By Van Merkle, DC, CCN, DCBCN, DABCI

All through life, we treasure our independence. We start fighting for it as children (frustrating our parents to no end) and struggle to maintain it as we age. But imagine being just 44 years old and barely able to walk across the room. As chiropractors, we must remember that we have more tools on hand than a simple adjustment to help patients with major problems.

My patient was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was just 29 years old. Hoping to curb the effects of this disease, she followed her doctor's advice by taking the MS drug Avonex, and then Capoxone when her symptoms got worse. By the time she came to my office 15 years later (2005), she had lost most of her self-sufficiency - she needed assistance to walk, suffered from muscle weakness, loss of balance, deteriorating vision and bladder control problems. She could no longer drive, which was a huge blow, and relied on her husband to go anywhere.

MS is an autoimmune disease affecting 2.5 people worldwide, with 200 new cases diagnosed each week.¹ An inflammatory process creates leaks into the central nervous system, allowing a special set of lymphocytes known as "T-cells" to sneak in. These T-cells mistakenly attack the myelin sheath, a fatty substance surrounding and protecting nerve fibers and the central nervous system, and can also damage the nerve fibers themselves. As the myelin heals, it forms scar tissue called sclerosis. When the brain tries to communicate with the body, such as telling the legs to walk, the message carried by nerve impulses must pass through these scarred areas and can become distorted and interrupted on their way to the leg muscles, causing impairments in sensation, delayed/unbalanced movement and other problems.²

As researchers delve into the cause of this condition, environmental triggers continue to stand out as major factors in disease development. For example, MS occurs more frequently in areas further from the equator (i.e. further from the sun providing citizens with typically lower levels of vitamin D).⁴ Researchers have also found a reduced risk for multiple sclerosis among those who received more sun exposure during childhood and early adolescence.⁵

Toxins such as mercury can also mimic the damages done by MS and add to a patient's difficulty. A study done at the University of Calgary proved that even small doses of mercury (they used equivalent doses to that found excreted in the urine of a person with 7-8 amalgam dental fillings) quickly strip neurons of their protective layers, causing additional distortions and neuron damage.⁶ It makes sense to reduce our exposure to toxins and use nutritional therapy - which is non-harmful - to allow the body to reach an optimal point of health and heal itself.

Keeping environmental influences in mind, there are a couple of initial steps which should be taken when assisting a patient with MS:

• If your state allows it, order a comprehensive blood test (glucose, hemoglobin A1C, chemistries, liver panel, lipid panel, hepatic panel, cholesterol panel, C-reactive protein and CBC panel). This will give you a good idea of how the patient's body is functioning and give you a baseline to show improvements/deterioration. (Some states such as Georgia, New York and Michigan limit a chiropractor's ability to order bloodwork. Call your state board for more information.)
  


• Add a vitamin D, 25-hydroxy blood test to the above order. Vitamin D regulates cell growth and activity. It is essential that MS patients have adequate vitamin D levels, especially in the winter when sun exposure is limited.
  


• Look for toxins - toxic elements like lead and mercury disrupt the body's ability to heal, cause neuron disruptions and many symptoms similar to MS. The body expels toxins three ways - through the hair, the urine and the stool. High levels indicate overexposure to toxic elements. There are several ways we are exposed to toxins every day; however, getting a strong water filter, using only stainless steel or glass cookware, eating organic and ceasing to use pesticides/herbicides around the house are all good steps toward reducing exposure. If mercury levels are high, patients also may want to consider removing any amalgam dental fillings and eliminating any high-mercury fish from their diet. Low levels are not necessarily a good thing. We are exposed to toxins every day in our environment and if they are not being expelled from the body, they are stuck inside us doing damage. The use of chelators like chlorella, DMSA, spirulina and cilantro will help draw out these toxins.

For my patient, there were no major red flags in her blood test, but we did find a moderately low vitamin D level of 42 ng/mL, which is inadequate for the level of cellular repair needed to battle MS. Taking a daily supplement of 5,000 IU will help boost this level. Additionally, of 16 toxins tested in the hair, 13 returned with high levels including aluminum, mercury, lead, arsenic, nickel and many more.

We ran a urine test using a chelator called DMSA to determine if there were additional levels of toxins that were not being eliminated from the body and found hidden stores of arsenic, lead and mercury that were all at least twice the test standard clinical limits. My patient's body was bogged down by toxins.

With T-cells cutting into the myelin sheath of neurons and high levels of mercury destroying neuron microtubules, this patient could not heal quickly enough to keep up with the damage, so her MS symptoms progressed at a rapid rate. By eliminating her exposure to these toxins, we are taking a great deal off stress off her system, allowing her body to heal and repair faster.

I used the chelator DMSA in intervals to remove toxic elements from her body and retested annually to determine what hidden stores still remained. As these numbers drop, the body burden of toxins decreases as well. The numbers did rise slightly in 2008, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This most likely shows her body's improved ability to excrete toxic elements.

Her hair test also greatly improved, going from 13 high toxic element values in 2005 to just four moderately elevated toxins in 2008. Most importantly, she can now do things that were next to impossible four years ago, like drive, walk across a room unassisted and be as independent as she sees fit.

Dr. Van D. Merkle, president of Science Based Nutrition, is a diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition and the American Board of Chiropractic Internists. He is also a diplomate of the recently formed Chiropractic Board of Clinical Nutrition and currently serves as vice president. Dr. Merkle has practiced in the Dayton, Ohio area for more than 25 years, and hosted the call-in radio talk show "Back To Health, Your Guide to Better Living" since 1995.