Membrane Lipid Replacement with NTFactor Lipids® Reduces Pain, Fatigue, Gastrointestinal and Other Symptoms in Patients with Peripheral Pain


…article continued:

Case Report 3.15 A 68-year-old female had been shot point-blank in the abdomen and lower back with a 12-gauge shotgun in 1978.  At that time she sustained extensive damage to her large and small intestines that required partial large and small bowel resection.  For decades she has suffered from unrelenting severe, chronic pain, fatigue, diarrhea and gastrointestinal symptoms (pain score of 3) that were unresolved with various treatments.  She had been on narcotics and under the care of a pain management specialist, when she presented in 2015. Her pain specialist would only treat her pain with narcotics, and her fatigue and gastrointestinal symptoms were largely untreated.  She discontinued narcotic pain treatment before presentation. At the time of her examination, she had severe pain (neck, mid-back, central-back and lower-back and left shoulder with limited range of motion), fatigue, and gastrointestinal distress with long-standing intractable diarrhea (fibromyalgia severity of 3).  She received myofascal trigger point therapy with spinal manipulation and was placed on PropaxTM with NTFactor Lipids® plus NTFactor Lipids® wafers for a total dose of approximately 5 g per day NTFactor Lipids®. After three days she reported her first solid bowel movement since her shotgun incident, and within three weeks she regained control over her bowel movements.  Within three weeks her pain levels and fatigue levels improved substantially (1-2 pain scores), and her gastrointestinal symptoms had improved.  She had more energy and stamina, and her chronic fatigue had almost resolved. She did not continue on the MLR with NTFactor Lipids®, and her symptom severity slowly returned to prior severe levels.


Discussion

Oral glycerolphospholipids have been used successfully in clinical studies to reduce symptom severity.1-7 MLR supplement NTFactor Lipids® with fructooligosaccahrides (to protect the phospholipids from disruption, degradation and oxidation in the gut) and antioxidants have reduced significantly symptom severity in chronic illness patients (see reviews1-3).  The membrane glycerolphospholipids are quickly and almost completely absorbed and transported into tissues and cells without excessive oxidative damage.2 There the undamaged, replacement membrane phospholipids can exchange with damaged membrane phospholipids, resulting in replacement of the damaged molecules. MLR glycerolphospholipids also provide important precursors for specific membrane molecules, such as mitochondrial cardiolipin.2

Oral MLR supplements have been designed to reduce fatigue and protect cellular and especially mitochondrial membranes from damage.1-5  By combining NTFactor Lipids® with vitamins and minerals (PropaxTM with NTFactor Lipids®), cancer patients show reductions in the adverse effects of cancer therapy, such as chemotherapy-induced fatigue, nausea, vomiting and other side effects.18   NTFactor Lipids® have also been used in other illnesses to reduce symptoms, especially fatigue.2,3,5,7


Patient Consent

The data collection and patient evaluations were approved by an independent institutional review board. Patients consented to use their clinical information via informed consent.


Acknowledgements and Disclosures

The authors would like to thank Nutritional Therapeutics, Inc. and the Institute for Molecular Medicine for financial support and for providing study materials. Garth L. Nicolson is a part-time consultant to Allergy Research Group, Inc., Naturally Plus Taiwan, and Nutritional Therapeutics, Inc. Paul C. Breeding has no potential conflicts to disclose.


References

1.         Nicolson GL.  Membrane Lipid Replacement: clinical studies using a natural medicine approach to restoring membrane function and improving health.  Intern J Clin Med. 2016; 7: 133-143.

2.         Nicolson GL, Ash ME.  Membrane Lipid Replacement for chronic illnesses, aging and cancer using oral glycerolphospholipid formulations with fructooligosaccharides to restore phospholipid function in cellular membranes, organelles, cells and tissues. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomemb. 2017; 1859: 1704-1724. 

3.         Nicolson GL, et al. Clinical uses of Membrane Lipid Replacement supplements in restoring membrane function and reducing fatigue in chronic diseases and cancer.  Discoveries. 2016: 4(1): e54.

4.         Agadjanyan M, et al. Nutritional supplement (NTFactor) restores mitochondrial function and reduces moderately severe fatigue in aged subjects.  J Chronic Fatigue Syndr. 2003; 11(3): 23-36. 

5.         Nicolson GL, Ellithrope RR. Lipid replacement and antioxidant nutritional therapy for restoring mitochondrial function and reducing fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome and other fatiguing illnesses. J Chronic Fatigue Syndr. 2006; 13(1): 57-68.

6.         Ellithorpe RA, et al. Lipid replacement therapy drink containing a glycophospholipid formulation rapidly and significantly reduces fatigue while improving energy and mental clarity. Funct Food Health Dis. 2011; 1(8): 245-254.

7.      Nicolson GL, Settineri R, Ellithorpe R. Neurodegenerative and fatiguing Illnesses, infections and mitochondrial dysfunction: use of natural supplements to restore mitochondrial function. Funct Foods Health Dis. 2014; 4(1): 23-65.

8.      Wolf F, Clauw DJ, Fitzcharles MA. The American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic creiteria for fibromyalgia and measurement of symptom severity. Arthrit Care Res. 2010; 62: 600-610.

9.        Breeding PC, Russell NC, Nicolson GL.  An integrative model of chronically activated immune-hormonal pathways important in the generation of fibromyalgia.  Br J Med Practit. 2012; 5(3): a524.

10.      Wolf F, et al. Fibromyalgia creiteria and severity scales for clinical and epidemiological studies: a modification of the ACR Preliminary Diagnostic Criteria for Fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol. 2011; 38(6): 1113-1122.

11.      Gran JT. The epidemiology of chronic generalized musculoskeletal pain. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2003; 17(4): 547-561. 

12.      Chambers D, Bagnall A-M, Hempel S, Forbes C. Interventions for the treatment, management and rehabilitation of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encepthalomyelitis: an updated systematic review. J Royal Society Med. 2006; 99: 506-520.

13.      Reid S, et al. Chronic fatigue syndrome. BMJ Clinical Evid. 2011;2011: 1101.

14.   Nicolson GL, et al. Reduction of pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal and other symptoms and improvement in quality of life indicators in fibromyalgia patients with Membrane Lipid Replacement glycerolphospholipids and controlled-release caffeine. Intern J Clin Med. 2018; 9: 560-579.

15.      Nicolson GL. Breeding PC. Membrane Lipid Replacement for reduction of pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal and other symptoms in patients with peripheral pain: case reports.  Case Rep Rev. 2020; 1(2): 1-3.

16.      Nicolson GL, Nicolson NL. Chronic Fatigue Illness and Operation Desert Storm. J Occup Environ Med. 1996; 38: 14-16.

17.       Hodgson MJ, Kipen, HM. Gulf War Illnesses: causation and treatment. J Occup Environ Med. 1999; 41: 443-452. 

18.    Nicolson GL. Lipid replacement therapy: a nutraceutical approach for reducing cancer-associated fatigue and the adverse effects of cancer therapy while restoring mitochondrial function. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2010; 29(3): 543-552.

By Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, MD (H)1* and Paul C. Breeding, DC2

1Department of Molecular Pathology,
The Institute for Molecular Medicine,
Huntington Beach, California 92647, USA;

2Blue Hole Chiropractic and Wellness,
Houston, Texas 77035, USA
 
*Correspondence: Prof. Garth L. Nicolson, PhD, MD (H).
Institute for Molecular Medicine
P.O. Box 9355, South Laguna Beach, California 92652.
Email: gnicolson@immed.org  Telephone: +1-949-715-5978