Introduction:
Traditional Naturopathy is a healing art of assisting a person in recovering from ill health and maintaining well being through enhancement and support of the bodies’ inherent healing capacity using natural means. It emphasizes that the body can heal itself if it is appropriately encouraged to do so. To facilitate completely recovery, the underlying cause must be addressed. Health and disease are conditions of the whole organism, a whole involving physical, emotional, genetic, environmental and social factors. The Traditional Naturopath must treat the whole person. The Traditional Naturopath must be a catalyst for healthful change and motivate the patient to assume responsibility for his or her own health. The author’s opinion is that disease is ones’ own creation. Disease is the result of abuse in the form of life style habits, faulty nutritional patterns, and environmental factors. The key postulates of Traditional Naturopathic medicine are: do no harm, build health rather than fight disease, practice prevention and change when necessary.

Mrs. L. is a forty year old female diagnosed with Lupus by a medical doctor in 1999 after having symptoms since 1997. Mrs. L. came to me for an initial consultation on May 6, 2003. Her chief complaints were anxiety, panic attacks and depression since 1996, which coincided with the year of her mother’s death after a lingering illness. During the initial consultation, the following full list of complaints became available: headaches since 1996, lower back pains since 1996, hip pain since 2001 including impaired motion in that area, Sjoegren’s Syndrome (diagnosed by an M.D. in 1996) with predominant symptoms of dry eyes and nose, Reynoud’s phenomenon since 2000 (diagnosed by M.D.) with her major symptoms being cold hands and feet with ulcerated fingertips that frequently opened up and became infected. Other complaints included generalized restriction of motion in the whole body, poor sex drive, diarrhea, pain in virtually all joints, heartburn that she had for approximately eight months, bloating, gas, problems falling asleep, problems maintaining sleep, low energy, hot flashes, nightsweats, dry mouth, lightheaded and dizzy spells, cramps and heavy clotting during menstruation, difficulty sustaining concentration, being impatient and irritable, craving and consuming sugar, twitching of muscles, and, soft and flaky fingernails. She also complained she caught frequent colds and infections, had a perception of a tight band around her chest, throat and abdominal area. Bruising was easily induced, and she had ulcers inside her nasal cavity, which were very painful and irritating.

Mrs. L. had been on seven prescription drugs when she came in for a consultation including steroids, NSAID’s, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, gastric reflux medications and painkillers. The patient said that none really worked and she felt progressively worse. She sought my help because her neighbor told her that her daughter had fully recovered from Crohn’s, another autoimmune disease using the author’s protocol.

The Naturopathic protocol the author used included:

• Atrium Biotechnologies frozen “CarTCell ” 1 vial per day
• Atrium Biotechnologies frozen “Adrenal”, 2 vials per week
• Atrium Biotechnologies frozen “Thymus”, 2 vials per week
• Atrium Biotechnologies Essential Fatty Acids, Biomega 3, 9 caps per day
• Anti-inflammatory, circulatory and mood enhancing ethanol based 1:1 herbal extracts to address the side effects of the autoimmune disorder taking toll on her body.
• Power walking to develop sweat – 20 minutes every day.
• Diminish acid producing foods and implement alkaline diet.
• Increase consumption of water on a daily basis.

After much research and clinical trials, the author chose Atrium Biotechnologies’ Products because they are the best researched, and offer a good bioavailability, therefore providing the most excellent results in the shortest period of time.

All botanical extracts utilized are 1:1 formulas that are all imported from Australia and New Zealand where the environment is one of the cleanest on earth.

This protocol started on May 6 th and was prescribed until August 25, 2003. Mrs. L. was extremely compliant with the protocol and highly motivated to get well. Mrs. L. was treated on a weekly basis for the initial month of treatment. By June 2, 2003 she improved on average 50% on all symptoms presented at the initial consultation. Mr. L. treated every two to three weeks thereafter until August 25, 2003, when the last remaining symptoms were completely eradicated. By June 16, 2003, the average improvement was 75%. By July 2, 2003, the average improvement was 85%. By July 21, 2003, the average improvement was 90%. By August 25, 2003 no remaining symptoms were noted. At that time, a maintenance protocol was introduced consisting of an alkaline diet, exercise and minute doses of herbal extracts.

Lupus (SLE) is a debilitating disease with an autoimmune component. A conventional medical approach is limited to pain relief and controlling some of the related symptoms such as depression. The clinical case presented here is a typical scenario of a motivated patient willing to comply. Other cases using similar protocol resulted in total improvement within three to four months. Typically some type of post-recovery maintenance is recommended including appropriate diet, exercise and nutrition.

Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) contains anti-oxidants, which helps build resistance to infection and benefits general good health and displays an anti-inflammatory effect. Omega 6 fatty acids (evening primrose oil) contains gamma linoleic acid found naturally in mother’s milk. Gamma linoleic acid is necessary for the production of prostaglandin in the body. It is also a reputed tonic for female reproductive system and has been historically used for premenstrual syndrome and other female issues.

Cartilage and cartilage extracts have long been proven to have a potent anti-inflammatory action in many diseases of connective tissue, especially in higher doses or concentrations. The studies done on cartilage that showed less promising results were often relating to sub-therapeutic dosage regimes. A good clinician will support using therapeutic dosages of cartilage products to get results in a timely manner. “CarTCell” supplied by Atrium Biotechnologies is manufactured by means of a specific molecular extraction and enrichment process. It displays three major actions: anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and matrix and metalloproteinoses inhibitor. These biological activities are beneficial in any degenerative inflammatory process.

Supplementation with Thymus Extract by Atrium Biotechnologies is also beneficial in SLE. It contains factors capable of optimizing physiological responses. Thymus Extract has an immunal modulating capacity as it promotes both maturation and differentiation of T-Cells, thus helping the immune system to stop overreacting and therefore targeting its’ real enemies rather than perceived ones. Clinically, Thymus Extract is used in a variety of illnesses, especially when improved immune competence is a part of a healing factor.

Supplementation of Adrenal Extract by Atrium Biotechnologies is indicated in Lupus as well. The adrenal glands help the body cope with stress and survival. Adrenal fatigue includes a variety of symptoms including anxiety, depression, immune incompetence such as auto-immunity, frequent infections, chronic fatigue and insomnia just to mention a few. It’s important to clarify the difference between adrenal extracts and synthetic corticosteroids. Steroids replace hormone and suppress adrenal function shutting down hormones secreted by the adrenals. Adrenal extracts are not HRT (hormone replacement therapy) but they contain constituents of the adrenals themselves. The liquid extract is flash frozen in order to preserve the integrity of the gland constituents and is aseptically processed by ultrafiltration. Adrenal extracts support, fortify and restore normal adrenal function. They enhance adrenal activity rather than suppressing it and have been used in the United States since the flu epidemic of 1918.

The regime of simultaneous administration of the above-referenced natural nutrients is viewed to be a viable treatment to help the body recover from SLE. The combination of Atrium Biotechnologies Liquid Cartilage Extract, Thymus Extract, and Adrenal Extract together with essential fatty acids, and ethanol based botanical extracts backed by common sense lifestyle improvements is a viable alternative treatment to other treatment available to facilitate total healing from this and other degenerative diseases with autoimmune components.

Alex Strande, Ph.D. is a Microbiologist and Traditional Naturopath with a clinic located in Irvine, California. His website is www.simplyhealingclinic.com.