FAQ's | EMS | Equine/horse Environmentally Induced Illness

Frequently Asked Questions

Equine Environmentally
Induced Illness

Q.) Does Vita Royal's program, for Environmental Illness, actually kill the protozoa?

A.) The program developed addresses Environmental Illness as the result of the toxic effects of environmental pollution accumulation in the body. The buildup of solvents, herbicides, pesticides and industrial chemicals compromises the endocrine, immune and other systems of the body, weakening them and making the body more susceptible to infections that would not otherwise be possible.

I have been researching this problem for more than 24 years, and first associated living protozoa in the fresh fecals of horses with strange "roving" lamenesses 17 years ago, long before Environmental Illness and EPM was ever heard of. Veterinarians and university professors chuckled, called them "irrelevant organisms" and "Linsey's Cooties".

Since then, I have revealed them in the blood of many animals, including humans suffering from autoimmune diseases of lupus, iritis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. Oppossums and raccoons, who are the reputed carriers of this disease, are just innocent victims like our horses and ourselves. I have seen many species of protozoa from the beginning, many years ago.

Environmental pollution makes the body now a suitable host for opportunistic infections like protozoa and other parasites to which they were formerly immune. So, control of this disease should better be aimed at the cause rather than the effects of the cause, i.e. at the first domino rather than the last.

Treating this disease from the bottom, aiming only at the resulting opportunistic infecting organisms, no matter what or how many species they be, only aims at the results, rather than the cause which led to the creation of the opportunity to open the doors to the body in the first place. The Vita Royal program addresses this philosophy, and the extremely successful results we have had, even in drug failure cases, verifies its mewts. By restoring normal biochemistry, the opportunity is destroyed.

Our program includes a simple feed recipe with no commercial additives that is 40 to 50% less expensive than a commercial bagged feed. We recommend that, along with a grass-only hay. Alfalfa is not used as there are at least five known compound groups in alfalfa that prevent the manufacture and metabolism of thyroid in the body. The thyroid gland takes the biggest hit by environmental chemicals, so it needs all the support it can get. Some horses even need thyroid supplementation.

Nutritional supplementation strategy starts with an upper gastric liquid soother, called Nutrient Buffer®. Then a powder with timed release buffers and a special balanced blend of vitamins and minerals, named Nutrient Buffer® H/G, addresses the lower gastrointestinal tract and nutritional supplementation. They work together to restore and support normal biochemistry in the face of environmental pollution to which all animals are constantly exposed. The program is less expensive than what most people feed now, not even including the cost of drugs.Vita Royal has established three Rehabilitation Centers with plans for more. Seminars are available for set up training. The program does not kill protozoa, but doesn't have to. When the normal biochemistry is restored, the body does the rest. Compromising an already chemically compromised body with more chemicals does not make sense, if one understands where this thinking is coming from.

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 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 Central Nervous System. 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, moon and heat cycles, can adversely affect progress and healing too.

Recovery time frame is heavily dependant upon how long conventional drug therapy was used, dosage, state of 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.

Q.) The National Reserch Council has some nutrient mineral requirement. How does your program conform to these?

A.) The NRC arbitrarily established those requirements as none of the experts could agree! I tried to do the same over 20 years ago, when I was founding my company, Vita Royal Products. Inc. I nearly drove myself crazy. This is the result of my research over 23 years concerning mineral recommendations:

1.) The requirements are not a set thing for every body in every species, as genetics plays a big part in weaknesses and strength both inherantly and with absorption. In human studies, many people with certain subtypes of diabetes simply could not absorb manganese properly, and could not form a proper insulin molecule, or enough of them. Supplementing them with an amino acid chelate of manganese that is already "predigested" and bound to carrier proteins, eliminated that problem.

2.) The nutrients present in one area of the country are not the same amount or the same ratios as those in another part of the country, and they may be different from farm to farm depending on the soil type. This makes quite a difference in the nutrient content of the foods or feeds grown, particularly with minerals.

3.) Those same endemic nutrients that really may be there, are compromised in absorption by acid rain and other environmental toxins, airborn, waterborn, localized industry, or, like we have in southeast Michigan, over 100 toxic dumps in every county!

4.) Certain areas of the country have endemic or naturally ocurring poisons too, compromising the ratios of the already existing minerals, like arsenic in southeast Michigan, NJ, areas of OK and others. Uranium in the Penn mountain areas, and thyroid poisons from naturally occurring coal deposits. There are many more. This changes nutrient requirements for every living body in those areas, as well as what is actually available, considering competition for absorption.

5.) The chemical forms of these nutrients determines their bioavailability as well as their ultimate destinations in the body. Some chemical forms that were, and still are being used, extensively as mineral supplements in human and animal foods and feeds, are less well tolerated these days, as they are acid forming in the body. They are the sulfates and phosphates of minerals. The most common of these, copper sulfate, even doubles as a drain cleaner that you can buy in your local hardware store. It is also used in ponds to kill algae.

6.) Then, we have to consider the results of our inbreeding and line breeding, narrowing our gene pool, and the unseen biochemical manifestations that present themselves as "prone to this or that". These horses, often the "best bred" have truly different nutrient and biochemical requirements individually as well.

7.) We now have a phosphate pollution problem. Actually, it has been with us for many years. Even the feds have recognized this many years ago when they banned phosphates from washing detergents. And to make matters worse, the chemical forms of phosphate fertilizers used now are so many times the potency of the old ones, that they upset the whole applecart of balance, with respect to calcium and magnesium, primarily, and to the other trace minerals secondarily. Everything is different now.

For this reason, I have formulated a supplement line that meets all these requirements in that the nutrients are ALL amino acid chelated and "predigested". The body is then flooded with them in a totally non toxic way, it uses what it wants and needs and excretes the rest. They are not stored, except those that are actually used and locked up in biochemical reactions, and for this reason, not ABLE to become toxic, but also must be fed every day.

I have also formulated a feed recipe that can be customized to your area of the country, that you can use for every horse, and get made for you at a mill who makes feeds. The great beauty of this is that it costs about 40% less than bagged feeds, has absolutely no fillers in it, only excellent quality grains. Mineral ratios have been brought up to date with respect to current environmental considerations - something the feed companies have yet to do. For more in depth and inciteful reading on this subject, please see "Environmental Illness from a New Perspective", and the "Whys and Why Nots of the Vita Royal Feed Program". It will also discuss the currently used additives that can be a problem. There is also a list of feed manufacturers who are currently mixing this feed, and we are always adding more. BTW, neither Vita Royal nor I, get any monies from these companies for these feeds or referrals in any way. Their only requirement for me to promote them for free is to guarantee quality controls, not substitute any junk quality items, or others, and not to charge exorbitant prices for it. Currently it sells for $10 to $12 per 100 lbs and is about 14% protein that is highly digestible.

Q.) How do "cowhocks" relate as a symptom of Environmental Illness?

A.) Cowhocks is a stance that a four-legged animal takes when it is weakly balanced. It tries to approach the more stable shape of a triangle, by putting two of its legs splayed out to balance the other two that have been drawn together, most commonly, the hind legs draw together and the front legs splay out. Conventional thinking believes this is a genetic defect, but many years ago I learned differently. I was asked to help with the rehabilitation of humane society rescues-all ages-and many of them were cowhocked severely. Nobody wanted them for this reason. I mixed custom supplements for them, seeing that they had poor coats and bad hooves--a sign of acid at the cell level and a sign of inadequate calcium and magnesium, among other deficiencies, by the deformation of the proteins in hoof and hair.

They surprised even me! They all completely turned around, straightened their stances, and nobody recognized them a few months later. Since then I have learned to look at the body with different eyes. Even old racehorses with cowhocks and tendency toward contracted tendons returned to normal within a short time. Granted, they were not as severe a case as the youngster, but obvious, once one knows how to see the body as a biochemical system. See the article " It's a Balance Thing" for more complete description of envrieonmental cow hocks the cause and effect.

As you can see, cowhocks, contracted tendons, and knock knees are all indications of an acid chemistry, again, caused by environmental contamination-which predisposes one to EPM/EPDS and other environmantal illnesses. See the article "It's a Balance Thing" for more complete description of environmental cow hocks, the cause and effects.

Q.) How do toxic soil, leaky gut, and different farm statistics relate to Environmental Illness and EPM?

A.) Disparities in soil sample and toxicity readings occur routinely from farm to farm. Many old dairy farms used hundreds of pounds of DDT. Though it takes 50 years to break down, the resulting chemical is DDD and DDE, which are even MORE toxic than the original EVER was!

Fertilizer use was-and still is-a hazard here. The U.S. is the ONLY developed country in the world that has absolutely NO quality controls for purity of products applied to the land. It was recently discovered that some fertilizer companies were even importing hazardous waste, including radioactive wastes, and, magically, this stuff is transformed by paperwork, into FERTILIZER! The implications are horrific, and most people are not even aware that this happens.

Nitrate pollution is the most common water contaminant, and this comes from fertilizer runoff and leaching, particularly if a well is shallow. Nitrates also come from sewage, manure and industry. The entire central portion of the U.S. drawing its water from the Oglalla aquifer, from Canada down to Texas, is now contaminated, as is much of the East and West Coasts and the midwest. Nitrates are EXTREMELY toxic to the thymus and the immune functions of the body as well as the thyroid, and associated with cancer. We offer a simple nitrate test kit for people to do themselves for only $10.00. We ask everyone starting our program to assess their total exposures. This helps them to recognize a specific toxic problem so they can take steps to eliminate or reduce exposure.

Q.) Are protozoa samples from equine fecals, easy to do, easy to see?

A.) I have described the procedure of doing the fecals and show it "vividly" in videos available from our office. You can't miss them as they zip all over the place! You can't take the fecal to the lab though, it must be right from the horse. After five minutes, it begins to look negative. There are many species and they are large. The Environmental Illness epidemic is worsening, as I observe, and it is getting harder and taking longer to restore health and neurological function after extensive drug treatment. I don't know if the newer drugs appear to be more toxic, or the environmental factors are getting worse, but the fecals and blood take more time to clear than they did a year ago. I am seeing many more organisms on the blood slides as well, more than I did a year and a half ago when the original videos were made.

Q.) My vet says that protozoa are "normal" in fecals, is this true?

A.) There are now many species of trophozoites of protozoa active in the fresh fecals. They never USED to be NORMAL, as I have been observing them for over twenty years and correllating both their numbers and species with symptomologies.

NOW, because of the population statistics, they are considered "NORMAL", however, so is lead poisoning The amount of lead in a "NORMAL" person's body now would have been considered very toxic some 50 years ago! "NORMALS" are created and defined by population statistics any more, and have little to do with corellation of actual disease syndromes - which makes it really rough for good physicians and good veterinarians to treat people and animals with clinical symptoms, that are within the "NORMAL" category, because so many in the population suffer the same things! I hate that word "NORMAL" for this reason!

Endemic protozoa of many types survive hostile environments by encapsulation into cysts for protection. When the conditions are right, they "hatch" into the trophozoite form that we recognize from biology class as protozoa, to complete their life cycles. S.neurona have greater ability to penetrate through the gut wall and actually invade, however, if the door is open, any species can enter. The lowered pH of the gut, affected by combinations of stress, chemical exposure etc. "hatch" more of these species and numbers and free more of these trophozoites.

A good analogy would be: suppose you owned a candy store on a street down from a school, where all grades of kids walked past going home. Under normal conditions, you may be held up by 17 year olds toting Uzi's, but not by unarmed 5 year olds. Now, what if you left the store, with the door wide open and the candy all sitting out in plain view. Under THESE conditions, given this OPPORTUNITY, the average five year old would probably become a thief!

Does this make it easier to understand? It is the OPPORTUNITY that makes ALL the difference. This is the reason that the testing is so problematic, trying to identify WHICH organism and all that. It is what led to the opportunity in the first place that matters. This is the thinking from a different perspective. What would you think that a police officer would say to the candy store owner who complained about the robbery? If it continued to happen, he would admonish the owner for leaving the doors wide open and the place unattended to begin with! And rightly so! It's getting to the cause, of the cause, of the cause...

"NORMALS" HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REALITY OF HEALTH ANYMORE!

Q.) I have heard that there is no EPM in Canada or Europe. Is this just a U.S. based disease?

A.) I have to clarify the "EPM" thing going on in the U.S. here. We are having an epidemic of neurologic disease manifestations in horses that has been building for many years now. Some of the early university work has identified a protozoa that may be responsible for at least some of the horses, however, many inconsistencies still exist in the whole research model.

I have been mapping the changes in the environment and all living things caused by environmental toxin buildup. These main classes of toxins include pesticides, herbicides and halogens like chlorine, fluorine, bromine and radioactive iodine from nuclear test blasts that interfere with thyroid function; solvents that interfere with hormone functions like estrogen and testosterone; heavy metals that interfere with nutritional minerals that compound the already severe soil mineral deficiencies that we have that were known as far back as 1936. In short, we have a 911 environemtnal situation!

Since grazing animals are really the front lines of exposure, and horses are the best markers since they live much longer than slaughter animals, it is only expected that they would be first to be hit so hard.

But what happens to our horses now is in line to happen to us if we don't get the situation in hand shortly. I have been seeing the same biochemical dysfunction in both horses and humans for some time now, and have photographed the same opportunistic organisms in both species.

Suffice it to say that much is being diagnosed as EPM, the actual protozoal infection, that is not. Many animals do not have "bugs" in the blood, but an overload of toxic chemicals in the body. These chemicals were known 30 years ago to cause the very same neuro signs that are being described today and attributed only as EPM infection. This is why not drug protocols have yet earned approval for efficacy, and also why I believe that non ever will. The approach is entirely wrong. Chemical overload comes first and opens the door to opportunistic infections of all sorts later on. Addressing the "cause of the cause, of the cause" is the only sensible and intelligent way to proceed. This is the direction of the educational process I am ushering in. Hopefully it will catch on and we can make some real progress here.

Q.) Has EPM ever been able to be actually caused in a controlled environment?

A.) There is just one study to date where researchers attempted to do this and were unsuccessful. This failed result also fits into Environmental Illness as a primary cause, of the cause, of the cause explanation of EPM as other factors must be at work here. To follow is an explanation of this study:

Veterinarian Parasitology 2000 Sep 20;92(2):157-63

Innoculation of sarcocystis neurona merozoites into the central nervous system of horses.

Lindsay DS, Dykstra CC, Williams A, Spencer JA, Lenz SD, Palma K, Dubey JP, Blagburn BL

Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, 1410 Prices Fork Road, 24061-0342, Blacksburg, VR, USA.

Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a neurologic syndrome in horses from the Americas and is usually caused by infection with the apicomplexan parasite, Sarcocystis neurona. A horse model of EPM is needed to test the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents and potential vaccines. Five horses that were negative for antibodies to S. neurona in their serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were injected in the subarachnoid space with living merozoites of the SN2 isolate of S. neurona. None of the horses developed clinical disease or died over a 132-day observation period. All five horses developed antibodies to S. neurona in their CSF and serum 3-4 weeks after injection. Two of the horses were examined at necropsy and no parasite induced lesions were observed in their tissues and no parasites were recovered from portions of their spinal cords inoculated on to cell cultures. Results of this study demonstrate that merozoites of the SN2 isolate of S. neurona will induce seroconversion but not clinical disease when inoculated directly into the CSF of nonimmune horses.

Q.) I heard that some of the research has shown that the traditional drugs being used commonly for EPM will actually cause the disease they are supposed to be treating? If this is true, it is frightening!

A.) This is indeed true, according to a research report published in EQUUS Magazine in March 2000. It was reported that New Bolton Equine Research Center was doing a study using healthy stallions and giving them the Trad Drugs to evaluate the possible effects of the drugs on semen quality, when all of the independant researchers noticed that the 4 of the 6 stallions actually became symptomatic for the same neurological symptoms associated with the EPM disease itself. The study lasted 90 days, and it took another 60 days for the horses to return to normal after the drugs were discontinued.

Researchers commented that the downward slides associated with current drug therapies, and formerly thought to be associated with a die off reaction to the protozoa, really were most likely to be caused by the toxic effects of the drugs themselves, as the study horses had been thoroughly evaluated and did not have the protozoa to cause a die off reaction.

I have been waiting for a long time for this type of study to be done. I have maintained from the beginning, that adding more chemicals to an already chemically compromised body just didn't make sense! Chemical exposures documented from 30 years ago have described the very same neurological symptoms and syndromes that EPM has become famous for. This was long before any "bugs" of any sort were ever associated. At the first "Earth Day" in Ann Arbor, MI, I remember hearing reports of neurological, behavioral and other health problem documented at that time from environmental chemical exposures, with the predictions that "this day would come" when these syndromes would be a major factor in health of the masses. This day has surely come, and we need to address it in an appropriate way. The old ways don't work any more. The world is a different place now.

The Vita Royal Program has, from the start, addressed the cause of the cause, of the cause of EPM/EPDS/Environmental Illness as environmental chemical contamination buildup in the body, predisposing it to many syndromes and symptoms, including many types of opportinustic infections, to which it would not be susceptible ordinarily. This new research concerning the toxicity of the drugs themselves only serves to further prove my point.

Q.) I am doing a research project for environmental issues and have your video. Will it show me all the info I need to know about your "perspective" or where else should I look?

A.) I don't know which video you have, but there are three available. The first one is called "Environmental Health Connections: The Overview", and this is the one that best shows by a flow chart, actually how the environmental chemicals predispose the body to opportunistic infections and diseases of all sorts. It was produced a year and a half ago, so if you find any new info that I would be interested in, please share it, as there are new findings all the time. This EPM program is really an adaptation of a human program developed originally for environmental illness and its fallout syndromes of chronic fatigue, blood sugar irregularities, obesity, cholesterol probs, allergies, asthma, etc.. It was patented first in 1996, and was the only diet program ever to be awarded a US patent, and there are over 28,000 other diets registered in the US. This was the summation of more than eight years of successful clinical trials.

The average time for clinical trials is 60 days, which is done for new drugs coming to market. Prozac had only a 60 day trial, for instance.) On Jan 5, 1999, a "continuation in part" patent was issued and published in the Washington Gazette for application to "all autoimmune diseases" like rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Multiple schlerosis, Lupus, Fibromyalgia and others. You can access the complete write up through your library. The patent number is 5,855,949. It has very good info for you not found in textbooks. It was also picked up by ABC NEWS and a piece was put on their website, and is still there in the archives. It is in my website too.

The other product in the Environmental Illness program is also under a patent published in the Gazette on Mar 5, 1996, and the patent number is 5,496,567.

Q.) Are double blind studies the only ones that are reliable?

A.) About double blind studies,,,These are fast becoming a thing of the past, as no one wants to be the placebo anymore, and the variables between individuals in the two groups can skew the fine interpretations of the tests. Let me explain.

The best way now determined to be the most accurate method of testing and obtaining the truest data, is to compare the individual to himself, in a method called "the N=1 study", where the N is the number of animals in the study, and each animal in effect, becomes his own test or trial.The animal is completely evaluated on as many parameters as desired, and all factors are then stabilized with the exception of the one to be tested.After a period of time, the animal is re evaluated again and all parameters are compared to those of the previous time.

This method eliminates all the different variables between the test animals such as sex, genetic predisposition, age, environmental exposure, past debilitations from previous disease states, etc. With each individual being evaluated against himself in a previous state, and then the overall results being compared with all the other individuals, new applications and remediations can even be discovered for whatever is being tested.

Q.) What is the difference between natural therapies and the synthetically produced naturals?

A.) Comparing drug therapy with alternative therapy, even of the "same" substance may not tally up equal still. Many natural substances have what is called, an asymetric carbon atom, which allows the molecule to have more than one arrangement of its atoms in space, in a three dimentional way. An example of this would be your right and left hands. Everything you can say about one, applies to the other, except that you cannot in any way, overlay one upon the other. They are mirror images of each other.

Mother Nature knows how to accomplish in the manufacturing of these compounds, that which we have yet to learn - how to direct the manufacturing process to create ONLY a left hand OR a right hand, ALWAYS. When we try to duplicate the natural processes we "think" are working, we always get a product that is a mix of the two mirror image forms of the molecule. We call that a "racemic mixture", (different races) and
the different forms "stereoisomers", meaning, different arrangements in space.

When I was in college in 1969, my organic chemistry professor challenged us and told us that finding the secret to controlling this manufacturing process would surely earn one a nobel prize. To this date, it has yet to be discovered!

These differences in molecular structure can have HUGE effects in the way they behave biochemically. For instance, all naturally occuring amino acids are of the "L" configuration and the mirror image form is called a "D" form. Taking the amino acid phenylalanine, the "L" form is an appetite suppressor and a neurotransmittor in the brain that can interchange with tyrosine, affecting mood and thyroid hormone. The "D" form is a pain killer, and cannot be changed by the body into the "L" form. The racemic mixture that is man made is called "DL".

This also applies to vitamin E. The natural form in this case, however, is the "D" form. Thyroid hormone produced synthetically also has the same problem. Synthetics, that have been calling themselves purely "L" for so long and are really a blend, are now under Federal Register, and have until Aug 17, 2000 to straighten out the problems in manufacturing or pull it off the market.

Batches have been found to vary in potency by as much as 30%. It has now been discovered that the "D" forms of amino acids are actually "degraded" forms of the "L" forms, and there has been a test for this designed to age the bones of dinosaurs! So, naturals and synthetically produced naturals are not always the same, and this problem is behind the unwanted side effects in a large number of cases.

Another source of side effects, from both true naturals like herbs, and their man made counterparts, is that the active ingredient is not a regular part of the food intake, or not in the high doses used in therapy. There may be a reaction as there would be to any foreign substance, natural or synthetic. In this situation, the substance does qualify as a drug, in that it fuels alternate biochemical pathways in the body not normally used, which is helpful when the commonly used ones aren't working well.

Q.) Can a good nutrition program alter the course of any disease even without drugs? Please explain this.

A.) This is correct. In fact, what I have discovered from myresearch over many years with environmentally induced illnesses, is thatwhen we can change the paradigm of the old standards of health within each individual body to a new one of better health, that the old expectations following the epidemiologies or "tracks" of diseases are no longer true. We can achieve different and better outcomes. In effect, we increase the resistance part of the disease equation.

The reality is such that there is more to the disease state than bugs. There are factors in an equation. And the outcome of the equation is the mathematical result of the factors. All the factors are important. This is the equation:

Low resistance (provides the opportunity) + high ability of organism to invade (strength of pathology)= disease state.

Western Medicine only considers the pathology or ability of the organism to invade, and classifies them according to this. The target of Western Medicine is just to the organism with drugs. And, under the old paradigm where health and resistance of the individual was taken for granted, that made all other factors equal. So the equation could be shifted effectively by this kind of intervention. But that was "then". It doesn't work so well anymore.

Eastern Medicine developed essentially because the societies were poor and could not afford this kind of intervention. So it looked at the equation and chose a different factor to target, to affect the outcome, one that everyone could use. This was "resistance" and reducing of the "opportunity" for the organisms to invade in the first place. They also found that not only was it effective for prevention practices, but for actual treatment of diseased states once they did exist. Now that we have more and more instances of failures of the Western approach, with subsequent Eastern methods succeeding, we have a mental war of thinking! I call these wars, "wars of stupidity", in that no one seems to be able to step back out of their *own* woods to view the trees! Is this understandable?

How much more sense would we have if there was less defensiveness about doing things simply for emotional reasons of security and tradition, following the same old protocols showing increasing failure rates, than if we consider BOTH factors? Each have merit, and each give us a certain power over disease organisms amd disease states. One does not, and should not ever exclude the other!

You know, in China, Traditional Oriental Medicine is the primary medicine used, and Western medicine is considered "alternative", only to be used in case the TCM doesn't work! Because of the increasing problems with environmental chemicals affecting the "resistance" factors in the body, and creating bigger "opportunities" for ever more organisms to be considered as "pathogens", I subscribe to this approach. Putting more toxic chemicals in the body, as many drugs are, only serves to shoot ourselves in the foot, by lowering the resistance, even more opening the doors for opportunity and thus requiring even stronger drugs to deal with the whole mess! It becomes a downward spiral, with more and more final reports stating "yes, we killed the infection, but unfortunately, we lost the patient". EPM is like that too. Now we are hearing about studies where the drugs used to treat an infection actually CAUSE the very neurological symptoms they are supposed to address! Is this crazy? I don't understand why intelligent people still don't get it!

This does NOT mean that we throw the baby out with the bath water! But if we use Western Medicine SENSIBLY and RESPECTFULLY, and we help thebody deal with chemical poisoning, we strengthen the resistance so compromised by this, thus shifting the equation in our favor, which also decreases the opportunity of organisms, also another shift in our favor. The overall equation now balances with LESS need for Western intervention, if any at all! IF it is still needed, much less can be used effectively, and the body will be better able to handle what IS used. The mathematics makes sense, doesn't it? It works in real life too!

In regards to vaccinations - Immunity only comes through vaccinations in Nature, by exposure. Low grade exposure prepares the body for big war, in event of exposure to high levels of organisms that would threaten the health and possibly life of the individual. Vaccination is one of the truly brilliant and wonderful accomplishments of Western Medicine. By using only killed organisms or even only parts of the organisms, vaccines can be made that will make the body "think" it is under attack, but have no propensity for actually causing the disease, even in immune compromised individuals. Problems with vaccines are twofold, neither having to do with the above principle upon which vaccinations were founded.

1.) The base ingredients, preservatives, and culture media have given us problems with many vaccines, for sure, as contaminants.

2.) Most importantly - As the resistance factors, the immune system, basal metabolism, the endocrine system etc become more and more compromised by environmental chemicals, bigger and bigger doors of opportunity arise for organisms to invade the body, overwhelming an already depressed immune functions.

This is like"tired housewife syndrome", where a woman tries to keep a house, be a functional mother to her children and even fulfill some needs of her own with a career, - and all with a family who takes her for granted, selfishly demands more than they should, won't help with housework ( even pick up their own messes), consider any of her needs, and a husband who won't even take out the garbage! In this case, she is NOT incabable of doing the work, and certainly doesn't need to be STIMULATED any more to work harder. She is simply overwhelmed, calls it quits and goes to bed.

Sooo, with this situation, do we jab her with a cattle prod to STIMULATE her, to get her lazy rear out of that bed and get back to work, and work EVEN HARDER to catch up?

Horrified are you? Well, that's what true immune stimulants do! And, some vaccines have been used in this way, I do say, inappropriately! This practice has given vaccines an undeserved bad rep. Is this understandable? Vaccines should only be used in immunocompetent bodies that are cabable of mounting an immune response. They should NOT be used to further challenge an already weakened one, at least not before it has been strengthened in every way possible.

Q.) Have all the labs in the Midwest devalued their normals for certain tests?

A.) Yes, ALL labs in the US are bound by law to conform to government mandates. Many years ago, I called the lab about a hair analysis that listed the lead level that I knew to be very high, in the "normal" range, and non toxic. I asked them "since when, did lead become non toxic?" They answered that they were ordered to change the "normals" as the majority of the population had levels this high, and that the "new" level was now considered "normal". Interesting that they never consulted Mother Nature as to classifying "normals"! The Clinton administration is working on a mandate to "devalue" the "normal" temps of humans at this time from 98.6 to 97.6, because so many of the population is affected!

Q.) I am having problems getting my horse to eat the supplements in his grain. Any suggestions? I am currently having to dose him.

A.) Continue to dose him if he will not eat it, however, most find success getting him to eat it if you dose with most of it right before you present him with his grain, and add a little in the grain. This way he will already have the taste in his mouth from the dosing and will assocIate the taste with the grain. Then, as time goes on, reduce the amount you dose and increase the amount in the grain, until all of it is in the grain. Mixing with molasses, applesauce or vanilla yogurt has been reported helpful too.

Q.) Is it harmful for horses to drink water from a tank that has algae growing in it?

A.) This depends upon the species of algae and the types of toxins they produce. All are not toxic, some are deadly. The one that causes the "red tide" is very toxic and so are the fish that eat them to us who, in turn, eat the fish. There began a problem several years ago with Klamath Lake, where most of the blue green algae come from. A toxic algae found there, growing with the blue green, was harvested too, as a contaminant. The FDA warned all three companies harvesting there to stop, and only 2 of them did. I do not know if the problem still exists there, but these are just some examples of problems with algae. Some researchers say they have found algae as a pathogen in sick animals and people. As a precaution, I would not let algae build up in any tank as it can always be newly contaminated by algae coming in from rain, birds, dust blown in etc, and you never know what's growing in there!

Q.) I have read a lot about the benefits of supplementing with magnesium lately. Can you tell me how to do this, what amounts etc.?

A.) About the magnesium question... Back in 1977, I did a lot of studies with magnesium and the bioavailability of the different chemical forms of magnesium too, magnesium oxide, magnesium sulfate, magnesium citrate and magnesium amino acid chelate, and their effects in known magnesium deficiency states with symptoms.

Magnesium without calcium will cause osteoporosis, they have to be balanced. Unfortunately, the old ratios of 2 to 1 don't hold anymore, as we now get only 80% of the magnesium coming through food sources that our grandparents did, and that is if we ate what they did, and we don't...we don't feed what they did either!

Environmental toxins are sequestered in the body as organic acids, which accounts for the huge increases yearly of sales of stomach remedies! They constantly send 911 acid signals from the peripheral tissues, so there is less ability to neutralize acid in the gut. I was awarded a US Patent for my Nutrient Buffer® for animals and humans by demonstrating the effects and interference of environmental chemicals on normal biochemistry, and why the current ratios of cations and the use of single cation antacids are obsolete for today's times. We need between a one to one and an inverted ratio for antacids today.

But if you use and inverted ratio with the chelates, which are more bioavailable, you get osteoporosis...but I do use these special mixes for short times to dissolve splints, ringbone and other undesirable calcifications very effectively, and have for over 20 years.

Magnesium is my favorite mineral because so much can be resolved by adding it into a previously unbalanced feeding regimen.

Many feed companies are still neglecting to add it to feeds, or they are using epsom salt because it is cheap! It is not very desirable for the body though, and this is why it is such a powerful purgative! Studies using animals on a known magnesium deficient diet even did not absorb it as a supplement the body hates it so much that it kicks it out, pronto.. a great laxative but poor supplement!

My feed recipes are properly balanced for environmental conditions now, not necessarily SOIL conditions, but ENVIRONMENTAL conditions, which are grossly different!

For supplies, I use both the oxide for the gut and the chelate in my formulations, and they are all balanced for the environment. I have a catalogue full of specialty products, so people can use one of several feed recipes and have made very reasonably at a local mill, and topdress with a supplement most suited for each individual horse. I do not want to provide single elements for previous reasons... can be very dangerous!

Both the feed recipes and the supplements are balanced for the environment., not necessarily the soils alone.

Most environmental and acidity problems exist along the East coast, the Mississippi River Valley, industrial areas and downwind of industrial areas mostly of the Midwest, and Colorado (with the highest statistics on MS in the nation too), and those down lower on the Oglalla aquifer polluted by nitrates.

Fewest problems are in the high plains states.

Q.) How do Calcium and Magnesium work together in the body, say in arthritis situations?

A.) Magnesium is calcium's watchdog. This was discovered in the arthritis studies done long ago. Researchers were puzzled when they observed two opposite reactions going on in the body at the same time, that of excess calcium laying down in the joints occurring concurrently with a deficiency in the bones and.osteoporosis. The common factor was a magnesium deficiency, that allowed the calcium to leach out of the bones and lay down on the joints. Taking calcium only for osteoporosis is a huge mistake, that will certainly compound the ratio imbalance and make the arthritis worse!

Q.) Someone suggested that giving Magnesium Sulfate as a supplement is a good and inexpensive way to correct Magnesium deficiency.

A.) Magnesium sulfate is such a hated chemical form of magnesium by the body that it is used as a purgative! Animals kept on a magnesium free diet developed diarrhea just as did those who were not magnesium deficient, the controls in the study. Even a severely deficient body will reject that chemical form! Please read the article "The Jeckyll and Hyde Personalities of Minerals" for more info.

Q.) Do yo agree with the ratio of Calcium to Magnesium to Phosphorus of 4 to 2 to 1?

A.) The ratio thing is such a broad cover for such a wide subject. Since different chemical forms of minerals have different bioavailabilities and destinations in the body, and each of these tissue destinations have their OWN particular ratio needs, one can see why stating a given ratio for the whole body without these considerations, is now seen as short sighted! With this new research,we come to realize that mineral ratios that we used to use are really NOT a"one size fits all" thing! I have had much better success using a higher amount of magnesium and leaving the phosphorus alone, because of the overabundance we already have in the environment already. Magnesium is also the highest deficiency we have now. Environmental chemicals have changed the mineral ratios that we need from the old ones that didn't consider this and didn't have to because it was not a factor at that time.

And, sometimes, in "updating the software of our computer knowledge banks" we realize that the old ways of thinking were really " a nice try, but no banana!" We don't put butter on burns anymore either.

Q.) I know that Magnesium is the leading deficiancy in minerals, and I believe that it is the cause of bleeders, too. Am I right?

A.) As for bleeders, magnesium is only part of the story. There really is no magic bullet in the biochemistry of any living thing. Everything is connected to everything else, and the body will rob Peter to pay Paul! Cellular membranes are known to be only two molecules thick, approximately 50% protein, and very prone to distortions by even weak acids.

You may know what happens to milk proteins when you add the weak acid of orange juice.They deform, and that is called "curdling". Well, if acidity increases at the cell level for long, from whatever source, then you have deformities of cell membrane proteins like that of milk proteins to the point of fracture. Capillary walls are very thin and sensitive too, and subject to the same problems.

Calcium and magnesium balance themselves across the cell membranes, with sodium and potassium. These are all positively charged and are called "cations", and they are the body's major buffering agents.

Negatively charged ions are called "anions". Calcium and sodium occupy the fluid surrounding the cells, and magnesium and potassium are found inside the cells. Together they interact across the cell membrane like your car battery, with the divider plate in the middle of the two cells.If the membrane becomes deformed or damaged, the cell no longer can work, like your car if the divider plate is damaged. Everything flows together causing inflammation and eventual cell death.

"Bleeding" or epistaxis, occurs when the amount of cellular acidity increases at the capillary site to the breaking point, with the addition of lactic acid from exercise, adding to the already borderline levels existing in the body. So these horses were, in my estimation, already in trouble even before they hit the track!

Q.) I understand that there are many different forms of minerals, and that each form is used in the body in different ways. So is a supplement that has different form of the same mineral better than a supplement with just one form?

A.) That depends upon WHICH chemical form, the balance of the OTHER chemical forms in the same mix, and what the individual problems of the horse that you are targeting. There are MANY chemical forms out there. This is really too complicated a question for a simple answer.

Q.) If one supplement has the following different forms of Clacium, Phosphorus and Magnesium: Monosodium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Pantothenate, and another has: grounded Limestone, Magnesium Sulfate and Amino Acid Chelate of Magnesium, in addition towheat middlings, how should these be interpreted?

A.) I do not like to comment on another company's products, but I will say that the phosphorus in dicalcium phosphate is more available that the calcium, and I do not recommend ANY phosphate additions to the grain or supplements in any significant quantity. Use of superphosphate fertilizers since the 1970s has caused such a phosphorus pollution problem in the environment that the federal government has issued a ban on use of phosphates in washing detergents, a significant user of phosphates. From my experience, I believe that an ever increasing need for antacids and other calcium and magnesium supplements in both human and animal populations is a result of significant pollution problems by phosphates of all kinds.

Calcium pantothenate is a salt form of vitamin B5, and not a significant calcium source. I have already commented on magnesium sulfate itself previously. This info is common knowledge and not any trade secret that I have given away to hurt another company's product.

Limestone is a raw form of calcium carbonate that has not been purified of its most common contaminant, lead. Lead is also a common contaminant of dolomite, and bone meal too. With all these"natural" sources coming up with increasing contamination these days, it makes my case for using lab produced products with quality controls, using Mother Nature's biochemical pathways, like the proteinates and amino acid chelates.

This way, we can tailor the correct RATIOS between the minerals,which are AS or MORE important than the actual AMOUNTS , for the specific needs of each SPECIES of animal and for each PROBLEM animal that I am addressing. Is this understandable? It gives an ability to specifically fine tune programs using only pure ingredients, just like Mother Nature would do if She could!

I NEVER use wheat middlings in anything. Those are cleanings and screenings of wheat that goes to human market, and is known to contain dirt and mold spores that can aggravate allergies. It is a waste product, but commonly used as a filler in many cases. For more on fillers, please see my article "Tthe Whys and Why Nots of the Vita Royal Feed Program"

Q.) What are "sequestered" minerals and are they protected from reacting to other minerals in the same mix?

A.) Sequestering is just Mother Nature's term for binding minerals into chemical forms in Nature."Sequestered" is another name for "stored". Amino acid chelation is the most common form of "sequestered" forms, and the environmental pollution comes with it, sequestered too. Sequestering is a storage process. All properly bound forms are protected, including the lab produced amino acid chelates or proteinates.

Q.) Regarding the acupoints tests on your web site, can an owner test these points themselves, or do we need to have an acupuncturist do this and do the injections?

A.) I would like to see everyone become familiar with all of the acupoints and test their horses regularly. It is sooo easy! I call these points "PHD" points for "Push Here Dummy"! Anyone can do it, and if you are handy with a needle as so many are, you can help your horse with the acupuncture instructions. Read the instructions carefully. The sickest horse may NOT be sensitive to any points until after use of the Vita Royal Program for 24 to 72 hours, until the QI or life force is brought up. Then the points will desensitize as the condition resolves.

The acupoints have an aura of about the size of a quarter or so in a horse, a dime or so in a human. Sometimes, if inflamed, they reach a size of half dollar in a horse, so your target area is quite large. It is interesting that those points which are so sore to the touch, are totally dead to the injection needle if a short one is used. When I need, I inject myself with my own blood, and if I miss the point, it feels like a bee sting just placing the needle without the injection of the blood, and I immediately withdraw. If I hit the point within the aura, I feel nothing but a pressure, not even the needle! The area of the point has a different electrical potential than the rest of the skin. Injection of B12 does sting though.

For the injection, use an18G needle for horses, just out of habit, and because he likes to "work" the needle too. I use a 20G for most things in horses anyway, and a 1 cc, 27G insulin syringe for myself. This size needle is painless. Use two to three cc of B12 for a horse and I use 1/4 cc B12 for myself. You can buy insulin syringes without a prescription. I use these to draw blood too, as they are painless and a person can do it on themselves with a little practice. For blood injections, use five cc of blood for horses and I use1/2 cc of blood for myself. I have clients who routinely inject their acupoints with their own blood to help with autoimmune and other immune diseases. It usually gives quite a lift the day after it is done, especially the first time around, or after not having been done in quite a while. Injection of blood is an old Chinese technique that was leanrned from the human medicine acupuncture masters. The blood must be from the same individual, and you have to draw and inject back right away as it will clot and you won't be able to get it out of the syringe.

I use a capped pen point to test the points, and then place the needle only, carefully into the point. A short needle they will not react to much but a long needle they will feel, even if directly on the point. I use a short one designed for cats. After I place the needle, then I attach the already loaded syringe and inject. If you cannot get injectible B12, then use blood here too at 5 cc per point. B12 is stronger acting, however, it is a script and you have to get it from a vet. I have many clients who have told me that blood helped the horse too, at least better than nothing at all.

And I would say, that because of the stinging of the B12, it is safer for you to use the blood too, if you attempt the injections yourself, as you will be better guided to the points by the reaction or non reaction of the horse. Vita Royal has a video, titled Environmental Health Connections: For The Equine, showing these injections and giving instructions for the Environmental Illness/EPM points if anyone is interested. It shows the lab work I do for blood and fecals too for EI/EPM, in case anyone who has a microscope would like to see for themselves. It costs $29.95, less if ordered with the rest of the set, which is $69.95 for about seven hours worth of instrucional video with case histories. I suggest you try on yourself first with an insulin syringe, so you know what it feels like to hit the point and not hit the point. You will surely know the difference! It is really not so hard to do if you are willing to try. And the benefits are wonderful if you ever need them!

Q.) I asked my local vet about these "acupoints" and he just laughed at me, adding some personal slurs, too. Are these points not weel-known? He says that he doesn't believe in any of this.

A.)"Reality" is not dependant upon one's perception or awareness of it!

I know many of you have passed these "theories" by your vets and received some negative and probably emotional reactions. That's just the politics talking, and I truly wish I could tell you more. But mud slinging is a sheer waste of time here - we have real problems we are all facing! As soon as the weather warms up, we will be experiencing likely the biggest season yet for these problems, as well as the very real possibility of yet another epidemic infection - West Nile Encephalitis. Caught and dealt with early, progress goes well. I would much rather have the diagnosis of EPM than arthritis any day! EPM is quite simple if caught early, and dealt with in a manner HARMONIUS WITH THE BODY!

I posted those acupoints with the permission of Dr. Cain so that everyone can have as much info as possible to be able to diagnose Environmental Illness, EPM, Herpes and autoimmune problems EARLY instead of late, when these are harder to deal with. It is very trying, dealing with veterinarians who still don't have a clue. There are many who still don't, and don't WANT to. There are also owners who REFUSE a correct diagnosis from veterinarians who ARE sharp, and risk losing the client because of having to give the client a "sensitive" diagnosis like that.

I recently donated EPM rehab programs for 15 horses for two months each to a silent auction for a USET benefit in Chicago. You know, I never had even 1 person come up and ask about symptoms, treatments, successes etc. for the entire weekend that the event ran. Finally a group of veterinarians came up and asked if I knew why no one would even talk to me, let alone bid anything at all? They informed me that they were the only group in their area that diagnoses EPM. They had lost a lot of clients to veterinarians X,Y, and Z who would not say the name "EPM" but called it something else and prescribed the same drugs! So the clients were not even aware of the problems associated with this or other like syndromes, and were totally unprepared ! But veterinarians X,Y, and Z did "not give the client a death sentence".

There is so much bad politics involving even the integrated approach that this program involves, you wouldn't believe it! Few orthodox veterinarians are even aware of autoimmune syndromes in horses, or even the chronic systemic Herpes we are seeing, and successfully working with. We have both been giving seminars separately and together to teach as many owners as we can, because most traditional veterinarinas are just not interested. I have been giving weekend and single day seminars on these and human applications at no charge as fund raisers for non profit organizations that do charity work, giving back to their communities.

Personally, it is getting increasingly tiring trying to do "clean up acts" on drug therapies that don't work too. What is left is then an even MORE chemically challenged body to try to help! With the environmental illness based epidemics on the strong upsurge, the horses showing up are sicker than they were even 2 years ago. I often hear from new clients that their horses are sooo much worse than the worst horses in my case history videos! Dr. Cain and I, along with a few other aware souls out there are trying to make as much information as possible available, in as easy to use way as possible, to educate as many as possible. Neither of us are wealthy nor want to ever be, as education is really our mission. We do not have huge sums of money at our disposal to give to universities to do studies, to verify what we have already found to be true.

We were each doing our own research for many years before we joined our efforts at further research, when we both realized that what each of us had discovered made each other's approach work better for the horse! We freely give information back and forth to further improve chances for our ultimate goal, the sick horse, and the owner who cares for him.

Q.) Why are there now acupunctural diagnosis failures?

A.) The epidemic of Environmental Illness has become so bad since I produced our first equine video in 1998, that reports coming in describe more horses that are too sick to even be able to respond acupuncturally. A negative acupunctural diagnosis does not necessarily mean that a horse is not affected. If the horse is showing other diagnostic symptoms, then these are often the worst biochemical cases, with the deepest "Qi" or Chi lifeforce. It's like a person who is close to a coma-like condition that they can't even tell you they're sick. These affected horses, however, usually show some or many of these symptoms listed in "Concurrent Symptoms": rough coat, scruffy coronary bands, dull and lifeless personality, cow hocked or a tripod stance, and/or neurological problems. See "Concurrent Symptoms in Environmental Illness".

"Energy" method diagnosis depends upon the dysfunctional energy being there specifially. If sickness is so progressed, the energy is not there at all. The biochemical approach of Vita Royal addresses the foundation of the Chi in the first place. Be aware of horses like this; they need this help the most! At the last two seminars, horses were presented that were even beyond responding to the acupuncture points, which, described by traditional Oriental medicine, is entering a state of dying. At this point the QI withdraws from the periphery of the body and goes very deep. After 16 to 72 hours on the program, the QI or life force is heightened so that the horses responded to the points effectively, and some wildly.

This is a new observation for me and for acupuncturists using this procedure. Even the use of a scanning machine that measures differences in electrical resistances of skin to find agricultural points has confirmed this observation. Only one of the observed horses in this situation had not had drug therapy, and he was a weanling.

The length of time for QI to come up seems to be associated with the age of the horse more than the condition and severity of neurological symptoms with young horses responding faster. More numbers will tell better. I am collecting these case histories on video for documentation. The fecal exam on these severely affected horses is always very actively positive and the blood smears are usually quite positive as well. It is interesting to note that horses with the most positive blood and fecals along with a negative acupunctural diagnosis will become very positive acupuncturally within a short time of beginning the Vita Royal Program.

Q.) But what about the speculation that the ataxia could also be caused by a folic acid deficiency?

A.) Nowhere in the annals of biochemistry have I ever come across any studies of folic acid deficiency or of its counterparts ever causing such severe neurological effects. These horses also never exhibited any of the classic deficiency symptoms for which folic acid has been noted for a hundred years-namely, anemia, fatigue, mental confusion, or developmental problems involving DNA and RNA. Wouldn't you think that you would see these symptoms first in the list of observations by the researchers? Especially when they are studying the qualities of sperm and semen, which is dependent on DNA and RNA activity? I asked myself these questions.

Just to see if I had missed anything, I did another check of my library and the web to see if ataxia, of any kind, has ever been observed as a primary deficiency symptom in folic acid deficiency states. I couldn't find any. Not secondary either. And, the semen quality of all the horses was found to not be affected adversely! A real surprise here too!

Folic acid has a relatively narrow margin of safety, compared to other water soluble vitamins, so therapeutic supplementation, especially when no other folic acid deficiency symptoms are observed would not really be justified.

I still vote for the chemical toxicity of the drugs as the most likely cause of the ataxia, and that was the researchers' comment too.

I would have included the bit about the folic acid when I reported the story, if I thought there was even an inkling that it might hold water, but not even one classic folic acid deficiency symptom was reported. I would think that they would also have been looking for them and certainly reported any they observed.

The fallout from this research will certainly be interesting!

Q.) What about the season of the year for worming for Bots? Doesn't it make a difference?

A.) Actually, you worm for bots every third month with the ivermectin family of which Quest is in, so the cycle is continually repeated. With the fluctuations of the weather, and the difficulty of knowing when the last frost will be, or even if there will be one, this program covers this variation. One thing that I failed to include is that when you use the ivermectins, you should smear the paste all around the oral cavity, under the tongue and in the cheeks as the ivermectins will kill the instar larvae encysted in the oral mucosa. They often encyst there first. Take the water bucket out for a while and hay too so that the horse can't wash it down right away.

Q.) Which drug in this program substitutes for the five day Panacur® treatment they say gets encysted strongyles?

A.) As far as getting encysted larvae the way Panacur® does, I can only say that there have been horses who have been on this program that have been lost to accidents during racing or put down for wobbler's syndrome, severe cuts from barbed wire fencing, EIA and other unrelated health, and had quite clean GI tracts as evidenced upon autopsy. I kept tract of this when I first formulated this program, as I was trying to develop one that would work best & most economically for consumers. So which of these drugs works like Panacur, I can't say. I really think that it is a factor of this program as a whole, and vigilance in maintaining this schedule. I have also had some racing standardbreds that showed continual worm problems, where the owners did use the 5 day Panacur several times without success. These horses also responded positively to this program, performance improved and several set new lifetime marks after that. Interestingly though, an observation that owners most commonly report with this program is respiratory improvement.

As far as ivermectin use causing flare ups of autoimmune disease, it has also been reported to cause excerbations of EPM as well. I believe that this is because of increased toxicity of this drug if it is absorbed through the gut wall. Our program was developed for environmental illness, autoimmune diseases, Herpes and EPM and addresses "leaky gut syndrome", which I have identified as a major factor in all these syndromes.

With this program, ivermectin and Quest can be used safely, without side effects. I have not had anyone using our program according to correct protocol, report any negative effects after using either of them. Often owners are very pleasantly surprised! With the capabilities these parasites have to adapt for survival, we need all the ammo we can muster. Sooner or later, they will develop resistance to all we have now.

Q.) Can you judge the effectiveness of a wormer by the dead worms in the manure, and a negative fecal for worm eggs following worming? I used Piperzine® and didn't see anything.

A.) Piperzine® is considered by most practicing authorities, to be pretty obsolete against many parasites. They are continually adapting resistance to our every attempt to kill them! I consider fenbendazole in this catagory too, as many have reported no effect from use, but a good effect after use of another wormer of newer status. Just because you see no eggs, does not mean you have no worms! Worms may just be made sick enough to not lay eggs, but not to die! AND, just because you see no dead worms, does not mean no worms either. If they are smaller species, the body may digest them for food.

Q.) Is it possible to affect a horse's metabolism by trimming the feet? My obese horse with a cresty neck lost weight and the crest after I started doing barefoot trims?

A.) I have encountered at least half a dozen such cases in working with Environmental Illness/EPM horses over the years. Neurological affected horses adapt their way of going for a long time in a subtle way before they show abnormal movements enough for the owner to see and be brought for exam and diagnosis. when they do show neurological problems and abnormal gaits, they have become so bad that they cannot adapt and compensate any more.

In their adaptation, they will develop subluxations in the neck and shoulders, and sometimes the spine, causing a high knee, low knee, with a high heel clubby foot and low heel slewy foot. Most farriers never look above the hoof to level and balance the horse.

With this condition, the horse is really unbalanced and if this is not corrected, he can continue to move awkwardly even if the EI/EPM problem has been successfully addressed. Like wearing a heel on one foot and no shoe on the other. Some may think the horse still has EIEPM!

To see this best, you have to squat down directly in front of the horse and view the knees from your eye level.

These subluxations are difficult for a chiropractor to adjust because of all the tissue mass there around the lower neck and withers. Balancing the trimming so that the knees are level and the pasterns drop down at the same level at the walk is essential. This may require, at first, that the length of the hooves are not equal. I have had great success using the leg as a leverage of sorts to accomplish this adjustment. It doesn't happen overnight, as there is muscle adaptation stoo. The horse may be temporarily sore. I use Untie for this.

I have found that half a dozen of these horses who before leveling required thyroid supplementation, did not need it after, so I have come to believe that the subluxations in these horses impinged the nerves feeding the thyroid. In another 20 or so horses, thyroid need was greatly reduced.

Q.) My pregnant mare has edema from the udder to the front legs. What causes this?

A.) This edema is characteristic of toxemia of pregnancy caused by underlying hypothyroidism. Ablood test may or may not tell the whole story. You may get lucky and have it show. Most of the time, however, it will not, as it is an autoimmune condition caused by high levels of sex binding globulins binding thyroid, in turn, caused by the high levels of estrogens of pregnancy. We don't have the same testing available for horses as we do for humans. Usually older mares are more susceptible, and the problem is compounded by environmental exposure to pollution, as many pollutants act as xenoestrogens in the body. This, biochemically, manifests as the effects of too much estrogen in the body.

This happens frequently to people too, and I have personally experienced that. Most affected females have underlying autoimmune thyroid disease that was present in lowered levels even before the pregnancy. Thyroid supplementation beginning at very low dosages of the totally natural kind, should help dramatically, as will B6, zinc, calcium, magnesium, high protein diet, and canola oil.

Since the EPM/EPDS/Environmental Illness program addresses the thyroid connection, this program would be helpful here too.

Q.) What kind of water gadget research are you doing with "energized water"?

A.) I am currently experimenting with a technology from Denmark that is based upon the water technology of Viktor Schauberger from Austria nearly 100 years ago. There is a book called "LIVING WATER" about this phenomena. It involves spinning the water into a vortex like that of the DNA molecule, and the water takes on a whole new chemistry. Being a chemist, I was fascinated by this prospect in that all the chemistry in the current lab paradigm is based upon so called "dead waters".

I have several of the gadgets here that are to be installed in water piplines and at shower and kitchen terminals to treat water this way. I am currently using these pipeline gadgets at the end of a garden hose in several barns to fill water buckets and troughs. So far, so good. Slime has decreased to nearly nothing, even in the bucket of my "chronic gargler" (everybody must have one of these!). In addition, this water has stayed fresh as when it was drawn, and any smells are gone in just a few minutes, including chlorine.

It tastes better too and feels naturally soft. It does not replace a true water softener, though, at least not if you have a lot of iron in your water as we do here. The manufacturers claim that it "energizes" water passing through the device, and from my experience, I believe that the gadgets in some way, facilitate the development of micelles, which have health properties as well as environmental detoxification properties as well as degreaser properties. I am using them in my rehab centers to see if it helps the horses more. Just something to consider if you are plagued with slime (or have garglers!)

Q.) What are the Michelles? What research is Vita Royal doing with this technology?

A.) Micelles are a special type of colloidal suspension that reorganizes the arrangement of water molecules within and among themselves. Water molecules are triangular, and polar, with 2 of the poles positive and one negative, and depending upon how they are arranged, can form little "cells" among them of various shapes and sizes.These can hold particles, and give the complex a whole new chemistry, different than would be under other situations. I am doing research for the company to verify their claims now, and also to see if their gadgets will enhance the activity of the micelle technology .The focus is on how to create natural solutions for environmental remediation, namely MTBE and PCBs.The degreaser potentials are wonderful in that our worst environmental toxins are fat soluble, oily things themselves, like pesticides and herbicides. This is why people are laying down more body fat these days, to be able to store these substances out of mainline metabolism where they aren't so toxic, at least until you diet, and bring the whole load back into the active metabolic state again. This is why people get sick when they lose weight. We've eliminated the closets of our bodies where the junk is stored!

With more exposure, we need more and bigger closets! With more exposure, comes more body fat! And society is getting fatter faster! So any successful diet has to have a detox to be really successful these days. Anyway, the technology has a huge potential for this whole planet, IF we can get it to work!

Q.) Do any of the horses in your Environmental Illness rehabilitation centers relapse?

A.) ALL owners who finish our program are educated as to the importance of keeping their horses on our entire protocol for life. It was emphasized that since the animals were returning to the very same environment that precipitated the problem in the first place, it was likely that without this support the horse would relapse. This is the beauty of this program-it can be maintained SAFELY for the entire life of the horse and is meant to replace the feeding protocol you are now using. Several owners did not believe this and their horses did regress.

Q.) Do dogs contract EPM or Environmental Illness? Does your program work for them, too?

A.) Our Environmental Illness program is being used successfully in dogs as well as horses.This is not to say that dogs have EPM in the traditional sense, as this program does NOT target the organisms per se, but the conditions that allowed the organisms, ANY ORGANISMS, to invade in the first place. This is also the beauty of the program. It doesn't matter how many or even which organisms they find, this program addresses the OPEN DOOR that let them in! You still have to close the doors of your bug-infested house while you fumigate, don't you?.

Since this program addresses the chemistry compromised by environmental chemicals, it is successful in many conditions other than actual invasions by any species of organisms. It normalizes the biochemistry to prevent the conditions for invasion in the first place. As mentioned before, this program is adapted from a very successful program for people suffering from environmental illnesses of all types.

Also See FAQ Vita Royal Feed Program and Protocol for more answers on using our equine health program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Equine Environmentally Induced Illness

Equine Environmentally
Induced Illness