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New website aims to clear up misconceptions about breakthrough drug Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)


WEBWIRE

Baltimore, MD. – A new website has been launched by the MedInsight Research Institute to offer physicians and patients across the world the very latest information on clinical trials using Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).

LDNScience.org will set out to prevent misunderstanding and provide up-to-date details surrounding studies into the drug, which has been hailed as a breakthrough treatment for chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. LDN works by boosting a patient’s supply of naturally-occurring endorphins and these endorphins help to regulate the immune system.

“With the rapidly growing global scientific interest in LDN, we wanted to provide physicians and their patients with a resource for accurate information on this drug and clinical trials with it,” said Moshe Rogosnitzky, co-founder and director of the MedInsight Research Institute.

“There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding on the web concerning LDN and through this site we will be clearing up a lot of those misconceptions.”

LDNScience.org provides detailed explanations about the various LDN therapies and comprehensive information on the latest studies into Opioid Growth Factor (OGF) as a potential treatment for various cancers.

Research has indicated that unlike many other drugs, a small dose of naltrexone (as used in LDN) appears to work very well for patients, whereas larger doses can have the opposite effect. But because LDN is commercially unsponsored and is prescribed off-label, this has sparked some general uncertainty and misinformation about it. So the MedInsight Research Institute, a Baltimore-based non-profit organization, has stepped in to allay any concerns of doctors and patients by developing the LDNScience.org site.

“Having instigated the first clinical trial for LDN in 2004 at Penn State University, I am gratified that we’ve now launched this informative resource for physicians and patients,” Rogosnitzky added.

“We aim to summarize almost 30 years of research, carried out by the discoverers of LDN, Dr. Ian S. Zagon and Dr. Patricia J. McLaughlin at Penn State University, and provide an invaluable resource which will enable this therapy to be used properly, inspire further research into its many possible uses and eventually lead to its acceptance as mainstream therapy for a number of incurable conditions.”

LDNScience.org contains a mine of information about LDN, OGF and other related therapies and will also play an interactive role by allowing users to ask questions if they cannot find the information they are seeking. Naltrexone was approved by the FDA in 1985 to treat substance abuse and is marketed under the trade names Revia® and Depade®. Naltrexone is routinely used at a dose of 50mg-100mg a day for the treatment of drug and alcohol dependency, but LDN refers to the use of naltrexone in low doses. Dr. Zagon and his team at Hershey Medical Center, Penn State University, discovered in 1980 that naltrexone also causes the production of higher levels of naturally-occurring opioids, or endorphins, when used in small doses. LDN treatment was subsequently popularized by Dr. Bernard Bihari of New York City.

In 2004 Rogosnitzky presented evidence to Dr. Zagon and Dr. Jill P. Smith that LDN could benefit Crohn’s disease patients, so Dr. Zagon and Dr. Smith conducted a clinical trial using low doses of naltrexone. The trial results revealed the treatment to be highly effective, with 89% of patients experiencing a major improvement in their symptoms. This trial was soon followed by a successful trial for LDN in multiple sclerosis patients carried out at San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, and a successful trial for fibromyalgia carried out at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Zagon and his researchers also uncovered the role of OGF in controlling the growth of cancer in 1987. More than 100 research projects have since been carried out by Dr. Zagon and his team to analyze OGF and its potential use in treating cancers and other diseases. Synthetic OGF is a small protein molecule that is not absorbed when given orally and it has been used clinically in injectable form in several trials for treating various types of cancer, AIDS and autoimmune disease.

About MedInsight® Research Institute

MedInsight® Research Institute is committed to bringing relief to those who suffer from cancer or chronic medical conditions by making doctors aware of commercially unsponsored medications, off-label uses for approved medicines, long-lost therapies and specialized tests that enable treatment to be tailored to the individual. As a US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, MedInsight works to bridge the widening gap between medical research and medical practice.

About LDNScience™

LDNScience™ (www.ldnscience.org) was developed to help those seeking credible and up-to-date scientific information regarding Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and Opioid Growth Factor (OGF). LDNScience™ is a MedInsight® Research Institute project and was launched in March 2010.



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 LDN
 OGF
 Low Dose Naltrexone
 Zagon
 Bihari


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