Article: Diagnosis of EPM

It Is Not a Death Sentence Any More

Hardly a day goes by anymore when I don't get a call from an interested veterinarian or owner about Vita Royal's Environmental Illness /EPM program. Word is certainly traveling at the speed of light, since even the latest drugs in the orthodox arsenal are falling so short of a "cure".

Most of the horses we deal with nowdays are "relapses" or failures of drug treatments of all sorts. The veterinarians who call to inquire are just as frustrated as their clients, some of whom have spent $5,000 -$8,000 on treatments since 1995, and who still don't have a usable horse by any means. Breeding is out of the question as per the recommendations of drug manufacturers.

The latest lament of veterinarians is that clients just don't want to hear a diagnosis of EPM at all, and will seek another "opinion" from another veterinarian who diagnoses another condition, but still prescribes the same drugs and drug regimens-just not saying the name, "EPM."

Of course, these veterinarians are getting great gobs of business, since they don't mention EPM, and some may even go so far as to voice derogatory comments about the first (and truthful) veterinarian-to the effect that "he/she diagnoses everything as EPM", or "EPM is the most overdiagnosed disease in the country." Well, in that regard, I have to agree. Just because a horse can't walk doesn't mean it's EPM or an envrionmentally-related Illness. But the real tragedy is that even the most experienced professionals don't really know what they are looking at- Environmental Illness!

GREAT NEWS?

If one truly understood the predisposing factors leading up to EPM / EPDS and, most of all, understood the "thinking" upon which Vita-Royal's EPM program is based, the diagnosis of EPM should actually be "great news". This condition can be easily controlled and dealt with, especially in the early stages before a lot of damage has been done to the central nervous system that cannot be rehabilitated, and even that limitation is now being questioned as well.

Recent evidence has shown that a brain can develop new neurons from those that have been damaged, and scientists are very excited at this prospect to help Alzheimers' patients. We have also shown that just restoring normal body chemistry can elicit healing of most, if not all symptoms in most commonly affected horses, but this does not mean that sources of environmental chemical exposure should be eliminated or ignored. Relapses will occur if the horse is returned to the same chemical sewer that precipitated the problems in the first place. I have found through my years of research that these environmental culprits are indeed the real predisposing factors in all EPDS (Environmental Parasitic Disease Syndromes) cases like EPM.

Interestingly, many horse owners tell of behavior and performance problems that were resolved as well that have never been directly associated with EPM. Understanding this is all in the same line of thinking, the logic, so to speak. By understanding the logic of Vita Royal's program, it becomes quite clear why the whole drug approach itself will not work, in the long run no matter which drugs or their firepower are used.

Here are Some Summarized FAQ's:

EPM/Environmental Health diagnosis and Vita Royal's nutritional feed program that will help you better understand these concepts.

Q.) Since you approach EPM as a result of environmental illness, are there any other symptoms that we should watch for?

A.) Absolutely! EPM is only one of perhaps 50-60 already-identified manifestations of environmental illnesses. All of the symptoms and syndromes can be compared to different leaves and branches on the same tree, which is, in turn, being poisoned by chemicals polluting the roots by their uptake of food sources. Check out our Concurrent Symptoms page for more information.

Q.) Wouldn't it make better sense to use a cidal drug, even if it is toxic, to kill the protozoa first and then stimulate the immune system? And please explain the testing, what does a positive test mean? What about treating until we get a negative test?

A.) One would think that initially using a cidal drug would first be necessary, but that is a process of the old thinking, from an old paradigm, for a world that doesn't exist any more.That same thinking is used to justify chemotherapy with toxic chemicals for cancer treatment. Often, the orthodox approach must admit that "Yes, we have killed the cancer or whatever, however, we have unfortunately lost the patient". This is what has fueled the alternative health movement in the first place. Hence, the trend toward safer methods that work with the body.

The cidal drugs could be justified if the body somehow was not recognizing the bugs - i.e., if they were somehow "cloaking" themselves to hide from the body's immune defense mechanisms, but such is not the case here. The body recognizes them very well, and that is what is being measured in the conventional Western Blot test. Actually, we want the antibody titres to be high! It is a measure of successful immune response! Isn't this why we vaccinate in the first place? To raise antibody titres against a pathogen?

Since when do we diagnose a disease state by an antibody titre?

Isn't this an oxymoron? If this were so, then you and I and everyone else are "walking disease states" for polio, measles, whooping cough, diptheria, small pox, etc., for which we were vaccinated as children - to PREVENT disease.

"Stepping back from the forest to observe the trees", it becomes hard to now justify putting even MORE very toxic chemicals into an already chemically challenged body, that may further compromise the immune system and the detox systems that we now need ever so badly, the liver, spleen, and kidneys. Drugs can "buy" you some time in a "911" case, but that's all. The direction becomes a dead end street the longer you travel down it. The immune system resembles an overworked, single woman or man trying to deal with "supermom/superdad syndrome": juggling family, home and career with no help from a spouse. It was called "tired housewife syndrome" years ago, simply defined as exhaustion from overwork and unreal expectations by society. When "supermom or superdad" finally collapses in bed, do we go in with a cattle prod to get them up and working these unrealisttic expectations again? Or do we relieve them of some of the work that CAUSED the exhaustion in the first place?

The problem isn't that they aren't CAPABLE of doing a proper job, but that there is TOO MUCH to do. "Leaky gut" causes more work for the immune system than what it has capabilities to handle. "Immune stimulants", as such, are not what we need most now; we need relief from overwork -biologically speaking, sealing and healing the gut, and support nutritionally and biochemically to do the job. This is why vaccinations often take the toll they do. They shock the bedridden immune system like a cattleprod!

So, the answer to your question is again, the program, and it is a whole program, supports the body in detoxification and restoration of normal biochemistry, in the face of the environmental contamination to which it is continually exposed, so it can do the job of curing the body itself.

Horses, as well as people, are probably dead end hosts, for most of these newly emerging opportunistic infections for now anyway. Nature is always adapting to changing environments, and that is survival. It is only a matter of time before Nature will figure out a way to complete the life cycle in these new host environments, to which these "new" bugs were formerly denied, for that is Nature's ultimate goal, always.

Again, it doesn't matter what the species or how many of them, they entered through a door that needs to be closed again. They are making themselves at home in an environment that was never available to them before. That door needs to be shut! Drug regimens of any sort do not address this. To me, it sounds like "common sense", but I think "out of the box" and traditional education does not teach this, yet. But things are changing! This is why I am here, to try to get human and veterinary medicine to "step back from the forest to observe the trees." ALL THE TREES!

Q.) If the horse is a "dead end host" then why are the protozoa dangerous in the body?

A.) First we need to define "dead-end host"- that is an animal who can serve as host to one or more stages of the life cycle of a parasite, but not the stage that includes reproduction, and development of infective particles to the same or other species.

The protozoa we see in the fecals have hatched from the cysts, but cannot reproduce in the horse- or that is what is currently thought. However, they can wreak havock on their own if they are able to make their own way inside the body. Remember, no other living entities are supposed to be inside the body.

A similar condition has been observed in man for many years, now. It is called "visceral larval migrans", where parasitic worms from animals hatch from ingested eggs, in man, and then begin a lifetime of migrations throughout the body, including the brain, without ever completing their life cycles and actually reproducing. This is a perfect example of a "dead- end host". Just because a host is dead-end, only describes the ability of this host to infect others. It does not have anything to do with the damage that is done during these migrations. It just means that it is not communicable from body to body in the same species.

What we are seeing in the fecals is not the "shedding " of infective stages of these parasites, but stages that can enter the body through the now open doors of the leaky gut, and migrate anywhere, causing damage wherever they go.This is why the symptoms are so varied. It depends on where they go. In the beginning, 16 years ago, unaffected horses had zero, zip, zilch of these observable. Now, most every horse has at least SOME.

But that is the way of Nature, to fill every niche, make use of every opportunity, and with the dramatic increases in environmental pollution over 16 years ago, there are lots more opportunities now. I used to set an arbitrary grading system of 1 to 5, with a 5 being the worst with the highest numbers and more than one species. I don't bother to even classify them anymore as the grading system that I used even up to 5 years ago is no longer is relevant. There are no more negatives, only differing grades of severity now.

What I do see on the program, however, are higher numbers of dead ones that may hatch, but not be able to be sustained to the end of the gut, because the internal regulators are being corrected by the program. Also, the speed of their movements are greatly slowed as well. This is the "control" I am working toward as there never will be a cure. Like worms, they are with us forever, and we just "control" their numbers. Sooner or later, Nature will find a way to allow more and more of them to actually reproduce in these"dead end hosts". That is Nature's way, and the likes of man are no match for that!!

On the dead end host again, what I am seeing in the fecals are the trophozoite stage of the protozoa of many species. These are very fragile and are not the true reproductive stage. With many of them, the opportunity to inhabit a body has never been open to them before. This is why we PRESUME them to see the horse as dead end. With Sarcocystis, the situation is different, which is why I refer to them as "17 year olds with ouzis". They have evolutionary experience, that the others, referred to as "the 5 year olds" may lack now, but not probably for long.

I never used to see these in the blood before, and just started seeing them in the blood about 3 years ago. At that time, I would be lucky to see one or two on a whole slide. Now, several are visible on virtually every field of the severely affected horses. They are now appearing as cysts of some sort as well, but earlier, I saw true trophozoites crawling around in the blood. It was awesome, and witnessed by a group of international veterinarians at a seminar where I gave a presentation. We hemolyzed the blood cells to be able to see them more clearly. I have many photomicrographs of many types of organisms from hemolyzed and fresh blood from many species of animals and man.

I even have photos of these cysts "hatching" some sort of spore like organisms too. This is not common - yet! I have never tried staining them, but that would be very interesting. The equipment I use has a good computer monitor that attaches directly to the microscope, so that everyone can see what I see in the scope. By adjusting the lighting, the bugs refract differently than the blood cells and you can get differentiation like that of a staining effect. It is made by Sony especially for this use. This is part of the equipment that I use for my seminars.

An animal can be a dead end host to one species of protozoa and not necessarily to another. With Sarcocystis, it has been observed to divide in the Central Nervous System (CNS) and replicate itself there, but not to necessarily be able to infect another horse. I know it can be confusing. We still don't know enough about ANY of these species. This is why I focus on prevention as worth MORE than a pound of cure!

Q.) Why are there so many varied symptoms that can be exhibited with Environmental Parasidic Disease Syndrome, which contributes to Environmental Illness, when they are all migrating to the spinal cord and the brain?

A.) Parasites aren't smart enough to just head for the CNS. Don't forget, they are new to the terrain in the last few years, and are still in the process of adapting to a new host. They wander aimlessly in the body which accounts for the variety of symptoms produced, depending upon where they settle or pass through. The neurological symptoms exhibited are more likely a result from the bombardment of environmental pollution over the last 30 years. Many horses with "obvious Environmental Illness Symptoms" show absolutely no protozoa in the testing! I believe this is why they did not repond to antiprotozoal drugs either.

Q.) If this Environmental Illness program is so effective, why is it not in every vet's hands and at every university to offer to every single client?

A.) It IS if they choose to take it! The obstacle is a matter of economics. Universities who train our veterinarians and physicians, depend on the grant monies they get from drug manufacturers to survive.

Because of this "system", they are "forced" into the orthodox way of thinking, and this has been the "system" for a long time. That's why veterinarians seldom come out and advocate ANY form of alternative approach, no matter how promising. They simply can't. If they can't make money from it, or especially if it competes with something they can make money with, they won't recognize it. It's the economics of the "system". But we, the consumer, have the power in hand to change that, and free all of our practitioners to be able to help us use the BEST that is known, no matter what the source, alternative, natural or conventional, Western, Eastern, whatever works.

Physicians never thought there was money in preventive medicine years ago. Therefore, our health reimbursement system was set up on the basis of "trauma" medicine, that treats AFTER the fact. You know, in China, doctors are docked from their paychecks every time one of their patients has to go to the hospital, because he has not been doing his job well. PREVENTION is the priority; not fixing the illness after it becomes a problem. The total opposite of here!

Western orthodox medicine doesn't want alternative modalities, especially those that really do work, in the hands of the people - this cuts their monies, AND your dependancy upon them. It's just economics. This is why education toward this end is discouraged as well. Few practioners are very thrilled with educated clients/ patients. They ask too many challenging questions and they challenge the "system"! Remember that the "system" functions exactly as it is demanded by you, the consumer . YOU control the "system" If consumers demanded differently, it would be so.

What I am doing is to try to empower everyone to THINK and ask questions and to LEARN for themselves. Then the "system" will be restored to what it was originally set up to be in the first place -a "system" that serves the people, and NOT the other way around! Then, the people will demand, and get, what they truly NEED, and NOT just WHAT THE "SYSTEM" WANTS THEM TO DEMAND, limited by what the system is able to provide!

Q.) Are all autoimmune diseases are caused by protozoa?

A.) Autoimmune diseases are probably not CAUSED by protozoa, as I think the primary source is still the environmental factors. The protozoa are a secondary factor, I would say, as their presence in the body lays down yet another set of symptoms and syndromes. It's an observation that can be used to monitor the success of the restorative program you are using, since we can actually SEE these organisms and not the chemicals locked deep in the body tissues.

Environmental Parasitic Disease Syndrom (EPDS) is the END domino, the RESULT of the fall of many dominoes before it. When the door to the body has been opened, they enter, and contribute syndromes of their own, on top of everything else. But we can observe the body clearing itself of them, and thereby monitor the success of the restorative process.

Q.) Do horses in this program suffer the same highs and severe lows that are seen with conventional antibiotic/antiprotozoal drug therapies?

A.) The answer is a resounding "NO"! A typical horse may show nothing at first, followed by either a "WOW" response, by third to tenth day, OR a steady improvement. If improvement has leveled off and no further improvement is seen, then thyroid therapy begins, starting at very low doses and following the protocol for increases if necssary. Our only downturn cases have been those who either ran out of supplements, or subjected horses to unusual stress that they were not ready for, like hauling cross country in a move, severe weather turns, or racing without full recovery time during this "WOW" response. Weather fronts, full moons and heat cycles, will adversely affect progress and healing too.

Recovery time frame is heavily dependant upon how long conventional drug therapy was used, dosage, state of Gastrointestinal (GI) tract, as horses often have ulcers or GI damage from one or more "insults", steroids etc, and the severity of the condition. So NO, downturns are NOT an expected part of this program, as insults to the body, such as toxic drug therapies are not included. A small percentage of horses exhibit a "healing crisis" at about 7 to 10 days into the program, when a low grade fever appears, and they may feel "dumpy", but this is a desirable immune response, to low grade infections that the immune systems did not have the strength to respond to before.

First Time Clients Should Also Read:

FAQ's: Colic, Herpes, Tying Up, Allergies, Uveitis

FAQ's: Equine Environmental Illness