Marshall Protocol
…part 2 of Slowburn Treatment for Chronic Disease
UPDATE: Science-Based Medicine (no relation) has a nice balanced post on the Marshall Protocol in which it is pointed out that it has all the tell-tale trademarks of a sCAM (spurious Complementary and Alternative Medicine):
The Marshall Protocol has all the characteristics of modern alternative therapy: a single discoverer, a hitherto undiscovered biology, an unproven therapeutic intervention and one of the most aggravating issues in sCAM’s: Taking a scientific truth the size of a molehill and transmogrifying it into a Cascade Range of exaggerated disease etiology and treatment. Unlike most SCAM’s, however, as best as I can tell Dr Marshall does not seem to be in the business of making a business from his discovery, although he does have patent applications for his protocol.
The Marshall Protocol was originally designed to treat sarcoidosis, an inflammatory condition, and utilised the drug Benicar, subsequent claims that it could also treat non-inflammatory conditions such as CFS and fibromyalgia, smack of the kind of reaching out for a panacea that is common in efforts to find cures for what conventional medicine considers incurable. Indeed, the list of diseases supposedly caused by L-form bacteria continues to grow and includes the spurious condition, mania.
One of the underlying principles of the Marshall Protocol is that patients must avoid vitamin D. Apparently, the patient’s immune system cannot kill L-form bacteria effectively until vitamin D is eliminated from their diet so they must also avoid sunlight as much as possible.
What we refer to as vitamin D is actually a steroid. Marshall argues that his molecular models show that the precursor form of vitamin D will actually inhibit the vitamin D Receptor and consequently the innate immune system. It is possible that any “feel good” effects are simply a result of L-form bacteria surviving and so no spewing out their toxins when they die. But, none of this has been tested or proven in vitro and certainly not in vivo.
A deficiency of vitamin D has been implicated recently as a causative agent in certain forms of cancer, then a treatment that perhaps reduces vitamin D levels below safe thresholds for long periods may indeed effect a resolution of chronic symptoms of one disease or another, but could concomitantly increase one’s cancer risk. That could be a red herring, however, it is thought that vitamin D will temporarily decrease a patient’s level of inflammation but only in the short-term. In the meantime those L-form bacteria could have a field day, if they actually exist.
There is certainly the feeling that long-term, low-level use of antibiotics among individuals with various non-specific disorders could be storing up real problems for the immune system by allowing low levels of real pathogenic bacteria to evolve resistance. And, that’s not to even mention probiotics, which millions of people imbibe on a daily basis in the belief that they will boost levels of so-called good bacteria.
A paper in the Lancet in February 2007, suggested that prescribing antibiotics in healthy volunteers is a very risky strategy. Macrolide [antibiotic] use is the single most important driver of the emergence of macrolide resistance, the researchers conclude, physicians prescribing antibiotics should take into account the striking ecological side-effects of such antibiotics.
Proponents of the Marshall Protocol point out that it uses carefully selected, extremely low-dose antibiotics. Particularly minocycline, which is used long-term for acne treatment and has not evolved resistance yet. Indeed, minocycline is actually one of the few antibiotics active against MRSA (multiple-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) that has not triggered resistance, although it is only weakly active.
Claims that go against the grain of conventional medicine often take years to filter through, especially if those claims suggest a simple answer to a wide range of illnesses. But, more often than not those claims turn out to be nothing more than a sCAM (spurious complementary alternative medicine). Humans have always sought panaceas, an elixir of life, a cure all for our ills. They don’t, unfortunately, exist. I suspect the Marshall Protocol, with its bizarre claims about naked bacteria and vitamin D will fall at the first hurdle when properly tested.
I too am curious as to why Marshall allegedly holds a patent on his eponymous Protocol.
Back to the introduction.
89 Responses to “Marshall Protocol”
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how does one get involved with this study. My future soninlaw has uveitis and I would love to have him seen. Hoping someon, some dr can actually maybe help him.
George,
Why is it that people who are cured in an unorthodox way that can’t be proven by a short term study is anecdotal? I believe that these studies that you are talking about need to go back to the drawing board to figure out precisely why the Marshall Protocol works before they tell us that it is okay to “up” the dose of Vitamin D.
@artha Who are these people with “huge investments” in education and “big incomes” last time I spoke to any teacher they were anything but rich…
Hi David,
I don’t mind Dr. Crislip questioning aspects of what I said in my paper except that – and I mean this in the kindest way possible – I do feel he might need a better background in metagenomics to understand what I was saying.
Dr. Crislip aside, the paper has been well-received by members of the research community. For example, it was given a “Must Read” rating by the literary awareness tool/community, Faculty of 1000.
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:publications:proal_autoimmunity_reviews_2009#appraisal_by_faculty_of_1000
I was asked by a top publisher to expand on the content in the paper in a 60-page book chapter that will be published this June in what is supposed to be the most up-to-date textbook on metagenomics.
By the way, you don’t have to consider only our molecular data in order to conclude that vitamin D is immunosuppressive. For example, here is a link to a paper by Arnson and Shoenfeld, which clearly states “Vitamin D has multiple immunosuppressant properties.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17557889
There are other papers that say the same thing.
Best,
Amy
Would one of you medical types that know so much please explain the placebo effect. Last time I heard in some research projects it has been over 50%. Could it be that all healing takes place because of the placebo effect? All you folks with huge investments in education and big incomes from that source will never be open minded enough to ever figure it out.
Your failure to get your collective heads around this issue is making you a lot of money and causing immeasurable suffering.
I forgive you, because that is human nature. But I have a suggestion, STFU and get a life, and oh yes, just call me healed from an ‘incurable’ disease by using a protocol that all of you tell me could not possibly work just because you can’t get your head around it.