Google LDN! by Joseph Wouk
Low Dose Naltrexone Memoir Written by a Multiple Sclerosis Patient
Jun 1, 2009
Low dose naltrexone (LDN) is an immunomodulatory therapy used in the treatment of e.g. autoimmune disease (especially multiple sclerosis), HIV/AIDS and cancer. LDN increases the secretion of endogenous opioids like beta endorphin and met enkephalin, which help regulate the immune system. LDN has been in use for over two decades, but still remains largely unknown to the general public and even most doctors.
People who have had their lives changed by LDN are doing their best to change this and spread awareness about LDN. Some have funded clinical trials, others have created websites or helped in the organizing of the yearly LDN conference. Joseph Wouk contributed by penning a book titled Google LDN! (RV Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-0578004396). The title was chosen so that even people who did not read the book could still benefit if they followed the instruction.
Wouk's Story
After a numb hand that the doctors originally suggested was due to wearing his wristwatch too tight, Joseph Wouk was diagnosed with progressive relapsing multiple sclerosis (PRMS). He tried one of the standard MS drugs, Copaxone, but had to give it up due to side effects. Wouk was desperate, both from the depression caused by multiple sclerosis and cognitive deterioration from the subcortical dementia common in this type of MS.
Originally Wouk's book was supposed to be about the philosophical journey of giving up his "rationalist" attitude to try ayahuasca, a concoction of hallucinogenic herbs used by Native Americans, in hopes of curing his multiple sclerosis. While he didn't believe the ayahuasca would actually heal him as such, he was hoping it would convince him that he was cured, and that the resulting placebo effect would effect the cure.
In the end, Joseph Wouk does not travel to Peru to try the psychedelic concoction. He puts his hope on Tysabri, a new biological MS drug, but he has to wait for months before he can start it. In the meantime he hears about low dose naltrexone. Without doing any research he asks his doctor about it. The doctor doesn't think much about it, but says it can't hurt and writes a prescription.
Wouk starts taking the LDN without expecting much, but a few months later he finds himself essentially free of his MS symptoms - the balance and memory problems, the impaired concentration he describes as "ADD" and the urinary urgency. He realizes it must be due to the LDN, but he cannot blame the placebo effect, because he wasn't expecting it to work. In the end, the rationalist does get his miracle cure.
The Book
A lot of the book is dedicated to Wouk's philosophical theories. He analyses different religions and scientific concepts (from the law of thermodynamics to quantum entanglement) and how they relate to the possible cure from the ayahuasca ceremony. Often his writing resembles a stream of consciousness, but still remains completely sharp and lucid. Even when Wouk seemingly goes off the tangent his prose is pleasant and fascinating to read.
More than 100 pages at the end of the book are devoted to appendices about LDN as a medical therapy, including plenty of case reports and information about past and current clinical trials. Most of the content, however, originates from the Low Dose Naltrexone website.
What makes LDN different from most other treatments for autoimmune disease is that it is not an immunosuppressant and has no serious risks. Like other LDN users Wouk expresses deep frustration, even anger, about people still being prescribed extremely expensive, toxic and dangerous immunosuppressants if they are not aware of low dose naltrexone.
So why don't more people know about LDN? Sadly, the patent of naltrexone has expired and. thus is not beneficial for the companies to invest in studies for a drug that costs about $20-30 a month. Wouk's book has some good suggestions for improving the situation by legistlation. And if one does follow Wouk's plea to Google LDN, they will find everything they need to know.
See Also
Up The Creek With A Paddle by Mary Boyle Bradley
The Promise of Low Dose Naltrexone Therapy
Immunostimulant Drugs for Autoimmune Disease
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