Dr.

Frank Shallenbergers

Vol. 11, No. 5

May 2012

A Surprisingly Effective Way to Significantly Improve Memory

One of the most common problems I hear about from my patients is memory loss. It seems like 60-70% of the people I see over the age of 65 have this complaint. But when I give them a cognitive function examination, overwhelmingly the problem turns out not to be memory loss, but something else. This something else is delayed recall. But delayed recall is not the same as memory loss. I test my patients complaining of memory loss with the MMSE (mini-mental state examination) test. The highest possible score on this test is 30. If your score is between 27 and 30, you have normal brain function. If your score is between 21 and 27 you have a mild decrease in brain function. And anyone who has a score less than 24 should be further examined for the possibility of having dementia. Just about everyone with delayed recall will have a score of 30. So just what is meant by delayed recall? Its when you go to look for the name of that book, person, or movie that you are so familiar with and that in previous years you would have instantly remembered. Only instead of the name coming to you instantly like it used to in the good-old days, it now takes you several minutes to remember. Maybe even as much as 15 minutes. You can remember these things, but the memory doesnt come right away. If this is happening to you, you have delayed recall. You dont have memory loss. Now heres the good thing about delayed recall. While it is extremely common, it is rarely an indication that dementia is on the way. But there is one bad thing. It is really aggravating. So wouldnt it be great if there was a way to cure it? For many people there is. Take Doug, for instance.

In This Issue
n Before you use steroids or any alternative treatment for back pain, try this Real Cure ....................p. 3 n The inexpensive supplement that can reduce your risk of atrial fibrillation by 28% ............................p. 4 n My favorite dessert can lower your stroke risk by 29% ....................p. 7 n The easy way to stop miscarriages from happening to your children ......p. 8

Coming Next Month

A new study has found an innovative way to lose weight, keep it off, and slow down the aging process. Your doctor may tell you this drug stops arthritis and back pain. It might. But you dont need it. Ill show you why.

Doug came to see me a few months back with complaints about a lackluster mood, fatigue, insomnia, aches and pains, and memory loss. Sound familiar? He was just like so many of my patients. Things were not working out all that great. So I gave him the football speech. Heres how it goes: Life is like a football game. In the first half, you go out and everything is working perfectly. The passes are perfect. The blocking is synchronized. All the plays work, and the team never gets a penalty. Things go along just as planned. When you go into the locker room, everybody is highfiving and smiling. Its all good. And then you start the second half. The second half is different. None of the plays seem to work. Everyone is frustrated. And the ref keeps throwing the flag for virtually everything. Finally, the coach pulls the ref aside and asks what is going on. The ref immediately apologizes, and tells him, I am so sorry. I forgot to tell you. During half time we changed all the rules! Of course, the coach realizes at once why nothing is working, and immediately comes up with a different game plan. This is a plan that he has adapted to the new rules. After that, things are back to normal, and you win the game. This is a good example of what getting older is like. In the first half of life, for most people, feeling healthy, strong, and energetic just goes with the territory. It isnt until they get into the second half of their life that things stop working as easily,
Real Cures (ISSN 1062-4163) is published monthly by Soundview Publishing, LLC. Publisher: Garret W. Wood; Editor: Frank Shallenberger, MD. Cover Price: $8 per issue; discounts available for one- and two-year subscriptions. Contact our Buisness Office: P Box 8051, Norcross, .O. GA 30091-8051, 800-791-3392 or 770-399-5617. Real Cures is a newsletter containing general comments on health, nutrition, and medicine. Readers are advised to consult with their own physician before implementing any health idea they read about, whether here or in any other publication. Copyright 2012 by Soundview Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction of this newsletter or its contents by xerography, facsimile, or any other means is illegal.

and penalty flags start to fly. Somebody changed the rules, only we never got the word. But you can still win the game. All you need is a new game plan. If you keep on with the old game plan, I can promise that you are in for a very rough half. But if you change up, the odds are great that the second half will be even more fun than the first half. And what does a new game plan look like? These are the main factors: cardiovascular fitness, supplements, hormones, diet, and lifestyle. Change these up and you will have a winning combination. After I finished giving Doug the football speech, and he was all motivated to get on with the new game plan, I gave him the MMSE. He scored 30 points right away. So I explained to him that his memory was just fine, and that all he had was delayed recall. Then I told him that the best game plan I know of for delayed recall was the amino acid l-tyrosine. L-tyrosine is the amino acid that your brain uses to make the chemical dopamine. I think the best way to remember dopamine is that if you dont have enough of it, you will become a dope. I know its crude, but you wont forget it. Dopamine is the brain chemical thats responsible for concentration, mental alertness, and recall. And when you take l-tyrosine supplements, your dopamine levels will increase, and all of these symptoms get better. Its a great game plan. And a recently published article points this out. The researchers were members of the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts. The purpose of the study was to evaluate how effective supplements of l-tyrosine are on cognitive, psychomotor, and physical performance in 15 men after they had jumped in cold water. Cold water immersion causes the core body temperature to decline, and as that happens, the ability to recall and react quickly declines as well. The idea was to see if pre-treating the men

with l-tyrosine before their body temperatures went down would decrease the negative effect on their recall and reaction times. They found that the tyrosine worked well. When the men took l-tyrosine (300 mg/kg body weight) before the cold water immersion, they performed 18% better on cognitive testing than when they took a placebo. Their marksmanship also improved by 14%. That means they were more steady and more focused. The authors concluded by saying that the data showed that this experiment supported the findings of previous experiments. It verified that tyrosine supplementation is an effective way to improve cognitive performance and working memory. So I told Doug to take 1,500 mg of ltyrosine on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and again about 30 minutes before lunch. The total dose was 3,000 mg daily. Thats only about 1/7th of the dose the Army used. But then I had no plans to stick him in cold water. In the many years

Ive used this therapy, I have never found it necessary to use doses higher than 6,000 mg per day. Of course, the bigger a person is, the more they will probably need. When Doug came back to see me about two months later, he was happy to report that his recall speed was just about as good as it had ever been. He was a happy guy. He had a new game plan, and the second half was starting to look pretty good. Taking l-tyrosine within these dosage parameters is remarkably safe. The only people who should not take it are those with a rare genetic disorder called PKU. Since l-tyrosine is the amino acid that the thyroid gland uses to produce thyroid hormone, any person with hyperthyroidism should not take it. If you are taking any medications, be sure to ask your doctor or pharmacist if taking tyrosine is okay. n
REF: OBrien, C., C. Mahoney, W.J. Tharion, I.V Sils, and J.W. . Castellani. Dietary tyrosine benefits cognitive and psychomotor performance during body cooling. Physiol Behav., 2007 February 28;90(2-3):301-7. Epub 2006 October 31.

The Best Alternative Treatment for Back Pain

Conventional back pain doctors are looking for alternatives. But theyre looking in the wrong places. So if you suffer from back pain, dont listen to the recent news coming from the American Academy of Pain Medicine. There is a real alternative that works. Before I tell you about the good and bad alternatives available to back pain sufferers, lets look at the treatment conventional docs almost always turn to. The most common treatment for back pain is steroid injections (cortisone). But there are some real problems with this therapy. First of all, steroids do nothing to correct the problem causing the pain. They simply knock out the inflammation. Your body still has to cure the cause of the pain independent of any action from the steroid. Secondly, steroids actually decrease the bodys ability to heal. This is the reason that doctors can use them only one or two times at most. After that, the chances are too great that the steroid injections will create additional damage all by themselves. Third, there are some serious problems with steroid injections. They might result in abscesses. And they might make matters even worse. Not long ago, I saw a young man whose life is essentially destroyed from a complication called arachnoiditis. This is a known complication of epidural steroid injections. And lastly, they dont have all that great a track record. This is the very reason conventional docs are looking for alter-

Clinical
Reduce Your Risk of Hard-toTreat Atrial Fibrillation by 28%
In last months issue of Real Cures, I reported on one of the newly discovered dangers of low cholesterol. Its a heart arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation. But low cholesterol is not the only cause of this hard-to-treat condition. A new study says not taking a particular supplement will contribute to the condition. The medical journal Circulation recently published a study that looked at 4,815 adults. All of them were over 65 years old. The researchers assessed these folks for the next 12 years to determine their dietary intake of fish oil. They also assessed them for the levels of fish oils, specifically the omega-3 fats DHA and EPA, in their blood. None of the people in this study were taking fish oil supplements. Their only intake was what they received in their diets. What the researchers discovered was very interesting and somewhat unexpected. They found that those who ate the most tuna and other broiled or baked fish had the highest omega-3 levels. Whereas those eating fried fish or fish sandwiches did not show any increase at all in their omega-3 levels. They offered two reasons for this finding. One, fish that you typically see fried or used in sandwiches are the fish with the lowest oil content. Second, the act of frying can greatly alter a fish meals oil composition by increasing the content of omega-6 fats, trans-fats, and oxidized fats. This is particularly true when the cook uses the frying oil repeatedly. Next, the researchers noticed that over the course of the 12-year study, 980 people came

natives. In one study, researchers looked at a series of 80 patients who underwent steroid injections for their low back pain. They found that 75% of these people had at least a 50% reduction in pain, and the rest had only a 25-49% reduction. Thats an okay record, but not a very good one. So, conventional docs want something that works. According to a recent article reporting on a presentation at the American Academy of Pain Medicine, that alternative is radiofrequency ablation. It started off by saying, Patients with low back pain who dont respond robustly to steroid injections may still be candidates for treatment with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The article went on to discuss how if patients cant get relief from their back pain by steroid injections, then perhaps RFA will work. The researchers looked at RFA as something that might be helpful in all those cases where steroid treatments had been ineffective. But is RFA really that good of a second choice? According to Dr. Aneesh Singla, a

leading authority on RFA, the major benefits of RFA dont have much to do with efficacy. Instead, he says that the major advantages of RFA are that compared to surgery it costs less and has fewer side effects. He states, The potential advantages of these treatments [RFA] include low-risk benefit ratios and relatively low costs. Nowhere in his letter to the editor published in the New England Journal of Medicine does he describe how effective it is. In fact, during an interview published in Rheumatology Morning Wire, Dr. Singla honestly noted that, overall, the evidence for radiofrequency ablation has been disappointing. He cited four key articles from the literature, and noted that while two of them showed some modest benefit from the procedure, the other two showed no benefit at all. Now compare these two therapies, RFA and steroid injections, with what I and many other doctors all around the world have experienced from Prolozone therapy. Prolozone therapy was a treatment that I came up with about 15 years ago. I

Pearls
down with atrial fibrillation. And when they compared the people who ate fish with those who didnt, they found a significant protective effect of the fish oils. Those who ate fish one to four times per week had 28% fewer cases of atrial fibrillation than those who ate fish once a month. And those who ate fish five or more times per week had the highest omega-3 blood levels, and had 31% fewer cases. However, the researchers didnt see the protective effect of fish oils in people who ate either fried fish or fish sandwiches. This provides evidence that the decrease in atrial fibrillation comes directly from the effect of fish oils. Now why would fish oils have this preventive effect? The authors point out that taking fish oil supplements lowers blood pressure, reduces systemic inflammation, improves circulation, improves heart function, and decreases dangerous arrhythmias and the excitability of heart cells. Any one of these factors could explain the anti-atrial fibrillation effect of fish oils. Furthermore, when researchers induce atrial heart tissue in laboratory experiments to develop the kind of irregular activity that leads to atrial fibrillation, it is much less likely to develop that activity if it is exposed to fish oils beforehand. I know you may be taking fish oils already because they are so valuable in so many ways. But here is just one more way they can help to keep you out of the hospital and on the road to good health. The fish oil I recommend is Daily Omega (800-791-3395).
REF: Mozaffarian D, Psaty B. Fish Intake and Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation. Circulation. 2004 July 27; 110(4): 368-373.

have written about it many times before. And readers can also learn more about it by watching a TV interview that I did several years ago. You can see that interview for free on my clinic website: www.antiagingmedicine.com. Just click on the Prolozone video. Prolozone involves injecting vitamins, herbs, anti-inflammatory medications, minerals, and oxygen in the form of ozone into damaged and painful areas of the body. It works because the reason these areas dont heal is because the injury has reduced the circulation there. And without circulation, the cells cant get the nutrients and oxygen they need to heal. By injecting what the cells need to heal right into the area of damage, healing occurs, and pain goes away. Its amazing what the body can do when it gets what it needs! Prolozone works for hips, necks, carpal tunnels, shoulders, knees, feet, and anything that hurts and wont heal. And yes, it also works great for backs. Being an alternative doctor, most of the back pain patients I have seen over the

years have only come to me after they have tried everything else. So I definitely do not get the easy cases. Many are addicted to narcotics, are on disability, and have had multiple failed surgeries. Out of this very difficult group, I have been able to report an 88% positive response rate. The majority are able to go off of all pain medications. And in most cases, the treatment is permanently effective. But dont believe me. Just look at what has been recently published in the literature. The international medical community has been using ozone injections for pain for nine years. They are reporting the same fantastic results. Bonetti and Fontana reported on 306 patients with low back pain. They treated half of them with ozone
For a complete listing of Dr. Shallenbergers recommended dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, please go to: www.AdvancedBionutritionals.com Or call toll free 800-791-3395 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

injections alone, not including the full Prolozone procedure. They treated the other half with steroid injections.

In this study, the ozone injections were almost three times more effective than the steroid injections, and without But as great as it is, there is one very one side effect. After analyzing the results significant problem with Prolozone theraof their trial, these researchers stated that, py. It is not patentable. Oxygen-ozone treatment And that means that in our was highly effective in Operating on someones medical system, the way relieving acute and chronic lower back pain and sciatiback without first trying that it currently operates, ca. The gas mixture can be ozone therapy is placing the system will push therapies that can be patented administered as a first a patient at an unneceslike RFA instead of the treatment to replace sary risk. That sounds more natural treatments epidural steroids. But it like malpractice to me. like Prolozone. But there is gets even better. good news in all of this. Kieran J. Murphy, MD, of the University of Toronto, and his colleagues recently reported to the Society of Interventional Radiology at their 2009 meeting on the use of ozone to treat back pain. Dr. Murphy and his group reviewed the worlds literature on the use of ozone for low back pain. They pooled the data from 12 studies with a total of more than 8,000 patients. Their conclusion was that ozone therapy was every bit as effective as disc surgery, but without any of the risks. They also noted that unlike surgery, the recovery time and side effects from ozone therapy were non-existent. Let me put this into perspective. They are describing a treatment that is completely safe, and yet is The times are changing as we speak. Our current medical system is starting to dramatically feel the ever increasing weight of therapies that are expensive and injure patients. And I do believe that over the next few years we will see more and more interest in therapies like Prolozone simply because they are so economical if for no other reason. Just recently, I formed the American Academy of Ozonotherapy (AAO). The AAO is an academy of practitioners of all kinds who use ozone therapy in their practice. Our first meeting was just last month. It was a smash hit. There were over 150 participants at the conference. And the academy now has over 90 members. Some came from as far away as Brazil and Korea. We expect that next year, the number will go up to over 300. As ozone therapy becomes better known, my hope is that it will become increasingly available to all those patients who are now needlessly suffering from pain that could be cured with Prolozone. If you have pain of any kind, low back pain, knee pain, neck pain, etc., look for the right alternative Prolozone. You can find a trained Prolozone practitioner (and examined by the AAO) by going to the Find a Doctor page of the

equally as effective as surgery, not to mention 1/50th of the cost. In my mind that means that operating on someones back without first trying ozone therapy is placing a patient at an unnecessary risk. That sounds like malpractice to me.

Attention Doctors:
I have talked about Dr. Marty Hinz before. He is a true medical pioneer, and has developed a remarkable system of natural therapy using amino acids to combat Parkinson's, mental disorders, obesity, and more. This work is too important for any practitioner not to know it. Dr. Hinz will be teaching his system in Los Angeles on June 2, 2012. I will be attending the Los Angeles conference. Call 877-626-2220 for more information or to register.

academys web site, www.aaot.us. To expose yourself to steroid injections, surgery, or even RFA before trying this safe and effective natural treatment is not a good idea. n
REFS: Bonetti, M., A. Fontana, B. Cotticelli, G.D. Volta, M. Guindani, and M. Leonardi. Intraforaminal O(2)-O(3) versus periradicular steroidal infiltrations in lower back pain: randomized controlled study Am J Neuroradiol. 2005 May; 26(5):996-1000. Cheng, J., et al. The degree of pain relief from intraarticular

steroid injection of the sacroiliac joint does not predict the outcomes of radiofrequency ablation of the lateral branches, AAPM 2012; Abstract 136. Fiore, Kristina (staff writer). Ablation Possible for Back Pain When Steroid Injections Fail, MedPage Today Published: February 28, 2012; http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/538341. Singla, A.K. Persistent Low Back Pain. N Engl J Med, 2005; 353:956-957, September 1, 2005. Steppan, J., et al. A meta-analysis of the effectiveness and safety of ozone treatments for herniated lumbar discs, Society of Interventional Radiology 2009; Abstract 37.

The Tasty Treat That Lowers Stroke Risk By 29%

In one of my recent email alerts, I told you about the work of Dr. Graeme J. Hankey. In his newest study, he found something very interesting regarding many of the popular vitamins on the market. He said that while overnutrition increases the risk of stroke, reliable evidence suggests that dietary supplementation with antioxidant vitamins, B vitamins, and calcium does not reduce the risk of stroke. That doesnt surprise me. There are better supplements for reducing stroke risk, such as Natto. Natto reduces the fibrinogen in your arteries that can cause clots. And clots are a primary cause of stroke. The study did find that certain foods can definitely increase your risk of having a stroke. The two biggest culprits are meat and sugar. Even one serving of meat every day can increase your risk by 24% over those who don't eat meat. And drinking low-fat milk has a lower risk of stroke than drinking regular milk. While these foods can raise your risk, Dr. Hankey found that other foods can reduce your risk. So getting your calories from the right foods can significantly reduce your risk. Dr. Hankeys review revealed the following effects of individual foods and beverages on the risk of stroke. Eating fish three times a day can lower your risk by 6%. Eating fruits and vegetables five times a day will lower your risk by 26%. Drinking three to four cups of coffee per day reduces your risk by 17%. And drinking more than three cups per day of tea puts you at a 21% lower risk. However, there was one food that lowered your risk more than all of these healthful foods. And this is my favorite. Its a real treat that Ive written about before. What could possibly lower your stroke risk more than fruits and vegetables? The answer may shock you. Eating a large amount of chocolate yields a whopping 29% lower risk! You read that right. Other studies have confirmed this finding. It turns out that eating chocolate is one of the healthiest bad habits you can have. Yes, eating too much can load you up on sugar, so I still suggest you eat it in moderation. But this study, and others I've told you about in the past, suggest the cocoa actually helps your body overcome the deleterious effects of the sugar to some degree. So when you cut back on the number of calories you eat in a day, make sure you still indulge in some chocolate. Let that be your treat and not other candies, cookies, cakes, and ice cream. Chocolate can help you avoid a stroke, heart disease, and even diabetes. These other desserts will increase your risk for all of the above.
REF: Hankey, G.J. Nutrition and the risk of stroke. Lancet Neurol. 2012 Jan;11(1):66-81.

LETTERS

TO THE

EDITOR

Q: My daughter and her husband are

trying to have children. But they keep having miscarriages. So far, theyve had two. Is there anything they can do to prevent the miscarriages? Natalie D., Seattle, WA Dear Natalie, One of the most frustrating and heartwrenching experiences a young couple can have is a miscarriage. Sad because of the loss, but also sad because they know that statistically they are more likely to have another miscarriage. Unfortunately, miscarriages are very common. Some studies show that it happens in as many as 75% of all pregnancies. Most of these losses are unrecognized because they occur before or with the next expected menstrual period. But even in known pregnancies, most studies show that there is a 10-15% chance of having a miscarriage. What makes some women more likely to have a miscarriage? Most miscarriages are a onetime experience due to a failure of the sperm to adequately impregnate the egg. In other cases, the cause is alcohol or smoking. And some, particularly those that are repeated, have an easy-to-address cause. In these cases it is a lack of optimal amounts of the hormone progesterone. And the good news here is that you can easily remedy this problem. Having enough progesterone is essential for a pregnancy to develop. As soon as the egg is fertilized by the sperm, the ovary begins to make increasing amounts of progesterone. The extra progesterone stimulates the formation of a nice thick lining on the uterus. This thick lining is required for the successful implantation of the fertilized egg. If the lining is not thick enough, the egg will be aborted. The best way to determine if someone has a hormone deficiency is to ask them whether or not they have any of the symptoms that are seen when that hormone is

deficient. Women who are deficient in progesterone typically complain of moodiness, acne, water retention, breast soreness, and emotional irritability. They also often have difficult periods. When they have these symptoms, I start them on progesterone. The progesterone I like to use is a cream called HerBalance. You can get it at www.vrp.com. But the truth is that any good quality progesterone cream will be effective. I have my patients apply one pump of HerBalance (20 mg) on their skin for two weeks out of every menstrual cycle, starting on the tenth day after the first day of their menstrual period. Within a matter of a few months, most of their symptoms will disappear. Once a patient becomes pregnant, I tell her to continue using the HerBalance cream, but use it every day, not intermittently. This amount should be able to supply her body with the needed amount of progesterone to protect against another miscarriage. Then, after three months, she should be able to stop the progesterone. At that point the placenta would be developed enough to make enough of the hormone to supply her during the rest of the pregnancy. If any woman has a history of premenstrual syndrome, I think she ought to discuss with her doctor the advisability of using progesterone cream during the first three months of her pregnancy. In a dose of 20-40 mg per day, there are absolutely no safety issues, and it just might help to prevent having a miscarriage.

Got a Question?
Do you have a question for Dr. Shallenberger? If so, please send it (typed only) to him c/o Soundview Publications, P Box 8051, Norcross, GA 30091-8051 or .O. feedback@RealCuresLetter.com. While he wont be able to respond personally, hell try to answer as many questions as he can in these pages.