User:Stretchcat

Current topics:

= Energy =
 * Carbon pricing

= Rheuma =

anti-TNF
Current TNFα inhibitors:
 * approved
 * Etanercept (Enbrel - Amgen / Wyeth)
 * Infliximab (Remicade - Centocor / J&J)
 * Adalimumab (Humira - Abbot)
 * phase III
 * Certolizumab pegol (Cimzia - Nektar / UCB)

B-cell agonists

 * rituximab
 * ofatumumab

non-biologics

 * methotrexate
 * sulfasalazine
 * diclofenac
 * prednisolone

Herbs recommended by RR
First mixture of herbs proscribed by doctor RR in O (recommend to H by a neighbor). H. Took them for 2-3 weeks in late 2006 / early 2007, said they had a "strong effect, but the wrong effect." Like a mild mood-altering drug, with definite psychic effects. Anyway, the batch contained a mixture of the following (of unknown proportions): There was second mixture, but she threw away the list of contents. Not sure how long she took them or what their effects were.
 * Angelica sinensis, aka Radix Angelicae
 * http://www.damo-qigong.net/1-30.htm
 * http://www.herbasin.com/database/baizhi.htm
 * http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-dongquai.html
 * Cyathula officinalis, (Radix Cyathula)
 * Glycyrrhiza uralensis, (Radix Glycyrrhizae)
 * Myrrh (Chinese: Mo Yao)
 * Di Long (Lumbricus rubellus)
 * Tao Ren (Semen persicae, peach seeds)
 * Sometimes confused with Ground Dragon (Pheretima aspergillum)

Xandra Williams
Substances cited in Xandra Williams's The Herbal Detox Plan:
 * Ginger
 * Uncaria tomentosa, = Cat's claw, general cleanser, against "sticky blood" aka platelet aggregation
 * Betula pendula aka birch bark - cleansing against fluid retention; tincture w/ black willow
 * Juniper communis – counter. during pregnancy
 * Bellis perennis = daisy
 * Iris versicolor = Blue flag (of Iridacae family) – anti-inflammatory, combines with burdock, yellow root
 * Medicago sativa = alfalfa, buffalo herb, lucerne = tonic

Seattle Institute for Oriental Medicine
Zhang Qi describes 10 formulae for treatment of arthritis, e.g. "Painful Obstruction Formula Number One":
 * Radix Angelicae Pubescentis (du huo) 15g
 * Radix Gentianae Qinjiao (qin jiao) 15g
 * Radix Ledebouriellae Divaricatae (fang feng) 15g
 * Radix Ligustici Chuanxiong (chuan xiong) 15g
 * Radix Angelicae Sinensis (dang gui) 15g
 * Radix Rehmanniae Glutinosae Conquitae (shu di huang) 20g
 * Radix Paeoniae Lactiflorae (bai shao) 20g
 * Ramulus Cinnamomi Cassiae (gui zhi) 15g
 * Radix Codonopsitis Pilosulae (dang shen) 20g
 * Radix Astragali Membranacei (huang qi) 30g
 * Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (niu xi) 15g

Acupuncture.com
In its page on Bi Syndrome, the website 'Acupuncture.com recommends the following:
 * Manifestations: Arthralgia moving from one joint to another with limitation of movement, fever, aversion to wind, thin and white tongue coating and floating pulse.
 * Therapeutic principles: Disperse wind and cold, dredge meridians, and eliminate dampness.
 * Prescription: The Modification of Ledebouriellae Decoction
 * Radix Ledebouriellae 10 g
 * Radix Gentianae macrophyllae 10 g
 * Rhizoma seu Radix Notopterygii 10 g
 * Radix Angelicae Pubescentis 10 g
 * Ramulus Cinnamomi 6 g
 * Herba Ephedrae 5 g
 * Radix Clematidis 10 g
 * Rhizoma Atractylodis 10 g
 * Caulis Spatholobi 30 g

Other

 * DMSO + Arnica flowers, probably Arnica montana.

Symptoms / effects

 * hematoma (de: Hämatom], often cited as an effect of prednisone.

General medicine

 * C-reactive protein

Chinese
Topics in TCM to work on:
 * blood stasis syndrome
 * research into the Materia Medica:
 * list of substances, e.g. http://tcmbasics.com/materiamedica.htm
 * CMM at Amazon
 * Acupuncture and Qi pages, re: Twelve Primary Qi Channels
 * Bi Syndrome

Indian

 * Compendium of Indian medicinal plants / editor, Ram P. Rastogi ; authors, Ram P. Rastogi, B.N. Mehrotra ; assisted by Shradha Sinha, Pushpa Pant, Renu Seth.

Tibetan

 * http://www.tibetanmedicine-edu.org/en/ttmateriamedica.html

Companies

 * Genmab
 * OpenHelix

Genomics

 * cef panel ?
 * International HapMap Project
 * SeattleSNPs

Abstracts
Abstracts / clippings that might merit looking further into.

Fugh-Berman A., "Herb-drug interactions" Lancet. 2000 Jan 8;355(9198):134-8

 * Erratum in: Lancet 2000 Mar 18;355(9208):1020.
 * Comment in: Lancet. 2000 Mar 18;355(9208):1019-20.
 * contact: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Health Care Sciences, Washington, DC 20037, USA. fughberman@aol.com
 * "Concurrent use of herbs may mimic, magnify, or oppose the effect of drugs. Plausible cases of herb-drug interactions include: bleeding when warfarin is combined with ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), garlic (Allium sativum), dong quai (Angelica sinensis), or danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); mild serotonin syndrome in patients who mix St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) with serotonin-reuptake inhibitors; decreased bioavailability of digoxin, theophylline, cyclosporin, and phenprocoumon when these drugs are combined with St John's wort; induction of mania in depressed patients who mix antidepressants and Panax ginseng; exacerbation of extrapyramidal effects with neuroleptic drugs and betel nut (Areca catechu); increased risk of hypertension when tricyclic antidepressants are combined with yohimbine (Pausinystalia yohimbe); potentiation of oral and topical corticosteroids by liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra); decreased blood concentrations of prednisolone when taken with the Chinese herbal product xaio chai hu tang (sho-salko-to); and decreased concentrations of phenytoin when combined with the Ayurvedic syrup shankhapushpi. Anthranoid-containing plants (including senna [Cassia senna] and cascara [Rhamnus purshiana]) and soluble fibres (including guar gum and psyllium) can decrease the absorption of drugs. Many reports of herb-drug interactions are sketchy and lack laboratory analysis of suspect preparations. Health-care practitioners should caution patients against mixing herbs and pharmaceutical drugs."
 * "Concurrent use of herbs may mimic, magnify, or oppose the effect of drugs. Plausible cases of herb-drug interactions include: bleeding when warfarin is combined with ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), garlic (Allium sativum), dong quai (Angelica sinensis), or danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza); mild serotonin syndrome in patients who mix St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) with serotonin-reuptake inhibitors; decreased bioavailability of digoxin, theophylline, cyclosporin, and phenprocoumon when these drugs are combined with St John's wort; induction of mania in depressed patients who mix antidepressants and Panax ginseng; exacerbation of extrapyramidal effects with neuroleptic drugs and betel nut (Areca catechu); increased risk of hypertension when tricyclic antidepressants are combined with yohimbine (Pausinystalia yohimbe); potentiation of oral and topical corticosteroids by liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra); decreased blood concentrations of prednisolone when taken with the Chinese herbal product xaio chai hu tang (sho-salko-to); and decreased concentrations of phenytoin when combined with the Ayurvedic syrup shankhapushpi. Anthranoid-containing plants (including senna [Cassia senna] and cascara [Rhamnus purshiana]) and soluble fibres (including guar gum and psyllium) can decrease the absorption of drugs. Many reports of herb-drug interactions are sketchy and lack laboratory analysis of suspect preparations. Health-care practitioners should caution patients against mixing herbs and pharmaceutical drugs."

Researcher Identifies Possible Mechanism for TCM Herb Lumbricus' Channel Opening Properties

 * A researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School has discovered an enzyme in the worm that changes the lining of blood vessels from "Velcro" to "Teflon" - in other words, greatly reduces the tendency of blood cells to stick to the sides and cause blockage.


 * Researchers also speculate that this effect is directly related to reducing inflammatory responses leading to heart and circulatory disease by helping convert inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acid to anti-inflammatory Omega-3.


 * In Oriental Medicine, Lumbricus (Di Long - literally "earth dragon"), earthworm, is used in herbal formulas to reduce internal wind - a common etiology for high blood pressure. Modern research of this remedy confirms that it also helps reduce high levels of cholesterol.


 * A secondary use of Di Long is as an anti-rheumatic herb. The premise behind arthritic pain, according to TCM, is that something is stagnating the flow of Qi in the channels which gives rise to pain. Di Long Lumbricus (earthworm) spends its days burrowing through the earth, in essence, opening up a channel for itself to slither. It is this channel opening property that enables Di Long Lumbricus to open the channels to stimulate the flow of Qi and address arthritic pain.


 * Apparently it is this channel opening property that enables the lowly earthworm to show promise in opening the channels of the heart as a promising therapeutic agent for heart disease as well.


 * Di Long is salty and cold in nature, helping to reduce various types of inflammatory responses, including Hot Asthma, (burning urination) Syndrome and Heat-caused seizures and convulsions. It is also used to help reduce stiffness caused by Bi Syndrome (arthritis) and Wind Stroke (CVA).

Source: http://gancao.net/weblogs/archives/acublog/2002_12.html, December 19, 2002

Warning Signs of Herb Poisoning Di Long

 * In the past many did not know or believe that Di Long was poisonous. It has only been in the recent years that it has been discovered to be poisonous if taken in too large of amounts. In many cases Di Long only causes a small allergic reaction, but in some cases it can be very poisonous.


 * Symptoms: Difficulty breathing, headaches, stomach aches, black outs, blood pressure increase followed by a sudden drop, heart palpitations, and stomach and intestinal tract bleeding are all symptoms of a Di Long overdose.


 * Toxicity: LD50 of lumbricin intravenously injected to mice is 2914.74mg/kg with its 95% confidence limit at 3236.68-2624.82mg/kg. LD50 of earthworm infusion at low temperature is 3.4g/kg for intra-abdominal injection to mice.


 * Treatment: In case of an overdose you can immediately drink one cup of salt water or take three whole green onions with 15 grams of licorice, boil into a decoction and take orally. In severe cases of overdose, it may be necessary to go to the hospital.


 * Precaution: Patients with insufficiency of the spleen yang and pregnant women should not take the drug. It is recommended that one take an allergy test before having Di Long injections due to injections sometimes causing allergic shock.

Source: http://treasureofeast.com/newsletters/vol5iss3.html

Lumbricin I, a novel proline-rich antimicrobial peptide from the earthworm: purification, cDNA cloning and molecular characterization

 * Authors: Ju Hyun Cho, Chan Bae Park, Young Geol Yoon, Sun Chang Kim
 * Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1 Yusong-gu Kusong-dong, Taejon 305-701, South Korea
 * Received 15 June 1998; revised 5 August 1998; accepted 13 August 1998. Available online 15 November 1998.
 * doi:10.1016/S0925-4439(98)00058-1


 * A novel antimicrobial peptide was isolated and characterized from the earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus. The antimicrobial peptide was purified to homogeneity by a heparin-affinity column and C18 reverse-phase HPLC, and named lumbricin I. Lumbricin I was a proline-rich antimicrobial peptide of 62 amino acids (15% proline in molar ratio; molecular mass, 7231 Da), whose complete sequence was determined by a combination of peptide sequence and cDNA analysis. The peptide and cDNA sequence analysis revealed that lumbricin I was produced as a precursor form consisting of 76 amino acids, with 14 residues in a presegment and 62 residues in mature lumbricin I. Lumbricin I showed antimicrobial activity in vitro against a broad spectrum of microorganisms without hemolytic activity. In addition, a 29-amino acid peptide, named lumbricin I(6–34), which was derived from residues 6–34 of lumbricin I, showed marginally stronger antimicrobial activity than lumbricin I. Northern blot analysis on total RNA revealed that expression of lumbricin I gene was not induced by bacterial infection, but was constitutively expressed. Furthermore, the expression of lumbricin I gene was specific in adult L. rubellus': Lumbricin I mRNA was detected only in adult L. rubellus, but not in eggs and young L. rubellus.