West Nile Virus and St John’s Wort

West Nile Virus, although new to the US, is well-documented. The Centers for Disease Control identifies it as a flavivirus, a member of the Togavirus family. It is closely related to yellow fever and dengue fever. This is important because the Togavirus family are encapsulated viruses, i.e., they are covered with a lipid (fatty) coating. This is exciting, because it means the virus is accessible to treatment utilizing high quality St. John’s Wort (SJW). Several studies have been done on a variety of encapsulated viruses, including herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, parainfluenza virus, vaccinia virus, cytomegalovirus and several retroviruses including HIV1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10. Non-encapsulated viruses or “naked” viruses were also studied for comparison purposes10,13. SJW was a potent anti-viral agent across a variety of encapsulated virus families, but showed no activity against naked viruses. Unlike a vaccine that is specific to each organism, SJW is active against encapsulated viruses by a variety of mechanisms, including light activation, interference with DNA transcription, impairing the assembly of intact viral particles and the lipophilic (fat-loving) nature of the ring structures (the quinone and phenolic groups)4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. These ring structures are critical to the biologic activity of SJW. From these results, it is reasonable to use high quality, pharmaceutical grade SJW in combating West Nile Virus, since there are no effective pharmaceutical agents. Quality is critical since the level of hypericin and pseudohypericin are key. I can only recommend the SJW product produced by Medi-Herb, which is a pharmaceutical house in Australia, adhering to pharmaceutical manufacturing standards. The product is distributed by Standard Process through alternative health care practitioners, including doctors of chiropractic, acupuncturists and veterinarians. SJW is quite unstable and the active ingredients degrade on store shelves. An independent analysis of 3 products (all of which were certified to contain 0.3% hypericin) were shown to be widely variant, with one product 25% below label claims. It is critically important that the phytochemical integrity of the whole plant be preserved for maximum efficacy.16 Medi-Herb SJW is available at the RFHC and is the only brand we carry. References: 1. Andersen DO, Weber ND, Wood SG et al. Antiviral Res 1991; 16(2): 185-196. 2. Lopez-Bazzocchi I, Hudson JB, Towers GHN. Photochem.Photopbiol. 1991; 54(1): 95-98. 3. Moraleda G, Wu TT, Jilbert AR et al. Antiviral Res 1993; 20: 235-247. 4. Tang J, Colacino JM, Larsen SH et al. Antiviral Res 1990; 13 (6): 313-325. 5. Hudson JB, Harris L, Towers GHN. Antiviral Res 1993; 20 (2):173-178. 6. Lenard J, Rabson A, Vanderoef R. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90 (1): 158-162. 7. Degar S, Prince AM, Pascual D et al. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1992; 8 (11): 1929-1936. 8. Carpenter S, Kraus GA. Photochem Photobiol 1991; 53 (2): 169-174. 9. Lavie G, Valentine F, Levin B et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1989; 86 (15): 5963-5967. 10. Meruelo D, Lavie G, Lavie D et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1988; 85 (14): 5230-5234. 11. Kraus GA, Pratt D, Tossberg J et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1990; 172 (1): 149-153. 12. Takahashi I, Nakanishi S, Kobayashi E et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1989; 165 (3): 1207-1212. 13. De Witte P, Agostinis P, Van Lint J et al. Biochem Pharmacol 1993; 46 (11): 1929-1936. 14. Panossian AG, Gabrielian E, Manvelian V et al. Phytomed 1996; 3 (1): 19-28. 15. Lavie G, Mazur Y, Lavie D et al. Transfusion 1995; 35 (5): 392-400. 16. Constantine GH, Karchesy J. Variations in Hypericin concentrations in Hypericum perforatum L. and commercial products. Pharmaceutical Biology 1998; 36 (5): 365-367.

SHORTAGE OF INFLUENZA VACCINE

Are you concerned about the ramifications of the flu vaccine shortage for you and your family? If so, read on.Influenza viruses (strains A, B and C) are members of the Orthomyxovirus family. They are encapsulated viruses; i.e., they are covered with a lipid (fatty) coating.

This is exciting, because it means the virus is accessible to treatment utilizing high quality St. John’s Wort (SJW). Several studies have been done on a variety of encapsulated viruses, including herpes simples virus types 1 and 2, parainfluenza virus, vaccinia virus, cytomegalovirus and several retroviruses, including HIV (see the St John’s Wort article on my blog for references). Non-encapsulated viruses or “naked” viruses were also studied for comparison purposes. SJW was a potent anti-viral agent across a variety of encapsulated virus families, but showed no activity against naked viruses.

As you may be aware, a vaccine must be specific to each organism. With influenza virus this represents quite a challenge, because there is no way to know which strain will circulate in the coming year. Since it takes many months to cultivate the vaccine, authorities make an “educated guess” each year as to which strains to grow to produce the vaccine.

By contrast, SJW is active against all encapsulated viruses by a variety of biochemical mechanisms. Since it is active against ALL encapsulated viruses, the added plus is that you and your family will find it valuable for West Nile Virus, the ENTIRE Herpes family (including shingles, chickenpox, Epstein Barr and oral and genital herpes), hepatitis B (but not A), Rubella (i.e., German measles), respiratory syncytial disease, measles, parainfluenza, and rabies. That’s a lot of bang for your buck!! And, without any of the potential side effects of the flu vaccine.

Side effects, you say? What might those be? Well, they include Guillan-Barre` Syndrome, which is a demylinating disease (it strips your nerves of their coating, making them non-functional) of the peripheral nervous system. This means you only become paralyzed and stop breathing! If diagnosed in time, you can survive with respiratory support until your nerves recover. This can take several months to more than a year. Merck Manual

To me, of more concern is the study that analyzed a decade of influenza vaccine recipients and found that a person who had received 5 consecutive flu shots between 1970 and 1980 had a ten-fold increase in the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease, compared to those getting no shots. (National Vaccine Information Center, Sept 1997). This statistic is frightening, because of its implications for quality of life. And, the target population for flu vaccine is the very young and the elderly!
If you choose to use SJW, the prophylactic dose is 2 per day. If for some reason, you develop a mild case of the illness, the dose increases to 2, three times per day. (These are adult doses; children’s doses need to be adjusted based upon body weight.)

The only SJW I recommend is high quality, pharmaceutical grade SJW produced by Medi-Herb (an Australian company which is regulated under pharmaceutical manufacturing requirements). Quality is critical, since the level of hypericin and pseudohypericin are key, and maintaining the phytochemical integrity of the whole plant is a necessity. These active ingredients degrade on store shelves. In an independent analysis of 3 products (all of which were certified to contain 0.3% hypericin}, the products were shown to be widely variant with one product 25% below label claims.

Medi-Herb St. John’s Wort can be obtained from health care practitioners who stock Standard Process products, including chiropractors, accupuncturists and veterinarians. You can contact my clinic, and we can ship it to you with a credit card order.