Vitamin D is treating and preventing Leprosy in Myanmar (Burma) - April 2019

မြန်မာ, အထက်ညာဖက်အတွက်ရွေးချယ်ထားသောခလုတ်ကိုမှဘာသာပြန်ဆိုရန်
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About Dr. Khin Win

Founder of VitaminDWiki met her at the Vitamin D Workshop in NYC in May 2019
Khin Win traveled to Burma 4 times a year in 2017 and 2018 and gave away lots of vitamin D

• She retired in 2001 after being an OBGYN in Baltimore (8,000 births)
• After retiring she intensely studied Functional Medicine
  • After improving her own health, she wanted to improve the health of others
• Her volunteering in Myanmar started in 2010.
• She started her Burmese Facebook web page on Health in 2015
• She learned of the importance of Vitamin D in 2016
  • She found from VitaminDWiki that the Receptor greatly limits the Vitamin D which gets to people with leprosy
• She has been spending about $8,000 a year for 2 years for just the Vitamin D which she donates to the Leprosy families
  • Her expenses have been partially supported by Myanmar and Burmese communities around the world
  • They start with a loading dose of 50,000 IU daily for a week then continue with 10,000 IU daily
  • In addition to Vitamin D she also gives Zinc 50mg, B12 2500 mcf, Magnesium. and a Non-Flush Niacin, etc
• Leprosy has a super long incubation period, 5-20 years, so she has no feedback (in 2 years) on Vitamin D helping the family members
• She gives Vitamin D, etc. to 10-20% of Burmese people with Leprosy
• Leprosy is currently "treated" with a course of 3 antibiotics for several months.
  • The treatment is free, but up to half of those treated have reactions to the treatment
  • Also, it appears that the triple antibiotic treatment half-life is only 2 years

I am donating to her cause via PayPal
Log into PayPal and send a donation to myanmarcharity4 at gmail.com
(you do not need to have a PayPal account)

Her YouTube videos in Burmese

2019

2018 part I
   there is a 2 minute gap between part I and part II
2018 part II

Click here for translation

Photos

Entire families are exciled to Leper Colonies in Burma
Including young children without the disease

Charts

Years of Disabled Life due to Leprosy

red = worse

Size of country is proportional to Leprosy deaths in the country
   India has the most deaths as well as the source of Leprosy since 2000 BC

Leprosy cases - 2015

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VitaminDWiki

• Leprosy, low Vitamin D and poor Vitamin D Receptor - many studies
  • Includes many other studies of Leprosy with and without the Vitamin D Receptor
• Vitamin D Receptor category listing has 530 items along with related searches
• The risk of 40 diseases at least double with poor Vitamin D Receptor as of July 2019

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Web

• Leper Colony Wikipedia
• Epidemiology of leprosy Wikipedia - Burma not mentioned
• Top leprosy countries in 2017
  
  • Note: 55X as many in India than in Burma
• "India has more than three million people with deformities caused by leprosy. They are relegated to the margins of society and feel neglected and unwanted, living mostly in 750-odd leprosy colonies." Reference
• Leprosy in India Wikipedia
  • "Leprosy is also the leading cause of permanent disability in the world..."
  • Another source "After malaria, it is the second leading cause of permanent disability in the world"
  • Another source "Lymphatic filariasis is a leading cause of permanent disability in the world."
• Leprosy tests
  Being developed by HDT and IDRI in 2018
  Field-Friendly Blood tests - 2017
  Blood test 2008
  CDC
  Types of Leprosy

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Translation of Video 2 to English by Dr. Win

Today, I am going to discuss Leprosy - a heart-breaking and an ancient disease.
As you all know, Leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease.
This disease is ancient as well as heartbreaking and we should discuss the importance
in social life and the financial burden imparted on the affected families.
It is heartbreaking because the disease leads to disfigurement, deformities of the limbs, bone destruction, shortened digits, peripheral nerve palsies, nerve thickening and most of them become disabled.
They cannot continue to live with the families and the community. They have to move far away places like the leper communities because of intense social stigma.
Some have been successfully treated but they are left with the stigma of Leprosy.
Because they have difficulty finding jobs, they become beggars not by choice but by the necessity for survival.
Most of them move to leper colonies supported by charitable organizations.
This bacteria has been in existence since BC 600 and yet modern medicine is unable to eradicate it.
According to the WHO report the United States has about 150-250 new cases every year and Myanmar has about 1000 to 10,000 new cases a year.
The aim and objective of WHO report 2017 is to prevent disability with early diagnosis and early treatment.
Despite treatment with multidrug therapy, the disease is still in existence and is continuing.
New researches are coming out which is going to be very helpful in managing this disease.
This center is Metta Prahita Center in Ma Yan Chaung district, Hlegu Township Yangon.
I have been here six times now and have been donating Vitamin D3 and some cofactors.
I have watched the patients’ symptoms improved significantly.
Another important thing I noticed was that there have been recurrences despite adequate treatment.
Everyone looks very good today.
Interview 1.

I am 80 years old. I feel good.
I am from a Shan ethnic group. The disease began when I was 8 years old. I had to leave school, and tended cows in the village for 10 years. I was treated at an American hospital in the city. The doctor’s name was Edward. My face was studded with lepromatous nodules. After years of treatment, I was able to get rid of bacteria. However, the disease recurred 10 years later.
I used to have high blood pressure, headaches and stomach problems.
After I took the vitamin D and other vitamins my symptoms have abated. The skin lesions, itching have disappeared.
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This is one of the instances where the disease recurs after successful treatment.
I started reading up about Leprosy and found out that it has a relationship with Vitamin D and its receptors. It also has a genetic component that one is born with.
Interview 2
    You look so much better than last time.

I finished up the whole bottle of Vitamins you gave me.
My name is Daw Khin Myo Nyunt. I am from Yangon. This disease began in 1989.
I did not know then that I had the disease. I used to be a lower school teacher. I had to leave my job when the disease became noticeable. At first, I tried to get the treatment at private clinics. I was told that I was cured but the disease recurred. It got gradually worse with the appearance of nodules and rashes. I was sick most of the time, appetite was lost and I did not feel well.
I moved to this place where I am more comfortable with my fellow patients. I don’t have to be embarrassed anymore.
Then you came along and gave us vitamins. I took the vitamins religiously.
Ever since I took the vitamins I slept very soundly. I feel fresh and do not need to eat a lot like I used to. My head is clear. I lost some weight too. My vitamins have run out for about a month now. My skin lesions are so much better.
I thank you so much.
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This bacteria has a predilection for skin, nerves and mucous producing glands in the nose.
The symptoms are weak muscles, neuropathy, foot ulcers, rashes, nodules, autoamputation and disfigurement.

In 1995 WHO began offering the drugs to treat Leprosy. Five different combinations of drugs were recommended.
Dapsone, Rifampin, Clofazimine, Minocycline, Ofloxacin.
Despite treatments, new cases and recurrences are still developing
It is time we need to reevaluate the current treatment regimen.
In Myanmar we have the Leprosy campaign, drugs were provided by WHO free of charge and yet we still have problems with new cases and recurrences.
I would like to talk more about this Mycobacteria
Thus bacteria is Mycobacterium leprae. It is a very slow growing bacteria the incubation period being 5 -20 years.
According to new researches, there seemed to be a problem with Vitamin D receptors either as an inborn genetic polymorphism in chromosome number 10 and 20 or the Vitamin D receptor gets inactivated by certain bacteria.
Vitamin D plays a very important role in the immune system.
We are seeing recurrences despite adequate treatments indicating a weak immune system.
Even in the same family, not everyone is affected despite being in the same environment indicating a genetic predisposition.
Leprosy is 28 times more in those with Vitamin D receptor problems.
If we add Vitamin D to the present treatment regimen of multidrug therapy we probably could improve the well being. Improve muscle weakness with less autoamputation and disfigurement
Vitamin D cofactors such as Magnesium, Zinc, Quercetin, Omega3, resveratrol are also necessary to compensate for the receptor problem.
Vitamin D is relatively cheap. Any foundation or government should be able to distribute to everyone concerned.
Interview #3

My knees were hurting badly. Now that I have been taking the vitamin the pain has lessened.
I lost weight, my diabetes is under control ( now under 100 ) my kidney problem resolved.
I feel energetic. Thank you.
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It is quite evident that treating the disease only with antibiotics has not been as successful as evidenced by recurrences.
New research is coming out that there is an association between Vitamin D and Leprosy
This is the sixth time I have been coming here to this center and I have seen remarkable signs of progress - foot ulcers have healed up, the well being improved and skin lesions abated or lessened.
I think combining Vitamin D to the standard treatment would help prevent recurrences.
For further reading references and links will be provided in this video.
I am very happy and pleased with my own results supplementing with Vitamin D to Leprosy patients.
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Only the salient points were translated.
She left out some of the patient’s narratives about their life before they got to the center.

Image of VitaminDWiki page in her video

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Short URL = is.gd/Leprosy