Articles of Interest The Foundation of Bio-Nutritional Therapy By Cathy Oats "It's a sad fact that most people only take notice of the quality of their lives when disease and dysfunction already have a tight hold." — Dr. Peter Stephan   The secret of eternal youth has been sought by man throughout the ages. So far it has eluded him and may always do so. That does not, however, mean that he has to reconcile himself to living a half life (due to premature aging) and to the impossibility of leading a healthy, active and full life well into old age. Modern medicine has certainly done much to extend the life span of man from three score years and 10 of the Bible. Unfortunately it has done so largely through the use of palliatives that sometimes do very little more than keep alive a tired and aging body. It is a highly effective system for resurrecting those who are critically ill — suppressing pain by drugs, and more recently, replacing diseased organs through surgery. Good health, however, means a great deal more than surviving through the use of drugs and surgical intervention, however laudable those supports may be.   It is to the very fundamentals of life, the cells themselves, that we must look if we are to understand and genuinely treat disease and aging. Fortunately, there have been those who have done this … those that were dissatisfied with the palliative solutions to illnesses afforded by chemotherapy, drugs and surgery, and began studying the life giving processes themselves in the cells making up the body. It was this change in thinking that lead to the discovery of some of the secrets promoting true health and well being, retardation of aging and even revitalization.   The Birth of Cell Therapy Cell Therapy probably began as early as 1667 with a blood transfusion, when Jean Baptiste Denis first transfused blood from one human being to another. Later, about 1900, Landsteiner did revolutionary work on different blood groups which earned him a Nobel Prize and led to safe blood transfusions: The first form of implantation of cells from one person to another.   Then in the 1920s came the work of a Swiss doctor, Professor Paul Niehans, on the implantation of cells by intramuscular injection. He first called the technique "tissular transplantation." In 1927 he injected cells from the pituitary glands of young calves into a young dwarf human being and noted the height of the dwarf increased by 0.32 of a meter. This was a considerable achievement!   In 1931 he discovered that injections of live cells caused an effect that could only be described as rejuvenation, and acquired international attention by saving the life of a dying woman. His treatment was very simple. It involved the injection of new embryonic cells taken from sheep. It had been a gamble, an educated guess … but it worked. On that dramatic day in 1931, Niehans instituted modern Cell Therapy — one of the most controversial treatments of this century. Although the medical profession scoffed at this idea and even called it dangerous, Niehans' followers worked to improve and refine the treatment and to increase its range of applications. They found that they could break down cells, taken from animal embryos soon after death, into their constituent parts. They also found that the parts of the cell that appeared to possess the rejuvenating powers were the Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) and, to some extent, Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA).   Gradually ways were discovered of extracting the RNA and DNA and injecting patients with them. This solved one of the major problems encountered by Niehans — that of allergic reactions — and it also simplified treatment, since it was easy to store the extracted RNA and DNA after they were stabilized. There was no need to process the cells immediately prior to injecting them, and it was also less expensive and aesthetically more acceptable to doctors and patients alike.   There can be little doubt that Niehans was a man of courage and conviction … the same kind of courage and conviction possessed by Dr. Christian Bernard, who carried out the first heart transplant documented in history. Both revolutionaries and forerunners in their field, Niehans and Bernard were criticized by the fraternity of general medicine. However, it was their strength and efforts that facilitated the great steps forward in a new era of medical techniques important to today's advancements.   Cell Therapy was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1952 by Dr. Ernest Stephan. He had first seen Niehans' Cell Therapy used in Germany in the 1940s on mentally retarded children. The results so impressed him that he contacted Dr. Niehans and became his pupil for many years before bringing the treatment to England. In his own way he also was a pioneer, having possessed great courage and dedication to what he believed, as he too met with a great deal of criticism from his fellow doctors.   In 1954 Dr. Niehans was called to treat Pope Pius XII, who was 78 years old. The Pope was seriously ill and the Vatican doctors had almost given up hope that he would be cured. Niehans treated him with freeze dried cells and he recovered. The Pope publicly acclaimed Niehans' treatment and later honored him by naming him Professor at the Pontificia Academy, a chair which had been vacated due to the death of Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.   After the Pope's recommendation of Cell Therapy, the clinics began receiving international acclaim. Although the medical profession still called it dangerous, royalty and leading statesmen began to flock to the clinics for treatment. Among the elite were the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, Sir Winston Churchill, President Dwight Eisenhower, Charles de Gaulle of France, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of Germany and even Saudi Arabia's King Ibn Saud. A number of international celebrities soon followed. Among them were the admired Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, Noel Conrad, Somerset Maughan, Gloria Swanson and Marlene Dietrich, just to name a few. Altogether, between the two clinics, more than 42,000 tissular transplantations or cell injections from animal to man were carried out. And whether socialites, movie stars or just regular people, all say they left feeling better and not only "cured of ailments, but feeling younger as well."   Over time, it was Dr. Peter Stephan (the son of Ernest Stephan) who continued the practice. Welcomed by some of the leading pioneers in the field of biological medicine, including Niehans himself, Peter became much more interested in the RNA treatment by injection and the treatment using tissue specific antisera, which together form the basis of Therapeutic Immunology.   Therapeutic Immunology With Tissue-Specific Antisera One of the most active workers in the field of Therapeutic Immunology was Dr. Peter Stephan. An improvement of Cell Therapy, this treatment of tissue specific antisera coupled with organ specific RNA, formed a very effective regenerative treatment indeed.   The organ specific treatment is the better known of the two treatments. A refinement of Cell Therapy pioneered by Dr. Niehans at his clinic (LaPrairie) in Switzerland, it was developed in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Therapeutic Immunology with tissue specific antisera was first discovered by a Swiss doctor, Jean Thomas, who worked in Lausanne until his death in 1977.   Unlike the Niehans' method of Cell Therapy, in which the body was bombarded with large doses of fresh animal cells, both the organ specific RNA treatment and tissue specific antisera treatment were given in high dilution. They would act as "triggers" to cause the cells to respond much in the same way as a dose of ice cold water would act on the circulatory system, stimulating more vigorous activities in the tissues. The two forms of treatment certainly helped one another and formed an important advance in regenerative therapy, provided that the patient was educated and advised on the importance of whole food nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits. At Dr. Stephan's clinics in England and Switzerland, more than 125,000 cell preparations, 200,000 ampoules of RNA and three million doses of antisera were used. At no time were any harmful side-effects ever noted. And although the reason of why this therapy promotes healing is not fully understood, its practice continues to be successful with a number of health conditions.   Considerable research work was done by Dr. Peter Stephan and his colleagues during the later half of the 1960s and 1970s, as they sought new methods of widening their knowledge and exploring new ways in which Therapeutic Immunology could be carried out and employed. The Stephan Clinic sponsored a program to investigate the effect of biological treatment upon rheumatic disorders. And in conjunction with the Huntington Research Centre (near Cambridge), it also embarked on a similar study in relation to diseased tissues. Eventually, the research brought about the birth of today's BioNutritional Therapy … the third generation of Niehans' Cell Therapy.   Bio-Nutritional Therapy When Dr. Stephan began the development program to formulate this third generation of Cell Therapy, the task was not an easy one. While looking for some very serious changes in the overall application of the therapy, it was essential that the important premise of "like heals like" remain the same. To achieve this, Dr. Stephan had to look beyond the simple biological approach which he had used throughout the many years of clinical practice and, instead, apply nutrition as the main directive. With 25 years of access to research material, the development of this important stage was much easier to do than if the 30,000 case histories and the experience had not been already available. Nonetheless, it took 10 years to develop proteins that could be used and applied following the same protocols as Cell Therapy and the later developments of it. Instead of the cells or serums, which had been successfully applied over many years, extracts were chosen that would be specific by nature but nutrient by action, and combined with ATP (adenosine triphophate, a compound involved in the storage and transfer of energy in cells), to promote cell and tissue regeneration.   This article was specifically written for those with an interest in pursuing Cell Therapy, the scientific foundation of and the presence behind the Bio-Nutritional Therapy. I have attempted to collect the basic information relating to the research and development behind the theories and techniques, all of which are discussed in great detail by Dr. Peter Stephan within the pages of "Total Wellness." Other sources utilized include Dr. Stephan's "Look And Feel Younger Longer" and "New Life for Old."     Main Article Index click here Our copyright and Privacy statements / Medical Disclaimer © 2002, Makena Werks, Int'l, All Rights Reserved.