Cure of alopecia areata after eradication of Helicobacter pylori: A new association?

World J Gastroenterol. 2011 Jul 14;17(26):3165-70.
Cure of alopecia areata after eradication of Helicobacter pylori: A new association?
Campuzano-Maya G.

Germán Campuzano-Maya, Faculty of Medicine, University of Antioquia. Medical Director, Laboratorio Clínico Hematológico, Carrera 43C No. 5-33, Medellín, Colombia.

Alopecia areata is a disease of the hair follicles, with strong evidence supporting autoimmune etiology. Alopecia areata is frequently associated with immune-mediated diseases with skin manifestations such as psoriasis and lichen planus, or without skin manifestations such as autoimmune thyroiditis and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is present in around 50% of the world's population and has been associated with a variety of immune-mediated extra-digestive disorders including autoimmune thyroiditis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and psoriasis. A case of a 43-year old man with an 8-mo history of alopecia areata of the scalp and beard is presented. The patient was being treated by a dermatologist and had psychiatric support, without any improvement. He had a history of dyspepsia and the urea breath test confirmed H. pylori infection. The patient went into remission from alopecia areata after H. pylori eradication. If such an association is confirmed by epidemiological studies designed for this purpose, new therapeutic options could be available for these patients, especially in areas where infection with H. pylori is highly prevalent.

Full study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3158418/?tool=pubmed

I just read an article about the possible harm of eradicating H Pylori. I don't remember if I saw it on this forum. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please post it.

controlling overgrowth is key--I agree, it shouldn't be eradicated (the same with Candida).

What are the potential issues if H Pylori and Candida are sought to be eliminated?

Also, is Omeprazole effective against H Pylori as well? If yes, is there a risk it could kill H Pylori altogether. Overall, how safe is Omeprazole in your opinion?

thanks,
-9r5-

What about the use of Bovine Colostrum against H. Pylori? I think it would be safer than antibiotics.

So you would eat more fermented foods like Kim chi or Sauerkraut, and maybe more foods with higher lactic acids like yogurt or the sourdough bread, drink green tea and if you could find those broccoli sprouts start eating those daily.

What I don't understand is why the Czech Republic only has an infection incidence of 7% while the rest of the world's 50% of the population of the world has H. Pylori? Why does the population of Africa have 80%?

Do we even need H. pylori in our intestines?

Alopecia areata is receiving my attention again. In my past i'd diagnose myself with the disease cause i've got some bald patches which never regrew back. It's quiet for some time, but is knocking on my memory all the time. Seen many pages which suggest association between heliobacter pylori and disease. Here is research which contradicts info posted above... Is there any natural protocol to follow to reduce the population of it? I am suggesting diluted thieves oil with propolis or garlic. Can do any good if taken topically? Or propolis alone internally? What's gut flora gonna react to it? Since H. pylori is associated with low stomach acid and ulcers, i see no problem trying it. Still dont want to kill all the good bacteria in my stomach. Opinions?


I went through one of the topics touching stomach acid in connection with heliocopter pylori. I second jdp on ACV before meals. I diggest highly protein food in no time if i ''activate'' my stomach first with ACV. Lemonade also works great. I've been drinking plenty of probiotics during the time also and can tell it made a difference. If one has acces to quality raw milk, i strongly recommend to make it daily rutine.

tonyj wrote:
Do we even need H. pylori in our intestines?

yeah, what are the goods of having it? I've read post of CS saying, you shouldn't eliminate it. Why so?

http://jmm.sgmjournals.org/content/54/5/481.abstract

Susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to bactericidal properties of medium-chain monoglycerides and free fatty acids.
B W Petschow, R P Batema and L L Ford
+ Author Affiliations

Mead Johnson Research Center, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Evansville, Indiana 47721, USA.
ABSTRACT

Previous studies have shown that various short- and medium-chain free fatty acids (FFAs) and their corresponding monoacylglycerol esters (MGs) have antibacterial activity in vitro against primarily gram-positive bacteria. More recent studies have also shown that the growth of Helicobacter spp. is inhibited by linoleic acid and arachidonic acid. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the susceptibility of Helicobacter pylori to the in vitro bactericidal properties of medium-chain MGs and FFAs. Incubation of H. pylori with saturated MGs, ranging in carbon chain length from C10:0 to C14:0, at 1 mM caused a 4-log-unit or greater reduction in the number of viable bacteria after exposure for 1 h. Lower levels of bactericidal activity were observed with C9:0, C15:0, and C16:0 MGs. In contrast, lauric acid (C12:0) was the only medium-chain saturated FFA with bactericidal activity against H. pylori. The MGs and FFAs were bactericidal after incubation for as little as 15 min at neutral or acidic pHs. Higher levels of MGs and FFAs were required for bactericidal activity in the presence of higher amounts of protein in liquid diets. We also found that the frequency of spontaneous development of resistance by H. pylori was higher for metronidazole and tetracycline (10(-5) to 10(-6)) than for C10:0 MG, C12:0 MG, and C12:0 FFA (< 10). Collectively, our data demonstrate that H. pylori is rapidly inactivated by medium-chain MGs and lauric acid and exhibits a relatively low frequency of spontaneous development of resistance to the bactericidal activity of MGs. Further studies are needed to establish whether MGs may be useful either alone or with other known therapeutic agents in the management of H. pylori infections in humans

Best source of lauric acid, and also caprylic acid (another short-chain fatty acid effective against H Pylori), is coconut oil. These fatty acids are able to diffuse across bacterial membranes due to their length. Interesting that the only other real sources of lauric acid are laurel oil and palm kernel oil, yet lauric acid is about 6% of the total fat in human breast milk.

Besides this, I know monolaurin can be purchased as a supplement, which is just the breakdown products of lauric acid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolaurin
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SWE057/ItemDetail

I believe there are several food based products that can be used as a way of controlling, not only H. Pylori, but a general bacterial overgrowth as well. Using agents to lower the populations is going to be worthless if the diet isn't altered also. The problem is confusion about carbohydrate. On the one hand, to deal with bacterial overgrowths, we are told to consume simple carbohydrates that are easily digestible and fast digesting and won't reach the lower intestines. If your overall health is good and you aren't dealing with blood sugar problems, as in the case of diabetes, I'd have to agree with this. I believe fruit is an ancient and long-standing part of the human diet. The problem comes with syndromes of the metabolism, where our energy metabolism is deranged, like diabetes. In this case, consuming all simple sugars is going to be detrimental, as we face chronically high insulin levels with accompanying insulin resistance. In these cases, people are often advised to avoid simple sugars and consume complex carbohydrates and a high fiber diet. Well, if bacterial overgrowth is also present, which can be likely if blood sugar is chronically elevated, these types of carbs are only going to feed an already out of control gut flora. So we have conflicting recommendations.

For this reason, I think its important to think of carbohydrate as an optimal, but unnecessary fuel. There is no such thing as an essential carb. The body has efficient mechanisms for converting glycerol and amino acids into sugar as needed. I think it is almost necessary to use a short-term, 2-6 month low carbohydrate, high fat/ high protein diet. I don't think carbs are the problem, the person is, but in order to regulate our metabolism so we can tolerate them, we have to reset the system. Imagine that you'd been fueling your vehicle with a high octane fuel and you'd been damaging the engine. That fuel might give you more horsepower, but to "heal" your engine you've got to downgrade to a more appropriate fuel for a short period of time. (Terrible analogy, I know) Once the repairs have been made you can begin to reintroduce that high octane fuel in a more balanced way and make your engine life last.

That said, I believe a high fat/high protein diet in combination with several food based antimicrobials is the best way of handling these issues, as part of an overall biofilm protocol with measures to heal the gut (glutamine, whey, colostrum, NAG, MSM, zinc).

The products that would be the best antimicrobials would be not only the short/medium chain monoglycerides (like lauric acid), but also the oils of garlic, cinnamon, and clove. These have been shown to be the most effective natural antibiotics. Again, I'd only do this short term, perhaps for as long as you maintain the low-carb diet. We don't want to eliminate bacteria, just calm the overgrowth and re-establish proper balance, which is why probiotics are also important to this.

Great post A-Spence! I totally agree and think you just simplified diet for a lot of people confused on this whole Petetarian vs low carb debate.

anthonyspencer54 wrote: Imagine that you'd been fueling your vehicle with a high octane fuel and you'd been damaging the engine. That fuel might give you more horsepower, but to "heal" your engine you've got to downgrade to a more appropriate fuel for a short period of time. (Terrible analogy, I know) Once the repairs have been made you can begin to reintroduce that high octane fuel in a more balanced way and make your engine life last.

That said, I believe a high fat/high protein diet in combination with several food based antimicrobials is the best way of handling these issues, as part of an overall biofilm protocol with measures to heal the gut (glutamine, whey, colostrum, NAG, MSM, zinc).

The products that would be the best antimicrobials would be not only the short/medium chain monoglycerides (like lauric acid), but also the oils of garlic, cinnamon, and clove. These have been shown to be the most effective natural antibiotics. Again, I'd only do this short term, perhaps for as long as you maintain the low-carb diet. We don't want to eliminate bacteria, just calm the overgrowth and re-establish proper balance, which is why probiotics are also important to this.

I am on low carb, high fat/protein already. You've showed it nicely why coconut is really great for me/us. It's easily and quicly digested and i almost use it as a carb source. Bad news is the cost of it. Specially if you dont want rafined one. Since this is topic of AA, and helocobacter pylori seems to be associated with AA, cant think of a good reason to let it be on my scalp. It's highly probable that it was ruining my health for some time in my past. Will put some diluted drop of thieves oil on my scalp and report of how it goes. It's definetly worth a try for me as ADHD protocol seems kind of simillar to ''heal the gut, supplement zinc'' one. But maybe better to slow down and wait to some progress with mold issues. Dont want to hit the wall burdening my immune system to much with sudden changes in my body.

I am bad on sugar, i should check the engine. Tnx.

Yanks,

Thanks sir. It was something that was confusing me for a long time as well. I realized I just needed to simplify, and when it comes down to it, there really is no essential carbohydrate. There are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, that's all. So for me, it became simple, that to reset our blood sugar regulation mechanisms, remove the fuel we're overloading them with in the first place, or at least cut back definitively. As a short-term therapy, I doubt there is any better in terms of reversing IR. But this also has to include adequate physical activity and proper food choices.

Beebrox,

Absolutely agree on the coconut oil. As far as energy and metabolism go, it is an incredible food. I'll be interested to see how you fare using the thieves oil as a topical. I, like several others here, feel there is a bacterial component to MPB. It might not be the whole picture but certainly plays a part. Keep us posted on the results! As of now, I'm not using a topical, but if I get the needed push from somebody getting good results, who knows.

crincrin wrote:I just read an article about the possible harm of eradicating H Pylori. I don't remember if I saw it on this forum. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please post it.

According to wikipedia, H Pylori infection is associated with a decreased incidence of esophageal cancer. H Pylori inhibits stomach acid production, which would presumably result in decreased acid reflux. On the other hand, I remember an old article on HealthyFixx claiming that acid reflux (heartburn) is actually caused by low stomach acid.

This is an interesting study. In the absence of sufficient stomach acid, intact proteins reach the gut and eventually enter circulation. This has been implicated in autoimmune conditions.

Turmeric is supposed to be effective at inhibiting H Pylori. I think I remember reading that turmeric is more effective than curcumin.

Good spot CS

I hear jdp saying I told you so...

And it's not just one pathogen, it's all the darn barnacles... - as Cambridge's Aubrey de Gray would say

...that and stress & toxicity is the deal...

The hard thing is niot cracking hair loss but having the discipline to live the solution, in a world often unfriendly & unsupportive to such necessary choices...

M

Years ago I suffered from a duodenal ulcer and got rid of it by taking the antibiotic therapy that had recently come into practice at that time and is still used by millions today.Those were the days when I had no idea about alternative medicine and my range of supplements was limited to a vitamin B capsule when I had a hangover. No way today would I take antibiotics to get rid of an ulcer when there are so may alternative therapies available that would cause less damage to one's internal system than what antibiotics would do. Also, its important to point that ulcers can come back through H. Pylori re-infection. I suspect that I may have been re-infected so instead of taking antibiotics I will undertake the following protocol:

1. Broccomax
2. Mastic Gum
3. Zinc carnosine
4. DGL
5. Chanca Piedra
6. Monolaurin
7. Gamma Oryzanol
8. Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C

Be great to hear what CS and you other guys think of the above and if anything else should be added. They've all been proven to fight H.Pylori in a natural way as opposed to the chemical onslaught of antibiotics. By the way, if anyone does have ulcers be careful of digestive enzymes containing protease. Apparently, protease can interact quite painfully with ulcers so I would try to find a digestive enzyme minus the protease.
Also, there is a product called Matula tea which claims to eradicate H. Pylori in 30 days. has anyone heard of it?

Mastery,

You ought to write a book of poetry. You make hair loss advice sound beautiful, hahaha.

Grateful,

That's a hefty list. It may be a bit exhaustive, and you may not have to be spending that much money. But that's your call. Confirmation on the protease enzymes unless you get enteric-coated form that will make it past the stomach. I have heard of some teas being effective against harmful bacteria, but generally they are always fermented teas. Not sure if the kind you mentioned fits that category or not. Good luck man.

Anthonyspencer54,

Just want to arm myself with the strongest possible natural arsenal against the H. Pylori. Quite a list but the benefits of each one are both convincing and promising. Thanks.