Multiple sclerosis (MS) patient and advocate, Vicki Finlayson is walking 53 miles from her home in California to the State Capitol Building. Vicki is meeting with state officials to spread the word about low dose naltrexone (LDN), a drug protocol that brought her condition into remission. Used at low doses, naltrexone has been found, in clinical trials, to reduce symptoms and in some cases stop disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and other autoimmune, neurodegenerative, and malignant disorders.
Vicki plans to reach the California State Capital Building on Monday May 19th where she is scheduled to meet with Governor Schwarzenegger’s health advisors. Vicki’s goals are to spread awareness of the potential benefits of LDN and encourage funding for further research studies. In an interview with Pennsylvania State University lead investigator, Dr. Ian Zagon, reporters from the Sacramento Bee confirmed that LDN restores immune system health, allowing the body to heal itself. LDN has been shown to cause improvement in a wide range of oncological, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Vicki’s Story
Three years ago, at the age of 50, Vicki was diagnosed with a form of MS that causes severe neuropathic pain. While many patients with MS are able to function well between disease flares, Vicki was crippled with pain. Conventional therapies did nothing to stop her disease process, and she had to rely on increasingly high doses of narcotic analgesics to help alleviate her pain.
While searching the internet for new developments, Vicki's husband heard of LDN and encouraged her to try it. For Vicki and many other patients with autoimmune disorders, LDN has been a miracle cure. Over time, Vicki was able to stop all of her other medications and now uses LDN alone to keep her condition from progressing and to reduce symptoms.
For many people and especially someone like Vicki who once had difficulty walking, trekking 53 miles is a major feat. Feeling as though she’s been given a second chance at life, Vicki wants to give something back to others. She’s well aware that only a handful of the patients who might benefit from LDN are given the opportunity to use it. She finds this fact frustrating since naltrexone has already been proven safe at much higher doses than those used in the LDN protocol.
The LDN Controversy
Naltrexone has been FDA approved since 1984 as a treatment for alcohol and opiate abuse. It can be prescribed off label for other conditions. Now that its patent has expired, naltrexone is an inexpensive generic drug, costing $20-35 each month.
Naltrexone is also manufactured by many different pharmaceutical companies. Thus, no one company stands to profit if naltrexone is approved as a therapy for MS and other conditions. In addition, naltrexone directly competes with a number of very expensive medications. Patients with MS who are dissatisfied with the current aresenal of approved medications for MS have embraced LDN. Success stories from across the globe indicate that an overwhelming majority of patients who try LDN experience benefits. However, many physicians are reluctant to prescribe it because it lacks FDA approval for conditions other than drug abuse.
Vicki and other patients have already raised sufficient funds to help sponsor the first clinical trial of LDN in humans with MS, which was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco. Clinical trials in Germany and Italy also show that LDN offers promise. Clinical trials of LDN in Crohn's disease have also shown tremendous improvement. However, more studies are needed before LDN finds its place in mainstream medicine. If Vicki has her way, these studies will become a major priority for health researchers.
