I’ve recently learned about a new, experimental Crohn’s treatment I want to tell you about.
It involves stimulating the innate immune system to wake up, and clean up ALL pathogens in the body (kill all the bad bugs). The mechanism used to achieve this is by injecting components of dead E. coli bacteria into the skin (dendritic cells). The preliminary trial showed a promising remission rate, so they have moved into a full clinical trial.
Dr. Gunn is looking for 24 more trial participants to test this treatment, and all travel and accommodation costs (from anywhere worldwide) will be paid for – maybe that’s you?
I’ve done a teleseminar with the doctor in Vancouver (Dr. Hal Gunn) who’s holding this clinical trial and I have asked him every question I could think of. So if you’re at all intrigued, download or listen to this 17-minute interview where I ask Dr. Gunn to explain the pros and cons for us:
DOWNLOAD QU CROHN’S TRIAL INTERVIEW
Here are some of the questions I ask in this interview:
- Tell us the story of how you ‘discovered’ this new, experimental treatment for Crohn’s?
- This clinical trial involves injecting components of dead bacteria into your skin – how is this different from a vaccine, which used to be a dead or weakened virus, although I read they’re now also using synthetic antigens?
- Please tell us about the initial trial you ran with only 10 patients?
- Is this treatment similar to the pig worm treatment; where people swallow Helminth worms?
- Are you hoping for this treatment (if it proves reliable and successful) to be used, like a drug, as a stand-alone treatment? Or are you thinking of it being one piece of a more holistic approach?
- Can you tell us more about the innate immune system vs. adaptive immune response?
I asked Dr. Gunn 2 more questions after the call – here they are, along with his responses:
JINI: What is the longest time you have tracked anyone who has used this treatment?
DR. HAL GUNN: The first compassionate use patient began treatment with SSIs in Sept 2008.
JINI: According to the data that you have (and your imagination) what is the worst-case scenario you can think of, in terms of possible long-term negative consequences, or complications of injecting components of dead E.coli into your skin?
DR. HAL GUNN: Based on the composition of SSIs (i.e., killed bacteria), we don’t expect any long-term negative consequences or complications from treatment. In our compassionate use program, we treated 270 patients with cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune disease with no long-term negative consequences or complications from treatment reported. However, like any drug or treatment, we will need to treat thousands of patients before we can determine, with certainty, that SSIs have a very good safety profile.
Then – as those of you who know me are aware that I am very cautious – I asked a friend of mine who is a Medical Geneticist if he could think of anything else that could possibly go wrong for someone who received this treatment. He replied that the only thing he could think of that might potentially be a problem is if somehow the bacteria is not actually dead when injected.
However, being that Dr. Gunn has been using this treatment on cancer patients since 2008, and this scenario has never occurred, I would suspect they have a good quality control process in place! Dr. Gunn addressed this concern:
“Qu’s manufacturing processes are controlled and validated to ensure complete inactivation of E. coli in the production process, including retesting of the final SSI product consistent with high quality control standards.”
Dr. Gunn is looking for 24 more trial participants to test this treatment and all travel and accommodation costs (worldwide) will be paid for – grab an application form, or ask any other questions you might have: www.qucrohnstrial.com
ALSO, Dr. Gunn recently recently did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit and there are some great questions & answers there too.
My mother, my aunt, three uncles (1 who has died), have Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis. I’ve had it for 13 yrs. I refuse surgery and continue to battle “DAILY” while being a truck driver. This disease did not skip a generation w me. If that keeps my three daughters from getting it, fine. My family doesn’t understand the pain, depression and lack of will to go on. I’m sick 9 out of 12 months every yr. I go to the VA, but my Doctors never seem to understand, literally, although they try. Dr. Libel at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo, whom I can’t go to, says our family should be studied. I say, Help!!!! It’s too much.
Hi Jason,
It sounds like you would be a good candidate for the trial mentioned in the blog post above. If you aren’t able to participate but want to learn more about how you can heal your Crohn’s or UC naturally, check out the links below to Jini’s symptom pages and be sure to sign up for even more free info in the pink boxes on the right side of each of the pages below:
http://www.listentoyourgut.com/symptoms/14/crohn-s-disease.html
http://www.listentoyourgut.com/symptoms/13/ulcerative-colitis.html
Kind regards,
Justin
Customer Care
Have had Ulcerative Colitis since about 1975.
Hi William,
This particular trial is listed only for Crohn’s but they have a page at the link below where you can contact them to learn more about a potential future clinical trial for people living with ulcerative colitis:
http://www.qucrohnstrial.com/contacts/ulcerative-colitis-information/
Kind regards,
Justin
Customer Care
I was diagnosed with CD in 2006. After trying conventional treatments, I decided to try Jini’s protocols. I did well for a while but became severely intolerant to probiotics. Even the tiniest dust of Infant Bifidum (I can count the grains) makes me very sick with pain, severe inflammation and inability to pass gas that is building up for 12-48 hours. I’m prone to cold and flu so I take Oregano and olive leaf for it which wipes out my good flora even more. I’m stuck and don’t know what to do. I’m currently flared up and in pain.
Caroline M.
Caroline, you are such a unique case… Did you try the Fecal Infusion protocol? Dr. Najt has now set up a clinic in Buenos Aires that ONLY does fecal implants for people with autoimmune conditions. He has found it works across the spectrum of immune disorders, not just IBD. Do you have teleseminar I did with Bianca James at Sydney Colon Clinic?
Dear Jini,
My son was diagnosed with Crohns a year and a half ago. We immediately did steroids and anti-inflammatory, then discontinued after about 4 months and began looking for more natural options. We see a naturopath and take supplements as well as eat a diet free of gluten and dairy. My son has had one flare in the last year where his calprotectin (stool sample) test was 650, which is the highest it has ever been. It finally came down to 250 in May (Normal caps out at 165) according to the test center my GI uses. I came across your book, read it cover to cover and decided to try the probiotics you suggested and liquid diet. My hope was to get his calprotectin back in the normal range and for him to grow. We did this for 4 weeks and then were retested, his calprotectin was 295 ( a little higher than before). He did gain 10 lbs, which was much needed, but once we cut back the shakes to 3 a day and added food, he lost half of that. The “problem” with him is that he feels great, has no blood or loose stool, goes only once a day and has normal crp and sed rate blood tests. Its very hard to tell when he is having a flare. The reason we initially took him in was because he was not growing. Do you have any tips or ideas of anything else we can do. I feel like a very rare case, because everyone I read about has severe symptoms and feels bad. I am glad my son does not, but don’t want damage to be occurring that we are not aware of.
Thank you
Hi Sarah,
You mentioned that your son was taking probiotics but was he also using wild oregano oil to get rid of the bad gut flora? If not, that would definitely be something to look into.
One thing you can do to help with weight gain, if you aren’t already, is add healthy oil to each shake which will bump up the “good” calorie content significantly. Jini recommends cold pressed flax oil as her preferred option (it also contains Omega 3s which can have an anti-inflammatory effect as well) but you can also use something like coconut oil:
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/flora-udos-choice-oil-blend-17-fl-oz/
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/dr-bronners-fair-trade-and-organic-virgin-coconut-oil-white-kernel-14-oz/
Other things to try would be Aloe vera juice which can speed intestinal healing and soothe inflammation, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) which can help to repair tissue, and N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG) which can aid in intestinal healing. We produce a product called MucosaHeal which often works well for people experiencing gastrointestinal bleeding or inflammation primarily in the stomach or small intestine so that might be something to consider too. Here are some links to these with more information about each:
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/georges-always-active-aloe-vera-juice-1-quart-32-fl-oz/
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/source-naturals-n-acetyl-glucosamine-nag-500mg-60-tablets/
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/imix-naturals-mucosaheal-90-capsules/
http://shoppe.listentoyourgut.com/shop-by-coq10
Kind regards,
Justin
Customer Caree
Hi Sarah, and in addition to what Justin mentioned, I would also look into these sources of nutrition, or take whatever food/shakes he will eat and add a scoop of whey (best if he can tolerate it) or veggie protein to it, along with the good fats (which also have a healing effect on the bowel):
https://blog.listentoyourgut.com/easily-tolerated-weight-gain-shakes/
In addition, I would look at the emotional/energetic side to this. Look for an unaddressed family dynamic, look for any (possibly subconscious) fears he might have that are making him “keep himself small”. Perhaps he needs to come up with a visualization that he does daily which supports his body’s efforts to grow.
I had one reader who could not raise her ferritin stores until she worked with a biofeedback coach to develop a visualization of her body extracting and storing iron – that’s what worked better than any iron supplement!