jm@tekig.UUCP (Jeff Mizener) (09/11/84)
[?]
Arginine and ornithine are soon to become victims of Health Media Hype,
and to be made responsible for everything from curing cancer to making your
hair blonder in the summer. Beware.
Here is what it says about A&O in my "Vitamin Research Products" catalog:
Arginine:
L-Arginine is classified as nonessential for adults, but
essential for growth in children. L-A is known to stregnthen
the immune system and to stimulate the release of growth hormones.
It has also been reported to promote thymus activity as well
as wound healing. The thymus serves as the master immune gland
which coordinated the production of T-Cells that identify foreign
invaders or cancers and direct further immune actions. L-A also
serves as an ammonia detoxicant for the blood. In free-base form,
L-A is alkaline but may be neutralized by the addition of vitamin
C, whereas the HCL form is characterized by a more palatable
taste.
Ornithine:
L-Ornithine is a metabolite of Arginine which, like the latter,
causes the relaese of growth hormones. The growth hormone is
associated with immunity,healing, maturation and the body's
muscle-to-fat ratio. L-O is increasingly used as a simple
and effective weight-loss catalyst. It is twice as potent
a growth hormone releaser as L-A.
Neither of these two products is recommended for children, lactating
mothers, or use during pregnancy.
Two Caveats:
1) Unbalancing the amino acid balance (arginine and ornithine
are amino acids) can cause funny side effects. For people
with herpes (all kinds), skewing the lysine-arginine balance
too far in favor of arginine can promote MORE FREQUENT
OUTBREAKS. Be careful.
2) THERE IS NO MAGIC DRUG TO TAKE TO LOSE WEIGHT. THE ONLY
WAY TO DO IT IS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE WITH PROPER DIET
AND EXERCISE (DIET ALONE DOESN'T WORK). These supplements
may help. I don't know. Try them and see.
At what cost? VRP sells 100 1000mg A/O caps for $15.20. They are
1/4 ornithine and 3/4 arginine. I don't work for, nor have any stake
in Vitamin Research Products. But I'll give you the address if you're
interested.
-----------
Time heals all non-fatal wounds.
Jeff Mizener / Tektronix ADG / Beaverton, OR
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,uoregon}
{purdue,masscomp,uw-beaver}
{zehntel,hplabs,allegra,ihnp4}!tektronix!tekadg!jm
ARPA: tekadg!jm.tek@udel-relay CSnet: tekadg!jm@tekabc@brl-tgr.ARPA (Brint Cooper ) (09/15/84)
>Arginine: > L-Arginine is classified as nonessential for adults, but > essential for growth in children. L-A is known to stregnthen > the immune system and to stimulate the release of growth hormones. > It has also been reported to promote thymus activity as well > as wound healing. The thymus serves as the master immune gland > which coordinated the production of T-Cells that identify foreign > invaders or cancers and direct further immune actions. Also, be advised that the thymus gland is implicated in the neuromuscular disease, myasthenia gravis. The thymus does most of its work in the prenatal being and in very early childhood. By adolescence, the thymus should begin to shrink. In the adult, the normal thymus should be atrophied and dormant. (See modern Physiology texts for confirmation and a better explanation.) Any person suffering from myasthenia who is discovered (by chest CAT scan) to have a large thymus is a good candidate for thymectomy (removal of the thymus). Indeed, if the myasthenia is bad enough (it can kill you via respiratory failure), the thymus is removed anyway - with improvement in about 87% of the cases studied. By the way, this involves sawing open the breastbone as in open heart surgery. If some chemical promises to enlarge the thymus, it probably should be avoided. Brint <abc@brl.arpa>