February, 2004 Thalassemia, Asthma

Hello again everyone, and thanks again for your valuable queries, suggestions and comments. As I've mentioned before, any kind of feedback (and it doesn't have to be positive, although it feels nicer) is invaluable because it helps me to build a more composite overview of what wheatgrass can do therapeutically. I can then pass that information on to anyone who is interested enough to know more. I receive an ever-growing number of emails from all round the world from people who are often desperate for anything that might help their ailment or condition. Usually they have tried most of the regular pharmaceutical products on offer and have been disappointed because of adverse side effects, cost, the need to see their doctor for a repeat prescription or because they simply don't work. Before I began writing this newsletter, I had no idea that the demand for some "alternative" remedial treatment was so enormous. Suffice to say, I'm getting swamped with enquiries as to whether wheatgrass is likely to help or not in a very broad range of medical conditions. I have a feeling that this is only the tip of the iceberg. From time to time I attend various expos to answer questions about wheatgrass therapy and, although I enjoy it immensely, it is hard work. A day at an expo is like a week in the office! Speaking of feedback, I just came across this very interesting and, for me, exciting news item on the internet. From: The Straits Times February 18, 2004 India develops wheatgrass treatment for blood disease CHANDIGARH (India) - A medical research institute in India has developed a technique using wheatgrass juice to treat patients suffering from the painful blood disease thalassaemia, a doctor said on Thursday. 'Three years ago we came across a thalassaemic child whose transfusion requirement was on the decline,' said Dr R.K. Marwaha, head of the haematology-oncology division of the Institute of Medicine and Research. 'We were surprised and asked his parents about his diet and found he was drinking wheat grass juice every day. We decided to start therapy trials.' He said the trials are being conducted on 16 children by orally administering them 100ml of the juice every day. 'The result is a great success. The frequency of blood transfusion from once in a fortnight has gone down to once in three months and the blood requirement of 50 per cent of the children has decreased by 25 per cent.' 'Their haemoglobin count has also remained above the normal mark,' Dr Marwaha said. -- AFP Thalassemia major, which is what these children are suffering from, is a relatively common hereditary disorder, particularly in people of Mediterranean, African and South-East Asian ancestry. It is caused by defective hemoglobin synthesis which leads to severe anemia and numerous other symptoms and the need for frequent blood transfusions. It appears that Professor Marwaha has made an important medical breakthrough. Also, being a pediatrician, oncologist and hematologist, he may well expand his research into other areas where patients may benefit from this simple but frequently effective therapy. I have been in touch with his office in Bombay to let him know of my own interest in wheatgrass and that I may have something to contribute. Having to take 100ml of wheatgrass juice daily must have been quite an ordeal for some of those ill children. Although I am not sure, I have a feeling my extract, in much smaller quantities, could achieve a similar result. I'll keep you posted. The question arises of course as to how and why the wheatgrass helped these children with an hereditary disorder. It hardly fits in with my concept of immunomodulation - or does it? Perhaps the abnormal gene(s) triggers an auto-immune process which then exacerbates the underlying condition. After all, asthma is usually viewed as a genetic predisposition, but I have seen (some) severely asthmatic children dispense with their nebulisers and steroids within a few days of commencing the wheatgrass extract. This is supported to some extent by clinical trials that showed improvement in a significant number of asthmatic children taking a rye extract. Although one would not use this as a first line treatment, it does suggest (if my immunomodulation theory is correct) that there may be an auto-immune component to asthma that is perhaps of greater significance than most clinicians think. The following is an example from my own casebook. An 83 year old chairbound, asthmatic, emphysematous female spent at least two hours a day on nebulisation. She also had a severe cough for years for which she was well known at the local pensioners club. Four days after commencing wheatgrass extract on a twice daily dosage, her cough had disappeared and she was able to reduce her bronchodilatory therapy. Three days later, she had reduced her nebulisation to twenty minutes a day, her chest had cleared dramatically, she looked and felt well, and she was able to walk several blocks unaided. Thanks again for your time. Dr.Chris Reynolds.