Enzym-gepotentieerde
desensibilasatie (EPD)
Enzym-gepotentieerde desensibilasatie is een therapie voor de behandeling van
inhalatieallergie en voedselovergevoeligheid. Bij EPD wordt een kleine
hoeveelheid van een groot scala aan inhalatie- en voedselallergenen in de huid
geïnjecteerd in combinatie met het enzym beta-glucuronidase. Deze injectie leidt
er niet alleen toe dat het immuunsysteem de betreffende allergenen leert
accepteren, maar stimuleert bovendien de zogenaamde natural killer cellen,
belangrijke cellen van het immuunsysteem. Deze immuunstimulatie is
waarschijnlijk deels de oorzaak van de verbetering bij fibromyalgiepatiënten.
Perfectionering van EPD, speciaal gericht op fibromyalgie (ME), heeft de
resultaten ervan nog aanzienlijk verbeterd.
Als vastgesteld is, waar iemand allergisch op reageert, moeten de betreffende
items worden geëlimineerd uit het dieet. Als na verloop van tijd nog steeds
reacties optreden na het nuttigen van de boosdoeners, kan overwogen worden om
het lichaam ongevoelig te maken voor de betreffende voedingsmiddelen (desensibilisatie
). Enzym-gepotentieerde desensibilisatie (EPD) is hiervoor bij uitstek geschikt,
omdat deze techniek ook de Natural Killercel activeert en daarmee de antivirale
weerstand verhoogt.
EPD
verhoogt bij 50% van de patiënten het energieniveau. Bij meer dan 80% van de
patiënten geeft EPD
een sterke verbetering of genezing van de allergie.
Ook inhalatieallergieën (zoals hooikoorts, huisstofmijtallergie en allergie voor
huisdieren) kunnen succesvol met EPD
worden behandeld.
Enzym-gepotentieerde desensibilasatie (EPD)
Een nieuwe aanpak van het Chronische Vermoeidheidssyndroom
(CVS/ME) is een aanpak zoals die door de Amerikaanse internist en ex-ME-patient Jacob Teitelbaum wordt toegepast. Teitelbaum publiceerde in 1996
een studie, waarin hij 64 patiënten met ernstige chronische
vermoeidheidstoestanden behandelde met deze multifactoriële therapie. Onder
invloed hiervan herstelde 57% van de patiënten volledig en 39% gedeeltelijk;
slechts 4% had geen baat.
Gemiddeld trad verbetering op na 7 weken behandeling. Sommige patiënten
verbeterden pas na een jaar. Enkele jaren geleden bezocht een Belgische ME-patiënt
mijn spreekuur, die in een korte tijd sterk mij de aanleiding om me in deze
behandeling te verdiepen.
Overige
behandelingsmogelijkheden voor desensibilisatie zijn o.a. ozontherapie, leverontgifting
en vitamine/mineraleninfusen. EPD kan niet gedaan worden tijdens een CVS
behandeling met vitamines, mineralen en medicatie behandeling omdat tijdens de
EPD behandeling een aantal stoffen niet ingenomen mogen worden. Dan wordt de
voorkeur gegeven aan eerst een CVS behandeling waarbij de voedingsstofen die
niet goed verdraagbaar zijn niet worden genomen en na gedeeltelijk of geheel
herstel de EPD behandeling.
New T-suppressor cells disabling mis-coded T-Helper cells
Without getting too far into the medical world, EPD reportedly stimulates the
immune system to produce new T-suppressor cells, a specific type of lymphocyte,
which is a specific type of white blood cell. These take 3 to 4 weeks to mature
before they can begin their task of disabling mis-coded T-Helper cells.
Essentially, this is a re-training program so the body does not react to those
substances contained in the shot. The mis-coded cells are a part of the chain
that stimulates the production of histamine, the major trigger of allergic
response. EPD works much closer and more effectively near the root of allergy
problems than many other current treatments or symptom reduction techniques.
Because EPD is an all natural preparation, and uses nature's own pathways into
the desired destinations, some personal restrictions have been noted as
beneficial so that the actions are not diverted into creating problems for the
patient. By following The Rules, the patient becomes active in the treatment
plan and active in protecting the effects of the treatment. Some of the
restrictions are aimed at avoiding body stress for a period of time around the
treatment and include such things as: don't run a marathon, skip the sauna or
other heat to which your body is not acclimatized. Restrictions are also placed
on things which may produce a negative result while the EPD treatment is taking
effect. These restrictions are not tough in themselves but, as a whole, are a
lot of details to be controlled. Included here is a period of the avoidance of:
dust, dust mites, tobacco smoke, perfume, chemicals, body lotions and
preparations, allergenic foods, certain medicines, caffeine, sexual activity,
large doses of inhalant allergens, and pets. Note that this is not a complete
description of The Rules and that each patient will be apprised of the necessary
restrictions based on his or her particular case. For anyone who is really in
need of major relief, the rules are seen simply as a trade-off against the
chance to obtain a more normal lifestyle
Allergists often point to medical tests which find IgE or IgG or other test
detectable substances in the blood stream, or by skin reactions, when defining a
source of a substance sensitivity. Clinical Ecologists, or Environmental
Medicine Practitioners, on the other hand, often define an allergy as any
environmental stimulus that produces an undesired symptom or an intolerance. The
subtle definition difference is not so subtle when the doctors choose techniques
to find sensitivities to foods and chemicals. The clinical ecologist may use the
allergist's blood and skin testing, but if they haven't been useful in resolving
the problems, he will go on with less conventional means to find the root of the
problems. The traditional allergist is out of his league when blood tests and
skin tests do not pinpoint a problem. In this FAQ we will use the latter,
"broad", definition as it better covers chemical and food problems. That is,
any environmental stimulus that produces an undesired symptom constitutes an
allergy, sensitivity, or intolerance.
There are so many studies, so many treatment
symptoms, and so many cause and effect conditions that it we can't begin to
identify them all here.
It was reported in 1996, that over 85% of the patients who
have followed the protocol have permanently stopped the successful treatment
after 16-18 shots, with no recurrence of the symptoms.
A wide range of co-existing conditions, besides the
patient's allergies, appear to respond to the EPD allergy treatment. Some of
those conditions that respond favorably have no other forms of effective
therapy, so the indirect approach of treating the patient's allergies may in
fact be the most beneficial decision for such patients.
EPD may be the only treatment effective against a broad
range of food allergies. Avoidance is a common approach otherwise and sometimes
incorporates food rotation schedules.
There is evidence for the efficacy of EPD in the treatment of hay fever and
other conditions as a result of nine placebo-controlled, double-blind trials
involving 271 patients. These trials showed a significant improvement in the
symptoms with probabilities of 0.001 to 0.01 (a chance of one in a thousand to
one in a hundred that the results of the trial would be seen by chance alone
assuming EPD had no effect.
The safety of EPD is demonstrated in one study under the control of an
Investigational Review Board and reported by the American EPD Society. 5,400
patients received at least 3 doses of EPD with no severe reactions reported. No
serious complications have been reported in more than 300,000 doses of EPD given
since 1966.
Drmyhill:
Does
it work?
A pessimistic estimate would be that EPD
will fail in about 20% of suitable patients with known
allergies. The rest will experience varying degrees of
improvement. Follow up studies after 5 years and double blind
trials suggest that EPD has much greater long-term success than
any other method of immunotherapy.
How
soon will it work?
Because EPD relies on the production of a
new generation of cells, the effect of each dose will not be
fully developed for at least 3 weeks. Simple allergics, such as
hay fever, usually respond to the first dose. But doses of EPD
are cumulative and a few of the more complex allergic patients
may not start to improve until 8 or more doses have been given.
This is the case for many of my CFS patients.
How
safe is EPD?
Approximately 350,000
treatments of EPD have been given world wide
over the past 30 years. For patients with severe
anaphylactic type reactions I first skin test
with a tiny dose of antigen. If there is no
reaction I then use the "cup" method whereby the
epidermis of the skin is scraped off and the
vaccine applied in a 1.5 ml hemispherical
plastic container. This can be removed and
antigen wiped off in the event of any reaction.
About 100,000 treatments have been given by the
"cup" method. There have been no life
threatening reactions with EPD. It must always
be remembered that when foreign antigen is
injected the usual safety precautions should be
taken. I always carry adrenaline,
antihistamines, steroids etc but I have never
had to use them, or even consider using them in
any patient.
Enzyme
Potentiated
Desensitization (EPD) is
an alternative form of "allergy
shot" originally
popularized in the UK in
the 1960s by a man named
Leonard McEwan. It
involves injection of
very low levels of an
allergen, combined with
the naturally occurring
enzyme beta
glucuronidase. EPD
proponents claim that
this method gets to the
root of allergy problems,
and produces permanent
benefits by "retraining"
the immune system.
Supposedly, it can
successfully treat
literally hundreds of
medical conditions, from
rheumatoid arthritis to
epilepsy. However, the
evidence used to support
these assertions falls
considerably short of
meaningful.
For
example, EPD proponents
cite "studies" that show
EPD offers cure rates
approaching 85% for
numerous illness.
However, this body of
evidence is
scientifically
unreliable. The cited
research was of the type
called an "open,
uncontrolled" study.
This means that
researchers (or
practitioners)
administered EPD to
people and then noted
whether they saw
benefit. While positive
findings in this type of
investigation may seem
intuitively to mean
something, this is an
illusion. Here is the
underlying problem: for
most conditions, a high
percentage of people
given
placebo will improve
or appear to improve,
and often dramatically.
The
reasons for this fact
are complicated and
surprising; a detailed
explanation is given in
Why Does This Database
Rely on Double-blind
Studies? The bottom
line is that for
researchers to actually
show a treatment to be
effective, they must
compare it against
placebo treatment.
Furthermore, they must
conduct the study in a
double-blinded fashion,
meaning that neither the
practitioners nor the
patients know who is
getting real treatment
and who is getting
placebo. Finally, such
studies must be
randomized , meaning
that people are assigned
to the treatment or the
placebo group by random
chance (such as flipping
a coin) rather than by
choice. Only two such
randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled trial
has been performed on
EPD. One found benefit;
the other did not.
In the
first
double-blind,
placebo-controlled study
, 183 people with a
history of consistent
hay fever were treated
with EPD or placebo and
followed throughout the
hay fever season.
1
The EPD preparation
contained beta
glucuronidase,
1,3-cyclohexanediol,
protamine sulphate, and
a mixed extract of
allergens, including
pollens, fungal spores,
cat and dog danders and
dust mite. The fake
treatment contained only
saline. Neither the
researchers
administrating the
injections nor the study
participants knew which
was which. Both groups
improved markedly.
However, there was no
difference in symptoms
between the two groups,
as measured by
problem-free days,
quality of life scores
or symptom severity
scores.
A
slightly smaller study
did find benefits. In
this double-blind study
of 125 children, use of
a single dose of EPD
reduced hay fever and
asthma symptoms as
compared to placebo.
3
At
present, therefore, the
most that can be said
about EPD is that
equivocal evidence
exists regarding its
efficacy for allergies.
Benefits for any other
conditions remain
entirely speculative at
this time.
A
similar scientific
inadequacy exists
regarding claims made
about how EPD works. One
EPD website states the
following: "EPD
stimulates the immune
system to produce new
T-suppressor cells ...
These take 3 to 4 weeks
to mature before they
can begin their task of
disabling mis-coded
T-Helper cells.
Essentially, this is a
re-training program so
the body does not react
to those substances
contained in the shot.
The mis-coded cells are
a part of the chain that
stimulates the
production of histamine,
the major trigger of
allergic response."
2
While this claim may
sound impressive on the
surface, it succeeds
only as advertising; as
science, it strays much
too far from established
facts.
Whether or not EPD
is effective, it
does appear to be
safe. No serious
adverse reactions
have been associated
with its use.
Although in theory
allergic reactions
could occur in
response to EPD
injections, the
amount of allergen
used in EPD is so
much lower than the
amount used in a
normal "allergy
shot" that these may
not, in fact, occur.
EPD
proponents claim
that there can be a
temporary
aggravation response
that is part of the
healing process;
however, this has
not been documented.
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