Glasgow GP Brings First LDN Conference To Europe To Help Raise Awareness Of Treatment For Autoimmune Diseases

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Also Included In: Conferences;  Multiple Sclerosis
Article Date: 24 Apr 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Some of the world's leading medical speakers and practitioners are flying into Glasgow this week as the first European Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) Conference comes to Scotland. Held on Saturday 25th April at the Western Lecture Theatre at University of Glasgow, the conference will attract leading medical professionals and patients who are interested in the use of the drug LDN in the treatment of many different autoimmune diseases - including multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease and chronic fatigue syndrome or ME.

Dr Chris Steele the resident doctor on the This Morning television programme and long time supporter of LDN will also attend the conference.

The conference is being organised by Glasgow nutritional medicine practitioner Dr Tom Gilhooly of Essential Health Clinic in Rutherglen. Having worked with heroin addiction patients and using the drug Naltroxene for over twenty years, Dr Gilhooly found that the lower dose (LDN) could work across a number of conditions and is now a leading specialist in the application of LDN for autoimmune diseases.

Dr Gilhooly said: "We are delighted to host the first European conference on LDN in Glasgow. We have used LDN to treat many different autoimmune diseases over the past five years and have seen life-changing results for patients.

"LDN treatment can aid a better quality of life for both long-term sufferers and those newly diagnosed; I hope that through raising awareness of LDN many more patients will become aware that this could be a potential treatment for them."

As one of the only practices administering LDN in the UK, Dr Gilhooly and his fellow GPs at Essential Health Clinic are hoping to raise the profile of the drug as well as encouraging other doctors to begin prescribing. The clinic currently treats 200 people with LDN.

LDN was first discovered in 1981 by Dr Ian Zagon in the USA. Dr Zagon found that low doses of the drug usually used to treat opiate addiction such as heroin and alcohol would cause the body to double or triple its production of endorphins. Endorphins are critical to a well functioning immune system and by flooding the body with them the immune system can be restored to its proper state. In addition, the drug is almost completely non-toxic. It was first used as a treatment for MS in 1985.

The Conference will feature leading speakers including Joseph Wouk and Dr Burt Berkson from the USA, Dr Phil Boyle from Ireland and Linda Elsegood from the LDN Research Trust.

Joseph Wouk is the son of Pulitzer prize winning novelist Herman Wouk and author of 'Google LDN'. The book details his story of being told by doctors at University of California that there was no treatment available for the progressive part of his Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. Mr Wouk will speak of his experiences at visiting a Shaman in Peru before his life changed after taking LDN.

As an MS sufferer, Linda Elsegood spent two years bed-bound until treatment with LDN regained the use of her motor skills. She set up the charity LDN Research Trust with the view of increasing awareness of the treatment and raise enough funding for clinical trials of the drug. The LDN Research Trust now has a database of over 3,000 people taking LDN in the UK.

Linda said: "We are delighted that Dr Gilhooly and his colleagues have organised this conference to raise the profile of LDN in the UK and Europe. It's incredibly important for MS sufferers to realise that there is a drug out there which can help to support their treatment of this debilitating condition. I have been taking LDN for over five years and, for me, the results have been life-changing."

In addition, Dr Phil Boyle from Galway Clinic in Northern Ireland will speak of the effects of LDN in treating endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome as well as its efficacy in fertility. Dr Burt Berkson from the Center for Integrative Medicine in New Mexico will give examples of his published case studies on the use of LDN in cancer patients.

Dr Gilhooly plans to build the conference into an annual event acting as a focus for LDN research and clinical activity in the UK and beyond.

Over 200 people have already registered to attend the conference to date, coming from as far as Hong Kong, USA and Europe. Members of the public can attend free of charge if interested in hearing more about LDN and its effectiveness across many different conditions.

Tickets are still available. For further information and to register for the conference, please visit http://glasgowldn2009.com/

Date and Time

Saturday 25th April 2009 at 10am
The conference is free to attend and refreshments will be provided.

Agenda

10.00 am - Introduction - Dr Tom Gilhooly, Essential Health Clinic Glasgow
10.05 am - LDN Personal experience - Linda Elsegood, LDN Research Trust
10.20 am - LDN Research Summary - Dr Tom Gilhooly
11.00 am - Coffee break
11.30 am - LDN Dispensing in UK - Mr Stephen Dickson, Dickson's Pharmacy Glasgow
12.10 pm - LDN treatment in Cancer - Dr Burt Berkson, Center For Integrative Medicine, New Mexico
1.00 pm - Lunch
2.00 pm - Google LDN - Mr Joseph Wouk - Author
2.40 pm - LDN use in Fertility - Dr Phil Boyle, Fertility Specialist, Galway Clinic
3.10 pm - Coffee break
3.30 pm - LDN in Chronic Fatigue - Eileen Munro - Author
3.50 pm - Future for LDN - Dr Tom Gilhooly
4.00 pm - Plenary session with expert panel
5.00 pm - Close

Source
Essential Health Clinic