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We have been using dextromethorphan for over 20 years to prevent brain damage from strokes and concussions. There have been a number of attempts by researchers to use dextromethorphan to prevent the neurons from rupturing and being destroyed. The mistake the researchers made was believing a large dose of DM was needed. Using DM is a delicate balancing act. The neurons need calcium to function. If you use a high dose of DM the neurons shut down because it blocks all of the calcium. If you leave too much calcium in the neurons there is a cascade of events that destroys the neurons. There is a small window where the DM allows the neurons to be brought back with little or no damage at a later date. In 1991 in the Discover magazine an article was written by Billy Allstetter called, “Cheating Brain Death. [See my website, [www.porttownsendthinktank.org]

A dentist in Juneau, Alaska read the article and realized that the nerve pulp in a tooth is similar the brain tissue. He had patients in remote villages that might take a week or two to get to the clinic with a tooth problem. The pain of a tooth ache is severe in a light plane with changing air pressure. He experimented and found that he could use DM to reduce swollen and inflamed nerves in teeth and taken with a couple of non prescription pain killers almost eliminated the pain. Dr. Eichman DDS used DM in his dental practice in Juneau for over 8 years.

Dr. Eichman got word that his 87 year old frail 110 pound mother had a major stroke. One arm and one leg was limp. She could not feel a pin prick on the right side of her body and she could not speak. He got to her bed side 12 hours later. Out of desperation Dr. Eichman DDS put a Hold Throat Lozenge with 5 mg of DM in her mouth and she got it down. Roger did the same the next 2 mornings so his mother had a total of 15 mg of DM. In two weeks she walked out of the hospital. She lost the feeling on the tips of her fingers and toes. Other than that she was back to normal. The doctors called her their miracle patient.

We have told a lot of people about the protocol and spoken to groups about using DM to prevent stroke damage. Don Hoglund, who owns the local pharmacy, kept a supply of Hold Throat Lozenges on hand and used it on his mother when she had a stroke. One 79 year old man had a cerebral hemorrhage and was unconscious for 19 days. He woke up and saw a family friend sitting on the end of the bed. Brynn said,”Hi Chris,” She said you have been unconscious for 19 days. In two weeks he was bouncing a basket ball down the hall to get his coordination back. He returned to normal. Even his speech and balance was back to normal. A number of people have used the protocol which is effective if started within 48 hours of the first symptoms. Dr. Eichman D.D.S. and I have spoken in front of groups and told hundreds of people on how to prevent brain damage from a stroke. Every year I contact companies and universities to see if someone will be interested. Unfortunately it only costs less than 10 dollars to prevent a person from having stroke damage and there is not money to be made so no one is interested. Universities are after grants and companies are after block buster patented medication they can make billions off of. This has been a research effort and we believe that there are 4 or 5 areas not related to strokes that can be patented. We are able to prevent neural edema and reduce neural edema that already exists. This opens up many new uses for our technology.

The Eichman stroke protocol:

The stroke patient should take 10 mg of DM for 3 days if the patient weighs less than 150 pounds, 10 mg for 4 days if the patients weighs between 150 and 200 pounds and 10 mg of DM for 5 days if the patient weighs over 200 pounds. The Eichman protocol is effective if started within 48 hours of the initial symptoms. We do not know how fast the effectiveness decreases after 48 hours. With concussions it is important to start treatment as soon as possible because there is initial damage and edema. With a concussion the brain slams into the skull and rebounds and hits the skull on the other side. There is a blood pressure spike at the instant of trauma that damages capillaries and the violent movement of the brain damages connections and circuits in the brain. The neural edema cuts of the capillaries feeding the brain tissue and the neurons die. DM is neuroprotective and stabilizes the brain tissue to prevent further damage.

Dextromethorphan Hbr is approved by the FDA and the AMA for long term use up to 120 mg. per day Attempts to use DM to prevent brain damage have used up to 300 mg of DM for up to 2 weeks with no reported side effects. A recent law was passed by congress that allows off label uses of drugs. If a doctor is concerned about using DM for a stroke patient, they can put on the chart, “Throat problems. Give 10 mg of DM for 3 days. Every stroke patient has throat problems and this is a AMA approved use. Based on 20 years experience, the Eichman Protocol should cut the brain damage by at least 80 to 90%.

Doctors need to be aware that if DM is used the MRI as a diagnostic tool may be ineffective because of the neurprotective effects of DM. Lois T. a member or out Olympic fruit club was 85 years old and 130 pounds. She maintained a orchard of around 30 fruit trees including pruning the trees and harvesting the crop. Fortunately Dr. Eichman, DDS and I had given talks at the Fruit club on how to prevent brain damage from a stroke. On a Sunday afternoon she was entertaining friends when she started to slur her speech. She knew she was having a stroke. She sucked on 2 Hold Throat Lozenges and her friends took her to the hospital in Port Townsend. They ran a MRI and could not find any stroke damage. They said that you are obviously having a stroke but we don’t know why the MRI is not showing it so they airlifted her to Swedish hospital in Seattle. Swedish took a MRI and found the blood clot but the MRI would not show the damaged area. She could not talk or move her arm or leg or roll over. In two weeks she was in intense physical therapy. In 3 weeks she was home and in 4 weeks she was out pruning apple trees. When she went outside she had to use a cane and the grip on her right hand was not as strong as it should be. Three years after the first stroke she had a small stroke that was misdiagnosed as a vertigo. Two weeks later the doctor told her she had a stroke but it was too late to use the DM protocol. I said Lois, there is no downside using DM. Why did you not use DM just in case it was a stroke? She said that she trusted her doctor. She is now in a assisted living facility and has to use a walker. Any stroke symptom even minor should be treated with 10 mg of DM.

For 15 years we used and recommended Hold Throat Lozenges which had 5 mg of DM in each lozenge and the rest was sugar candy. Hold went out of business so now we use cough medicine. Read the label. Most cough medicine have 10 mg of DM in a tablespoon of cough medicine. Every change, regardless of how minor, has to be checked to see if it causes any problems. A throat lozenge with 10 mg of DM would be ideal for developing countries.

The neuroprotective effects of the DM prevents soft tissue damage so the MRI often shows nothing. I am afraid that a football player could have a very bad concussion and be put back in the game because the MRI showed no damage. If DM is used then a doctor may not being able to see damage on a MRI . This does not mean there is not a stroke or concussion. I would like to use our technology to put together a capsule to prevent damage caused by pro football. This would have to prevent damage to the neurons and also repair the circuits and connections damaged. If you are interested, contact me.

I am asking you to forward this to all of your friends and the people at Prevention magazine. I have tried and failed to get anyone interested in our project and it is wrong to keep technology that would allow people with strokes to live normal productive lives. So far there has been no side effects or interactions with other drugs and the results have been spectacular but there are no guarantees. This is a experimental treatment. The discussion concerning dextromethorphan is for information only and intend for research organizations . It is not intended to diagnose or treat any ailment. Treatment options should be between the patient and the health care provider. I am going to put this and other information on my web site. www.porttownsendthinktank.org and my Email address is jfritz@olypen.com I need your feedback. If you use DM or can contribute to the research effort please contact me. Strokes are the second leading cause of death in developing countries. We need to work with some international group like the Gates Foundation. Also we have developed the technology to greatly decrease brain damage in contact spots. We need someone to work with on that project. Best Wishes.

James Fritz Director Port Townsend Think Tank www.porttownsendthinktank.org email jfritz@olypen.com cell 360-316-9635

Toothaches, Strokes, and Traumatic Brain Injury

In August 1991 Discover Magazine published an article with the title “Cheating Brain Death” that discussed dextromethorphan and how it worked. At about the same time Creighton University reported on the chemical similarity between dental pulp tissue [P Protein Factor] and brain tissue.

My dental practice was in Alaska, and I occasionally had patients that needed to fly in from remote villages with sensitive teeth. Bouncing around in a small plane with a painful tooth can be a very uncomfortable experience. Many times the patient did not have access to prescription pain medication. As a last resort I would tell them to take Tylenol, also take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory such as Advil or Asperin, and a cough suppressant with dextromethorphan in it at whatever dose is recommended on the bottle, but do not exceed 10 mg per day. For instance Musinex has 60 mg of DM in it so you would only use one sixth of a tablet.

The dextromethorphan works as a calcium reverser, shunting calcium atoms out of injured nerves, thus reducing the pulpal or inner cranial pressure. This allows the blood supply to flow again which allows the anti-inflammatory and or the anti-histamine to also work, further reducing swelling in the tooth or brain.

I used the cough medications with dextromethorphan for years in my dental practice for toothaches with remarkable success and no side effects until I retired in the late 90's. Since then I have seen it used effectively on five stroke cases. The hospitals described their stroke patients as,” miracle patients,” or the hospital said that they, “dodged the bullet.”

The dosage is whatever is recommended on the cough suppressant label but do not exceed 10 mg per day of DM. I have seen remarkable recoveries from strokes with as little as 5 mg of DM per day for 1 or 2 days. Nyquil and Dayquil contain 10 mg per dose while Hold has only 5 mg per lozenge. Hold is no longer available. Other medications with DM can be used. Use only 5 or 10 mg per day for 3 to 5 days for strokes. There appears to be a narrow window for DM in the range of 5 to 10 mg of DM per day that works, but the optimum dosage will vary depending on the weight, age, and individual. In this case more is not better. The DM treatment appears to be effective if taken in the first 48 hours. At about 48 hours the neurons swell and rupture causing permanent damage. In the case of head injury, brain damage starts immediately so time is very critical. Another advantage of using a very low dose of DM is that it is unlikely to interfere with other medications.

“Cheating Brain Death,” by Billy Allsteter, Discover Magazine, August 1991.

“Stroke Treatment Cocktail: DMALMGTT, Harvard, Edu-forum, Lambardo F. Plama, MD, MSPH, 8/22/99, E mail Idlpalma@ihc.com

“Dextromethorphan Protects Against Cerebral Injury Following Transient Focal Ischemin in Rabbits,” Stroke, Vol,19, 1112-1118

“Dextromethorphan Protects Dopaminergic Neurons Against Inflammation-Mediated Degeneration Through Inhibition of Microglial Activation,” J. Pharmacol, Exp. Ther., April 1, 2003, 305[1]:212-218.

“Stroke Intervention in Clinical Trials” at: http://strokecenter,org/trials/index_cats.hms 5/24/04

“Treating Returning Soldiers with a Traumatic, Brain Injury,” Cindy Kleiman RDH, BS, Hygienetown, Dec. 2010

Contact Eichmanrogerdr@webtv.net. The above article will be posted on The Port Townsend Think Tank website.

The above article is for information only. If you want medical advice, please contact the appropriate medical practitioner. If you think that you are having a stroke, call 911 immediately. Do not wait and see if it will go away. If you or someone you know uses the above information, please have them contact The Port Townsend Think Tank by Email so we can add to our knowledge.

Thanks. James Fritz, Director, Port Townsend Think Tank

We appreciate your help. Keep in touch. Thanks.