Laughter is good for our health. When we laugh, our brain releases the feel good hormones, called endorphins. Which have been shown to kill cancer cells directly, among other benefits. So the saying,... “Laughter is the best medicine” is actually backed by science.
Professor Ian Zagon is one of the pioneers of endorphin research, working out of Penn State University. He is the one who found Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) can improve immune function. He refers to endorphins as endogenous opioid peptides, or Opioid Growth Factors (OGF) and their associated opioid receptors (OGFr). LDN increases both endorphins and their receptors. Here's his profile and to date,... 337 studies he's been involved with, showing the benefits endorphins have with many cancers and various autoimmune disorders.... Ian Zagon - Penn State
It's interesting how LDN came about. Naltrexone was originally produced to tamper drug addiction. It blocked the opioid receptors, so that those who took narcotics wouldn't get high. It wasn't a popular remedy for drug addiction. Patients didn’t feel good using it and so most stopped taking it. It made them depressed and anxious. The reason for this,… I will explain later.
Back in the early 80's, in Pennsylvania, Professor Zagon found that if you block the opioid receptors using Naltrexone, it would trick the brain into thinking there's a shortage of endorphins. Therefore the brain would ramp up production our body's endogenous opioids, at 3 times the normal rate. And this increase in production would continue for a full day (17 hours at least). The brilliance of Professor Zagon was that he discovered,... if you block the opioid receptors, for only a short time, using a small amount of Naltrexone, hence Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN),.... the endorphins can connect to the receptors for the rest of the day, after the LDN wears off in 3 or 4 hours. This results in you getting the benefits of increased endorphins the majority of the day, because the blockade of the receptors is only temporary with a low dose. That was his genius. This was all cutting edge stuff at the time, because the existence of endorphins was only discovered a few years earlier, in 1975, the year I graduated high school. That is when they first discovered opioid receptors, and wondered why our body would have them. Is Morphine or Heroin supposed to benefit us? That's how they found these neurotransmitters/peptides that connected to these receptors, that they aptly named endorphins. The word comes from endogenous morphine. Since then, they have found many kinds of endorphins, that benefit us in a multitude of ways. The opioid system (endorphins and their receptors) is believed to be one of the most complex systems in the body, that plays a critical role in major biological processes. They have been found to be heart protective, reduce high blood pressure, reduce blood glucose, increase insulin sensitivity, pain modulation, protect against the flu, and reduce stress among many other benefits.
With pain relief being a major benefit,… those who took full strength Naltrexone daily for drug addiction didn't feel well because their opioid receptors were being blocked all day, every day. So no pain relief or stress reduction was afforded to them. We now know endorphins are the feel good hormones released when we exercise, have sex, eat something delicious, etc.. They also control cellular growth, inflammatory signaling pathways and many other processes.
Professor Zagon and his team in Pennsylvania, are still leading the research on LDN. There are other researchers worldwide, who are also pursuing the benefits of LDN. But Professor Zagon was the first who discovered it. Here is an excerpt from a book he published in 2017....
ENKEPHALINS AS GROWTH FACTORS (Enkephalins are endorphins or as called here opioid growth factors)
“Although enkephalins were initially considered to function as neurotransmitters, in the early 1980s, it was demonstrated that one specific enkephalin—[Met5]-enkephalin—regulated the growth of normal and abnormal cells and tissues, and hence was renamed opioid growth factor (OGF). OGF is a potent, reversible, species-unspecific, and tissue-nonspecific negative growth regulator with action that is opioid receptor mediated….. With regard to the role of OGF in disease, OGF was successful at reducing tumor burden, limiting metastatic growth, and had few side effects.
Another group of diseases—autoimmune disorders—manifests with too little OGF. The hypothesis is that diminished levels of serum enkephalins are unable to control rampant proliferation of immune cells during a trigger event or flare. The etiology of MS remains a black box and most likely, there is no singular cause of MS. Endogenous opioids, or the lack thereof, may be a contributing factor, but the data are insufficient….. Nonetheless, hypothesis-driven, controlled studies on the role of endogenous opioids….. have generated data, suggesting that enkephalins play an integral role in the disease process." Endogenous Opioids in the Etiology and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis - NCBI Bookshelf
The good thing about LDN, not only does it boost endorphins (OGF) but also its receptors! It tricks the brain into thinking there is a shortage of endorphins, therefore producing more of them. And at the same time, increasing the number of receptors on various cells to receive them.
"When used in doses of 1 to 5 mg (LDN) it acts as a glial modulator with a neuroprotective effect via inhibition of microglial activation. It binds to Toll-like receptor 4 and acts as an antagonist, therefore inhibiting the downstream cellular signaling pathways that ultimately lead to pro-inflammatory cytokines, therefore reducing inflammatory response. Its other mode of action involves transient opioid receptor blockade ensuing from low-dose use which upregulates opioid signaling resulting in increased levels of endogenous opioid production, known as opioid rebound effect. Low dose naltrexone has gained popularity as an off-label treatment of several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as chronic pain disorders including fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and diabetic neuropathy. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) may also have utility in improving mood disorders and the potential to enhance the quality of life." Pharmacology Update: Low-Dose Naltrexone as a Modality for Chronic Pain Syndromes (Oct. 2019)
I ran out of LDN during the pandemic, I wasn't able to obtain more until a month or two later. It's amazing how you don't realize the benefits of something until you are without it for a while. Lots of aches and pains returned, including my back and neck stiffness. My psoriasis also flared up. And in just two days of being back on LDN, I saw the benefits I had lost. Psoriasis is the abnormal growth of skin cells. Skin grows in spots in one day, that would normally take a month. And lately it's been spreading to more parts of my body. Not a good sign when it is connected to my inflammatory arthritis (Psoriatic Arthritis). But since getting back on LDN, I can clearly see the growth of my psoriasis has slowed. I’m also experiencing less arthritic joint pain that is easily detected. Much easier to get up and out of my chair, bed, etc...
Here is some of the latest research showing endorphins, increased by LDN, fighting cancer....
Preclinical and clinical studies into the bioactivity of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) for oncotherapy (July 2021)
Low Doses Naltrexone: The Potential Benefit Effects for its Use in Patients with Cancer (Jan. 2021)
Beta Endorphins - Therapeutic Approach To Cancer (Dec. 2019)
Here is the late Dr. Bernard Bihari, M.D. He was the first doctor and researcher to use LDN in his practice. Most of what we know of LDN's real world benefits comes from him. He was once the Commissioner of the NYC Health Department, back in the late 70's. This is a rare interview of him speaking on LDN. I cleaned up the video as best I could. It's kind of dated. He passed away in 2010 at the ripe old age of 78. So this video must have been made 10 or 15 years before then. He explains how he came about LDN during the AIDS epidemic. How endorphins raised by LDN, can rapidly double the number of immune cells,… and how immunity is almost entirely regulated by endorphins. A very informative clip, well worth watching….
This great man was so loved by the LDN community. The heartfelt condolences are a testament to his impact on so many lives.... BERNARD BIHARI Obituary (2010) - New York, NY - New York Times
Dr. Burt Berkson practices medicine in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Patients come to him from all over the world. He is another doctor who uses LDN, that he combines with ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) with great success. Here is a short audio clip (2009) of how he found out about LDN and Dr. Bihari....
This audio clip comes to you courtesy of the website HONEST MEDICINE. You can listen to the full interview with Dr. Berkson there. He has published a number of clinical cases in medical journals, of patients having remarkable recoveries with stage 4 cancer, following his treatment of LDN and ALA. He is the author of the first 3 studies below.
Case study of stage 4 pancreatic cancer… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16484716
3 more cases of pancreatic cancer… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20042414
Case study of Renal (kidney) cancer (2018)… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29258346
Professor Zagon and his team at Penn State report on 2 cases of hepatoblastoma (liver cancer)… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23275062
Here are some other assorted clinical cases…..
50-year-old male with lung cancer (2018)… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126779/
Case study of a rare type of oral cancer… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25284545
How safe is it? There are fertility clinics around the world giving LDN to expecting mothers (that's how safe LDN is) for troubled pregnancies. And found their babies are born much healthier than those not taking LDN. The only contraindications are narcotics and immunosuppressants... https://www.ldnscience.org/resources/interviews/interview-phil-boyle
As Dr. Bihari has said, the optimal dose range is 4.5mg to 3mg. The manufacturers produce Naltrexone in 50mg tablets, making it necessary for a compounding pharmacy to the reduce the dose and make LDN tablets in that optimal range. I prefer to do this myself and not leave it to any pharmacist. It’s easy to do and has benefits. You go out and buy a baby bottle and a baby medicine dropper. You can get them at the dollar store cheap. Measure out 50ml of distilled water in the baby bottle. Drop the 50mg Naltrexone tablet in the water and stir. It dissolves readily in the water when stirred and is completely soluble. Then with the baby medicine dropper measure out 4.5ml or 3ml, or anywhere in between and you will have the proper amount you want. The benefit of this, besides avoiding any pharmacy mistakes, is that you could avoid most the excipients used in the tablets that settle to the bottom of the bottle. Once shaken, the Naltrexone is dissolved in water like salt. Therefore, using the dropper at the top of the solution will avoid all the excipients that settled to the bottom. Each 50mg tablet contains the following inactive ingredients: colloidal silicon dioxide, crospovidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polysorbate 80, synthetic red iron oxide, synthetic yellow iron oxide and titanium dioxide. Of course, some of these might also be soluble in water, but you can still see plenty on the bottom that isn’t. That mixture will last you 11 to 16 days depending on the dose used. So there is a little work involved, but it’s cake. Keep it in the dark, preferably in the fridge, and try not to stir it up after the initial mixing. That’s the recipe I use.
LDN acts more like a nutritional supplement than a drug, in that it corrects an insufficiency in endorphins. Stress, age and illness all reduce the body's production of endorphins. And they are critical in protecting our physical and mental health. LDN enhances immune function by raising endorphin levels. Individuals with weak immune function or any chronic condition would benefit from this completely safe and effective therapeutic. Results may vary.
Stay safe and be well….