Why IV nutrient therapy?
Let's face it: the food we eat today isn't nearly as nutritious as it used to be. In the quest for bigger, tastier, juicier, crunchier, higher yield, and more colorful food, nutritional value is usually forgotten. Add into that the overworked soils, growth-pushing fertilizers, pesticides and GMO's (genetically modified organisms) and you're left with more and more toxins and less and less nutrition. And this is to say nothing about the toxins we breathe in, drink, and rub on our bodies every day. With the ever-increasing load of toxins and decreasing nutrition in our foods, many turn to "vitamin supplements" which can be tremendously helpful. The problem is that for many people, either their disease has progressed too far or they are unable to properly digest and assimilate enough vitamins to do the trick. In those cases, getting the nutrients intravenously can be a great option!

What Kind of Nutrients?
Apart from water, one of the biggest supplement nutrients we put in our IV's is vitamin C. Humans are just about the only animal that doesn't make their own vitamin C but still need it, so it is usually gotten through diet. Most of us don't get nearly enough.
​Vitamin C can help with fighting any infection, detoxification, autoimmune processes, healing, growth and many other things. In addition to vitamin C we often give various B vitamins, and essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. Other IV nutrients can include things like glutathione and Alpha Lipoid Acid (ALA).

How is it Done?
Before we start any IV's on a patient, we see them for a complete medical evaluation. Different conditions require different protocols.
Typically we tailor the IV nutrients to the needs of the patient, oftentimes starting at a lower dose and working up on the dose as tolerated.
While it is not uncommon for a patient to feel significantly improved after a single IV, it can take a while for many patients to notice a significant sustained difference. Remember, you didn't become sick or nutrient depleted overnight, and it can take some time for things to correct.
Often times we will combine the IV nutrients with Major Auto-Hemotherapy (MAH) and/or Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation (UBI), as well as various other treatment modalities depending on a patient's condition.

What is MTHFR?
MTHFR stands for MethyleneTetraHydroFolate Reductase. It is a gene that processes folic acid, one of the essential nutrients, to a form your body can use. "OK," you may ask, "what's that got to do with anything?" ​Read on to find out....
History of MTHFR
Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) is a gene that was discovered while they were working on the Human Genome Project. Defects in this gene were found to be very common in the population, so they decided to look into this further. While there are many possible defects in the gene, the most common ones are C677T and A1298C. The names have to do with where on the gene the defect is and what the abnormality is...
What does MTHFR Do?

• As mentioned above, it can methylate (process) folic acid and other vitamins to a form your body can use
• It is essential for your body to make proteins, utilize antioxidants, and process fats
• It helps synthesize neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin which influence your mood, sleep, cognitive function, and memory
• It is involved in the growth, repair and maintenance of your cells
• It is needed for the elimination of toxins and heavy metals
• It helps control inflammation
• It activates and regulates the immune system

Problems associated with MTHFR

• Depression and anxiety
• Other mental disorders
• A variety of cancers
• Stroke
• Heart problems
• Congenital defects
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Miscarriages
• Migraines
• Chemical sensitivities
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Diabetes
• Sleep issues
• And many more...

How is it diagnosed and treated?
Diagnosis can sometimes be made by family history but often it requires a specialized blood test. Elevated folate and B12 levels can be suggestive of this disorder. Occasionally the diagnosis is made presumptively. Treatment consists of treating with pre-activated vitamins - ones that are already in a form your body can use. Not uncommonly people will do remarkably well with these therapies alone, although some people need additional assistance with their various diagnoses.
 

What is LDI?
Low Dose Immunotherapy (LDI) is a therapy that is almost identical to the Low Dose Allergy (LDA) therapy (see our LDA page). While LDA works very well for many types of allergies, LDI can work for various autoimmune disorders and chronic infections.
LDA vs LDI
After Dr Shrader developed LDA for multiple different types of allergies, he noted that various autoimmune disorders tended to be associated with possible low-lying infections with various bacteria. He made some LDA formulations using antigens for some of these, and had very good success treating several different autoimmune disorders including Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's, and others. Dr Ty Vincent later came along and extended the idea to treat Lyme Disease as well as coming up with several other formulations which work very well for several other diseases and infections..
Differences between LDA and LDI
Probably the biggest difference between LDA and LDI is who came up with the therapy - Dr Shrader trademarked the LDA name, so Dr Vincent coined LDI. There are also some differences in how they are dosed and used - LDA typically has relatively fixed doses while LDI requires a very wide variety of dosing with everyone having their own specific dose. Typically with LDI, if you give a dose that's too high you can make the disease symptoms worse, too low a dose will usually do nothing, and "just right" can potentially work wonders. Because of the possibility of dosing too high we often start at a dose we think will be too low and work up from there.
 

What is LDA?
Low Dose Allergen (LDA) therapy is an amazing option for treating most forms of allergies. This includes most forms of inhaled allergens (hayfever, pollen, pet dander, etc), food allergens (dairy, gluten, corn, etc), and even chemical sensitivities (perfumes, formaldehyde, etc).
History of LDA
LDA therapy stems from the research of Dr Leonard McEwen, a British physician who developed Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization (EPD) therapy out of research done in the 1960's. This was used quite successfully here in the U.S. until 2002 when it was banned by the FDA. Dr Butch Shrader continued Dr McEwen's research and developed a next-generation form of the same kind of therapy he named Low Dose Allergen (LDA) therapy.
How does it work?
With LDA therapy hundreds of different antigens (things people might be allergic to) are premixed and injected into the skin along with an enzyme called "beta glucuronidase." This enzyme tells your body to quit reacting to those antigens so much. It does this by raising the levels of the T-Regulator cells - the ones that calm down the immune response to that particular antigen.
Differences between LDA and "Regular Allergy Shots"
At first glance, LDA appears similar to "regular allergy shots." Both involve intermittent injections to treat allergic conditions. But that's where the similarities end...
Differences include:

• Working by a different mechanism
• MUCH lower doses (making it safer)
• Hundreds of premixed antigens
• No need for allergy testing
• Shots given much less often
• Given into the skin instead of under it
  

What is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)?
Naltrexone is a medicine that is used sometimes to treat people with narcotic addiction and alcoholism. In very low doses, however (less than 10% of a usual dose), naltrexone is believed to help regulate people's immune systems, thereby helping with several different disease processes.

History of LDN Therapy
In the 1980's the drug naltrexone was developed as a medicine to help people who were heroin addicts. The action of the drug is to block opiate medicines to prevent people getting high while taking heroin. Dr Bihari, the researcher testing the lowest dose of the medicine, found that at the low dose it didn't help the addiction, but did prevent his AIDS patients from getting sick. Since then this therapy has been used successfully not only for HIV but for many other diseases / conditions.

How Does It Work?
At the regular dose Naltrexone blocks the opioid receptors in the body for a full 24 hours. At a very low dose, however, it blocks them for a much shorter time (usually 2-4 hours), during which time your body makes more endorphins (the natural morphines in the body). When the medicine wears off, you body now has more of the endorphins than it had before, which can help cut down on chronic pain. Endorphins also help modulate the immune system, allowing your body to better fight the things it should be fighting and not fight the things it shouldn't.

Diseases LDN is Effective For
(per the Low Dose Naltrexone website)
Neurodegenerative Diseases
ALS, Alzheimer's, Autism, MS, Parkinson's, PTSD, etc
Autoimmune Diseases
AS, Behcet's, Celiac, Chronic Fatigue, Crohn's, Fibromyalgia, Hashimoto's, IBS, MG, Pemphigoid, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, etc.
Cancers
Bladder, Brest, Carcinoid, Colon/Rectal, Liver, Lung, Melanoma, Ovarian, Pancreatic, Prostate, etc.
Other Diseases
Common Colds (URI's), Emphysema (COPD), HIV/AIDS, Depression (Major; and Bipolar)
Visit Low Dose Naltrexone Website
How Do I Get It?
Because LDN is a low dose, it needs to be made at a compounding pharmacy (you can only get the "regular dose" at most pharmacies). The fact that the dose is low brings the cost down significantly, but the need for custom compounding brings it up to a medium price range. Each patient has their own particular dose that works best for them - it's definitely not a "one size fits all."
Side Effects
LDN is usually taken at night time just before going to bed. Occasionally patients take it in the morning. Most people tolerate the medicine very well, with the only common side effects of:

• decreased sleep for the first couple of nights, (after that patients often sleep better than they've slept in years).
• vivid, "funky" dreams (not nightmares). These may go away after a while or continue but are typically not bothersome to patients.

 

World Famous Tony Robbins uses the same PEMF unit every day as we use in our clinic on our patients – the HU-GO PEMF machine. See this YouTube video for a brief review, and a longer video segment here.

On the way back from an emergency medical flight transfer I got to sit in the cockpit of a PC12. This was a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Radio interview with Bob Neugebauer regarding the new HOCATT Extreme.

What does ketchup have to do with the Constitution and Bible stories? Dr Vance explains…