circa Sat, 10 Apr 2004 03:56:23 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
Gail (foxtail_farms@verizon.net) said,

It certainly wouldn't hurt.

Laura

Thank you so much, Cathy!

Gail

what kind of food changes?

The B vitamins seem to be good for asthma too:

Vitamin B Dependency and Megavitamin Therapy for Asthma

The whole history of the relationship between asthma and vitamin B6 is
beginning to resemble the discovery and treatment of other nutritional
diseases. Although, according to Hoffer ( 22 ), most medical
treatments are not generally accepted until around 40 years after
their initial discovery or introduction, history shows quite clearly
that when it comes to nutritional treatments such as vitamin B6
therapy for asthma or thiamine treatment for beri beri, the figure of
40 years may be extremely conservative. To learn more of my personal
experiences with B vitamins and asthma, click here.

Deficiency of vitamin B6, which causes altered metabolism of
tryptophan and serotonin and subsequent excretion of substances such
as xanthurenic acid and kynurenic acid in the urine, has long been
suspected in asthmatic patients because of the prevalence of these
urinary changes in earlier studies of asthmatic patients ( 23, 26, 29
). These studies were confirmed by later studies showing further
evidence of vitamin B6 deficiency in asthmatics ( 14, 15 ).
Additionally, and more significantly, large doses of vitamin B6 have
been shown to be remarkably effective in reducing symptoms of asthma
in various patients ( 14, 15, 27 ), although Kaslow ( 40 ) claims that
this vitamin is only effective in children. Although Hall et al ( 30 )
could not confirm the presence of vitamin B6 deficiency as a result of
their study of asthmatic patients, in a subsequent reanalysis of their
data, Reynolds and Natta (14 ) claimed that the B6 treatment used by
Hall and co-workers caused a "possible improvement in the B6 status of
the children" ( 14 ).

The report by Hall et al ( 30 ) is notable in several important
respects. Firstly, it is a study of B6 status only, not an assessment
of the effectiveness of B6 supplements as a treatment for asthma.
Secondly, unlike most studies, the control subjects selected for this
study were all suffering from various illnesses. These sick children
formed the yardstick by which the B6 status of the asthmatic children
was assessed. In view of the fact that it had previously been
demonstrated by Azuma et al ( 100 ) that even 'healthy" controls are
likely to be deficient in B6, the deliberate choice of sick children
effectively invalidates the reliability of this study. In view of the
results of the earlier study of Azuma et al ( 100 ), the question must
be asked as to precisely why Hall et al ( 30 ) chose to use sick
children for their controls.

From a practical point of view the most important aspect of all these
studies is the demonstrated effectiveness of vitamin B6 supplements as
a treatment for asthma 14, 15, 27 ). According to Reynolds and Natta
in this regard ( 14 ), "all subjects reported a dramatic decrease in
frequency and severity of wheezing or asthmatic attacks" while taking
the vitamin B6 supplements. For the purposes of this study it must be
emphasised that the dose of B6 which was necessary to bring about this
response was around 100mg or more daily ( 14, 15 ). In fact, the
symptomatic and biochemical response to 50mg daily ( 15 ), or 50mg
twice daily ( 14 ), was inferior to the response to 100mg daily ( 14,
15 ). Only by using the larger dose could the vitamin B6 status of
these patients be corrected. Interestingly, according to Simon and
Reynolds ( 54 ), even after daily supplements of 100mg of pyridoxine,
plasma pyridoxal phosphate ( the active form of B6 ) levels were still
30% lower in asthmatics than in controls.

These studies confirm that these asthmatics suffered from a vitamin B6
dependency condition, that is they were unable to efficiently utilise
this vitamin and were therefore dependent upon higher than normal
doses. It should be emphasised that these large doses of vitamin B6
were necessary in order to restore body stores of this vitamin to a
normal level.

In a later study by Sur and co-workers ( 31 ), 31 asthmatic patients
failed to respond to B6 therapy. However, the point must be made that
these workers were deliberately selective in choosing participants for
the trial since they only chose patients who were dependent upon
steroids for control of their asthma. In defence of this decision Sur
et al claim that pyridoxine is an "over the counter drug with the
potential for abuse" and "in order to justify the usage of a drug that
has a potential for significant toxicity, this trial was restricted to
steroid requiring asthmatic patients who are more likely to be closely
followed by physicians." If these concerns are scientifically valid (
bearing in mind that Sur et al chose to use a dose of 300mg of
pyridoxine, or three times the effective dose used by other workers ),
then trials of prescription anti-asthma drugs, in accord with their
infinitely greater toxicity, could never be justified. Perhaps this
matter has been most appropriately summarised by Hoffer ( 22 ):
"vitamins which are safe even in large doses have not been acceptable
to the profession, and their negative side effects have been
consistently exaggerated and over emphasised, to the point that many
of these so called toxicities have been invented, without there being
any scientific evidence that these side effects are real."

Recently, research into the connection between vitamin B6 status and
asthma has taken a different direction. It is now well known that the
anti-asthma drug theophylline is a vitamin B6 antagonist and actually
causes a B6 deficiency ( 31, 32, 33, 34 ). According to this line of
thought the vitamin B6 deficiency which occurs in asthmatic patients
is actually caused by the prescription drug treatment they receive,
that is, theophylline ( 31, 32, 33, 34 ). In other words, it is an
iatrogenic deficiency. In spite of the fact that Sur et al ( 31 )
reported significantly lower B6 levels in theophylline taking
asthmatics, they subsequently concluded that there is "no
justification for megavitamin B6 therapy for the treatment of asthma
in such patients", a conclusion which must surely be rejected. In
fact, their report further justifies the use of B6 supplements,
especially in theophylline taking asthmatics.

Although there is no reason to doubt the considerable volume of
evidence that theophylline may cause B6 deficiency, this does not
explain the dramatic effectiveness of vitamin B6 as an anti-asthma
treatment. This is of fundamental importance. Neither does it explain
why children who were kept off all asthma medications for two weeks
before testing still had "urinary tryptophan metabolites 5 to 30 times
that of normal controls" ( 27, 31 ). While it has been shown that
theophylline is capable of causing B6 deficiency, there is no evidence
to suggest that this drug is the sole cause of B6 deficiency in all
asthmatic patients. Since theophylline is a dangerous drug ( 35 )
which may, in addition to its other adverse effects, cause a
deficiency of vitamin B6, its use hardly seems warranted when
alternatives are available ( 36 ). Given the abovementioned scientific
evidence that B6 deficiency may cause or aggravate asthmatic symptoms,
the use of theophylline seems especially inappropriate.

Consideration of the nutritional treatment of asthma also involves the
use of other nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin B12, essential fatty
acids, and magnesium, all of which have been shown to benefit wheezing
or asthma ( 37 ). Vitamin A is also essential for the mucous membranes
( 2 ) and may assist where there is more bronchitic inflammation.
However, since this discussion involves the B complex vitamins which
must be balanced, I will briefly consider the importance of two other
B complex vitamins which may be useful in the treatment of asthma,
namely, vitamin B3 ( niacin or niacinamide), and vitamin B5 (
pantothenic acid ).

In addition to vitamin B6, vitamin B3 has also been shown to be an
effective treatment in some cases of asthma ( 37 ). This vitamin,
which has been reported to have an antihistamine effect ( 37 ), has
been shown in one study to be deficient in 83% of asthmatics ( 37 ).
Out of 19 patients who were given B3 treatment, 16 showed a definite
reduction in attacks of asthma while two cases deteriorated ( 37a ), a
fact which, as I have previously mentioned, may be related to the
possibility of a simultaneous pyridoxine deficiency in these two
patients.

Perhaps the most underrated of all the B complex vitamins is
pantothenic acid. Although a deficiency of this vitamin is commonly
considered impossible because of its widespread availability in foods
( 38 ), this of course does not rule out the possibility of
deficiencies arising from malabsorption or vitamin dependency as
occurs with the other B vitamins. There is also a difficulty in
accurately diagnosing a pantothenic acid deficiency since reliable
tests have yet to be developed ( 39 ). Additionally, the precise
dietary requirement also remains unknown (39 ). Given these facts and
the important metabolic role which pantothenic acid plays in the
production of cortisone and coenzyme A, and its role therefore in
stress resistance and normalisation of blood sugar levels, it seems
both foolish and premature to glibly dismiss the possibility of
pantothenic acid deficiency occurring in humans.

In view of the general feeling that a deficiency of pantothenic acid
is impossible, it is hardly surprising that there is a shortage of
clinical research regarding this vitamin as compared to the other B
vitamins. However, in light of the well known importance of
pantothenic acid for steroid production and adrenal function ( 1,1a,
2, 3 ), and the ability of pantothenic acid supplements to increase
resistance to stress ( 11, 55 ), combined with the fact that several
researchers have reported asthmatics to have reduced adrenal function
( 41, 42, 43 ), the use of single B vitamins in steroid dependent
asthma is an oversight which warrants urgent attention. If there is an
excessive need for one B vitamin in asthmatics, is there any evidence
to prove that other vitamins are not involved also?

Researchers exploring the therapeutic use of B vitamins from a
reductionist perspective usually seem to dismiss the combined use of
vitamins for the treatment of disease, perhaps preferring to use
vitamins as drugs ( 31, 95 ), even though experts suggest that B
vitamins especially, must be taken together in a balanced form. Unlike
prescription drugs, which play no role in rebuilding the body and
therefore may be used singly, the very essence of nutritional therapy
is its ability to restore and repair the body, a fact which underlines
the interdependence and teamwork nature of nutritional therapy. In the
words of Roger Williams ( 55 ): "nutrients are effective because they
are constructive; they enter into the makeup of enzyme systems and can
function in this constructive way only when all the other building
blocks are available. If only one link is conspicuously missing, then
supplying this one link by itself will be effective. This is
exceptional however............... "

Scientific evidence shows quite clearly that some asthmatics suffer
from vitamin dependency conditions, especially B6 dependency, and may
therefore respond dramatically to megadoses of the particular
vitamin/s they need. Scientific evidence also shows that doctors
commonly treat asthmatics with a drug which causes a deficiency of
vitamin B6. In spite of these facts doctors rarely seem to advise
their patients to try a course of vitamin B6 supplements and also
commonly prefer to avoid testing their asthmatic patients to determine
their vitamin B6 status. With the exception of some holistic
practitioners, preference always seems to be given to the use of toxic
symptom suppressing drug industry promoted drugs, while the
possibility of any B6 deficiency, iatrogenic or otherwise, seems to be
ignored.

Given these facts it is hardly surprising that all levels of medicine,
from research through to publication and clinical practice, are
characterised by a considerable degree of anti-nutrition bias ( 103;
for more information about anti-nutrition bias refer to the Medical
Bias page  ). The review by Merrill and Henderson entitled "Diseases
Associated with Defects in Vitamin B6 Metabolism or Utilisation" ( 44
) makes no reference to the well documented connection between asthma
and B6. Similarly, the review by Bender ( 96 ), the aim of which was
"to examine the evidence for the efficacy of vitamin B6 supplements in
treating a variety of conditions", is notable for the fact that Bender
chose to cite the negative report by Sur et al ( 31 ) and totally
ignore the remaining scientific literature concerning asthma and B6.
Unfortunately, the poor quality of medical research ( 101 ), including
the "sloppy" ( 102 ) or selective use of medical literature, is all
too well known ( 101, 102, 103 ).

Reviewers, have a responsibility to ensure that their reviews
impartially reflect the available scientific evidence. Since so called
evidence based medicine is claimed to be based upon the content of
such reviews, any bias in these reviews effectively removes any
justification for the claim that medicine is evidence based.

http://www.holistichealthtopics.com/HMG/Bvitamin.html#Vitamin%20B%20Dependency%2
0and%20Megavitamin%20Therapy%20for%20Asthma