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Dr.

Frank Shallenberger’s

Vol. 8, No. 2 February 2009

Cure 90% of Carpal Tunnel


Syndrome Cases Without Surgery
Carpal tunnel syndrome is so common because it works. In over 35 years of practic-
that almost everybody has heard of it by ing medicine, I’ve referred only a handful of
now. You may even have it. It’s most com- patients to surgery.
mon in people over the age of 50. And the The symptoms of carpal tunnel syn-
usual conventional treatment for the condi- drome consist of a burning, numbness, pain,
tion is surgery. or tingling sensation in the thumb and first
However, before someone with carpal two fingers of the hand. The hand may
tunnel syndrome resorts to surgery, they become weak, and it may be difficult to hold
should give natural medicine a try. That’s or grasp objects tightly. The discomfort often
extends up into the arm, and even can go as
far as the shoulder and neck.
In this Issue It all starts in an area in the middle of
the wrist called the carpal tunnel, which is a
Q Sudden weight loss, fatigue, and small tunnel formed by ligaments, tendons,
a rapid heartbeat could be symptoms and soft tissue. The median nerve passes
of Graves’ disease. Here's how to
through this tunnel. The symptoms of carpal
cure it .......................................... p. 3
tunnel syndrome are caused by a compres-
Q The world's most common infection sion on the median nerve as it passes
is tough to kill. But you can do it through. The compression can be caused by
naturally .................................... p. 4 any kind of repetitive work that results in
Q Normally, I tell patients to avoid trauma and/or inflammation to the wrist. It’s
drugs for heart problems. Not with common where people do a lot of uninter-
this condition, though ................ p. 7 rupted typing, grocery checking, knitting, etc.
But not everybody who does these activ-
Q Why I no longer recommend taking
most CoQ10 products ................ p. 8 ities will develop carpal tunnel syndrome.
This is because in order for the compression
Coming Next Month to trigger the syndrome, one or more pre-
conditions are required. And the secret to
• Why depression in those over 50 is usually
curing carpal tunnel syndrome is finding out
different than depression in the young — and
what you need to do to treat it effectively. and eliminating these pre-conditions.
• Why you might not ever need to have a The known pre-conditions that can lead
colonoscopy again. This new test detects to carpal tunnel syndrome include cervical
cancer so accurately, it could make (neck) subluxation, weight gain, hypothy-
colonoscopy obsolete. roidism, arthritis, diabetes, and vitamin defi-
ciencies. When any one or several of these
conditions are in place, they can trigger the The way I used to diagnose hypothy-
compression that ultimately causes the con- roidism before I had Bio-Energy Testing was
dition. So what can be done to treat the dis- by a physical examination, a symptom check,
order? Let’s work our way down this list. and a trial of thyroid hormone supplementa-
The only way to be sure if cervical sub- tion. In other words, if the patient looked
luxation is at the root cause of carpal tunnel like someone with hypothyroidism, and had
is to have a chiropractic evaluation. I nor- some of the symptoms commonly seen in
mally get this referral if none of the causes hypothyroidism (such as carpal tunnel syn-
mentioned below are obvious. But I always drome), I would give them a trial of thyroid
recommend a chiropractic referral if and hormone. If the symptoms went away, then
when other treatments have failed. I was able to diagnose it. If there was no
improvement, then I knew I was wrong.
If the cause is weight gain, the treat-
ment is obvious. But don’t forget that many Other Causes to Consider
cases of excessive weight are the result of
undiagnosed hypothyroidism. If the cause is arthritis, then you have
to treat the arthritis. Since carpal tunnel
Start With Hypothyroidism syndrome is most common in people over
45, as is arthritis, a typical cause is deficient
If the cause is hypothyroidism, then sex hormones. It also can mean using anti-
once again the cure is obvious — treat the inflammatory herbs and nutrients, such as
thyroid. The potential problem here is that boswellia, ginger, curcumin, MSM, glu-
many doctors will miss the diagnosis. This is cosamine, chondroitin, etc. Topical anti-
because we were all mistakenly taught in inflammatory creams often work, such as
medical school that the only way to diagnose topical aspirin cream. You can find this at
hypothyroidism is when the thyroid blood most health food stores and pharmacies.
tests are abnormal. This turns out to be
completely untrue. If the cause is diabetes, once again the
treatment is to take measures to keep the
There are many articles in the medical blood sugar levels in a normal range. To find
literature that explain how hypothyroidism out all about some very innovative ways to
can be present even when all of the thyroid do this, be sure to read my latest book, The
blood tests are in the “normal range.” This Type 2 Diabetes Breakthrough. You can
is particularly true for the most common order by calling 800-728-2288.
test used to diagnose hypothyroidism, the
TSH test. Finally, the most common single pre-
condition for carpal tunnel syndrome is a
The only 100% reliable way to be sure deficiency of the B-vitamins, particularly B6.
that the body has normal thyroid function is Studies have shown that simply taking
to measure basal metabolic rate (BMR). these nutrients can resolve carpal tunnel
This test is easy to do, is well validated in syndrome a good 50-60% of the time. Take a
the scientific and medical literature, and B-complex capsule containing 50 mg of each
often indicates hypothyroidism when all of of the B-vitamins, along with 100 mg of
the blood tests are normal. vitamin B6 twice a day. You can expect to do
The best way to determine BMR is this for three to four months before the
with Bio-Energy Testing. This is a testing problem completely resolves itself.
procedure that I have developed that meas-
ures BMR. It also compares the result to The Single Most Effective
what would be optimal for the weight, Treatment
height, and sex of the person taking the test.
You can learn more about Bio-Energy Although the above treatments are all
Testing and find a clinic near you that offers effective in different situations, there’s one
it by going to www.bioenergytesting.com. other treatment to consider. It is, perhaps,

—2—
the single most effective way to decrease the ozone at a concentration of 10 gamma in the
compression and cure the symptoms of same area. Do this treatment once a week
carpal tunnel syndrome. This treatment is until the symptoms are gone.
ozone therapy. Of course many cases are multi-factori-
I teach doctors how to do this therapy al. In that case it may be necessary to
twice a year in my ozone course. And if you employ several of these therapies simultane-
are one of the many doctors who subscribe ously in order to resolve the problem. But I
to this newsletter, be sure to go to this can tell you that over 90% of all cases of
course. There is probably nothing else that I carpal tunnel syndrome can be cured with
have found in over 35 years of medicine that these methods. And that’s important,
is as marvelous as a stand-alone therapy as because these therapies work only because
ozone therapy. Doctors can learn more about they remove the cause of the condition.
the next course by going to Since surgery does not remove the ini-
www.ozonecourse.com. tial cause(s), it doesn’t always work. And, if
The technique for treating carpal tun- it does work, there is another distinct possi-
nel syndrome with ozone is as follows. Inject bility you need to be aware of. Since surgery
0.5 cc of a special form of B12 called methyl- doesn’t fix the actual cause, the condition
B12, 0.5 cc B6, and 1.0 cc of 2% buffered may show up later in the other hand. If it
procaine just under the skin (sub-q) over the does, you’re in for another trip to the oper-
underside of the wrist. Then inject 2 cc of ating room. Q

Real Cures for Graves’ Disease


Everybody knows about hypothy- Normally, the immune system acts to
roidism. The prefix “hypo-“ means “less protect us against viruses, bacteria, and
than.” So hypothyroidism is when the thy- other foreign substances that invade the
roid gland activity is less than normal. body. In Graves’ disease, the immune sys-
Hypothyroidism is by far and away the most tem mistakenly acts on the thyroid gland,
common thyroid problem. The one you’ve and causes it to produce too much hormone.
probably heard the most about. But it is not In some cases, it also attacks the tissue
the only one. behind the eyes and the skin of the lower
The opposite of “hypo-“ is “hyperthy- legs over the shins.
roidism.” The prefix “hyper-“ means “more Like with all autoimmune disorders,
than.” Hyperthyroidism means that the thy- the cause of Graves’ disease is thought to be
roid gland is overactive, and is making too unknown. For sure, there is a genetic pre-
much thyroid hormone. Hyperthyroidism is disposition. There may very likely be a viral
not nearly as common as the hypo version, component as well.
but it is every bit as serious. Typical symptoms of Graves’ disease
Hypothyroidism usually happens in are: sudden weight loss, fatigue, rapid heart-
people in the over 50 crowd. And it occurs beat (tachycardia), irregular heartbeat
equally in men and women. Hyperthyroidism (arrhythmia), pounding of the heart (palpi-
is different. It mostly hits women in their tations), nervousness, and a fine trembling
30s and 40s. The most common form of in the hands and fingers. Sometimes the
hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease. Graves’ symptoms are marked, and sometimes,
disease is one of many diseases called especially in older folks, they are subtle.
autoimmune disorders. These are conditions Physical signs include an enlarged thyroid
in which the immune system misbehaves. gland, a bugging out, and/or an irritation
Let me explain. and redness of the eyes called exophalmus,

—3—
Clinical

How to Kill the World’s Most C


Here’s a question for you. What’s the most inflammation that can cause ulcers and pro-
common infection in the world? And what’s the mote cancers.
best way to cure it? The usual treatment for H. pylori is antibi-
If you answered helicobacter pylori (H. otics. However, the authors of a recent study
pylori) to the first question, you are right. But if make a very good point about the use of antibi-
you answered antibiotics to the second question, otics. Their argument? It goes like this: Suppose
I have some surprising news for you. you find out that you have an H. pylori infec-
H. pylori is the bacteria that causes stom- tion. So you take the prescribed triple antibiotic
ach and duodenal ulcers. It also causes GERD, regimen to eliminate the infection. When you
stomach cancer, and a special form of lymphoma retest, you’re happy to discover that you are in
called MALT lymphoma. Over one half of the the 90% of people who can eradicate the infec-
entire world’s population is infected with H. tion with antibiotics. But here’s the problem. As
pylori. And unless you have either a blood test much as 14% of the time, the infection reoccurs
or a C-urea breath test to determine if you have within one year. So unless you regularly test
the infection, you are not likely to know it. yourself, it is quite possible that you will devel-
That’s because 80% of the time, H. pylori does- op another infection without knowing it.
n’t cause any symptoms. But some very effective herbs and nutri-
But just because this bacteria is asympto- ents can help.
matic doesn’t mean that it isn’t doing anything. Herbs such as Korean red ginseng, green
When H. pylori infects, it burrows down into tea, mastic, cinnamon, and garlic all have data
the lining of the stomach or duodenum (the in the literature showing that they are effective
first part of the small intestine) and creates a in controlling H. pylori. Other nutrients, includ-
chronic inflammatory state. It is the chronic ing flavonoids and broccoli sprouts are also

and thickened reddish skin over the shins. Band-Aid the symptoms.
Once a doctor suspects Graves’ disease, Over the next year-and-a-half, she
it’s easy to diagnose it with simple blood developed two symptoms which kept on get-
testing. The thyroid hormones T3 and T4 will ting worse each month. One was heavy and
be high, and the pituitary hormone TSH will painful menstrual cycles, something she had
be low. Graves’ disease is what Jackie had. never had before. The other was severe
breast tenderness.
The danger of just
Jackie saw her doctor and he pre-
treating symptoms scribed NuvaRing®. The manufacturer of
I met Jackie in June of 2006. She was a NuvaRing says the drug is a “technological
45-year-old schoolteacher, who like so many breakthrough in contraceptive delivery sys-
of my patients had a very interesting story tems.” A better description of it is a piece of
to tell. When she was 41, her doctor gave plastic that contains two very nasty drugs,
her a routine TSH test, which was abnor- etonogestrel and ethinyl estradiol.
mally low. The doctor wanted to give her a Several months later, Jackie had to stop
drug to suppress the thyroid. But Jackie her “technological breakthrough” because of
said that she was “in the best condition of side effects. So her doctor started her on a
my life,” and she was not interested in tak- different drug. Two months after that she
ing any drugs. She wanted to correct the had a mammogram and an ultrasound of
condition by eliminating the cause, not just the breasts, and was told she had fibrocystic

—4—
l Pearls

Common Infection — Naturally


effective, as are probiotics, xylitol, colostrum, (1/4 teaspoon) three times a day. We stock
coconut oil, whey protein, and Manuka honey. ozonated olive oil in the clinic and it is available
Studies have shown that all of these inhibit H. on the Internet as well. It tastes terrible, but it
pylori colonization. They also decrease gastric really works.
inflammation by inhibiting cytokine release. In addition, take a good probiotic and
And they stop precancerous changes.
drink plenty of green tea with Manuka honey.
The authors of the study said, “Even After three weeks, retest to see if the infection is
though further unsolved issues are awaited gone. In most cases it will be. At that point, just
before phytoceuticals [nutrients and herbs] are
continue with the probiotic as a preventive
accepted as a standard treatment for H. pylori
measure and take the 1,000 mg of mastic once
infection, phytoceuticals can be a mighty
weapon for either suppressing or modulating a week.
the disease-associated footprints of H. pylori If the above doesn’t work, or if you just
infection.” decide to go right to the antibiotic therapy, make
So here’s what I recommend. sure to follow up the therapy with a regular
If you have a history of heartburn or intake of probiotics and mastic. This will reduce
ulcers, or if you have been close to (as in kissing) the damage done to your digestive track by the
someone who has had an H. pylori infection, antibiotics. Check yourself one year later to
have your doctor order either the blood test or make sure that the infection did not return.
the breath test. Most doctors agree that the REF: Lee, S.Y., Y.W. Shin, and K.B. Hahm. “Phytoceuticals:
breath test is the more accurate test. If you are Mighty but ignored weapons against Helicobacter pylori infec-
positive, treat yourself with a combination of tion.” J Dig Dis., 2008 August;9(3):129-39.
mastic gum (1,000 mg) and ozonated olive oil

breast disease. Fibrocystic disease is a com- The “nuclear” plan of action


mon problem. It is the presence of multiple
fluid-filled cysts in the breasts, which are Four months later, Jackie’s doctor
very painful. repeated the TSH test. It was low again. In
addition, both of her thyroid hormones, T3
So now her doctor gave her an alto-
and the T4, were elevated. Her hyperthyroid
gether new pill. This one was supposed to
state was getting worse. Her doctor recom-
provide birth control as well as help her
mended that she have radioactive iodine
with her menstrual and breast symptoms,
treatment. This is a way of killing off the
which it did.
thyroid gland. It’s a sort of who-cares-
Then over the next year, Jackie devel- what’s-bothering-the-thyroid-let’s-just-kill-it
oped something else the doctors did not plan. Jackie turned down this option. Instead
understand. Her fingernails became increas- she opted for less toxic treatment. It involved
ingly dry and cracked. They didn’t give her taking the drug propylthiouracil (PTU).
any treatment for this, so she just put up
Doctors commonly use PTU to treat
with it. She also continued to have problem
hyperthyroidism. It works by interfering
with cysts in her breasts, and ultimately had
with the way that the thyroid gland makes
to have some of the cysts drained. The birth
hormones. It can cause hepatitis, neu-
control drugs had helped with the breast
ropathies, skin disorders, bleeding disorders,
pain, but the cysts just became progressively
kidney disease, hair loss, and a life threaten-
worse. You will soon see why.

—5—
ing blood disease called agranulocytosis. amount, and the blood and urine levels
Agranulocytosis first shows up as a low remain normal.
white blood cell count. Jackie should have shown an iodine
Within a month of starting the PTU, saturation of greater than 90%. Instead her
Jackie’s doctor discovered that although her level was 61%. Now she had both clinical
thyroid levels were better, her blood count and laboratory evidence of iodine deficiency.
was getting low. He suggested that she con- This was probably why she developed her
tinue the drug and recheck the level in Graves’ disease, her fibrocystic disease, and
another month. That was when Jackie came all of her other symptoms. So I started her
to see me. on a combination of iodine (one drop of
Lugol’s solution), along with 9.6 mg of lithi-
Looking for causes um ortate. The reason for using iodine is
When I first saw Jackie, she complained obvious. But why the lithium?
of loose stools, anxiety, and depression. These You may have already heard about
symptoms are typical for Graves’ disease. lithium. Doctors have used it for decades as
She also had neck and shoulder pain, heavy a treatment for manic depression. This is a
menstrual bleeding, and very painful breasts. form of depression that has episodes in which
She told me that four months prior she had the patient’s mood dramatically swings to
stopped the latest birth control pill. the opposite of depression, a condition called
The first thing I did was to look at her mania. When a person is manic, they have
iodine levels. Why? Because all of her symp- an unrealistically inflated attitude about
toms were classical signs of iodine deficiency. themselves and their abilities. Whereas
Fibrocystic breast disease is evidence of an depression is a hypo mood state, mania is a
iodine deficiency. So are Graves’ disease, hyper mood state. The mental manifestation
menstrual cramps, heavy menses, and brit- of mania is similar to what is seen in hyper-
tle fingernails. Jackie had every indication thyroidism. So it is reasonable to suspect
of a low iodine condition. that hyperthyroidism might be caused at
least in part by a lithium deficiency.
So I ordered an iodine loading test.
This test involves measuring how much The other thing about lithium is that it
iodine the body absorbs after a 50 mg tablet works on the mitochondria of the cells. This
of iodine is administered. I did the loading is where the thyroid hormones work, too.
test because this is the most accurate way to Finally, researchers have observed that
find an iodine deficiency. Simply looking at very high doses of lithium carbonate can
the level of iodine in the blood or urine suppress the thyroid. I chose to use lithium
without a loading dose usually misses the ortate instead of the carbonate version
diagnosis. Here’s why: As the body becomes because it is carried into the mitochondria
deficient in iodine, it adjusts to the lower of the cell much better. This means I can
prescribe a lower dose. And that’s important
because lithium can be toxic in doses that
Real Cures (ISSN 1062-4163) is published monthly by are too high.
Soundview Publishing, LLC. Publisher: Wallis W. Wood;
Editor: Frank Shallenberger, MD. Subscriptions $49 per Jackie responded quickly to this treat-
year; foreign addresses add $13 U.S. per year. Send new ment. One month later, all three of her thy-
subscriptions or changes of address to our Business Office:
P.O. Box 8051, Norcross, GA 30091-8051, 800-728-2288 or roid tests were normal, and she was feeling
770-399-5617. Real Cures is a newsletter containing gen- good for the first time in a long time. Her
eral comments on health, nutrition, and medicine. Readers
are advised to consult with their own physician before only complaint was that she had been losing
implementing any health idea they read about, whether hair during the previous six weeks. No
here or in any other publication. Copyright © 2009 by
Soundview Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
doubt this was caused by the PTU. At that
Unauthorized reproduction of this newsletter or its con- point, I stopped the PTU. It was time for
tents by xerography, facsimile, or any other means is illegal. Jackie to have a little party. It was the first

—6—
time in over two years that she had been two to three months to the changes in her
completely off drugs. thyroid status. And then a year later, while
checking her metabolic rate, I discovered
Still more problems to overcome that she needed thyroid hormone replace-
But Jackie still had a ways to go. Over ment. Why thyroid hormones? Didn’t she
the next six months, when her breast disease already have too much thyroid hormone?
and the heavy periods persisted, I knew there Well, yes, at one point she did. But
was a problem other than iodine deficiency. now, a year later, the Graves’ disease was
Another common cause of both these cured, and she was no longer hyperthyroid.
symptoms is a low level of the hormone In fact, her thyroid was starting to become
progesterone. So I checked her progesterone more like the thyroid of the average 48 year
levels and, sure enough, I found a deficiency. old — an under-functioning thyroid.
Progesterone deficiency is a common prob- In the last two years she had gone full
lem in young women, but it is almost always circle, from being hyperthyroid to being
an issue in women in their 40s. I should hypothyroid. I started adding in some natu-
have thought of it sooner. Ultimately, these ral thyroid hormone in November 2007.
conditions responded to a combination of Lithium carbonate and natural thyroid
progesterone replacement, vitamin B6, and are both available only though prescription,
magnesium. I prescribed the B6 and mag- so you’ll need your doctor’s help to get
nesium because it works with progesterone. them. You can order an iodine-loading test
And is often needed in progesterone defi- from my office by calling 775-884-3990
ciencies. x121. We will also help you with the results
The other issue was that her thyroid and interpretation. Just call our office for
gland was steadily healing. So I had to help. Q
adjust her lithium and iodine levels every

One Heart Problem That Requires Drug Treatment


You may know that I'm not a fan of most no alternative forms of treatment that will be
drugs. In fact, I spend a lot of my time trying successful.
to convince people that the drugs they are However, if your heart rhythm is now
taking are doing them more harm than good. normal, and you are simply taking the
However, the fact is, the right drug atenolol to prevent you from going back into
taken in the right dose for the right condition atrial fibrillation again, then there may be
is sometimes the very best course of action to other ways to prevent it.
take. Such a case would be atrial fibrillation. One example would be to simply take
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart vitamin C. Take 1,000 mg, three times a day. I
rhythm in which many impulses begin and recently read a study which showed how vita-
spread through the upper chambers of the min C can diminish your chance of atrial fib-
heart (the atria). This condition increases your rillation reoccurring by 70%. That's a huge
risk for a blood clot forming in the heart, which drop in risk. And probably as good as — if not
can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. better than — the drug.
If your doctor says you have atrial fibril- Another remedy that can also be effec-
lation, he will undoubtedly give you a pre- tive is hawthorn extract. I prefer the drops.
scription for atenolol. And in this case, drugs The typical dose I prescribe is 20 drops in
are warranted. water two to three times a day. These reme-
If you are in atrial fibrillation and you dies don't work all the time, but neither do the
are taking atenolol to prevent your heart rate drugs. So they are certainly worth a try.
from accelerating, then you need it. There are

—7—
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Q. I’m 65 years old and just found out Q10 is fat soluble. This means that your
body absorbs it only when you take it with
that I have an enlarged aorta. My doc-
tor says it’s over four centimeters fats. Dr. Karl Folker, the director of the
(average is around two centimeters). Institute for Biomedical Research at the
He says if it gets to five centimeters, it University of Texas, is the “godfather” of
could explode and I’d die almost CoQ10. His instruction to his patients was
instantly. But he won’t operate on it to take it with a warm beverage, such as cof-
until it hits five because the risk of fee or tea along with some cream (that’s the
surgery is so great. I could die on the fat) to maximize absorption.
operating table. Is there anything I Now in recent years, several manufac-
can do that will shrink its size? — turers have started to sell CoQ10 in forms
Mitchell S., Bowling Green, KY that are supposed to enhance absorption,
even when taken without fat. The data that
Dear Mitchell, proves these claims is a little sketchy, so it’s
In all likelihood you will eventually need hard to be sure if they really work as adver-
to have surgery. However, there’s a chance tised. The only form I know of that works
that you can beat this problem. I have done like this is ubiquinol. I’ll have more on this
exactly that with two patients. If I were in form in future issues.
your shoes, this is what I would do. Regardless of which product you use,
Start getting EDTA chelation IV along the only way to know for sure how well it’s
with IV Plaque-X treatments once a week. working is to get a blood level test. You can
In addition, if you have any symptoms at all have this test done at any laboratory. My lab
of testosterone deficiency (decreased libido, charges my patients $95 for the test. But
diminished enthusiasm, decreased shop around because some labs charge much
endurance, or increase in muscle or joint more. Have the blood specimen taken in the
aches), I recommend that your doctor start morning, and be sure not to take your
you on testosterone therapy right away. CoQ10 supplement on that morning. A good
Of course it’s also very important that blood level for 100 mg of CoQ10 would be
you eat right and exercise regularly, but I bet between 150-200 micrograms/milliliter. If
you already know that. Do this continually your supplement is not getting you to these
for the next year. If at the end of the year, levels, try something else, or try taking it
your aorta is still the same size, then decrease like Dr. Folker recommended.
the treatments to once a month for the rest Personally, I like the ubiquinol form of
of your life. The odds are good that this CoQ10. You can buy this form from
would be a long time. You can find a doctor Advanced Bionutritionals (800-728-2288).
in your area to help you at www.acam.org.

Q. I’ve taken CoQ10 chewable wafers


for some time. However, in the last Got a Question?
month, I’ve read two different sources
Do you have a question for Dr.
saying that CoQ10 in powder form is
Shallenberger? If so, please send it (typed
never absorbed or used by the body. only) to him c/o Soundview Publications,
What do you think? Am I getting the P.O. Box 8051, Norcross, GA 30091-8051 or
maximum benefit from the chewable feedback@RealCuresLetter.com. While he
wafers? — Naoma W., via e-mail won’t be able to respond personally, he’ll try
to answer as many questions as he can in
Hi Naoma, these pages.
It’s true, in its natural form, coenzyme

—8—

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