Be a `liver lover' with alpha-lipoic acid

Most famous because it is an antioxidant that is both fat- and water-soluble, alpha-lipoic acid, or ALA, is a vitamin-like nutrient that is able to inactivate free radical toxins in our muscles, internal organs, fatty tissues and brain. Besides being a superb antioxidant itself, ALA recycles worn-out vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione, and makes them useful again.

In addition, ALA helps cells to convert food into energy by improving the breakdown of sugar. A 2-year old, climbing the walls after an evening meal, produces very large amounts of ALA in his liver, while a 60-year-old man after the same meal can be found asleep on the couch; he does not synthesize much ALA and must get it through supplementation.

My experience with alpha-lipoic acid

I first became familiar with the clinical use of alpha-lipoic acid when I was an internal medicine resident in 1977. Two "incurable" liver disease patients were assigned to my care and the senior doctors said they were hopeless. Because I was training to be a medical doctor, I was expected to follow the suggestions of the chiefs and just support the patients medically. However, because of my Ph.D. education (Doctor of Philosophy), I sought new ways to reverse their "hopeless" conditions.

I called upon Fred Barter, M.D., Chief of Endocrinology at the National Institutes of Health, to ask him if he knew of any new promising therapy for liver disease. Barter said that, in Prague, favorable results were obtained with thioctic acid (another name for AKA). He sent me a package of AkA that day, and I administered it to the liver patients. To my astonishment, they fully recovered within 2 weeks. I am still in touch with these patients and they do not have any residual liver damage, 23 years later. My supervisors were not impressed and told me that in one case in a million, there is a spontaneous remission, and this time there were two.

The next week, another couple with "terminal" liver disease was assigned to my service. They had been poisoned by the most toxic liver destruction agents, Amanita virosa or "Death Cap" mushroom. I was told that I could not use ALA since it had not been sufficiently studied in the U.S. This time, I arrived at the patient's room fully prepared to follow the orders of the senior doctors. But, when I saw how young the patients were, I ordered the ALA and administered it to them. They recovered quickly. Over the past 23 years, I have used ALA to treat liver disease including hepatitis C, diabetes mellitus complications and other serious disorders, with the same extraordinarily good results.

Alpha lipoic acid is very effective. Researchers have reported that ALA can inhibit viral replication, prevent cataracts, increase the sensitivity of your cells to both glucose and insulin (reversing "syndrome X" and preventing diabetes) and protect your skin and internal organs from damaging radiation.

In 1980, Barter and I published two papers describing our success with ALA for severe liver disease using the NIH protocol and the research was widely accepted in Germany. Today, ALA is an important drug in Europe and is available as a nutritional supplement in the U.S. If you have a condition that you think might be effectively treated with ALA, find a health professional who understands the proper use of this supplement.

REFERENCES

Baur, A., Harrer, T., et al. "Alpha-lipoic acid is an effective inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus replication," Klinische Wochenschrift 69:722-724, 1991.

Berkson, B.M. "A Conservative Triple Antioxidant Approach to the Treatment of Hepatitis C," Medizinische Klinik (The Official German Journal of Internal Medicine), 94, (Supplement III): 84-89, 1999.

Berkson, B. The Alpha-Lipoic Acid Breakthrough. Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1998.

Burket, V., Koike, T. et al. "Dihydrolipoic acid protects pancreatic islet cells from inflammatory attack," Agents and Actions 38;60-65, 1993.

Jacob, S., Henriksen, EJ, et al. "Enhancement of glucose disposal in patients with type 2 diabetes by alpha-lipoic acid," Arzneimittelforschung 45:872-874, 1995.

Prehn, J, Karkoutly C, et al. "Dihydrolipoic acid reduces neuronal injury after cerebral ischemia," Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 12:78-87, 1992.

Burt Berkson, MD, PhD, practices integrative medicine and is involved in various research programs in cell biology and mycology. He is President of the Integrative Medical Centers of New Mexico, and has worked as a professor for New Mexico State University. Dr. Berkson is the author of AU About B Vitamins and The Alpha Lipoic Acid Breakthrough.

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