by Rayburne W Goen, MD, FACP, FACC.
December 21, 2001
The New Nutrition and Doubting Doctors Dear Doctor:
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to introduce you to a monumental discovery in Healthcare, only recently acknowledged (1996) in Medical Journals and Textbooks.
When I first heard about Glyconutritients 2-1/2 years ago, I called it "Hogwash", and declared anyone who claimed that oral administration of these supplements was of striking benefit to people suffering from a long list of unrelated diseases or ailments was a QUACK! In the same class as all the others making such claims for relief of a multitude of ailments, whatever the modality, so blatantly proclaimed and touted in numerous brochures and catalogs in the daily mail. I was closed-minded-- call it skeptical, dubious, or cynical- as you and the rest of our Medical profession would have been, and are. I was, however, receptive enough to read the pertinent Medical Journals supplied to me, and I must admit I was a little jarred at the implications of what I read. I began to look into what turned out to be an overwhelming amount of related literature: Carbohydrate Metabolism is suddenly a hot subject--over 20,000 papers in Medline 1996-1998, and an equal number since. Most of them are in specialty Research Journals that we as practicing physicians do not take or read- nor readily understand! The Clinical articles published thus far have been mainly retrospective: case reports of a series of patients with a major disease, and with suspiciously high percentages of positive results. I read many of these articles, but I could not believe they could be documenting something so fundamentally powerful, as that a mere food supplement could correct a deficiency in our diet so vitally important as to be the mechanism of all cellular communication in our body!
I was already well versed in that kind of hype! I had previously tried, on myself, enthusiastically at first, the highly touted Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate, Cetyl Myristoleate, MSM, SAM-e, Blue Green Algae, Alfalfa Tea, Olive Leaf Extract, Colloidal Silver: -- each with lots of "ink" but not one helped me in any way. I proposed to try (surreptitiously-"don't tell anybody") Glyconutrients for a list of 21 ailments I could identify in myself, rated in severity from 1-10, attributable mostly to "old age" (I was 85 years old at the time). I was not neurotic-- just trying to be scientific. None of these completely disabled me, except Arthritis of knees, which required aspiration of fluid and instillation of a Cortisone, Depo Medrol, more and more frequently, eventually about every 3 months for one, then the other knee.Then I would again be functional; and I had a Peripheral Neuropathy which impaired my balance and walking, and sleep because of restless legs. Within 4 months, I became symptom-free of 20 of these 21 complaints: the two mentioned, and a right shoulder rotator cuff tear, low back pain, cervical disc with left C-5 radiculopathy, inflammatory osteoarthritis of hands (I could not shake hands without hurting the next 3 days), hypertension (190/105), hypercholesterolemia (320mg) since in my 30's, nocturia 4-6x per night, urinary urgency incontinence, prostate cancer, developing cataract left eye, etc. I was able to discontinue all the 6 prescribed drugs, and all over-the-counter, except 1 aspirin every other day (I had a Coronary in 1990, after which I began this). The drugs had been effective to a degree, but all had side effects that were either disagreeable or intolerable.
That result was not enough to convince me. This had to be some sort of "fluke"!
I resolved I could disprove this "stuff" by persuading a "know-it-all" relative who scoffed at the idea of taking supplements like these for his refractory Raynaud's Syndrome (cold-sensitive fingers that turned purple and agonizingly painful upon exposure); uncontrolled Diabetes type 2 with serious adverse effects from Insulin and oral anti-diabetes drugs; Hypercholesterolemia and Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, worsened by all "statin" drugs for cholesterol reduction. He was scheduled for replacement surgery of both knees, each of which had been operated twice for old injuries and loss of cartilage, poorly responding to NSAID drugs, and with intolerable side effects.
He had stated he was going to discontinue all the above drugs--- he had rather died than live this miserably. I reminded him that dying is an easy out, but that he might not die, but be disabled by Heart Attack, Stroke, Amputations, or Renal failure and Dialysis. I managed to induce him to try Glyconutritionals for 4 months, with the assurance they absolutely could not harm him. He reluctantly agreed...Three weeks later he reported he was free of pain and paresthesias, was having normalized blood sugars on just the one oral anti-diabetes drug he had continued (but that previously had not controlled the high blood sugar) His vision and mental clarity were strikingly improved. He neglected, however, to reorder the supplements, and the symptoms all recurred within 2 weeks. Upon resumption of the supplements, the symptoms again abated. Koch's postulates fulfilled!!
I still was not convinced! I did cautiously offer Glyconutrients to several other former patients, including 2 refractory diabetics with complications, with similar salutary effects. I was nearly convinced after almost a year of results that I could only describe as incredible!
So---- I gave Glyconutritionals to Zondra, a patient whom I had "doctored" for 50 years with Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Atrophy type. (Her brother had died at age 13 with Duchenne type MD). She was total care since age 2 years; unable to do anything for herself; had impairment of swallowing; and was on Oxygen 24 hours daily. She was able to do some ceramics painting, with her right arm supported on a table, for 2 hours, twice a week. 4 months after starting glyconutrients, she could, for the first time in 50 years, feed herself, brush her teeth, scratch her nose, and is now off Oxygen for 3-4 hours daily. She can now swallow well, and she can paint 6-8 hours per day, 6 days a week! She states "I have so much energy I could do more, but know I should rest some, whether I feel the need or not!" She has sustained this improvement, and for the first time ever she has not been treated or hospitalized for respiratory failure or infection in over a year, despite a Flu epidemic disabling two of her Nurses and her room mate!
Bill, a former Surgical Technician in the Service, developed Type 2 Diabetes after returning from overseas in the 80's. When originally diagnosed, his blood sugars were in the 900's and remained uncontrollably high (above 500) for many years, despite multiple injections of regular Insulin up to 200 units daily, plus Ultra-Lente (long acting) Insulin 120 Units daily. He exhibited Retinopathy, with bleeding inside both eyes requiring years of Laser cautery therapy every 3 months, which provided some improvement but could not prevent subsequent recurrences. He developed Peripheral Neuropathy of both legs and arms with complications of Diabetic Ulcers on his legs and feet, for which amputation was advised. This he refused, but searched the internet to find a possible relief. He experienced considerable muscle deterioration, with Claudication (leg cramps) and Angina on attempting to walk half a block. He gained weight, up to 330 lbs, with the inactivity. Despite being on multiple anti-hypertension medications, his blood pressure for years averaged 200/115. He developed arthritis, with difficulty doing anything with his hands. After 4 years, and requests from a Podiatrist, his Physical Therapists, a Neurologist, and a Health South Rehab Doctor, he finally obtained HMO authorization for an electrified "scooter" which enabled him to get up and around.¦ In the early 90's, over a 3-4 months time period, he had a series of strokes and 3 TIA's. He was diagnosed Sleep Apnea, complicated by shortness of breath at rest, necessitating 6 assorted inhalers, including nasal and tracheo-bronchial steroids. He experienced heart failure with edema of the lower limbs. The strokes left him with some permanent left-sided weakness, migraine headaches, and double vision. For years he has been on a multiplicity of antibiotics - a month without any was considered a "Good Month"! His Kidneys began to excrete albumin, and his BUN and Creatinine elevated as he approached renal failure that would require Dialysis. Because of the seriousness of his combined health problems, he "believed this would prove TERMINAL in a short period of time". He became severely depressed because of his condition, and by what it was doing to his family. Despite what he could find on the Internet, and despite the efforts of 12 Doctors and Specialists, nothing seemed able to alter the downward trend of his health.
He had "given up ALL HOPE, and was making preparations for his funeral", when he was introduced to Glyconutritionals. After some Internet research he decided as a last resort to try some - "not expecting "ANYTHIN" to happen . After all, nothing else had helped". 3 months later the vision was improving, the ulcers of feet and legs were healed, the pain, swelling, weakness (including the left side stroke weakness), shortness of breath, and angina no longer were a problem.
He was off all 6 inhalers, including steroids, and his arthritis was all but gone. He is able to walk without depending on the scooter or a cane. The Migraine has resolved, as has a chronic sinusitis, and he has not needed any more antibiotics. Blood pressure now averages 130/85 The albumin is no longer found in his urine, and the creatinine levels have not increased, indicating stable renal function rather than the previously noted progression. He lost to 280 lbs weight, and continues to lose fat and regain muscle mass. . The Insulin has been reduced to 10-50 units daily of Regular, with Ultra-Lente 60 units each Am and PM . The blood sugars are running 105-125, and the Glycohemoglobin (A1c) is now an incredibly low 5.1 (a measure of the biological level of glucose saturation of the Red Blood Cells. Very, very good!) He has admittedly not paid enough attention to his diet, and could no doubt reduce his weight and Insulin further by following a low glycemic diet, and, now that he is able, he is starting to do more exercise. His severe depression is no more, and best of all, to quote him, "I NOW HAVE HOPE, WHERE THERE WAS NONE! I am amazed at the changes that are occurring-some fast, some slow, some not yet, but things ARE IMPROVING!"
Maxine is a 65 year old housewife who had Breast Cancer in 1984, treated with bilateral mastectomy . The cancer recurred in the abdomen and stomach 13 years later, for which she received 6 chemotherapy treatments in 1997. These were very poorly tolerated, and did not improve her condition. She developed obstruction of colon, necessitating a colostomy; and blockage in the stomach resulting in abdominal swelling, loss of appetite, and rapid weight loss. She was told there was nothing more to do, and Hospice was utilized for pain control with injections of narcotics, with expectation of death within 6 months. 3 months passed, with a downhill course. She and her husband did not give up, and sought help from herbs and whatever anyone might recommend, but without benefit.
Glyconutrients were offered to her, and in desperation she began to take them. Within 2 weeks she was out of bed, going to Church, and a week later she insisted on going to a garage sale! She is now up and around, doing housework and the cooking, enjoying eating, in little pain, and the abdominal swelling has disappeared. Praise God!
Such RESULTS as these, and now many others, I have not seen before in my 60 years as a Doctor!! Glyconutrients are fully documented to be safe, non-toxic, do not interfere with Rx drugs, and they work! Admittedly, no one thing is 100% - there must yet be some more unknown essentials, as well as the other known essentials: oxygen, water, and food: amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, trace elements. None of those are now apparently deficient within our current diet and traditional supplements - except 6 of the newly-recognized 8 essential monosaccharides!
The only things that convince most of us Doctors are CONSISTENT, SAFE, RESULTS. We have all been led down the primrose path with promising new drugs, approved by the FDA, and seen them withdrawn from the market 6 months later because of dire effects on the liver, kidneys, bone marrow, GI tract, and/or pregnancy. How many more do we daily prescribe which result in only occasional "idiosyncratic" lethal effects with approved doses within the acceptable risk-benefit ratio? (but over 106,000 in the year 1997 died in hospitals from reactions to properly prescribed and taken drugs, as reported in JAMA July 26, 2000. This is the fourth leading cause of death in the US, outnumbered only by: Heart Attacks, Cancer, and Diabetes). It has happened in my practice, as it has in yours and every other Doctor who prescribes for patients. It has been devastating enough to me and you, but how much more so to the patients and their families! For them it is 100%!
Carbohydrates were always acknowledged to be just for energy. Not any more!! Of the 200 known simple saccharides), there are 8 now recognized to be essential to all cellular function. They are glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, fucose (not fructose), N-acetylneuraminic acid ( also called sialic acid), N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine. Six of these "eight essential monosaccharides" are universally lacking in our diet, because of soil depletion, green harvesting, processing, preservatives, and overcooking. Fortunately our bodies can make the other 6 from glucose and galactose, if everything is all right! Obviously, everything is not all right if the body has a Health Problem, whether from infections; toxins in our environment: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink; stresses in our lifestyle; deficiency of a necessary enzyme, vitamin, co-factor, trace mineral; or a genetic defect, in the 15 or more stages, plus much energy, to convert one (available) sugar to another! Currently, the most important one of all these "essentials" is the one that is missing! And "essential" means indispensable: without it, the body is dysfunctional, sick or dying!
There are many new studies, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, with enough numbers to be Statistically Significant, as we are so used to seeing, but these are years away from being reported.
Many are not subject to double blinding or placebo control, such as near-terminal Cancer cases, Genetic Disorders with progressive downhill course, and Immune Dysfunction diseases which are epidemic, overwhelming us over the past 2-3 decades, and for which we have no cure --- nor even satisfactory or safe relief of the symptoms, with our conventional therapy. Asthma, Lupus, Hepatitis C, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis; Cancer, ADD-ADHD, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes types I and II, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease, Down Syndrome, Muscular Dystrophy , ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), are just a few examples.
Administration of Glyconutrients has resulted in improvement or remission, without any harmful side effects, in each of these conditions, as documented in reports or publication in peer-reviewed Medical Journals. What could possibly be the common denominator of all these? Immune System Dysfunction! Why? Something is missing!
Glyconutrients are not a treatment, mitigation, or cure for any disease, but if these food supplements are supplied in the diet, the body can heal itself of virtually anything wrong! (But not grow a new tooth in an adult if one is pulled, nor a new limb if it is amputated. That is not in our DNA! It is, however, in the DNA of Earthworms cut in half, Sharks who lose a tooth, and Centipedes who lose a leg!
These 8 monosaccharides are in and on the surface of every cell in the body. They are necessary as the glyco of glycoproteins on the surface of every cell, as transmitter or receptor, of all the vital reactions between cells: defense, repair, regulation, nutrition, and apoptosis, (the programmed death and recycling of all cells). Every cell in the body (100 Trillion or so!) is replaced at different rates: (e.g. WBC, 6-7 days; RBC's, 3-4 months; DNA and most Internal Organs, 6 months; Bone, 9 months to years; Brain and CNS, 14 months). These monosaccharides are present as a substrate in the endoplasmic reticulum, and as building blocks for the glycosolation occurring in the Golgi apparatus of cells, forming glycoproteins, proteoglycans, glycolipids, and the N- and O- and GPI- anchored linkages (Nitrogen- ,Oxygen-, and Glycosylphosphatidyl-inositol- linkages). This is all under control of the DNA as the blueprint, and mRNA, as the message. The glycoproteins translate the messages and send chemical signals (cytokines) to the appropriate receptors, (also glycoproteins) to facilitate the proper action at the cellular level. This is the Universal Code of Life, equivalent to the Microsoft Operating System, which runs all computers! This is extremely complicated and has to be, not 99.9999% perfect, but 100%, or there is dysfunction, disease, or death! I have studied it intensively, still know so little, but yet enough to be awed and excited by what I have witnessed! Supplying Glyconutritionals in the diet has enabled the body to modulate the immune system: elevate those elements that are too low, as in Cancer and AIDS; reduce those that are too high, as in autoimmune diseases; or do both, as in most of the immune dysfunctions!!
This Modulation had been considered impossible-something never before seen in Medicine. The Natural Killer Cells, necessary as the first line of defense against Infection and Cancer, are reduced by 30 % in even the “normal†population in the past 2 decades, and are further falling by 3% per year. No wonder 250,000,000 of the US population are suffering from some form of acute or chronic disease! These NKcells are restored to normal numbers in those receiving Glyconutrients. How? I do not know! But the body knows! Thank God!
Glycoprotein interactions generated the actual specific chemical messages sent. This is what Drs. Bill H. McAnalley and Reg. McDaniel contributed in their research on carbohydrates in the past 15 years- then scoured the globe for plant sources of the missing monosaccharides. They were identified, isolated, purified, and combined into a powder as a Nutraceutical: -a pharmaceutical-grade natural food concentrate.
Dr. Robert K Murray, Senior Editor of Harper's Biochemistry (Appleton and Lange,1996) wrote the chapters 56 through 65 on: Glycoproteins; The 8 Essential Monosaccharides; The Extracellular Matrix; Muscle Metabolism; The Immune System; etc. I now have the 2001 revision, and am poring over the awesome biochemical reactions, newly-discovered, in this explosively growing segment of Biochemistry: Glycoscience, Glycobiology, and Glycomics! I will ask you, Doctor, if I may, "How did you advertise when you started your Medical Practice? Newspaper? Radio? TV?" "Or Word of Mouth from satisfied Patients?? I can guess!!! So did I! Don't knock Word of Mouth! We do not sell products, but educate and introduce the good news to those we love and want to help, who then can order these Glyconutrients wholesale from the only company who can supply all of them, have them shipped directly to their home; to be taken as a complement to conventional Medical Care. We and they see benefits more safely, more completely, more consistently, and less expensively, than we have ever seen in our lives before! And they, in turn, will share the good news with others who are suffering from the effects of these deficiencies!
I am now retired, but I can't deny my love for Medicine, nor yet ignore the recent monumental advancements in the Science of Nutrition, and especially the role of monosaccharides in the formation of glycoproteins, so vital in the function of the cells of our body. At age 87 I am starting a new career (nay, Mission!) to share with everyone I meet, this epochal Nutritional Breakthrough, and its effect on the immune function. Medicine has advanced beyond the Blood-letting, Leeches, and Maggots treatment of disease to Immunizations, Wonder Drugs, incredible Surgery, Organ Transplants, and Genomes. We have great expectations from the latter, but the promised wondrous cures are yet years away from application, and even the initial Genetic modifications are fraught with the same old side-effect complications as other synthetics have exhibited. The body is programmed by God to utilize whatever it needs from our diet, and is not about to change. Stem Cell Cloning is far from perfect, although it must be invariably perfect, and subject to the same responses to nutritional deficiencies as those we have found so refractory-until the missing Glyconutrients are supplied. Glyconutrients are already available here and now, safe and effective, awaiting but the eventual universal recognition by all Health Professionals: that this New Nutrition is the Keystone of Prevention and Wellness, as our New Focus in the Practice of Medicine, versus the traditional paradigm of Treating Sickness with Drugs).
This new Paradigm in Medicine did not originate in the traditional "A Drug Cure for Every Disease" concept of Pharmacology, nor yet by the Nutritionists. This is a "Disruptive Technology", comparable to the displacement of wax and vinyl phonograph records with magnetic tape, and this in turn by digital CD, each of which was birthed by a totally unrelated industry. Likewise, was the obsolescence of the watch and clock by the quartz crystal; and the mechanical typewriter by the electric, and this, in turn, by the word processor of the computer, again an upstart industry.
The new Biochemistry: Glycobiology, Glycoscience, Glycomics: Glyconutrients!
For those who might be interested in my "pedigree," I have BA and MD degrees (1939) University of Colorado: (Phi Beta Kappa, and Alpha Omega Alpha, Honor Medical Society). Lt. Col. Medical Corps. Army of US, WW II; Diplomate American Board of Internal Medicine; Fellow American College of Physicians (FACP); Fellow American of College Cardiology (FACC); Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Tulsa; Past Chairman Medical Section, St John Medical Center and of St. Francis Hospital; past Vice-President Medical Staff St. John Hospital; past President Medical Staff St. Francis Hospital.
I couldn't blame you if you thought me a Kook,--- but do please be open-minded, for your own sake, and for that of all your patients. And in so doing you will honor the aphorism of that wise old Doctor, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, whose first concern with his patients was "Primum non nocere." Above all, do no harm! And his next was "Let your food be your medicine, and let your Medicine be your food."
What goes around comes around!
Rayburne W. Goen, Sr. MD
