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Why does Singulair cause these symptoms? I am going to give my e...

Posted at 6:51 PM on Oct 23, 2008 by concernedcitizen, #35943
Why does Singulair cause these symptoms? I am going to give my explanation which is only a HYPOTHESIS. This should not be categorized as any thing but an educated guess. This is not backed by scientific research because nobody will do any research that would appear to anger Merck even if people are suffering in the thousands. 1. The original research that preceded the development of Singulair (montelukast) seemed to focus on the theory that asthma was caused by an unusual immune response to certain pathological stimulus. There are many references to the observation that a high percentage of asthma sufferers are people whose asthma is caused by fungus. Many people suffer from asthma and are told that they are allergic to dust mites. Dust mites can live only because the fungus aspergillus pre-digests the food source that dust mites can then absorb. Other sources of fungus occur in the home due to dampness or problems with wood rot. 2. The body's immune system fights certain categories of pathogens such as bacteria and fungus by creating nitric oxide which kills them at the site where they try to enter the body. The mast cell is the immune cell that is responsible for the production of nitric oxide. Mast cells are found in the skin, airways, intestines etc. The mast cell is capable of many different types of biochemical functions that are designed to signal other cells or other chemical responses. When the mast cell knows that pathogens are present and nitric oxide is NOT produced, then it signals other immune cells to be sent to the site of the infection. Thus in the case of asthma, it is known that excessive numbers of eosinophils appear in the airways and these cells create inflammation. 3. Singulair was developed for asthma and later allowed to be prescribed for other reasons. I believe that montelukast probably creates a source of nitric oxide that prevents the mast cell from signalling for other immune cells to arrive at the source of infection. I arrived at that conclusion from studying the chemical structure of montelukast, the chemical structure of the gene cysLT1 receptor, and the chemical structure of the cell wall of fungus which would be what the mast cell uses to determine "what to do in order to kill the fungus." The researchers who invented montelukast first had to clone the gene-cysLT1 receptor meaning that they had to be able to identify the gene and replicate it. Then by trial and error they had a find a "chemical" that would bind (connect chemically) to the cysLT1 receptor. The theory would be that montelukast would take the place of the fungus or other pathogen and thus prevent the gene from reacting to produce the responses that the sick patient with asthma produced. Merck says in the literature that montelukast binds with the cysLT1 receptor in order to prevent the mast cell from signalling the eosinophils to arrive in excessive numbers that cause inflammation. I believe that montelukast is also causing the production of an amount of nitric oxide that is actually killing the pathogens that are present. For one thing, I would think that it would be dangerous to incapacitate the immune system in that way without providing a way to kill the pathogens. I don't believe that the asthma response is just allergies to something like dust. Pollen from trees and flowers is loaded with fungus spores. 4. IF, IF, IF, montelukast does actually produce nitric oxide, then it does so by binding with the gene. Any place in the body where a molecule of montelukast encounters the cysLT1 receptor (a gene) then the corresponding molecules of nitric oxide are produced before the liver enzymes break the montelukast molecules up. Nitric oxide is TOXIC and INFLAMMATORY. So let's look at the symptoms in regard to the location of the cysLT1 receptors. The location of these symptoms would not be places in the body where the mast cells normally encounter fungus or bacteria. The cysLT1 also has other functions in that it communicates with the cysLT2 receptors. Obviously, nitric oxide should not be produced in these locations because of the signalling effect of nitric oxide on other physiological functions. a. intestinal pain - the cysLT1 receptors are located in the small intestines b. leg pain actually caused by vasculitis - cysLT1 receptors are found inside blood vessels- consistent with the fact that montelukast causes Churg-Strauss c. some people who didn't have asthma develop asthma - the cysLT1 receptors are in the airways d. nightmares, depression, neurological damage - when montelukast penetrates the blood brain barrier probably due to unusual conditions of blood pH or electrolyte imbalance then nitric oxide in the brain causes neuron damage and excitoxicity 5. Why do some patients not experience side effects? Probably because genetically they are completely compatible with the model that researchers created when they cloned the cysLT1 receptor gene. I didn't not find any information about whether researchers knew that there are many different variations of this gene. 6. IF, my theory is even close to being correct, then why doesn't Merck do anything about researching these side effects. Maybe because nobody in the company knows how this drug works but the researchers who created it. All of the Merck literature is very vague about any biochemical information. Again, this is just speculation and hypothesis. I have made an attempt to put this in simplistic language and therefore sacrifice scientific accuracy. But, I think that you will get the point. SINGULAIR IS VERY DANGEROUS TO PATIENTS WHO EXPERIENCE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. DOCTORS SHOULD JUST REALIZE THAT THOSE PATIENTS ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE MODEL FOR THE DRUG.
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Reply about 1 year ago on Oct 23, 2008 by froglover1069, #13760

Thank you concernedcitizen...we sure have missed your posts. All that you have stated above sure sounds likely to me. I don't know why Merck, FDA, Doctors, and others can't figure this out! Probably $$$$$$

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Reply about 1 year ago on Oct 23, 2008 by zsmom, #13763

what do you think about this article???

http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/8525697700573E1885256AFF0058640B?OpenDocument&id=48DDE4A73E09A969852568880078C249&count=10&highlight=0,singulair

Anti-Leukotrienes for Asthma May Mask Airway Inflammation: Presented at CHEST
By Alison Palkhivala
Special to DG News

The current goals in the management of asthma are twofold: improve symptomatology and reduce airway inflammation in order to prevent the development of fixed airway disease over the long-term. David G Hof, MD, chair of the respiratory therapy department at Saint Luke's Hospital, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, and colleagues used elevated exhaled nitric oxide (EENO) as a marker of inflammation in order to determine how well anti-leukotrienes reduce airway inflammation in asthma. He presented their findings here this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians ...

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Reply about 1 year ago on Oct 23, 2008 by concernedcitizen, #13766

zsmom,

I don't really know what to think about that article. Many researchers try to correlate exhaled nitric oxide levels with the presence of symptoms. I find this subject interesting.

In my way of thinking, if a patient is not taking medication and shows elevated exhaled nitric oxide levels, then I would believe that possibly the patient's immune system is fighting something because the mast cell causes nitric oxide to be produced in response to the chemical signals that the mast cell receives from certain organisms.

I would hope that fungus would be further studied. There are several varieties that produce very small spores that easily evade our natural defenses and can get sucked deep into the lungs. Maybe those spores are the cause of asthma. It would be more consistent that high levels of exhaled nitric oxide might mean high levels of pathogens such as fungus that have evaded our natural defenses.

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Reply about 1 year ago on Nov 03, 2008 by marsteller6pack, #14112

concernedcitizen:
have you seen this re: glutamate/leukotriene/nitric oxide and prostaglandin?
http://www.hbhealthonline.com/whatsnew06.html

It is very informative and goes along with what you are thinking. I know this may be a long shot, but....since leukotriene antagonist is a hormone antagonist acting on leukotrienes and I had such a horrible reaction to it (neuro).

I started wondering why all the focus on this and other drugs for the suicidial concern was always geared towards teens when our bodies DNA/genetic makeup is the same for us from the time we're born until death, right?. Then the word HORMONE jumped out at me....when I hear the word 'hormone" I think of a PMS woman or my kids (I have a 17 & 13 year old sons who are BOTH hitting puberty at the same time and an 11 year old daughter just beginning life's journey as a "young woman" and I joke about a house full of hormones...)aka/teenagers, or postpartum women, etc.

actually, I have PMDD and started to think that when I reacted the so intensely to this drug, it was during that time.

The words prostaglandin, leukotriene, nitric oxide, excitotoxicty and glutamate all come together in this article and seems to really make sense to me. Also add in crossing the blood brain barrier and neuro-psychiatric.

Wonder how far into puberty Cody was? Could he have been experiencing hormonal changes during the time he took Singulair?

I know that we all know there's a connection and there's so many of us wanting answers. I too believe that the clone that Merck made does not genetically fit everyone and that it's our DNA that makes us react to drugs the way we do (doesn't matter about sex or size---you can have a 300 lb man taking 10mg and have a terrible reaction because genetically he's not compatible or a 90 lbs woman taking 10mg with no issues).

Thanks for any info, comments.

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