Sickle Cell Anemia
NOTE: The author of this article and website welcomes questions, comments and additional information regarding this topic.
Contact James Roguski directly at 310-619-3055.
Contact James Roguski directly at 310-619-3055.
About one in 12 people of African descent have the sickle cell "Trait", which means they carry a single gene for the condition commonly known as Sickle Cell "Trait". The condition may also be present among people from the Middle East, India, South America, and Jamaica. Those with only a single gene do NOT tend to suffer from Sickle Cell Disease. Individuals who are born with double sickle cell gene are considered homozygous for sickle cell and they are far more likely to have blood cells that "sickle", which is a tendency of blood cells to assume a sickle shape (instead of the usual circular form). About one in every 500 African-Americans have Sickle Cell Disease which can flare up and result in Sickle Cell Anemia. Sickle Cell Anemia can result in oxygen starvation, anemia, severely painful crises, fatigue, depression of the immune system, and diseases derived from lowered immunity.
Those with this ailment also suffer from the adverse effects of modern treatments which are often invasive and dangerous. Blood transfusions and a drug called hydroxyurea are the most common palliative solutions. Transfusions place the patient at risk of iron overload and strokes (especially children), and the hydroxyurea is a known carcinogen. The average life expectancy of sickle cell anemia patients is 45 years, and the quality of their life can be considerably diminished.
Those with this ailment also suffer from the adverse effects of modern treatments which are often invasive and dangerous. Blood transfusions and a drug called hydroxyurea are the most common palliative solutions. Transfusions place the patient at risk of iron overload and strokes (especially children), and the hydroxyurea is a known carcinogen. The average life expectancy of sickle cell anemia patients is 45 years, and the quality of their life can be considerably diminished.
What if there already is a "cure for sickle cell anemia?
What if "sickle cell anemia" is actually a life saving, protective genetic adaptation
that is only aggravated by an improper modern diet?
What if, understood correctly, the genetic predisposition to "sickle"
could actually be seen as a strength?
What if "sickle cell anemia" is actually a life saving, protective genetic adaptation
that is only aggravated by an improper modern diet?
What if, understood correctly, the genetic predisposition to "sickle"
could actually be seen as a strength?
A theory proposed years ago by Linus Pauling holds that sickle cell anemia is in fact an adaptive condition. According to this theory, the sickle cell anemia protects the carrier against the malaria parasite, plasmodium falciparum. Sickle cell anemia is certainly a painful and deadly disease, but malaria is much more deadly. The following statement may shock you...
The "sickling" of red blood cells seems to be involved
in protecting those with this genetic ADVANTAGE from malarial infection.
in protecting those with this genetic ADVANTAGE from malarial infection.
According to Wikipedia...
"One-third of all indigenous inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa carry the gene, because in areas where malaria is common, there is a benefit in carrying only a single sickle-cell gene (sickle cell trait). Those with only one of the two alleles of the sickle-cell disease, while not totally resistant, are more tolerant to the [malaria] infection and thus show less severe symptoms when infected [with malaria]."
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"Red cells from people with sickle trait do not sickle to any significant degree at normal venous oxygen tension. Very low oxygen tensions will cause the cells to sickle. Other investigations suggest that oxygen radical formation in sickle trait erythrocytes retards growth and even kills the P. falciparum parasite (Anastasi, 1984). Sickle trait red cells produce higher levels of the superoxide anion (O2-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) than do normal erythrocytes. Each compound is toxic to a number of pathogens, including malarial parasites." |
Linus Pauling's described sickled red blood cells this way:
"They are twisted into crescent or sickle-like shapes, with longest dimension considerably greater than that of the normal cell...and they are quite rigid -- the normal cell is almost jelly-like in its flexibility, but when sickling occurs the cell loses this flexibility, so that it has been described as appearing to be as rigid as a crystal of ice... These distorted cells, which seem also to be sticky, have difficulty in passing through capillaries, many of which are so small as just to allow passage of normal erythrocytes in single file. When sickling becomes enhanced in a crisis of the disease, the capillaries become jammed with red cells, and the flow of blood is prevented..."
In the case of red blood cells that are infected by the malaria parasite, this is actually a life-saving mechanism.
Painful. Dangerous, but actually life-saving. It enables the
Thiocyanate: The Anti-Sickling Nutrient
Is It a Possible "Cure" for Sickle Cell Anemia?
Is It a Possible "Cure" for Sickle Cell Anemia?
Thiocyanate has been proven to greatly reduce the sickling of red blood cells and it might completely prevent sickling in many individuals. In the case of the total prevention of sickling, many people would call this a "cure" for sickle cell anemia.
Thiocyanate (sometimes called sulfocyanate) is a natural substance in the category of compounds often referred to as nitrilosides. Plants that are rich in nitrilosides such as African yams and cassava were once staples in the diet of native Africans before processed grains such as rice, corn and wheat replaced these nitriloside-rich foods in their diet. During the times when African yams, cassava (and other nitriloside-rich foods) were consumed as staples in Africa, sickle cell anemia was non-existent, despite the fact that the genetic predisposition existed.
Thiocyanate (sometimes called sulfocyanate) is a natural substance in the category of compounds often referred to as nitrilosides. Plants that are rich in nitrilosides such as African yams and cassava were once staples in the diet of native Africans before processed grains such as rice, corn and wheat replaced these nitriloside-rich foods in their diet. During the times when African yams, cassava (and other nitriloside-rich foods) were consumed as staples in Africa, sickle cell anemia was non-existent, despite the fact that the genetic predisposition existed.
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Is the consumption of plants such as the African yam and cassava
a natural cure for sickle cell anemia?
Is sickle cell anemia more accurately described as thiocyanate deficiency anemia?
If someone diagnosed with this disease never again had to endure sickle cell crisis,
would it not be said that they had found a cure?
a natural cure for sickle cell anemia?
Is sickle cell anemia more accurately described as thiocyanate deficiency anemia?
If someone diagnosed with this disease never again had to endure sickle cell crisis,
would it not be said that they had found a cure?
Some answer the above questions in the affirmative and view the disease as the consequences of a nutritional deficiency that disappears when the missing nutrient, thiocyanate, is provided in the diet. Those who believe that there is a cure for sickle cell anemia also believe that those suffering from this disease must also rid their diet of harmful substances that are destroying the health of all North Americans, regardless of ethnic origin.
Enter Dr. Oji Agbai, PhD, ND, an assimilator of information gathered by MDs, anthropologists, social scientists and from his own background growing up in West Africa, a member of the Igbo people. Although many of the Igbo people were homozygous for sickle cell, (i.e., had the gene from each parent), he found that crippling disability and early death were rare.
Dr. Agbai presented a paper at the 27th annual conference of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America in Cleveland, Ohio, September 1999. Dr. Agbai wrote, "Just as eating foods that are rich in iron eliminates iron deficiency anemia, it is proposed here that by eating foods rich in thiocyanate, the thiocyanate deficiency anemia (sickle cell anemia) will be effectively controlled." (Thiocyanate Deficiency Anemia = Sickle Cell Anemia)
Download, read Dr. Agbai's published article, and share it with others!
Anti-Sickling Effect of Dietary Thiocyanate in Prophylactic Control of Sickle Cell Anemia (by Oji Agbai)
| Oji Agbai.pdf |
The protective elements of traditional diets form the basis for the nutritional remedy that was developed by Dr. Agbai in the 1980s and patented in 1990. Dr. Agbai's solution is nown as "Dioscovite". The name literally means Yam Vitamin (Dioscorea = Yam). It is difficult to get funding for research on a natural substance that has already been identified as a "cure" for sickle cell anemia and has already been patented. Thus, silence, avoidance and denial have been a hallmark of the vast majority of those within the sickle cell anemia "research community" in regards to Dr. Agbai's findings.
Looking further for answers to the puzzle, Dr. Agbai found a 1968 paper by Graham Serjeant, MD describing relatively benign aspects of sickle cell in Jamaica despite homozygous sickle genes in 11% of the population. Agbai knew that manioc (cassava), which isindigenous to the West Indies as well as Central and South America, was a major food along with true yams (Dioscorea species) and a variety of beans, all contributing to high, yet non-lethal plasma levels of thiocyanate in the population. A common incident, puzzling to Serjeant's group, involved Jamaicans who became sick and anemic only after they emigrated to the States where their sickle cell disease was then diagnosed. On returning home to the West Indies [and, Agbai assumed, resuming their former diet], most recovered without further need for treatment.
Thiocyanate [thio = sulfur from the Greek theion] is a normal constituent of plasma, saliva, urine, etc. Apparently many of earth's creatures, including ourselves, possess enzymatic mechanisms to attach a sulfur molecule onto sublethal amounts of cyanide, transforming cyanide into thiocyanate. This is not a trivial protection, since at least l000 species of plants are known to be capable of releasing cyanide when consumed, i.e., are cyanogenic.
Haas & Harrison's paper in 1977 described a "possible role of cassava based diets in providing a buffer against the effects of sickle-cell anemia in environments where sickling provided protection against malaria. Cassava was introduced to Liberia in the 1600s from South America. It seems that high but sub-lethal cyanate-thiocyanate blood levels in people are semi-toxic for the malaria parasite, interfering with its survival.
The governor of Ebonyi State invited Dr. Agbai to Nigeria for a lecture tour, and went home with a supply of Dioscovite for one of his commissioners whose 5-year-old child has sickle cell. For 30 days in July and August, Agbai spoke in his homeland to political groups, university and medical people, and journalists. He was stunned that specialists in sickle cell knew nothing about the anti-sickling properties of their native foods. Their training was in western medicine, so Dr. Agbai's concepts were as foreign to them as they are to doctors in the West. After Dr. Agbai finished his talk, one person after another from the audience got up and took the microphone, first to relate bleak medical histories, their own or their children's, despite conventional treatments, and then to tell what happened after they had finally heard, read, or been told of Agbai's work. They were there to testify, in many cases, to years of painfree, productive life since making a daily habit of thiocyanate nutrients.
At a federal medical center the doctors got very excited when he showed them transparencies of scanning electron micrographs from his book. High magnification (4000x) allowed them to observe that when blood from people with sickle cell disease is added to a saline control solution, strong sickling events would result in visibly distorted sickle-shaped red blood cells. But when an optimal (30 millimolar) concentration of potassium thiocyanate was added to another saline solution of sickler blood, no sickling whatsoever took place. In the presence of thiocyanate, each red blood cell maintained its normal plump, discoid shape. Significantly, a weaker (l0mM) thiocyanate solution did not protect red blood from sickling. This is a possible explanation for the frequency of elevated blood pressure in response to salt consumption among those of African heritage. Imbalances in electrolyte concentrations (potassium
However, there is more to this story than a simple nutritional deficiency.
The news regarding the evidence that sickle cell crises can and have been avoided in clinical and epidemiological studies by administering a missing nutrient is almost three-quarter-century old. In an 1973 article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Robert Houston reviewed the evidence that sickle cell is a thiocyanate-deficiency disease, and expressed outrage that this evidence had been ignored for 40 years. Well, that was nearly 40 years ago, and it is still ignored today by researchers who purport to seek a cure for those who suffer with this "incurable" disease.
It has been known since the 19th century that sickle cell disease did NOT exist in Africa before Europeans invaded the continent. The thiocyanate present in plants called nitrilosides (such as cassava (manioc) and the African yam) was abundant in the basic diet consumed by most Africans. Cassava is a native of South America, and was introduced to Africa in the 1600s. Studies show that West Africans had more thiocyanate in their blood and saliva than African-Americans.
According to Dr. Agbai, the sickle cell anemia is common now in his native regions of Northern Africa, among city dwellers who have replaced their native staples with rice and wheat. Incidentally, there is evidence that thiocyanate protects against cancer and high blood pressure as well. According to the National Institute of Health, African-American men are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, and African American women have more virulent breast cancers than Americans of European descent. Thiocyanate found in foods such as broccoli is now recognized as an anti-cancer compound.
Jackson further administered thiocyanate to guinea pigs, and found that the substance caused carbamylation, an effect upon the blood cells which helps to relieve episodes of sickling.
Biochemist Oji Agbai ND, PhD from Tulsa, Oklahoma, author of Sickle Cell Anemia: A Solution at Last, (see below) has created a micronutrient compound (Dioscovite) that contains potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) together with iodine. In his self-published book, Agbai relates a clinical study in which the KSCN improved the condition of a patient whose veins were so riddled with needles, that blood transfusions could no longer be performed. He found that the KSCN prevented the red blood cells from becoming sickle-shaped and lessened the number of crises by making the blood more soluble, and by dilating the blood vessels.
Agbai, who is a descendant from the North African tribe Igbo, together with medical authorities in Niger, have successfully tested the benefits of KSCN in the sickle cell population in that country. Furthermore, before many new 'improved' and newly patented pharmaceuticals for high blood pressure came on the market, potassium thyocianate was commonly administered during the 1930s to lower blood pressure.
In the 1970’s when Linus Pauling discovered the molecular basis of the sickle cell anemia, he contended it was a nutrient-deficiency disease. Houston and others have followed in his steps with numerous valid arguments, including clinical reports from the 1930’s and 1940s of the benefits of thiocianate in sickle cell blood. In his seminal article in which he lays out the evidence, both epidemiological and biochemical, Houston reviews the literature describing how Jamaicans who have immigrated to the United States have developed sickle cell anemia, a genetic ‘disease’ of which they had not even been aware. When some of these Jamaican natives returned to their island (and to their native diets) the sickle cell anemia crises subsided completely. Foods containing thiocyanate compounds are vegetables from the brassica family such as cabbage and broccoli, the seeds of most fruits, flax seeds, bitter almonds, the grain millet, and some pulses (beans). Africans have food preparation customs which lower the cyanate content of their staples, the cassava and African yam (no relation with potato), to safe levels.
Although currently it is studied as a anti-cancer micronutrient, thiocyanate suffered a bad rap due to the fact that, on its metabolic path in the body, it turns into cyanide. However, pure cyanide, a molecule of carbon and one of nitrogen united by a triple bond, has existed long before any life form existed on Earth. Human body, and other vertebrates as well, can handle minute amounts of this highly poisonous substance. After making use of it, the body turns the cyanide back into thiocyanate with the help of the enzyme rhodanide synthetase. Sufficient protein intake is needed for this conversion to take place. Additonally, individuals who eat thiocyanate-rich foods should supplement with iodine.
There are dozens of plants containing thiocyanate or various compounds of cyanide, and one pioneer in revealing their health-giving properties, Ernst T. Krebs, has called them nitrilosides. Krebs, who contended that thiocyanate should be accepted as a vitamin (B17), researched animal diets as a student of zoology and found that most animals, including those living at the North Pole, have a thiocyanate source in the diet.
One of the most staunch promoter of nutrition awareness among sickle cell patients, Berkeley nutritionist and health writer Clara Felix reported repeatedly on the sickle cell and thiocyanate connection in her newsletter, “The Felix Letter, A Commentary on Nutrition.” She kept track relentlessly of all the efforts towards research in this direction. She also has described the cold shoulder that she encountered when she tried to bring Oji Agbai and other thiocyanate promoters to the attention of clinical practitioners, specifically at the Children's Hospital in Oakland.
Those who do not believe that the cure for sickle cell anemia exists in nature and wisdom, will persist in seeking an outer "cure" through research into some expensive pharmaceutical drug or medical therapy. The answer, the "cure", could be on your table every day, in the food that you choose to eat, but you choose poorly.
Foods Rich in Thiocyanate
African yam and cassava are believed to be the richest sources of thiocyanate; but, what if those foods aren't readily available? Other sources of thiocyanate are: millet, buckwheat, lima beans, carrots, cashew nuts, cauliflower, strawberries, lentils, chickpeas, plantain (similar to banana), and sorghum. It's still a good idea, however, to continue looking for sources of African yam and cassava.
Thiocyanate alone is found in many plant foods, e.g., broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, while a great many edible plants and seeds contain both cyanide and thiocyanate. Ground flaxseed is a good source for thiocyanate and is incorporated into many anti-cancer diets for that reason.
Why face the great discomfort that can be experienced during a sickle cell crisis, the health risks of blood transfusions, pain killers, and life-threatening side effects of the toxic drugs that are frequently used in treatment?
African yam and cassava are believed to be the richest sources of thiocyanate; but, what if those foods aren't readily available? Other sources of thiocyanate are: millet, buckwheat, lima beans, carrots, cashew nuts, cauliflower, strawberries, lentils, chickpeas, plantain (similar to banana), and sorghum. It's still a good idea, however, to continue looking for sources of African yam and cassava.
Thiocyanate alone is found in many plant foods, e.g., broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, while a great many edible plants and seeds contain both cyanide and thiocyanate. Ground flaxseed is a good source for thiocyanate and is incorporated into many anti-cancer diets for that reason.
Why face the great discomfort that can be experienced during a sickle cell crisis, the health risks of blood transfusions, pain killers, and life-threatening side effects of the toxic drugs that are frequently used in treatment?
Natural Health Research Institute
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Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135
or...
P.O. Box 8355
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101
918-583-3842
918-627-7997
info@dioscovite1.com
6390 East 31st Street, Suite E
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135
or...
P.O. Box 8355
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101
918-583-3842
918-627-7997
info@dioscovite1.com
Please download the Natural Health Research Institute's Product List below...
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Dr. Oji Agbai, N.D. PhD. discovered the effectiveness of Dioscovite against sickle cell in 1983. The primary active ingredient in Dioscovite is thiocyanate, which is also known as the Yam vitamin. Dioscovite was discovered by means of electron microscopy, in vitro (test tube) studies, which show that adequate anti-sickling nutrition stops the sickling of red blood cells. This phenomenon reduces the number of sickle cells in the body, thereby promoting health. Sickled cells cause painful crises and other problems. Hence, adequate Dioscovite intake is very important for good health.
Dioscovite is a natural liquid supplement that should be taken with water or juice. Dioscovite is also taken after a well-balanced protein diet. Since it is digested with water and it is a liquid, it starts to work in the body immediately. You may feel relief in as little as 15 minutes as well as continuously over the course of a day. Dioscovite works with the body to become healthier over time, so taking it daily is beneficial.
Daily dosage for Dioscovite is specified on the bottle and is as follows:
½ - 3 years: 0.5ml once daily
4-8 years: 1.0ml once daily
9-18 years: 1.5ml once daily
19 years and older: 2.0ml once daily
*NOTE: When in crises take double doses
Dioscovite is a natural liquid supplement that should be taken with water or juice. Dioscovite is also taken after a well-balanced protein diet. Since it is digested with water and it is a liquid, it starts to work in the body immediately. You may feel relief in as little as 15 minutes as well as continuously over the course of a day. Dioscovite works with the body to become healthier over time, so taking it daily is beneficial.
Daily dosage for Dioscovite is specified on the bottle and is as follows:
½ - 3 years: 0.5ml once daily
4-8 years: 1.0ml once daily
9-18 years: 1.5ml once daily
19 years and older: 2.0ml once daily
*NOTE: When in crises take double doses
Dr. Agbai's work inspired Chef Dawud Ujamaa, television star of "The Cooking Man Show" in Atlanta, Georgia, to produce a book and video series in 1993. Ujamaa's work is mix of scientific theory and down-to-earth how-to's on identifying and preparing high-thiocyanate foods to keep the illness at bay - for life.
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Back To Our Roots:
Cooking for Control of Sickle Cell Anemia & Cancer Prevention
For the cookbook, send $18.95 plus $3 shipping to:
Chef Dawud Ujamaa
3955 Emerald North Circle
Decatur, Georgia 30035
(See The Natural Health Bookstore below...)
Also read more about...
"Sickle Cell Anemia has been cured and eliminated in animals by the veterinarian industry
with nutritional supplement programs some 65 years ago
and we are now bringing this knowledge to the Black Communities
in America and in the world for the benefit of all."
Dr. Joel Wallach, BS, DVM, ND
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest his patients in the care of the
human frame, in diet, and in the cause and
prevention of disease."
Thomas A. Edison
"If we eat wrongly, no doctor can cure us,
if we eat rightly, no doctor is needed."
Victor G. Rocine
with nutritional supplement programs some 65 years ago
and we are now bringing this knowledge to the Black Communities
in America and in the world for the benefit of all."
Dr. Joel Wallach, BS, DVM, ND
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest his patients in the care of the
human frame, in diet, and in the cause and
prevention of disease."
Thomas A. Edison
"If we eat wrongly, no doctor can cure us,
if we eat rightly, no doctor is needed."
Victor G. Rocine
