The beloved gamma-linolenic acid, GLA. There is an interesting story associated with it. Once upon a time, a doctor announced that this acid is one of the most important discoveries of modern medicine, its deficiencies are a real epidemic, and quite a few diseases of civilization, primarily cancer, are caused precisely by deficiencies of it. Of course, it was ridiculed (GLA can’t be patented, so you can’t make too much money on it), and no studies were undertaken to see if it worked, but it was announced that it certainly wouldn’t cure anyone. The doctor in question got into a lot of legal trouble, as he sold the spec as a cure for cancer. All was forgotten until one day a group of scientists decided to see what would happen if gamma linolenic acid was added to a tissue culture of liver cancer. What was their surprise when the development of the cancer was completely stopped. Not slowed down, not disrupted. It simply stopped. If GLA had been in the patient’s body from the very beginning, perhaps the cancer would never have developed. There was a little buzz, a little shouting that detailed tests should be carried out as soon as possible, confirmed in studies on patients. But as I mentioned, you can’t make a penny on GLA, and a cancer patient is a profit of tens of thousands. The issue was again forgotten rather quickly.
Studies on cell lines are insignificant, but here we have an arrest of lung cancer growth in animals that got GLA in supplement form:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8731577
Then it turned out that supplementation with evening primrose oil (of which GLA is the main ingredient) had a number of other uses. In a few months it made people with rheumatoid arthritis go off their medications, in 2 months it completely cured patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. It instantly treated conjunctival problems. It sensationally dealt with migraines. I have personally heard of many success stories, including a systemic lupus patient’s discontinuation of medication. Unfortunately, virtually no research is being done on this cheap, unpatentable substance. What’s more, it’s growing like a weed in the fields, as you can see in the picture:
What does all this have to do with multiple sclerosis? Very much. First of all, patients have much, much lower levels of GLA than the average person, which is logical and obvious, as they are all affected by factors that lower these levels. Find a factor that lowers GLA levels, and you will see that it is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis. Eating large amounts of meat and milk? That’s right. Low intake of oilseeds and nuts? It is. Feeding at birth by bottle instead of breast? Present. Epstein-Barr virus infection? Yes, also present.
It’s so obvious that it’s blatant. But did I already write that GLA cannot be patented? Well, you can’t, so you won’t hear about it in the doctor’s office. Some scientists propose this explanation for the effectiveness of supplementation. Gamma linolenic acid deficiencies cause a very strong inflammatory response. What would normally be a slight redness, in people with deficiencies, turns into a big blotch, hence rheumatoid arthritis, the so-called “irritable bowel syndrome” or, finally, multiple sclerosis, small changes in the brain lead to a powerful immune response. Without GLA, the body will not “silence” the reaction once started. After eating something hard to digest, a normal person will feel mild discomfort in the intestines, a person with very low levels of GLA will get ulcers.
But but, after all, just because a deficiency of a substance causes a disease, doesn’t mean that supplementing it cures it! After all, if someone has been shot, putting a bulletproof vest on him won’t do anything, the damage has already been done! Fortunately, the GLA hypothesis has been tested. It was administered to patients, and within 2 years there was a reversal of the disease by almost 2 points on the EDSS scale. Admittedly, drug sellers may wave in front of your eyes a study sponsored by pharmaceutical companies in which GLA supplementation had no effect, but read the content carefully. The study sponsored by the corporations (the one most often referred to) used ridiculously low doses of the supplement, too low to have any effect on the human body. In the study that actually showed efficacy and literally reversed the disease (not very popular, no one hardly mentions it) the doses were many times higher, low doses were also used in it as a control trial and actually did nothing. Here you can read the abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17922959, and here to the full version with tables https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/E63491EF2887B7E2B6FE5B2392D18ACE/S0007114507833010a.pdf/div-class-title-polyunsaturated-fatty-acids-in-the-pathogenesis-and-treatment-of-multiple-sclerosis-div.pdf
Of course, a single study does not determine that a particular therapy definitely works. Such studies can be falsified for publicity. But in this case, many pieces of the puzzle fit together, and above all, we have a number of studies on other autoimmune-type conditions where there has been a very large improvement.
I say right away, you probably need to be patient. You literally can’t expect any results before a few months. This is how GLA works. The body has to gradually, slowly build it into cell membranes, everywhere. This takes a long, long time. Then it will last for years, even decades, but it really takes a long time to supplement. This is such a “long-term” supplement.
There’s also the possibility that supplementation works by keeping blood levels high, in which case supplementation will only help as long as you take it, and some positive effects will appear quite quickly. Only some, because quieting inflammation is one thing, but rebuilding myelin must take a long time. No studies to answer for sure which version is true.
Ah, right, I forgot to write how it is supplemented.
We buy evening primrose oil or borage oil, and drink 20 ml a day (2x10ml). In the study, borage oil was used, 14 ml per day. Evening primrose oil is tastier and cheaper, but contains twice as little active ingredient, so you have to double the dosage. Almost certainly the effect of these oils is identical, but if one wants to be absolutely sure, one must use borage oil.
Yes, that’s it, the whole “therapy” is that complicated.
Finally, I will emphasize again what I have written in many other places, a statistical improvement in a group of 6 people who receive the drug can mean that 3 people improved, 2 remained the same, and 1 got worse. If something doesn’t work, you don’t forcefully keep doing it, but try other things.