The Natural Cure for Pain
For more than 25 years Lea Verity suffered severe pain in her jaw and numbness in her face following a playground accident she had when she was just six. The accident caused damage to the tissues in her jaw, leading to inflammation around the joint, muscle spasms and a trapped nerve. The condition TMJ (temporo mandibular joint syndrome) made it painful for her to eat or even smile.
She spent many nights curled up in agony with a hot water bottle pressed to her face as conventional painkilling tablets didn’t help.
However, today Lea, 32, a sports centre manager from Doncaster, Yorkshire, is completely free of pain. She has been taking SP-Zyme, a supplement containing the naturally occurring enzyme, serrapeptase, for the past two months and her symptoms disappeared almost overnight. Serrapeptase is already widely used in Europe, Japan and the US and an alternative to anti inflammatory medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and NSAIDs (no steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Although it’s not available on prescription in Britain, some doctors here are beginning to use it on their patients and this week it’s being introduced into Revital health food stores.
John Hanley, managing director of Jodi Enterprises which distributes SP-Zyme by mail order, says: "An American contact recommended the product and after looking at research from the US and Germany I decided to import it. It has huge potential for British patients.”
Unlike conventional painkilling drugs, which can cause gastrointestinal problems, kidney, liver and heart diseases and immune system disorders, serrapeptase has no known side effects.
Serrapeptase works by digesting dead tissue, such as scars, and blocking the chemicals which cause inflammation. This makes it an effective treatment for any conditions caused by inflammation.
Research in Germany and Japan has shown serrapeptase can dissolve breast and ovarian cysts, case symptoms of arthritis, speed the healing of torn ligaments and sports injuries and aid post operative healing. People with carpal tunnel syndrome or RSI, asthma, sinusitis, ear infections and migraine have also benefited from taking it.
Recent studies show it helps to dissolve blood clots and arterial plaque, protects against strokes and shrinks varicose veins. It also appears to help cure infections by making antibiotics work more effectively.
"Serrapeptase is useful in treating any disease or condition caused by dead tissue, mucous or clotted material,” says Jeanette Manning, a naturepathic nutritionist from San Diego, California, who has used the enzyme on many of her patients. "It dissolves damaged cells without harming healthy tissue, drains away mucous and, by blocking the chemicals which cause inflammation, stops pain.”
Dr Anand, a GP in Gosforth, Newcastle, and a lecturer in holistic medicine at the city’s university, is using SP-Zyme to treat a 41 year old male patient who suffers from sinusitis and joint pains. "He has only been taking a low dose of SP-Zyme for a week but he has already noticed an improvement,” he says. "I’m very positive about the potential of SP-Zyme and plan to start using it on other patients. SP-Zyme deserves wider testing in the UK.”
Lea had given up any hope of recovery before she tried it. "I had what felt like permanent earache and sometimes I’d get sharp, stabbing pains which literally took my breath away,” she says. "The pain made me squint, affecting my eyesight and I couldn’t feel one side of my face. At its worst, it became impossible to open my jaw I couldn’t even prise it open with my hands.
"Neither doctors nor dentists knew how to help me. They implied my problems were psychological. All they could to was prescribe course after course of ibuprofen, which made no difference.
"Even when I was finally diagnosed with TMJ a year ago, which doctors can’t cure, my only options were strong painkillers and potentially risky surgery with a low success rate. I hated being dependent on painkillers and was getting unpleasant side-effects, such as indigestion pains and excess stomach acid.”
Inflammatory disorders such as TMJ occur when the body’s immune system goes wrong. Inflammation is a normal response which protects the body against invading organisms and faulty cells. TMJ affects an estimated four per cent of the population but often goes undiagnosed.
Doctors don’t yet understand why, but sometimes the body loses its ability to differentiate between harmless and potentially dangerous substances. This results in the onset of a wide variety of autoimmune diseases, including allergies, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and some cancers.
Had it not been for a chance conversation with an American friend, Lea might never have tried SP-Zyme. "I had never heard of it, so I did some research and discovered it was about to become available in the UK,” she says. "Although I’ve used alternative remedies in the past, I was very cynical but I was willing to try anything.”
Lea began taking three SP-Zyme capsules three times a day in December. "After just a few days I started to notice an improvement,” she says. "The feeling in my face seemed to be coming back and the pain wasn’t as bad. After two weeks, I stopped taking ibuprofen. I couldn’t believe it. I was pain free, the stiffness in my jaw had gone and all the feeling in my face had returned. SP-Zyme achieved more in weeks than years of orthodontic treatment.”
Lea’s life has changed dramatically since taking serrapeptase. "I’ve reduced my dose and still have no symptoms,” she says. "My stomach problems have disappeared, I haven’t noticed any side effects at all and I feel more energetic.”