Sodium bicarbonate is not only an excellent agent for natural
chemotherapy, bringing as it does higher O2 levels through increased
alkalinity to the cells, it is also one of the most basic medicines we
have for kidney disease.
New research by British scientists at the Royal London Hospital shows that sodium bicarbonate can dramatically slow the progress of chronic kidney disease.[1]
We don’t need a thousand years of tests to understand something as
simple as water and it is quite the same with bicarbonate, which is
always present in the best drinking waters.
Bicarbonate acts to stimulate the ATPase by acting directly on it.[2]
The simple household product used for baking,
cleaning, bee stings, treating asthma, cancer and acid indigestion is so
effective in treating kidney disease that it prevents patients from
having to be put on kidney machines. The findings have been published in
the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Bicarbonate is a truly strong universal concentrated nutritional
medicine that works effectively in many clinical situations that we
would not normally think of.
It is a prime emergency room and intensive care medicine that can save a
person’s life in a heartbeat and it is also a supermarket item that you
can take right off the shelf and use for more things than one can
imagine – including diaper rash.
Dr. SK Hariachar, a nephrologist who oversees the Renal Hypertension
Unit in Tampa Florida stated, upon seeing the research on bicarbonate
and kidney disease:
“I am glad to see confirmation of what we have known for so long. I have
been treating my patients with bicarbonate for many years in attempts
to delay the need for dialysis, and now we finally have a legitimate
study to back us up. Not only that, we have the added information that
some people already on dialysis can reverse their condition with the use
of sodium bicarbonate”.
John, a dialysis technician at the same center as Dr. Hariachar, who
used to be on dialysis himself for 2 years as a result of kidney
failure, had his kidneys miraculously start functioning to the point
where dialysis was no longer needed.
He states that he was prescribed oral doses of sodium bicarbonate throughout his treatment, and still takes it daily to prevent
recurrences of kidney failure. Dr. Hariachar says that not everyone will
be helped by taking bicarbonate but still maintains that, “Oral bicarbonate makes all the difference.”
Kidneys Produce Bicarbonate
The exocrine section of the pancreas has been greatly ignored in the
treatment of diabetes even though its impairment is a well documented
condition. The pancreas is primarily responsible for the production of
enzymes and bicarbonate necessary for normal digestion of food.
Bicarbonate is so important for protecting the kidneys that even the
kidneys get into the act of producing bicarbonate and now we know the
common denominator between diabetes and kidney disease.
When the body is hit with reductions in bicarbonate output by these two
organs,’ acid conditions build and then entire body physiology begins to
go south. Likewise when acid buildup outstrips these organs normal
bicarbonate capacity cellular deterioration begins.
The kidneys alone produce about two hundred and fifty grams (about
half a pound) of bicarbonate per day in an attempt to neutralize acid in
the body.
The kidneys monitor and control the acidity or “acid-base” (pH) balance of the blood. If the blood is too acidic,
the kidney makes bicarbonate to restore the bloods pH balance. If the
blood is too alkaline, then the kidney excretes bicarbonate into the
urine to restore the balance.
Acid-base balance is the net result of two processes, first, the removal
of bicarbonate subsequent to hydrogen ion production from the
metabolism of dietary constituents; second, the synthesis of “new”
bicarbonate by the kidney.[3]
It is considered that normal adults eating ordinary Western diets have
chronic, low-grade acidosis which increases with age. This excess acid,
or acidosis, is considered to contribute to many diseases and to
contribute to the aging process.
Acidosis occurs often when the body cannot produce enough bicarbonate
ions (or other alkaline compounds) to neutralize the acids in the body
formed from metabolism and drinking highly acid drinks like Coke, Pepsi
and we are even seeing reports on bottled mineral water being way too
acidic.
Acid-buffering by means of base supplementation is one of the major
roles of dialysis. Bicarbonate concentration in the dialysate (solution
containing water and chemicals (electrolytes) that passes through the
artificial kidney to remove excess fluids and wastes from the blood,
also called “bath.”) should be personalized in order to reach a midweek
pre-dialysis serum bicarbonate concentration of 22 mmol/l.[4]
Use of sodium bicarbonate in dialysate has been shown in studies to better control some metabolic aspects and to improve both treatment tolerance and patients’ life quality. Bicarbonate dialysis, unlike acetate-free biofiltration, triggers mediators of inflammation and apoptosis.[5]
One of the main reasons we become acid is from over-consumption of
protein. Eating meat and dairy products may increase the risk of
prostate cancer, research suggests.[6] We would find the same for breast
and other cancers as well.
Conversely mineral deficiencies are another reason and when you combine
high protein intake with decreasing intake of minerals you have a
disease in the making through lowering of pH into highly acidic
conditions. When protein breaks down in our bodies they break into
strong acids.
Unless a treatment actually removes acid toxins from the body and
increases oxygen, water, and nutrients most medical interventions come
to naught.
These acids must be excreted by the kidneys because they contain sulfur,
phosphorus or nitrogen which cannot break down into water and carbon
dioxide to be eliminated as the weak acids are.
In their passage through the kidneys these strong acids must take a
basic mineral with them because in this way they are converted into
their neutral salts and don’t burn the kidneys on their way out. This
would happen if these acids were excreted in their free acid form.
Substituting a sodium bicarbonate solution for saline infusion prior to
administration of radiocontrast material seems to reduce the incidence
of nephropathy.[7] – Dr. Thomas P. Kennedy, American Medical Association
Bicarbonate ions neutralize the acid conditions required for chronic
inflammatory reactions. Hence, sodium bicarbonate is of benefit in the
treatment of a range of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Sodium bicarbonate is a well studied and used medicine with known
effects. Sodium bicarbonate is effective in treating poisonings or
overdoses from many chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs by negating their
cardiotoxic and neurotoxic effects.[8] It is the main reason it is used
by orthodox oncology – to mitigate the highly toxic effects of
chemotherapy.
Sodium bicarbonate possesses the property of absorbing heavy metals, dioxins and furans.
Comparison of cancer tissue with healthy tissue from the same person
shows that the cancer tissue has a much higher concentration of toxic
chemicals, pesticides, etc.
Sodium bicarbonate injection is indicated in the treatment of metabolic
acidosis, which may occur in severe renal disease, uncontrolled
diabetes, and circulatory insufficiency due to shock or severe
dehydration, extracorporeal circulation of blood, cardiac arrest and
severe primary lactic acidosis.
The acid/alkaline balance is one of the most overlooked aspects of medicine. In general, the
American public is heavily acid, excepting vegetarians, and even their
bodies have to face increasing levels of toxic exposure, which help turn
the body to acidic pH conditions.
By Dr Mark Sircus, author of Sodium Bicarbonate – Full Medical Review and Sodium Bicarbonate: Nature’s Unique First Aid Remedy, two highly appreciated books on the subject.
References:
[1] www.nelm.nhs.uk
[2] Origin of the Bicarbonate Stimulation of Torpedo Electric Organ
Synaptic Vesicle ATPase. Joan E. Rothlein 1 Stanley M. Parsons.
Department of Chemistry and the Marine Science Institute, University of
California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.
[3] Levine DZ, Jacobson HR: The regulation of renal acid secretion:
New observations from studies of distal nephron segments. Kidney Int
29:1099–1109, 1986
[4] Uptodate.com
[5] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
[6] News.bbc.co.uk
[7] JAMA 2004;291:2328-2334,2376-2377. Urotoday.com
[8] These include, Benzotropines (valium) cyclic antidepressants
(amytriptayine), organophosphates, methanol (Methyl alcohol is a cheap
and potent adulterant of illicit liquors) Diphenhydramine (Benedryl),
Beta blockers (propanalol) Barbiturates, and Salicylates (Aspirin).
Poisoning by drugs that block voltage-gated sodium channels produces
intraventricular conduction defects, myocardial depression, bradycardia,
and ventricular arrhythmias. Human and animal reports suggest that
hypertonic sodium bicarbonate may be effective therapy for numerous
agents possessing sodium channel blocking properties, including cocaine,
quinidine, procainamide, flecainide, mexiletine, bupivacaine, and
others.