Dear Colleagues:

I have often lamented the lack of peer-reviewed literature on neural therapy in the English
language.  However this deficiency should not prevent us from reading what has been
published and so I have included in this newsletter a few abstracts from papers
published in the last year.  The first is actually a translation from a German language
article (better an abstract than nothing!)  The second is from a veterinary journal.  (I know
one veterinarian who is quite skilled in neural therapy and I have enjoyed learning from him.)

Research and therefore writing about neural therapy for the peer reviewed literature is not
easy. The current fashion of  "evidence based" practice encourages the most
superficial understanding of pathophysiology, and therefore the most
superficial treatments.  For example, it would be easy to show that injection of a steroid
suspension into a subacromial bursa will suppress an inflammatory process.

But it would be another matter to explore the factors that produced the inflammation in
the first place.  In my experience, subacromial bursitis is "the tip of the iceberg" of
disturbed mechanics of the shoulder.  And disturbed shoulder mechanics is often a
reflection of disturbed mechanics elsewhere - e.g. neck, cranium, chest wall or pelvis.
 
Similarly, subacromial bursitis can also be caused by interference fields, often located
in areas far removed from the shoulder.   Sometimes neurological, anatomical, or
energetic connections can be found that explain the relationships.   Sometimes the
relationship is a mystery - at least to me!

A certain amount of humility about what can and cannot be known is a necessary
virtue in the practice of medicine. Evidence from the scientific literature can be a
marvelous tool - to open our eyes to possibilities and to learn from the experience of
others.  But to (again) quote Speransky: "Science is analysis; diagnosis is synthesis". 
Diagnosis (except of acute injuries) is a process in which a complex work of art is created
from the patient's history, physical examination, and other evidence.  Each individual is
unique in myriad ways. 

This is especially true in the practice of neural therapy. The goal is to find the loci (or
"interference fields") that are disturbing regulation of the body's physiological processes. 
"Resetting" these controls by neural therapy can often restore the patient's function to
normal health.  But the location of interference fields is so different and their effects on
the physiology so disparate that it is impossible to assemble subjects for trials that would
satisfy the rules of scientific "evidence".

One exception to these generalizations is "segmental therapy", the practice of treating
the skin overlying a symptomatic tissue or the referral zone of an organ, with
subcutaneous injections of procaine.  Here it is possible to obtain satisfactory results with
less diagnostic precision than is required to identify interference fields in (e.g.) scars or
teeth.

An example of this comes from a paper published in 2006 (in Spanish) by one of our
readership, Dr. Carlos Chiriboga MD of Ecuador treating a series of 64 patients with
chronic neck pain.  Here is an English translation: http://translate.google.ca/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terapianeural.com%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D135%26Itemid%3D26&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=

For those of you planning to attend the "Mid-winter Neural Therapy Retreat" (More news
about this in coming months) in February 2010 near Ottawa, Canada, Dr Chiriboga will
be present.

And here are the neural therapy papers, as promised above:

Development and implementation of a 'curriculum complementary and alternative
medicine' at the Heidelberg Medical School]. [German] Joos S. Eicher C.
Musselmann B. Kadmon M. Forschende Komplementarmedizin (2006). 15(5):251-60,
2008 Oct.

BACKGROUND: The 9th revision of the Medical Training Regulations for Physicians
(AAppO) in October 2003 included the new compulsory interdisciplinary subject
'Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)'
(QB 12). The present article describes the development of a 'CAM curriculum' for
undergraduate education, its implementation in the QB 12 at the Heidelberg Medical
School and its evaluation. METHODS: According to the 6-step approach by Kern, the
following aspects are presented: requirements, experiences/interests of students,
learning targets, development of practical training courses and lectures, implementation,
and evaluation. Experiences/interests of students were assessed by a self-developed
questionnaire. Practical training courses and lectures were evaluated by school marks
(1 through 6) and by a modified version of the HILVE-I. RESULTS: A selection of CAM
methods to be included in the curriculum was made by the participating lecturers based
on the criteria 'evidence' and 'prevalence in health care'. Learning targets were defined
in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. On this basis, practical training
courses/lectures comprising classical naturopathy, acupuncture/ traditional Chinese
medicine and neural therapy were developed and integrated in the QB 12. Regular
evaluations of the practical training courses/lectures constantly reveal good results. 69%
of the 219 students questioned indicated to be interested in CAM, 27% already had
gained experience with CAM themselves. DISCUSSION: The well-evaluated CAM
courses/lectures indicate a successful development and implementation of the 'CAM
curriculum' in the QB 12 at the Heidelberg Medical School. Thus, the requirements of
the AAppO are met. Moreover, implementation of CAM in undergraduate education
allows for the importance CAM has in every-day care of patients in Germany. 2008 S.
Karger AG, Basel

Clinical efficacy of neural therapy for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs.
Bravo-Monsalvo A. Vazquez-Chagoyan JC. Gutierrez L. Sumano H. Acta Veterinaria
Hungarica. 56(4):459-69, 2008 Dec.

The aim of this trial was to assess the clinical efficacy of neural therapy (NT) when
treating canine atopic dermatitis. Eighteen dogs (no control group), with at least a 12-
month history of having nonseasonal atopic dermatitis, were included. No medication
with either glucocorticoids or cyclosporin was allowed during the trial. One set of NT was
given by injecting an intravenous dose of 0.1 mg/kg of a 0.7% procaine solution,
followed by 10 to 25 intradermal injections of the same solution in a volume of 0.1-0.3
mL per site. Dogs were given 6-13 sets of NT during the therapy. The dermatological
condition of each patient was evaluated before and after the treatment using two scales:
the pruritus visual analogue scale (PVAS) and the canine atopic dermatitis extent and
severity index (CADESI). The reduction of pruritus was statistically significant using a
Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test (P < 0.001). No adverse side effects were
observed. NT seems to be an effective alternative to control signs related to canine
atopic dermatitis.

Patient satisfaction of primary care for musculoskeletal diseases: a comparison
between Neural Therapy and conventional medicine. Mermod J. Fischer L. Staub L.
Busato A. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine. 8:33, 2008.

BACKGROUND: The main objective of this study was to assess and compare patient
satisfaction with Neural Therapy (NT) and conventional medicine (COM) in primary care
for musculoskeletal diseases. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in primary care for
musculoskeletal disorders covering 77 conventional primary care providers and 18
physicians certified in NT with 241 and 164 patients respectively. Patients and
physicians documented consultations and patients completed questionnaires at a one-
month follow-up. Physicians documented duration and severity of symptoms, diagnosis,
and procedures. The main outcomes in the evaluation of patients were: fulfillment of
expectations, perceived treatment effects, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: The most
frequent diagnoses belonged to the group of dorsopathies (39% in COM, 46% in NT).
We found significant differences between NT and COM with regard to patient
evaluations. NT patients documented better fulfilment of treatment expectations and
higher overall treatment satisfaction. More patients in NT reported positive side effects
and less frequent negative effects than patients in COM. Also, significant differences
between NT and COM patients were seen in the quality of the patient-physician
interaction (relation and communication, medical care, information and support,
continuity and cooperation, facilities availability, and accessibility), where NT patients
showed higher satisfaction. Differences were also found with regard to the physicians'
management of disease, with fewer work incapacity attestations issued and longer
consultation times in NT. CONCLUSION: Our findings show a significantly higher
treatment and care-related patient satisfaction with primary care for musculoskeletal
diseases provided by physicians practising Neural Therapy.

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Letters:

To the editor:

I had an amazing case this week that I thought you would be interested in.

A patient was sent to me from a general practitioner in Nov 2008. She had tried
dealing with this on a nutritional medicine approach to no avail.

62 year old man with severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and heart palpitations. In his
own words he could barely walk from the bedroom to the bathroom. His oral health was
really poor.

We removed some teeth, thoroughly curetting all sockets, irrigated with procaine and did
extensive perio in our hygiene department.  I removed some old amalgams and decay and
made him new upper and lower dentures. He had no other medical treatment during this
time treatment.

Saw him yesterday. No signs of symptoms of arthritis, psoriasis or heart palpitations. In
fact he is heading over to Perth in Western Australia, over 3000 miles away, with his bike
and intends to cycle across Australia!!!

Needless to say he was pleased.

Ron Ehrlich B.D.S.
Sydney, Australia


To the editor:

Thanks so much for you valuable tips.

I had a patient come to the office this week with a terrible pain in his neck radiating
around his jaw on both sides and up to his temple on one side. He was on Oxycontin from
the ER. He had lost 7 pounds, and had no appetite. His brain CT was normal, but some
spondylolisthesis showed in his neck Xray.

I looked it up in the text book you recommended, and proceeded to do only four
injections on him, two in his neck area over the vertebrae and one in either angle of his
jaw

That night he went home, was able to eat, no longer needed pain meds, and now is not
sure he needs to go for temple artery biopsy for arteritis. It was amazing and what was
even better is that I had two medical students with me, who also saw for themselves how
neural therapy works.

Without your guidance this would not have been possible. This is a wonderful tool to
have in our 'doctor bags.' I guess he just had a severe sympathetic response from his neck
degenerative arthritis. He returned the next day for another injection, but was still much
better.

Jennifer Armstrong MD
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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