More Pineapples, Please?

As I was googling around cyberspace this morning, I came across a "Q&A" discussion about amyloidosis by a Dr. James Heffley. I like his analogy of the amyloid deposits which grow during the progression of the disease:

...Imagine a factory producing a product made of nonbiodegradable plastic. A small percentage of these plastic products are sure to be defective, but there is no easy way to do away with them. This is no problem if there are only a few of them. But if a flaw develops in the machinery and a lot of defective plastic products are made with no place to store them, the defective products will accumulate and interfere with the production of all other products...

Then, out nowhere, he began to list of the "natural" ways that scienists are learning to handle (or even treat) the disease:

...Destruction of amyloid by very high doses of vitamin C in combination with copper seems to work in animal experiments and may at least prevent amyloidosis from worsening. Low levels of glutathione, another major antioxidant, may also be associated with amyloidosis. Although human studies have not been conducted to evaluate glutathione supplementation for amyloidosis, some clinicians recommend 500 mg two or three times a day to try to prevent the disease.

Bromelain, an enzyme derived from pineapple, may help break down amyloid deposits in kidney tissue; this is suggested by a laboratory study performed on tissue samples from the kidney of one person with a family history of amyloidosis. This preliminary finding does not indicate how this information will translate to treatment or prevention of amyloidosis for people in general...

...Although only a "test tube" experiment, production of insoluble amyloid was reduced in the presence of melatonin, a brain hormone that diminishes with age but that can be easily and safely supplemented.

Although amyloid is an abnormal protein, the amount of protein you eat plays no known role in the development of the disease. Dietary choices and supplements that increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids theoretically would help to prevent amyloidosis...

Wow. That's the first I've heard of these studies. Of course, after a few-clicks in my favorite search engine, I've found that this is somewhat well known, and this information has been around for at least a couple of years.

The correlation between bromelain and kidney amyloid deposit reduction is interesting to me, as I have quite a lot of amyloid deposits there. You can even get bromelain in a pill at your local health-store, which would be awfully convienent.

I will bring these findings to the Patient's Day event on Saturday and run it by some of the doctors I meet.