From:
Guy R. Schenker, D.C.
January, 1999


Dear Doctor,

     Suppose next week a 51 year old man comes into your 
office as a new patient.  He suffers from chronic 
hepatitis which was discovered seven years ago.  He has 
had 3 biopsies and no cause or explanation for the 
condition can be found.  For the seven years since the 
hepatitis diagnosis was made the patient's "liver 
specialist" has engaged in "watchful waiting," as the 
patient's liver enzymes climb higher and higher.  
"Watchful waiting" is merely a euphemism for, "I don't 
know what the cause of your condition is and I am 
completely helpless to do anything for you."

     Your new patient is a pretty sharp individual.  He is 
mentally quick and physically lean and healthy.  As a 
successful sales manager he has an assertive personality 
that does not lend itself well to passively watching his 
condition worsen year by year.  After seven years, he has 
had more than enough of this nonsense and he is ready for 
action.  A friend has referred him to you because of the 
scientific system of clinical nutrition you use.  The 
patient would like to know if there is anything you can 
offer him with NUTRI-SPEC to help control his condition.

     There is one other pertinent piece of information in 
the patient's history.  Seven years ago when he was 
initially diagnosed with hepatitis it was also found that 
his blood pressure was 170/110 and he was put on a beta
blocker which has supposedly been keeping his blood 
pressure controlled at around 140/85.

     You have just completed the history -- what do you do 
now?




                          - 2 -


     Of course you will immediately implement the 
NUTRI-SPEC regimen for hepatitis.  You gather from your 
shelves all the NUTRI-SPEC supplements that are "good for 
the liver."  You are confident that with the proper 
selection of NUTRI-SPEC remedies to "support the liver,"  
the patient will respond beautifully.

     No, I am not serious -- can't you take a joke?

     What do you really do?  You do the same thing that I 
would do -- the same thing that any NUTRI-SPEC 
practitioner would do -- you test the patient to determine 
where is the breakdown in his metabolic control systems.  
The patient's testing will reveal one or more fundamental 
metabolic imbalances sure to be causative in his 
hepatitis.

     As I am sure you have guessed, your hypothetical new 
patient is in actuality a real person -- one who has been 
under my care since the Fall of 1997.

     What kind of test patterns did the patient show?  We 
found one imbalance -- an electrolyte stress.  We used the 
Quick Reference Guide electrolyte stress protocol to 
select just the right supplement regimen for this patient, 
and put him on the NUTRI-SPEC Fundamental Diet.

     Did we throw in a few extra nutrients to "support 
liver function?"  Did we add some herbs that are reputed 
to be "good for the liver?"

     Certainly not.

     You may be wondering why not.  You may be thinking 
that because of the hepatitis this patient has special 
needs.  Yes, he has special needs.  They are the same 
special needs of any patient with his particular set of 
test results.  That is the whole point of NUTRI-SPEC -- to 
define exactly what the special needs are for each 
individual, based on objective test patterns, when 
evaluated within the context of the five fundamental 
metabolic control systems.

     Do we, as NUTRI-SPEC practitioners, not agree that an 
electrolyte stress imbalance can be associated with 
chronic hepatitis?  Since an electrolyte stress imbalance 
is typified by destruction of the electro-negative 
colloidal properties of the body fluids, and by excess 
electrolyte load and abnormal pH in the various body fluid 
compartments, and by a loss of tissue membrane integrity 
resulting from oxidative damage -- isn't it likely that
                          - 3 -


these same pathological processes can provide fertile 
ground for the development of hepatitis?

     This sounds like a plausible theory -- but does it 
prove valid in the real world?  Let us see what happened 
to our patient.

     Within six weeks of beginning the NUTRI-SPEC 
electrolyte stress regimen, the patient was showing very 
nice improvement in his objective test pattern.  There was 
so much improvement, and the patient was feeling so well, 
that we discussed the possibility of gradually working off 
the beta blocker.  For the seven years he had been on the 
beta blocker his blood pressure had supposedly been 
maintained at around 140/85.  It is interesting to note 
that on his initial NUTRI-SPEC testing his first blood 
pressure reading was 140/86 -- just exactly what the 
patient's blood pressure had been for years.  But -- look 
what happened upon orthostatic challenge.  When the 
patient stood up his blood pressure went all the way up to 
170/100, and that was while under the influence of the 
beta blocker.

     Now, after six weeks of NUTRI-SPEC, his systolic 
blood pressure upon orthostatic challenge actually 
dropped, and his diastolic only went up 8 points.  The 
patient was thrilled at the prospect of being able to work 
his way off the beta blocker and so we agreed to delete 
one day a week.  An even more significant finding six 
weeks after beginning NUTRI-SPEC was that the patient's 
most out of control liver enzyme, SGOT, had decreased from 
1900 to 1500 -- the first decrease ever.

     We saw the patient six weeks later and the results 
were mixed.  On one hand his blood pressure was improved 
so much that there was no longer any evidence of an 
electrolyte stress pattern.  At that point we further 
decreased the beta blocker to 5 days a week.  On a less 
positive note, the liver enzyme had risen from 1500 to 
1700.  This was still not as bad as it had been initially 
but was not ideal.  The patient also reported that on that 
most recent blood test his cholesterol was checked and it 
was elevated at 280.

     We saw the patient in another six weeks and again 
there was no sign of an electrolyte stress pattern so we 
continued the electrolyte stress regimen and decreased his 
beta blocker to only 4 days a week.

     On the patient's next NUTRI-SPEC testing six weeks 
later, not only was there no ES test pattern but the
                          - 4 -


patient's blood pressures and pulses were actually below 
normal.  This was despite the fact that he was only taking 
the beta blocker 4 days a week.  We now decreased the beta 
blocker to 3 a week.

     We next saw the patient in eight weeks and were able 
to decrease the beta blocker to only 2 days a week.  On 
this visit the patient also reported an update in his 
blood work.  It showed that his cholesterol had come from 
280 down to 230, but more importantly, it showed a 
stunning drop in his SGOT all the way down to 62!

     In summary -- within 7 1/2 months after starting 
NUTRI-SPEC the patient had seen his liver enzymes go from 
dangerously out of control down to only slightly above 
normal.  At the same time he was able to decrease the 
dosage of his beta blocker down to only two doses per 
week.  His blood pressures and pulses were lower on two 
doses a week than they had ever been on seven days per 
week.  Furthermore, his cholesterol had dropped to 230 
from at least 280 (though it may have been much higher 
than 280 when we first started).

     What happened in this patient?  Quite simply NUTRI- 
SPEC was able to restore the electro-negative colloidal  
properties of the body fluids.  NUTRI-SPEC also restored 
normal intra-cellular and extra-cellular fluid and 
electrolyte composition and movement.  NUTRI-SPEC also 
restored normal pH to each of body fluid compartments.  
NUTRI-SPEC also restored normal oxidative metabolism.  
NUTRI-SPEC also facilitated cholesterol and triglyceride 
clearing through the liver.  NUTRI-SPEC also improved 
arterial elasticity and myocardial metabolism.

     Is it so surprising that with these (and other) many 
advantages of NUTRI-SPEC a patient could gain the upper 
hand in his fight against hepatitis while at the same time 
restoring normal cardiovascular function?

     There are many reasons why this was an appropriate 
case history to include in this Letter.  We have been 
discussing in the last several Letters the increased power 
and specificity of your newly revised Quick Reference 
Guide protocol for electrolyte stress patients.  While we 
tend to associate electrolyte stress imbalances with a 
tendency to cardiovascular disease, it is important to 
note that a breakdown in that metabolic control system has 
far reaching implications that affect the metabolism and 
body chemistry of every tissue and cell in the body.


                          - 5 -


     This case also serves to substantiate our claim that 
with the NUTRI-SPEC protocol for electrolyte stress
imbalance we can literally save lives.  Picture the life 
this 51 year old man would have experienced without 
NUTRI-SPEC.  How long would he have lived before 
succumbing to either hepatitis or cardiovascular disease?  
What would have been the quality of his life?  Now think 
how much happier, healthier and longer his life will be 
now that his adaptative capacity has been increased with 
NUTRI-SPEC.

     This is also a good case to illustrate the procedure 
by which we can wean hypertensive patients off their blood 
pressure medication.  It must be done gradually; it must 
be done carefully; but in many cases it can be done.  This 
particular patient came down in less than 7 months to only 
2 doses of one medication weekly.  We have not reduced him 
further simply because his blood pressures and pulses 
stopped dropping.  With NUTRI-SPEC objective indicators to 
guide you, you can determine very precisely the medication 
needs of your patients.

     Since we are on the subject of medications and 
electrolyte stress patients, it is time to comment further 
on calcium channel blockers (CCBs).  We have already given 
you the essentials of the CCB story in previous writings, 
but it bears repeating here.  CCBs hit the scene in the 
early 80's and immediately swept the cardiologists off 
their feet.  Since the drugs were so effective at lowering 
blood pressure, and since elevated blood pressure was 
considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it 
was concluded that CCBs would be an excellent medication 
choice for hypertensive patients.  Since it lowered blood 
pressure so effectively it was assumed it would lower 
heart attacks and strokes as well.

     That was a reasonable hypothesis; but 15 years later 
it was proved to be not only not true but -- horrors -- 
CCBs actually increased the incidence of myocardial 
infarct.

     When that news hit the medical journals, the 
pharmaceutical industry did some serious back peddling and 
excuse making.  No sooner had they spent about a zillion 
bucks trying to convince the medical profession that CCBs 
were really all right, than further studies came out 
showing that CCBs also increased the incidence of strokes.  
Another zillion dollars has been spent on propaganda and, 
believe it or not, doctors are still prescribing CCBs for 
long term blood pressure control.

                          - 6 -


     (I should point out that CCBs do have a valuable 
place, and that is in the crisis therapy for someone with 
a life-threatening tachycardia out of control, or certain
hypertensive crises.  But while valuable in certain short 
term crises, it is devastating when used long term.)

     Now there is even more bad news on CCBs.  A study 
published in the December 1997 Journal of the American 
Geriatrics Society shows that when people on CCBs were 
given brain scans and intelligence tests they did poorly 
on the intelligence tests and their brain scans showed 
high white matter sensitivities (which is a finding linked 
directly to impaired mental function).

     Yet another study published in the March 7, 1998 
British Medical Journal showed that there is a 5-fold 
increase in the incidence of suicide among patients on 
CCBs.  The suicides were thought to result from depression 
caused by the CCBs.

     Why have we gone on at length about CCBs?  Because as 
you have seen, you are frequently in a position to reduce 
the blood pressure medicine taken by your ES patients.  If 
your patient is on a CCB you want to place a high priority 
on eliminating that medication.  If a patient is on a CCB 
in addition to other blood pressure medications, then 
encourage the patient to begin slowly weaning off the CCB 
immediately.  If your patient is on a CCB as the only 
hypertensive medication, then tell him to consult the 
prescribing doctor and see if the doctor is willing to 
switch to a beta blocker or an ACE inhibitor.


     Did you learn anything in this Letter about what you 
can achieve with NUTRI-SPEC?  Do you begin to appreciate 
the power you have with a patient-specific approach to 
nutrition based on objective testing and analysis?  The 
service you offer with NUTRI-SPEC is of incomparable 
value.


                             Sincerely,



                             Guy R. Schenker, D.C.


P.S.:  Advise your patients taking electrolytes or dis- 
persing agents to add them to water rather than adding the 
water to the electrolytes.  They dissolve better that way.


Next

Nutri-Spec Letters

Index