The Only Cause of Disease

From a truly orthomolecular point of view, instead of swallowing high amounts of vitamin C to replace its depleted stock, it makes more sense to combine the intake of vitamin C with the daily intake of Masquelier's OPCs.
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In 1968, the great American scientist Linus Pauling (1901‒1994) created a new word by joining the prefix "ortho", which means right, with "molecular", which means, "having to do with molecules". This is how Pauling laid the basis for "orthomolecular medicine" as the art of restoring and maintaining optimum physical health and controlling disease by providing the human body with the right and most effective amounts of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids and other bioactives. While Pauling focused on optimizing the amounts of beneficial nutrients, the underlying question is of course: when is a molecule that forms an integral part of our tissues in its right state and effectively performing its physiological function? When is it "ortho"? And, when is it in a wrong and defective conditon and as such in need of "orthomolecular" quantities of essential nutrients to help it regain its "ortho" state? Simply put: when is a biomolecule "ortho" and when is it "sick"? 

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This question was definitively answered by the renowned American orthomolecular practitioner Dr. Thomas E. Levy in his recently released book "The Only Cause of Disease". [I] But before "passing the word" to Dr. Levy, please bear with me and allow me to clarify a few "electrifying" fundamentals of the chemistry of life. A molecule is best understood as a physical element that cannot be broken down into smaller parts without it losing its specific properties and "abilities". The properties and characteristics of each specific molecule depend upon the amount of positive electrical charge located in its nucleus and the number of negatively charged electrons that circle around the nucleus. The molecule's "sphere" that is thus formed by the nucleus and the electrons' orbits is completely empty. It's as empty as the space between the sun and its planets.

Dr. Levy opens his fascinating book by noting that "[a]ll body tissues are composed of a wide array of biomolecules, including sugars, fats, proteins, enzymes, structural molecules, DNA, and RNA. Additionally, all these biomolecules have specific functions in their interplay with one another, both inside and outside the cells." He then states that "[t]he essence of health depends on how well these molecules can chemically interact with one another. When there are no impediments to these interactions, biological function is optimized, and overall health in the body is also optimized."

Before letting Dr. Levy continue his story, allow me again to briefly clarify that oxidation and reduction concern nothing other than the exchange of electrons between molecules. Oxidation means that an electron is "forcefully" taken away from one molecule by another molecule that absorbs this electron and thereby 'reduces' itself. In terms of electrical charge, this means that when a molecule is oxidized, it becomes more positive because it loses a negatively charged electron. When the oxidized molecule regains the lost electron and thereby increases its negative charge and returns to its original state, we speak of reduction. When the "victim" is a physiologically relevant biomolecule and the "electron-theft" is not instantly repaired, the oxidized molecule causes damage to the organism's structures as it harms and obstructs its functioning.

As explained by Dr. Levy, "[w]hen any biomolecule is in an oxidized, electron-depleted state, it becomes either completely incapable of having its normal chemical interactions with other biomolecules (inactivation) or those interactions become severely impaired, as with an enzyme that is partially suppressed in its ability to participate in and accelerate a chemical reaction. In such an oxidized state, that biomolecule is now officially 'diseased'. When an oxidized biomolecule reacquires electron(s) so that it is brought back to the reduced, chemically stable state, it is no longer diseased and officially 'normal' again." In other words, a chemically stable. non-oxidized, molecule finds itself in the right, "ortho", effective, state, while an oxidized molecule finds itself in the "wrong", diseased, state. 

"When", so writes Dr. Levy, "excess oxidative stress is advanced, and a significant number of biomolecules are in the oxidized state, normal cellular metabolic function is further impaired or prevented. These non-functioning biomolecules not only lose their ability to function but also occupy space, which can effectively block or at least impede the normal chemical and metabolic interactions of functioning biomolecules with other functioning biomolecules." The simple and inevitable conclusion drawn by Dr. Levy is that "beyond being in a state of oxidation or reduction, biomolecules have no other form of existence." In turn, this means that "as such, there is no further 'affliction' that biomolecules can possess. An oxidized biomolecule is diseased, and a reduced biomolecule is normal. Whether in the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient or the lining of the coronary arteries of a patient with atherosclerosis and heart disease, biomolecules are either in an oxidized or a reduced state. This electron status is what defines all diseases."

And so, Thomas Levy quite elegantly "reduces" all problems and issues in the field of health and disease to this basic truth:

"The only pathology, or 'disease', sustained by a single biomolecule is whether it is oxidized. Therefore, excess oxidation among many biomolecules, or increased oxidative stress, does not cause pathology in the cells and tissues; it IS the disease."

Pro-oxidants go by names such as Free Radicals, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Oxidizing Agents, Poisons and Toxins. Whatever name they're given or class they belong to, they all increase oxidative stress as they "pull electrons away from normal, reduced biomolecules, while restoring electron balance to themselves, assuming a more stable biochemical state that never seeks to donate those electrons back to another electron-depleted molecule." When an anti-oxidant then comes to the rescue and restores an oxidized molecule by donating an electron to it and bringing it back to its stable state, the anti-oxidant becomes an oxidant itself because it will seek to restore its own stable state by taking an electron from another molecule, just so that it can use that electron to stabilize oxidized molecules.

At this point, it's important to understand the crucial difference in biological value between a pro-oxidant and an oxidized antioxidant. They both seek to replenish themselves with electrons. "But", so Levy, "their effects in the body are enormously different." This is because the toxic pro-oxidant "never relinquishes the electrons it steals from a viable biomolecule. Those electrons are permanently lost to the body." They remain forever locked up in the pro-oxidant. To the contrary, when an anti-oxidant has donated an electron to restore an oxidized biomolecule, it will seek to reacquire the lost electrons in order to give those electrons up again to an electron-depleted biomolecule, thereby restoring it to its normal status. Antioxidants give and take electrons and that's precisely how they play an indispensable role in boosting the survival of the human body.

"As such", says Levy, "antioxidants, such as vitamin C, continually promote an ongoing exchange of electrons throughout the body, particularly within cells. This continuous exchange of electrons produces an electron flow inside the cells, which can be measured as a microcurrent. As the microcurrent develops with maximal antioxidant and minimal toxin presence, voltages [electric potential] across the cell membranes (transmembrane voltages) also develop. The healthiest cells have the highest measurable transmembrane voltages. As the cell membranes continuously regulate electrolyte, solute, and nutrient transport vital to the cell’s health, its 'electrical' status — the health of which is directly correlated with the degree of oxidative stress inside the cell — directly impacts all critical cellular functions." 

Vitamin C is regarded as the most essential and widespread antioxidant in the human body, mainly because it is highly capable of performing the giving as well as the taking of electrons. Depending on whether they give or take, vitamin C molecules constantly switch from an antioxidant to a pro-oxidant to an antioxidant state. In order to replenish itself after having donated an electron, vitamin C must take a fresh electron from another molecule that is prepared to donate an electron. It must, so to say, oxidize a molecule that is willing to give up its stable, reduced, state. As "antioxidants of last resort" Dr. Masquelier's OPCs perfectly fit this bill. Once they have donated an electron to vitamin C, they don't seek to replenish themselves and become pro-oxidants. This is why, from a truly orthomolecular point of view, instead of swallowing high amounts of vitamin C to replace the depleted stock, it makes more sense to combine the intake of vitamin C with the daily intake of Masquelier's OPCs.

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[I] The Only Cause of Disease; Dr. Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD; MedFox publishing; Available as PDF