Patient Testimony is a form of Evidence: Book 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much' 2010 edition

This book features the case health studies of a group of patients suffering from a range of immune system diseases, who continue to benefit from a little known, low cost treatment most doctors won't prescribe.

The treatment the use involves low doses of an old drug with a good safety profile; naltrexone.

Taken nightly, this low dose naltrexone (LDN) treatment has been benefiting sufferers of numerous
immune system diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis, HIV, Crohn's Disease, Hepatitis B & C, cancer,
arthritis, Primary Lateral Sclerosis, etc.

As naltrexone is an old drug, long out-of-patent and without profit potential, large double-blinded clinical trials by commercial pharmaceutical sponsors have not happened and are unlikely to ever happen. And so it has been left to patients and advocates to raise awareness of this treatment in the interest of helping other patients.

My 2010 5th book revision contains 51 patient testimonies of health success presented as case studies, an explanatory article, and interviews with 19 professionals familiar with this treatment:

51 Case Studies
30 Multiple Sclerosis case studies
2 HIV/AIDS case studies
1 Hepatitis B case study
1 Hepatitis C case study
1 Primary Lateral Sclerosis case study
4 Cancer case studies
4 Crohn's Disease case studies
3 Fibromyalgia case studies
1 Rheumatoid Arthritis
1 Parkinson's Disease
3 Multiple Benefits case studies

19 Interviews & Perspectives
Dr Bernard Bihari, USA
Dr David Gluck, USA
Dr Tom Gilhooly, Scotland
Dr Jaquelyn McCandless, USA
Dr Skip Lenz, Compounding Pharmacist, USA
Dr Bob Lawrence, UK
Dr Burton M Berkson, New Mexico
Prof Jill Smith, Pennsylvania State Univ, USA
Dr Phil Boyle, Ireland
Antony Condina, Compounding Pharmacist, Australia
Larry Frieders, Compounding Pharmacist, Australia
Dr Pat Crowley, Ireland
Dr Terry Grossman, USA
Dr Ian S Zagon, USA
Dr Edmond O'Flaherty, Ireland
Maira Gironi, MD, PhD, Italy
Dr Julian Whitaker, USA
Professor George Jelinek, Australia
Paul Battle, PA-C (Physician Assistant), USA

The first article in the book is an easy read and I commend it to anyone who wants to better
understand how it is that patient's can be denied a treatment that's working for others, even after
all other treatment options have failed.

There's a comprehensive reference list - including clinical trials and research conducted to date -
a list of patient advocates, and links to the last few years of patient conference videos - in the
USA and Scotland - both patient and professional testimony.

Some sufferers treated with LDN do not benefit at all, but a recent patient survey by Dr Skip Lenz,
a Florida Pharmacist specializing in the compounding of LDN, revealed 83% of his LDN/MS patient
population had not had a relapse or progression in over 3 years.

This treatment may not be for everyone, but everyone should, at the very least, be made aware of it
as a treatment option, especially where all other treatments have failed.

No-one should be given an end-of-life prognosis without ever learning of this treatment.

If you'd like to learn more about trials and studies conducted to date, please visit the website of
Dr David Gluck in the USA, lowdosenaltrexone.org.

To learn more about the work of researcher, Dr Ian S Zagon, who first discovered the potential of
low doses of naltrexone in mice with cancer in the 80s, please visit the website of Pennsylvania
State University in the USA where his profile and 249 publications are featured.

I learned of this treatment option because I valued patient testimony, and I urge others to do the
same.

It is my greatest hope patient testimony will one day make a valuable contribution to e-health data
systems around the world.

Twenty years have passed since Dr Bernard Bihari first began clinically trialling this treatment yet
it is still not available as a treatment option for those most in need, and this is why patients and
advocates are focussed on raising awareness as best they can.

The book is entitled 'Those Who Suffer Much, Know Much', and the 2010 edition is again available free of
charge or expectation from the LDN Research Trust website in the UK (free Acrobat Reader 9 required): http://www.ldnresearchtrustfiles.co.uk/docs/2010.pdf