An innovative cancer therapy that saves animals can it help humans as well? - Cortisol Imbalances

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Feb-March, 2004 by Alfred J. Plechner

Standard tests usually measure only one estrogen compound: estradiol. However, I test for total estrogen, which may include endogenous compounds (estradiol, estrone, and estriol) from ovarian and adrenal activity as well as estrogens from environmental and food sources. This provides a more accurate measurement for a potential major disrupter of cortisol and thyroid activity. In animals, I have found that even a slight upward variation of total estrogen out of the normal range can be problematic.

The endocrine-immune test is based on a simple blood draw that is spun down in a serum separator tube and refrigerated. It is shipped cold and refrigerated at the lab until testing. If blood is not kept cold, hormone and antibody results tend to be excessively and erroneously high. Correct handling of the blood sample is critical.

Animals are retested two or three weeks after the start of therapy to determine the efficacy of the treatment and the need for modification.

The imbalances and their associated medical effects are typically corrected with the long-term use of very low-dosage cortisone that serves as a cortisol replacement therapy (Fig. 3). I use only enough steroid replacement to eliminate the imbalances, and this in turn usually resolves the medical effects. Depending on the individual case, I use either pharmaceutical cortisone medications or a bio-identical "natural" hydrocortisone derived from plants. Starting daily oral dosages are as follows: Medrol (methylprednisolone) or Prednisolone, 1 milligram per 10 pounds of body weight, or Vetalog (triamcinolone acetonide), .125 milligrams per 10 pounds; hydrocortisone, available through compounding pharmacies, 1/2-milligram per 1 pound of body weight.

Most dogs, but very few cats, also require a T4 thyroid prescription, such as Soloxine (levothyroxine sodium) at .10 milligrams per 10 pounds of body weight twice daily. Thyroid supplementation serves a dual purpose: to overcome any resistant thyroid impairment or binding effect due to endogenous cortisolestrogen imbalances and to guarantee proper metabolizing/breakdown of the cortisol replacement medication within 24 hours. I have found that with dogs, but not with cats, even very low physiological dosages of steroid replacement have the potential in some cases to build up in the body and cause side effects unless T4 is taken as a daily accompaniment. For some unknown species difference, cats do not require the extra thyroid.

When animals are retested after therapy begins, the lab testing procedure cannot recognize the presence of synthetic cortisone medication as part of the serum cortisol circulating in the system. This is apparently due to the variant molecular structure of the medication. Thus, when synthetics are used, the cortisol value in blood tests usually remain low. The test will, however, recognize natural hydrocortisone although changes in the cortisol value based on such usage may not appear immediately in test results.

The goal of the therapy is restored regulation of the immune system. Even though the imbalances originate with a cortisol abnormality, and the basis of the therapy is correcting this abnormality, the most important indicator of efficacy when assessing test results after the start of therapy is normalization of estrogen and antibodies, along with the patient's clinical signs. The level of cortisol in subsequent testing is not important. The re-regulating effect on the immune system is important.