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There’s so much to know and so much to learn that can help not only yourself but your patients too! From running a business to nutritional advice, I thought it was important to share some of these thoughts with all of you! Stay tuned!

~Dr. Van D. Merkle

Aluminum and DMSA

A Study

November 27, 2018

SBN members: I’d like to thank Dr. Dennis Mariano for passing this along. Even though it is from 2005, it nicely illustrates the benefits of DMSA and notice that the doses that I recommend for treatment are way below what was used here. The treatment dose of dmsa was 900mg/day for 19 days in a row.
Dennis: thanks again, it is always welcome and appreciated when we get notes like this.

A series of 7 symptomatic patients who were employed in the aluminum industry were identified. They ranged in age from 19 to 65 years of age, all were male, and length of exposure to aluminum was from 1 to 35 years. The patients worked without protection and were exposure to dermal and respiratory contact to aluminum dust and shavings, as well as vaporized cutting oils. Each patient complained of recurrent sinus infections, chronic fatigue, motor and sensory losses, ataxia, vertigo, memory loss and chronic pain. Physical findings were sinus tenderness, ataxia, positive Romberg Sign, memory loss, fatigue, and signs of reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. All of the patients were disabled and unable to work due to their illness. All of the aluminum exposures were remote (longer that 3 months previously) and chronic (mean over one year exposure). Serum and urinary aluminum levels were not markedly elevated (7 to 30 μg per gram of creatinine in urine), but the patients all exhibited a positive chelation challenge test using DMSA (succimer) as the chelator. All had a positive clinical response to treatment with DMSA in the usual treatment regimen of 900 mg bid for 19 days. The ataxia, Romberg Sign, memory loss, fatigue and recurrent infections resolved with treatment. Two of the patients were able to return to full duty at work (with proper protection in place), others already had retirement and were able to start more active lifestyles.

Conclusion chronic and remote exposures to aluminum with toxicity may not be detected by elevated urinary and blood levels. Serum and urine levels of aluminum may decrease to “normal occupational ranges” in chronic and remote exposure cases. Chelation challenge testing may be valuable to help diagnose the chronic and remote aluminum toxicity cases. DMSA was useful as a clinical chelator for these cases of chronic and remote aluminum toxicity.

 Tip #8 ALS – What can be done?

ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig Disease. There’s much to know about ALS and still much to learn. But, what can be done about it? Today’s blog entry takes a little more time and discusses what we can do to help and what I”ve done in the past for patients with ALS. November 21, 2018

Tip #7 The Flu – Another new drug?

Xofluza? It can reduce cold and flu symptoms. But, it’s side effects are basically cold and flu symptoms?! What can we do that might just work just as well but minus the drug?

November 12, 2018

Tip #6 Cholesterol – Find Out Why it’s High

A woman did a blood test and most of her values were good but with a few exceptions. Why would a woman with a good diet and coronary risk assessment have high cholesterol? What’s going on here?

October 31, 2018

An Olympic Hopeful!

Science Based Nutrition is sponsoring Charlie Schreiber, a rock climber from New Jersey! We will link his Instagram Page and his GoFundMe Page to the below. This kid is awesome! We are rooting for you!

Charlie Schreiber, age 24, has been climbing for 11 years and has been bouldering and sport climbing at a Nationally Competitive level for 10 years. He has attended 10 National Championships here in the US and 2 Bouldering World Cups in Switzerland and Vail, Colorado. In 2017, Charlie placed 1st in 10 Regional and Divisional events, 22nd at Bouldering Nationals, and 49th in this year’s Bouldering World Cup, finishing 4th for the American Team! He even found time to compete on the TV Show, American Ninja Warrior in Season 9! Charlie is now focused on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in which Rock Climbing will have it’s debut in front of the world! To prepare for this, Charlie climbs and does climbing-specific training for 20+ hours a week and uses his vacation days as self-ran training camps at outdoor climbing areas.

He balances this training with working 40 hours a week as a Coach and Route Setter at High Exposure Climbing Parkour, and on the weekends he spends time with his girlfriend, Samantha, and supports his youth competitors at their competitions.

You can help Charlie out, visit his GoFundMe and follow Charlie’s pursuits on Instagram!

September 4, 2018

Charlie Schreiber’s Instagram and GoFundMe below!

Tip #5 Sometimes the answers are clear with correct testing!

SIBO? What is SIBO and what am I looking for in the SBN reports? There are quite a few things that can clue you into the answers you need. But, you need to be testing correctly!

August 28th, 2018

Tip #4 Tell the fee to the patient

Always to be sure that your patients know what they are paying before their credit cards are out. Be sure that you are telling your patients ahead of time and that the doctor is the one informing your patients of the cost.

August 8th, 2018

Tip #3 Nutrition and Dental Implants

What can we do with regards to dental implants? Implants can cause infection are often the cause of inflammation and inflammatory processes. Fistulas and inflammation may occur. A better diet and a properly executed infection protocol can drastically help with the dental implant. Having good hygiene, good gums, good teeth, is a reflection of what’s going on in our bodies.

July 26th, 2018

Tip #2 Don’t be afraid of the tough cases!

A gentleman was given 6 months to live with metastasized kidneys. After seeing Dr. Merkle his symptoms went away, no pain, no impairments, no problems at all for 3 years! How exciting is that? Also, a woman was tested for CA 27.29 dropped 6 point to 24, her lowest in nearly 3 years! Proper testing and protocols can save lives!

July 24h, 2018

Tip #1 Write it down!

Write down your findings! It’s important for your patient to know how serious and important the findings are. Using the SBN color coded report, you can show your patients the test results by letting them see what’s going on and can refer back to it again and again!

July 20th, 2018