Almost impossible to detect in its early stages, protein deficiency is behind many of the most persistent complaints seen in doctors' offices today. High cholesterol levels, osteoporosis, premenstrual symptoms, postmenopaus-al symptoms, functional hypoglycemia, and recurring non-traumatic spinal complaints are but a few of the many maladies that resist therapeutic measures. But, by far the most resistant is the often heard complaint, "I don't know what is wrong, Doc. I thought maybe you could find out." The complaint of being sick and tired of being sick and tired is so commonplace that it is usually ignored or even joked about by doctors and patients alike. When serious diagnostic investigations are made, the test results are usually normal and the patient is informed that nothing is wrong. Obviously, the patient should be relieved that nothing serious is involved. But without resolution of the vague symptomatology, their frustrations linger and they seek alternative methods. Often many of these also fail, but at a high price, since the expense must be covered out-of-pocket. The medical profession is finding out that the old "try this, and if it doesn't work, we will do something else" routine has worn thin. By 1994, patient visits to so-called alternative health care providers were beginning to outnumber visits to medical providers. The economic "pinch" has gradually become stronger, and now is driving the medical revolution towards alternative methods. The New England Journal of Medicine reported, in 1994, that a survey of 1500 patients identified the problem as inability to effectively treat such conditions as: • Back pain % / • Anxiety . ■ ■ . • Headaches ••■ ' . • Sprains and strains • Insomnia • Depression • Arthritis • High blood pressure • Digestive problems • Allergies A cursory examination of the above maladies indicates that the allopathic approach in these conditions fails, because they do not have anything to measure; and, therefore, treatment with prescription drugs becomes hit-or-miss on a symptomatic basis. Obviously it has been mostly miss. Once objective evidence of a disorder can be established, medicine's track record improves. You recognize, of course, that I am referring to surgical and emergency room procedures, not pharmaceutical drugs. Without objective evidence of pathological significance, a vaccine or drug cannot be developed for the "sick and tired of being sick and tired" syndrome. This should be good news to all who practice without the benefit of pharmaceuticals. It means the patient is not diseased, and you will be able to help. . The answer for this common malady may lie within the body's inability to handle stress (be it mechanical, nutritional, or emotional). Fortunately, the body handles all stress in a very predictable manner. Hans Selye was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the mid-sixties for his landmark research that identified the effects of stress on the human body. He found that stress, regardless of its source (chemical, mechanical, or emotional), always elicited a specific response. He called this process the General Adaptation Syndrome, and it consisted of the following stages: • Alarm reaction to any stress. • Resistance to or compensation for that stress. • Exhaustion, if the stress is too strong or is maintained too long. • The stages of disease, degeneration, and finally death followed. Symptoms do not occur until the body can no longer compensate for the stress being applied to it. And there can be no pathological findings until the body reaches the stage of disease. So the question is, what is lacking in a body in which symptoms are being manifested, but is not yet evidencing alterations on objective tests such as blood, urine, X-ray, or MRI? One obvious answer is that the body is not being supplied with adequate nutrients to nourish the organs responsible for the symptomatic pattern. Continued on page 15... ...frontpage 12 Each organ and organ system is responsible for doing its part in maintaining, within narrow limits, the body temperature, pH, volume of extracellular fluid, and the concentration of dissolved substances within that fluid. This continuing process is called homeostasis. Seldom is homeostasis taken into consideration when deciding on a therapeutic course of action. Yet, if you can define the price the body is paying to maintain homeostasis, you will know exactly how to solve the problem of "sick and tired of ' being sick and tired"! As we turn our attention now to solving the riddle of being sick and tired, we can be sure of one thing: the body will maintain homeostasis or die. It maintains it all the time, every time, and it does it with protein. THE IMPORTANCE OF "MAGIC BULLET" NUTRIENTS Despite all the claims made for the many combinations of vitamins, mine-als, amino acids, and herbal extracts, the simple truth is that protein is the primary nutrient needed to maintain homeosta-sis. I didn't say the others were not important. I said that without protein, the others are totally irrelevant. To understand this seemingly outrageous statement, it is necessary to look at how the body uses protein to maintain homeosta-sis. EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF PROTEIN DEFICIENCY If detecting subclinical protein deficiencies were easy, there would be no need for this article, because a big part of your formal education would have centered on correcting this insidious problem. I say insidious, because blood tests for plasma proteins are usually normal outside of advanced disease states. Since homeostasis must be maintained ALL THE TIME and AT ALL COST, the body will catabolize its own tissues to maintain normal plasma protein levels in the blood. Consequently, the blood levels only drop when the body is exhausted. This results in protein deficiency states going undetected until serious tissue damage has resulted. This brings us back to our basic premise: if protein deficiency is undetectable in its early stages, then the only sign we have to go on is the symptom(s) of an organ (or organs) being unable to meet the demands placed on it to maintain homeo-stasis. Tissue catabolism for the purpose of maintaining homeostasis results in the sensation of fatigue; and, if the condition continues uncorrected, the patient eventually becomes sick and tired of being sick and tired. Fortunately for us all, there are tissues the body will not tear down to use as protein sources, such as the heart and brain. Unfortunately, protein deficiency can, and usually does, continue for long periods of time before a diagnosis of a specific disease process can be made. SYMPTOMS OF PROTEIN DEFICIENCY While plasma proteins serve a host of important functions, it is important to remember that they are not used by the cells as metabolic fuel. Accordingly, they must be viewed quite differently from most other constituents of plasma, such as glucose and cholesterol, which use the proteins as a vehicle for trans- port, but are used by the cells. When we compare the functions of the plasma proteins (which remain in the blood and are not used by the cells), we can compile the following list: • The concentration of plasma proteins determines the colloidal osmotic pressure of the blood. In other words, it maintains fluid balance between the blood, tissue fluid, and the cells. Deficiency results in the symptom of cold hands and feet. • Plasma proteins act as buffers to help maintain acid-base balance. The body must always maintain acid-base balance, but stress in either direction will result in indigestion. Indigestion results from either the inability to spare adequate acidity to produce sufficient stomach acid, or the inability to spare adequate alkalinity to activate the pancreatic enzymes. This relationship has been discussed in many of my previous articles over the past 15 years. • Plasma proteins bind and transport many critical compounds, such as lipids, hormones, vitamins, and minerals. Many nutritional problems can be laid at the doorstep of inadequate plasma proteins. Inability to perform these functions can result not only in nutritional deficiencies, but endocrine dysfunctions as well. • Plasma proteins bind and detoxify potentially dangerous drugs and other toxic substances. Therefore, a body catabo-lizing itself to maintain adequate plasma protein levels can and does result in the symptoms of toxicity. One of these, obviously, is fever; but, before an elevated temperature becomes necessary, the body experiences the sensations of being sick and tired! • As the body's means of transporting nutrients and waste products, the plasma proteins can be at the root of many blood test deviations. THE ALARM REACTION It is well-recognized that the body must maintain homeostasis at all costs, and meet whatever stress it encounters. Selye proved that the body always handles stress (be it mechanical, nutritional, or emotional) in a predictable manner. The first reaction is an alarm reaction to counteract the stressor. It is the adrenal glands that are primarily responsible for triggering the alarm response. This reaction is directed at reducing and eliminating shock, and is accomplished (in part) by the release of norepinephrine and ep-inephrine (the catacholamines) from the adrenal medulla. The effects of norepinephrine are almost identical as direct sympathetic stimulation. Among other things, norepinephrine increases activity of the heart and inhibits the gastrointestinal tract. The effects of epinephrine are similar to norepinephrine, except that epinephrine increases the metabolic rate of the entire body. This includes increasing the rate that stored glycogen in the liver is converted to glucose and released into the blood. The maintenance of adequate blood sugar levels is of paramount importance in any "fright, fight, or flight" response. Please recall that under normal conditions, 57% of our daily intake of protein is converted directly into glucose. Much of this is stored in the liver as glycogen. Let me say the same thing only differently: Continual stress-be it mechanical, chemical, or emotional-results in protein deficiency and adrenal insufficien- cy. Continued on page 31... SICK AND TIRED ...from page 16 SYMPTOMS AND PHYSICAL SIGNS OF ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY Fatigue, bordering on exhaustion Awake after sleeping a few hours and cannot go back to sleep Hypoglycemia Inability to tolerate stress Depression Low blood pressure and postural hypotension The appearance of Pottenger's saucer (the so-called anterior dorsal complex) The above list is similar to the list of symptoms for plasma protein insufficiency mentioned previously. Adrenal exhaustion and plasma proteins go hand in hand and result in the syndrome of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Anyone specializing in this disorder and able to deliver clinical results would clearly have more patients than they would care to handle. The many clinical ramifications of protein insufficiency and how they can be seen and treated in your office will be the subject of future articles. ♦♦♦ Howard F. Loomis, Jr., DC, president of Enzyme Formulations, Inc., has an extensive background in enzymes and enzyme formulations. As president of 21st Century Nutrition, Inc., for fifteen years, he has forged a remarkable career as an educator, having conducted over 400 seminars to date, in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia, on the diagnosis and treatment of enzyme deficiency syndromes. Call 21st Century Nutrition at 1-800-662-2630 for more information.
