Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)
What Is Low Dose Naltrexone (ldn)?
Naltrexone belongs to a class of drugs known as opioid antagonists. Naltrexone blocks opiate drugs from binding to the opioid receptors, which can result in increased endorphin and enkephalin release. Therefore, this results in reduced: 1. signaling and release of inflammatory substances, 2. nerve cell inflammation and 3. autoimmune mediators.
Which patients may benefit from LDN therapy?
- Chronic pain
- Hashimoto’s
- Parkinson’s disease
- Arthritis
- Graves’ disease
- Alzheimer’s
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Crohn’s Disease
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Neuroinflammation
- Sjogren’s Syndrome
- Inflammation
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Irritable bowel
- Celiac disease
- Autism
- Fibromyalgia
- Lupus
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Cancer
- HIV/Aids
- Lyme Disease
- Weight Loss
How Does LDN Work?
- Down regulates inflammatory cytokine release, oncogene expression and auto-immune cascades
- In the Central Nervous System (CNS) it reduces toll-like receptor signaling and glial cell activation resulting in reduced inflammatory cytokines and reduced neuro-inflammation
- In the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) it modulates T & B lymphocyte production (example: gut inflammation), and reduces inflammatory cytokines (IL6, IL12, TNF alpha) and suppresses tumor growth factor (NF-kB)
When taken at bedtime, the short acting LDN binds to the receptors which leads to a brief blockade of opioid receptors between 2 am and 4 am. This blockade is believed to up-regulate vital elements of the immune system by causing an increase in endorphin and enkephalin production.