the 'new lettering system' wrecking havoc on the English name. Another example you might remember is how Beijing changed to its current name of Peiking. Same place, they just changed the way the wrote it in English.

CURRENT CONVENTIONAL THERAPIES

Furosemide, for the heart
dosage: 0.2 ml 4 times a day
Enalapril, for the heart (probably the most helpful heart med for him)
dosage: 1/8 of a 2.5 mg tablet 1 times a day at bedtime
Prednisolone, for lymphoma
dosage: 1.0 ml in morning feeding
Metoclopramide
dosage: 0.5 ml 3 times a day


Disclaimer: I am not a DVM. Advice is offered after my own extensive research and/or experience and should be undertaken at your own risk. Consult with your licensed DVM before undertaking any treatment!

No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means -- electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise -- without the written permission of the copyright owner. All copyrights of their respective owners.

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