Arginine For Pain: Sickle Cell Disease

The Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw®Life Extension News Volume 20 No. 2 €¢ March 2017

ARGININE FOR PAIN: SICKLE CELL DISEASE Normal free-flowing red blood cells versus sickle cells becoming lodged. Preliminary clinical studies are showing promising results in the treatment of pain in patients with sickle cell disease. Pain is the hallmark of sickle cell disease, with some patients in pain all of the time. Arginine has been found in these preliminary clinical studies to be effective against the pain due to vaso-occlusive blood clots. “Phase II clinical trials of arginine therapy for sickle-related pain are underway and a Phase III randomized controlled trial is anticipated in the near future (Bakshi, 2016).”Sickle cell disease is described as an “arginine deficiency syndrome (Bakshi, 2016).” The “global arginine bioavailability ratio” (GABR) was developed to assess the state of arginine sufficiency as expressed in the ratio of arginine to arginine metabolites (ornithine and citrulline). The GABR is low, not only in sickle cell disease, but also in diabetes. Moreover, a low GABR “has been shown to be a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease and early mortality in general (Bakshi, 2016).”

Arginine can be found in our Muscle Memory™, with each serving containing 6 grams of arginine. Suggested use is 1 to 3 servings a day on an empty stomach—at bedtime, upon awakening, or before exercise.