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by Lyle Hurd, totalhealth editor
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PCA - Rx Restoring Health
and Detoxifying Your Body
What is the role of heavy metal toxicity in
children with developmental delays and
other neurological and metabolic disorders?
In fact, the extent of impact on children
with some of our most common neurological disorders,
including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
and aggressive and violent behavior, may be far greater
than parents and doctors have hitherto suspected.
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 he September/October 1997 issue of totalhealth
carried an article titled “Essential Amino Acids” by
Eric R. Braverman, M.D. The article was concurrent
with the release of Dr. Braverman’s landmark book
The Healing Nutrients Within—How to use amino
acids to achieve optimum health, coauthored with
Carl C. Pfeiffer, M.D., Ph.D., Ken Blum, Ph.D. and
Richard Smayda, D.O. (Keats Publishing).
The book cover describes amino acids as your personal “miracle
drugs” and states, “The two dozen amino acids present in the human
body are now being shown to be among the most potent healing substances
ever discovered.”
In their forward and introduction the authors state: “There is a growing
understanding and acceptance of how imbalances of certain amino
acids affect illness and wellness. Supplementation with amino acids
offers a new strategic medical dimension in the fight against chronic
illness.” They also explain that protein, the basic constituent of all living
cells, is any substance made from amino acids in peptide linkage. Simple
proteins made up of only a few amino acids are called peptides and
proteins as peptides can be absorbed immediately into the blood stream.
However, the majority of proteins are broken down into amino acids
before absorption. They comment that: “Contemporary research is also
aggressively exploring the boundless and promising frontier of peptides,
two or more amino acids. Combinations of aminos are already
beginning to yield important products for clinical nutrition. You will be
hearing a great deal about peptides in the future.”
Acquiring The Healing Nutrients Within can be a valuable asset to
your total health library, particularly if you are concerned with brain
health.
In his article, Dr. Braverman expanded the role of amino acids:
“There are many other amino acids besides the essential ones that the
human body manufactures. These nonessential amino acids may
become essential to a particular individual through an inborn error of
metabolism. If an enzyme, necessary for the manufacture of a particular
amino acid by the body, is absent, that amino acid becomes an essential
requirement of the diet. Nonessential amino acids can also become
essential during disease or stress, when there is either increased need
and/or increased breakdown of them.
Braverman continues, “Amino acid requirements are vastly increased
by disease and by inborn metabolic errors. Virtually all stress states
require more amino acids, some more than others; distinguishing the
source of the increased amino acid requirements is often difficult. The
understanding and manipulation of a required amino acid in the diet is essential in maintaining health and controlling
disease.”
Since reading Dr. Braverman’s book and running
his article in the magazine, I have often
wondered why amino acids and peptides receive
so little press. Consequently, when the periodical
Doctors’ Prescription for Healthy Living ran an
article by its editor David Steiman on a peptide
clathrating agent called PCA-Rx, used in detoxifying
the body of heavy metals, it piqued my
interest. This informative article, portions of
which follow, details what appears to be an
application of Dr. Braverman and his coauthors’
observations regarding the potential of peptides
to combat disease, restore homeostasis and stimulate
the human immune system.
Detoxification with Peptide Clathrating Agent
Most of us have heard of chelation therapy.
Physicians and doctors have utilized chelation
therapy for years to cleanse their patients’ bodies
of lead and other heavy metal contaminants.
PCA-Rx from ASN™/MAXAM™ Nutraceutics™ is
the first peptide clathration formula ever created
for natural detoxification. Not only is it among
the most effective chelating agents now in practice
but it is available to consumers over-thecounter
at natural health centers and from
health professionals.
Chelation therapy may be described as a onedimensional
process. In contrast, oral clathration
is a three-dimensional process. Specifically
sequenced glycoproteins and peptides form a
lattice or inclusion complex and multiple receptor
sites attach to a toxic molecule with irreversible
bonds, literally wrapping around the
toxic substance to prevent additional reactions
with tissues or organs as it is eliminated from the
body. Unlike the ionic bond utilized to transport
metals from the body with chelation therapy,
oral clathration therapy utilizes ionic, covalent
and hydrogen bonds. Not one but three major
types of bonds at multiple points are created.
Nutrient particles measured in nanometers
We usually think of the amounts included of
particular nutritional supplements in terms of
milligrams and micrograms. But PCA-Rx nutrient
particles are formulated in the range of
nanograms—reduced to their bare peptide
essential configuration—and placed in a natural
colloid. The body recognizes these peptides as
nutrients.
Affinity for Cell Membranes
Each nutrient particle carries a negative surface
charge and cells contain a positive surface
charge, so absorption occurs electrokinetically,
which is a much more efficient method of absorption than osmosis, where 50 percent maximum
levels may be achieved at best. Because of
the particle size and bare, stripped-down nature
of the peptides, the PCA-Rx nutrients gain access
into the mitochondria of the cell. There a peptide
ligand complex binds with greater affinity
to cell receptor sizes than heavy metals, releasing
the heavy metals. The companion molecules
then clathrate (wrap around and enclose) the
toxic substance, keeping it enclosed as it enters
the body’s elimination pathways. The bond is a
strong one, too. PCA-Rx’s nutrients bond to toxic
chemicals with ionic, covalent and hydrogen
bonds as compared to sodium dimercaptopropanesulfonate
(DMPS, the most commonly
used chelation agent), which utilizes only an
ionic bond.
Does not Remove Beneficial Minerals
PCA-Rx will not bind to beneficial minerals
because those that belong in the body are
tightly bound and protected by their natural
enzymes. Heavy metals and toxins do not have
enzyme systems to protect them. PCA-Rx targets
noncomplexed, loosely bound metals. If
there is an excess of natural mineral in the
body, as with calcium-based plaques, PCA-Rx
will also bind these and remove them. Metals
are clathrated in the following prioritized order
due to their descending valences: lead, thallium,
cadmium, arsenic, aluminum and mercury.
This is important to note because if the
system is saturated with lead or another heavy
metal, the urine mercury readings will not
drop until the person has clathrated the metals
with higher valences.
Clinical Reports
Clinical reports tell us that PCA-Rx is a powerful
agent of detoxification. Anyone working in
industries with exposures to cadmium, lead,
mercury and other toxic metals will find PCA-Rx
a powerful health ally. Persons with mercury
amalgam dental fillings will also find PCA-Rx
beneficial.
Hidden Culprit?
Heavy metal toxicity doesn’t receive the attention
it should in the case of children’s behavioral
disorders. Additionally, use of oral clathration
agents as a healing pathway is something both
primary care doctors and parents of children
with behavioral disorders need to know about.
Use of oral clathration obviously isn’t a panacea.
But if you are the parent of a child with behavioral
problems or you are the child’s treating
doctor, you will want to know more about oral
clathration if you suspect toxic metals may be a
contributor.
What is the role of heavy metal toxicity in
children with developmental delays and other
neurological and metabolic disorders? The
answer may be surprising to many parents. In
fact, the extent of impact on children with some
of our most common neurological disorders,
including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
autism and aggressive and violent behavior,
may be far greater than parents and doctors have
hitherto suspected.
Indications are that clathration therapy
might be a more effective heavy metal detoxification
therapy than conventional methods of
chelation therapy. Thus clathration therapy
holds significant benefits when used as part
of a comprehensive complementary medicine
program, as noted in the case of children experiencing
behavioral disorders, including attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bouts of violence
and impaired IQ.
PCA-Rx is a formula that we have researched
and found to be a way of dealing with heavy
metal toxicity in the least intrusive manner
possible. Parents may want to start with PCA-Rx
or combine PCA-Rx with other forms of chelation
therapy as their doctor recommends. Two
versions of the formula are available (PCA-Rx and
PCA). The higher-strength PCA-Rx formula is
preferred for therapeutic detoxification; it is the
formula used clinically. Use PCA for everyday
protection. Both formulas are available at
natural health centers and pharmacies and from
health professionals. To find a store, natural
pharmacy or health professional in your
area dispensing PCA or PCA-Rx, contact
ASN™/MAXAM™ Nutraceutics™ toll-free at
800-800-9119.
In reviewing this information with the
research director at Maxam Nutraceutics he
explained that the basic technology involved in
the PCA process is creating bio-regulating peptides
which alter the gene expression of the cells
while increasing the natural cellular components
within the cell, restoring them to a state of
optimum performance. He used the analogy of
human growth hormone or testosterone therapy
and DHEA supplementation which suppress the
body’s own feedback system and cause it to produce
less of these substances on its own as
opposed to introducing a natural amino acid
cascade targeted at restoring these hormones to
a healthier, even regenerative, level.
In 1997 when Dr. Braverman and his coauthors
predicted we would be hearing a great
deal about peptides in the future, they were
absolutely on target. And with introduction of
the peptide clatheration agents and bioregulating
peptide technology it looks like that
future is now.
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