Most complementary intravenous therapies remain outside of mainstream medical practice. Pharmaceutical companies are not interested in these therapies since most utilize unpatentable drugs, so there have not been adequate studies done to prove their effectiveness. Due to the controversial nature of the therapy, we do not actively advertise or pursue business in this area.
However, IV therapies, especially for coronary artery disease continue to be the main reason our patients refer their friends to our clinic. We feel that the word of mouth growth in IV therapies and the successful health outcomes which inspire our patients to tell their friends, speaks for the therapy.
The reason we created this section of our website is to give you the best objective information as to what IV therapies are available and what they have been used to treat.
What is Intravenous Therapy?
The word intravenous simply means “within a vein”, and intravenous or IV therapy is the giving of liquid substances directly into a vein. Compared with other routes of administration, the intravenous route is the fastest ways to deliver fluids and medications throughout the body and can provide higher levels than other methods such as the oral or topical route.
Most common IV Therapies
Vitamin C
Studies performed by Dr. Hugh Riordan at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and Dr. Mark Levine at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown that high doses of vitamin C administered intravenously can kill cancer cells.[1] We provide intravenous (IV) vitamin C therapy as an add-on to standard cancer therapies to help our patients. High dose intravenous vitamin C therapy is well tolerated and largely free of side effects since healthy cells in the body are unaffected, while cancer cells are specifically targeted and destroyed. Our research arm, Health Innovations/Frontier Research Institute in association with the University of Kansas School of Medicine, is currently in the midst of a formal study involving high dose vitamin C therapy.
Chelation Therapy
The word “chelation” comes from the Greek word chele or claw and refers to the chemical process of grabbing onto heavy metal ions. Many people today are increasingly exposed to toxic heavy metals such as lead, aluminum, mercury and cadmium. These toxic metals have a propensity for accumulating in the heart.[2] Chelation Therapy is a medical treatment performed in a doctor’s office that helps remove these toxic heavy metals resulting in improved blood vessel function and blood flow. Over 60 years ago, angina or heart related chest pain was found to improve in some patients who received chelation therapy. Today several hundred doctors in the U.S. currently utilize IV chelation with a man-made amino acid called EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid) as a treatment for angina and other forms of heart disease. Because so many people are receiving chelation treatments, the NIH is in the midst of a $40 million trial called TACT (The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy) to explore its use as a treatment for heart disease. Our clinic has participated in this federal trial. Since the use of EDTA to treat heart disease is a non-FDA approved use, patients must sign an appropriate informed consent
Myers Cocktail
Named after the late John Myers, MD, we use this intravenous vitamin-and-mineral formula for the treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions. The “Myers’ cocktail,” which consists of magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin C, has been found to be effective against acute asthma attacks, migraines, fatigue (including chronic fatigue syndrome), fibromyalgia, acute muscle spasm, upper respiratory tract infections, chronic sinusitis, seasonal allergic rhinitis, cardiovascular disease, and other disorders. The idea behind the Myers Cocktail is that many illnesses and conditions are associated with digestive disturbances and that people with such conditions may not absorb many of the nutrients needed to maintain good health. Many diseases cause the body to use nutrients at a faster rate, or to require higher amounts for proper healing. When nutrients are injected intravenously, the levels in the bloodstream are temporarily increased so that the nutrients are flooded into the cells, especially the mitochondria where energy is produced. This temporary boost frequently makes the patient feel better with improved energy.
Glutathione
Glutathione is a small protein that is involved in detoxification—it binds to toxins, such as heavy metals, solvents, and pesticides, and transforms them into a form that can be excreted in urine or bile. Glutathione is also an important antioxidant. Parkinson’s patients suffer from a profound deficiency of glutathione and researchers have been actively exploring ways to administer this naturally occurring chemical. Several studies have demonstrated a deficiency of reduced glutathione (GSH) in the substantia nigra region of the brain in patients with Parkinson’s disease and the magnitude of reduction in GSH seems to parallel the severity of the disease. Intravenous glutathione has been demonstrated to be effective in treating Parkinson’s disease in a clinical trial[3]. Studies using intravenous or intramuscular glutathione have found it to be useful for preventing clot formation during operations[4]; reducing the side effects and increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs (particularly cisplatin in women with ovarian cancer);[5],[6] and reducing blood pressure in people with diabetes who had high blood pressure.[7]
Phosphatidylcholine/Glutathione
Phosphatidylcholine (PC) has been used in IV therapy for over 50 years for cardiovascular and liver disease. It has been found helpful in Lyme disease, hepatitis, MS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other conditions. PC is one of the most abundant constituents of the cell membranes of the body in young people, but levels decline with age. Studies suggest PC supplementation can restore some youthful qualities to our cell membranes. PC helps the brain make one of its most important chemical messengers, acetylcholine, which is critical to memory. Given intravenously, PC nourishes cells and increases acetylcholine, while glutathione acts as detoxifier to cleanse cells of other impurities. IV therapy allows PC to be introduced into the body in larger doses, resulting in quicker results than when taken orally.
[1] Riordan NH, Riordan HD, Meng X, Li Y, Jackson JA. Intravenous ascorbate as a tumor cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent. Med Hypotheses 1 995; 44: 207-2 13. [2] Frustaci A, Magnavita N, Chimenti C, Caldarulo M, Sabbioni E, Pietra R, Cellini C, Possati GF, Maseri A. Marked elevation of myocardial trace elements in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy compared with secondary cardiac dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1999 May;33(6):1578-83. [3] Cherny RA, Atwood CS, Xilinas ME, Gray DN, Jones WD, McLean CA, Barnham KJ, Volitakis I, Fraser FW, Kim Y, Huang X, Goldstein LE, Moir RD, Lim JT, Beyreuther K, Zheng H, Tanzi RE, Masters CL, Bush AI. Treatment with a copper-zinc chelator markedly and rapidly inhibits beta-amyloid accumulation in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice. Neuron. 2001 Jun;30(3):665-76. [4] Sechi G; Deledda MG; Bua G; Satta WM; Deiana GA; Pes GM; Rosati G. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, 20(7):1159-70 1996 Oct [5] Molloy J, Martin JF, Baskerville PA, et al. S-nitrosoglutathione reduces the rate of embolization in humans. Circulation 1998;98:1372-5. [6] Smyth JF, Bowman A, Perren T, et al. Glutathione reduces the toxicity and improves quality of life of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer treated with cisplatin: results of a double-blind, randomised trial. Ann Oncol 1997;8:569-73. [7] Cascinu S, Cordella L, Del Ferro E, et al. Neuroprotective effect of reduced glutathione on cisplatin-based chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Oncol 1995;13:26-32. [8] Ceriello A, Giugliano D, Quatraro A, Lefebvre PJ. Anti-oxidants show an anti-hypertensive effect in diabetic and hypertensive subjects. Clin Sci 1991;81:739-42. [9] Lenzi A, Culasso F, Gandini L, et al. Placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over trial of glutathione therapy in male infertility. Hum Reprod 1993;8:1657-62.
