The Lightning Process and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

“New hope for people with MS”

Over the last few years we have started to see a number of people getting impressive results when using the Lightning Process with neurological conditions such as CFS, parkinsonian tremors, cerebral palsy and strokes. As a consequence we were asked whether the Lightning Process could be used for improvement and recovery with any other types of neurological illnesses, particularly Multiple Sclerosis.

Phil Parker (the designer of the Lightning Process) spent some time researching into the possibility of applying the process to this disease and concluded that

• There have been interesting findings in cases of relapsing and remitting MS. The sclerotic lesions that are considered to be the cause and the key diagnostic factor of MS, seemed to be relatively unchanged during both the good and bad phases of the illness. This indicates that the lesions themselves can’t be the only factors involved in the expression of the disease and that there must be some other variables at work which mediate the strength of the symptoms.

• MS has much in common with many other conditions that we have worked with successfully. There is a debate as to whether MS is a neurological or immunological condition, but as the LP has already had good results with other illnesses with this type of mixed pathology, this seems to be a good indicator that there is a possibility of making changes with MS too.

• MS diagnoses and “typing” is a complex procedure, (there are currently 4 types), with clients often having had many different diagnoses before and/or alongside their MS diagnosis. Again this was something we had seen before in many of our other cases.

This leads us to consider whether it is possible to influence these other variables to extend the periods of remission, maybe even to 50, 60 or more years, and even restore function permanently?

Stress – research and physiology

What is stress?

Stress is the body's reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response.

Stress can come from any situation that makes you feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or anxious. External stressors may include work, sleepless nights, traffic jams or money problems. Illness itself is stressful as it may limit our life or ability to do ‘normal’ things. It may also effect us financially or in our relationships. The stress this causes can have a negative effect on our immune system. There is much research now that shows long term or chronic stress has a devastating effect on our health.

But in our opinion the many powerful stressors also come from within. Low self-esteem, lack of confidence, fear of the future, poor body image and guilt are all fairly common but because they are there so often and they feel so ‘real’ they have a greater effect on our body and are harder to spot because it seems like ‘this is just the way I am’. Start to notice how often you experience thoughts and feelings that make you feel sad, worried, nervous or low, and you may begin to realise how powerfully they can effect you

Part of the Lightning Process training programme is learning to spot the internal stressors, as they are often unconscious responses that we are so used to, we do not notice them or how they start.

Naturally, a positive diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can add an additional stress factor to the life of the patient as concerns for the future increase, which creates a vicious cycle that contributes to maintaining the condition or even making it worse.

Stress research and MS

• Researcher, D. Bulijevac, PhD, a neurologist with the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands reports that researchers found that periods of stress doubled the risk of developing new symptoms, or a more severe form of their existing symptoms.
  He speculated that this is probably because chronic stress weakens the immune system. British Medical Journal, 2003.

• Gamma interferon-inhibits central nervous system remyelination through a process modulated by endoplasmic reticulum stress. Wensheng Lin, April Kemper, Jeffery L. Dupree, Heather P. Harding, David Ron and Brian Popko. The Brain. Oxford Journals Feb 2006.

• Improving mood may also improve the immune system in people with multiple sclerosis. Lecture, David C. Mohr, PhD 1999

Physiology of stress and MS

The physiology of how stress affects MS is as yet unclear, but it probably involves gamma interferon, which has a regulatory effect on the immune system.

• Gamma interferon is known to inhibit remyelination, and studies with resolving depression in MS showed improvement in symptoms concurrent with LOWERING of gamma interferon.

• Conversely, gamma interferon is usually considered to be an immune boosting agent, with levels decreasing during stress and increasing when away from stress.

• These two conflicting bits of information suggest that levels of gamma interferon are both reduced and increased by stress which further suggests that more studies need to be done to establish why these different results have been found, and discover what else modifies the way gamma interferon influences the immune system.

Whatever the mechanisms at play here, the findings clearly indicate that in stress there is an inbalancing of the immune system and an alteration of proper immune function.

The two possible extremes of immune dysfunction are

1. Low functioning immune system, resulting in  
   
   a)    An inability to clear infections
   b)    Poor detoxification of all body tissues with resulting poor function of all body systems.
   c)    Inability to distinguish foreign matter from own components and ‘bad’ cells from good.

2. Over active, out of control immune system, resulting in  
   
   a)    Inability to distinguish foreign matter from own components and ‘bad’ cells from good –
          concluding with attacks directed at own, well functioning tissues (auto immune issues).
   b)    Wastage of body resources

In ME and MS we can see both extremes of immune function. For example, the auto-immune response of demyelination in MS and multiple food and chemical sensitivity in ME, and the low immune function preventing good detoxification of the tissues which can induce fatigue.

The picture of mixed immune function suggests either a fluctuation in immune system function and management from moment to moment, or certain regions of the body being treated almost as separate entities from each other, with some being policed well and other areas being treated as no-go areas. This partition of the body is reminiscent of other immune issues such as eczema or psoriasis, which often only effect certain regions of the skin.

Conclusion

It may be some time before research unravels the complicated mechanisms that are at play when stress affects people with MS, but luckily we don’t have to understand exactly what’s going on at such detailed chemical level in order to be able to positively influence our immune function by reducing the unconscious stress response.

The Pilot study

Three years ago Phil Parker began a small pilot project (collecting data using Rand sf 36 and other standard outcome measures) using the Lightning Process training programme to see if it could help three people with MS. The results were encouraging, but the group was too small to make the results publishable.

This work has been taken forward in the main by us, Kate Simpson and Steve Fawdry, and the results are astonishingly good.

To date we have had 17 clients with MS with a wide variety of symptoms. They are all experiencing varying levels of improvement, so we have started gathering evidence to see if full recovery may be possible and sustainable. So far, the difference between relapsing/remitting MS and progressive MS has not been crucial to recovery. The most relevant factor seems to be the clients willingness to commit to using the Lightning Process effectively, consistently and persistently. The earlier the client starts the easier it is to get good results, but even people with severe symptoms have seen improvements.

These are just a handful of cases, and not yet enough for a standard medical trial, but the results are so good they are at the very least a cause for great interest in the potential for other people with MS. So much so, that we were invited to meet with the MS Society’s research team in London to discuss what has been achieved to date. We are hoping that this could lead to collaborative research and funding so that we can collate evidence of the effects of using the Lightning Process with people with MS as well as many other chronic illnesses. We will be working jointly with the main Lightning Process office in London to complete a pilot study during 2009/10.

We have permission from these first clients with MS to share their case notes (anonymously) so if you’d like to know more please contact us.

Kate Simpson and Steve Fawdry are advanced  Lightning Process practitioners who run the Rowan Centre, in Suffolk, East Anglia. 
These are just some of the towns that clients have come from. Ipswich, Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Hertfordshire, London, Lowestoft, Norwich, Chelmsford, Colchester, Newmarket, Clacton on Sea, Harwich, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Stowmarket, Great Yarmouth, Cromer, Swaffham, Downham Market, Kings Lynn, Thetford, Diss, Bungay, Beccles, Wisbech, Spalding, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Ely, Boston, Bishops Stortford, Harlow, Woodbridge, Braintree, Halesworth, Saxmundham, Leiston, Aldeburgh, Southwold, Oslo and Bergen in Norway, Portsmouth, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire.