Dr Craige Golding

Achieving Ketosis is a dietary therapy option for cancer patients, lowering the possibility of feeding the cancer growth with glucose. Ketogenic diets are also used for a variety of neurological disease states such as Alzheimers, epilepsy and parkinsons disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Ketones are a special type of fat that can stimulate the pathways that enhance the growth of new neural networks in the brain. A ketogenic diet is one that is high in fats, and this diet has been a tool of researchers for years, used notably in a 2005 study on Parkinson’s patients finding significant improvements. Ketones do more than just that though. They increase glutathione, a powerful, brain-protective antioxidant. Ketones facilitate the production of mitochondria, one of the most important actors in the coordinated production that is the human body. 

Our bodies are said to enter ketosis at the point when blood sugar levels are low and liver glycogen are no longer available to produce glucose as a fuel for cellular energy production. At this point, not only is the body doing the natural thing, and burning off fat, it’s also powering up the brain with a super efficient fuel.    We can jump start ourselves into ketosis with a brief fast, allowing our body to quickly burn through the carbs that are in our system, and turn to fat for fuel. A ketogenic diet is one that derives around 80% or more of of its calories from fat, and the rest from carbs and proteins.


2-Deoxy-D-glucose is a glucose molecule which has the 2-hydroxyl group replaced by hydrogen, so that it cannot undergo further glycolysis. As such; it acts to competitively inhibit the production of glucose-6-phosphate from glucose at the phosphoglucoisomerase level (step 2 of glycolysis). In most cells, glucose hexokinase phosphorylates 2-deoxyglucose, trapping the product 2-deoxyglucose-6-phosphate intracellularly (with exception of liver and kidney); thus, labelled forms of 2-deoxyglucose serve as a good marker for tissue glucose uptake and hexokinase activity.

Many cancers have elevated glucose uptake and hexokinase levels. 2-Deoxyglucose labeled with tritium or carbon-14 has been a popular ligand for laboratory research in animal models, where distribution is assessed by tissue-slicing followed by autoradiography, sometimes in tandem with either conventional or electron microscopy. Clinicians have noted that 2-DG is metabolised in the pentose phosphate pathway in red blood cells at least, although the significance of this for other cell types and for cancer treatment in general is unclear.

DCA Dosage & the
DCA-Tea-B1 Protocol

It appears that DCA works vastly better when used in combination with caffeinated tea and vitamin B1. Reports and an early survey indicate that caffeinated tea is critical. Vitamin B1 may be essential as well. We recommend using all three: DCA, black tea and vitamin B1.

If this DCA-Tea-B1 synergy proves effective against most cancers, then the dose can probably stay low, making side effect issues much less of a concern.
 

1.  It is clear from the research that one must be very careful about not going too high with the dosage of DCA for too long a period. Adults may have problems using dosages at 25 mg/kg of body weight and above for protracted periods. We see people showing side effects even at 14 to 15 mg/kg of body weight per day after three to six weeks.
    
2. The Michelakis paper states that DCA is dose-dependent, meaning the higher the dose of DCA the better the response. The Michelakis patent gives a dose range of 10 mg/kg of body weight to 100 mg/kg for tumor action. 

The half-life of DCA in the body is about 24 hours, so drug holidays are a good way to lower the levels of DCA and avoid side effects. In using DCA, we urge you to consider the full protocol of DCA, caffeinated tea and vitamin B1. It appears that you can use lower doses of DCA in this protocol. Side effects are still a concern, so adjust accordingly if side effects appear.

How Often Should
DCA be Taken?

Our recommendation is once or twice a day. Split the dosage and take half in the morning and half at night. We have seen a number of excellent responses with once a day treatments. 

Side effects from DCA are reported even with doses of 13 to 14 mg/kg after 6 to 8 weeks. Considering the half-life of DCA (the amount of time necessary to metabolize and eliminate half of the DCA in one’s system) can run as long as 24 hours, getting off DCA periodically might help keep the levels low and make managing side effects much easier. Good suggestions we hear include taking DCA every other day, or taking DCA Monday through Friday and not taking it on weekends.

Metabolic theory of cancer & supportive therapies including DCA and 2-Deoxy-D-glucose offered at Dr C Golding medical practice

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