There is a treatment of rapid intravenous infusion containing high dose vitamins and minerals for the treatment for a variety of ailments. It has for the past twenty-years become wildly popular and sparked my attention some years ago. There are hundreds of physicians in this country that use it as a stand-alone therapy or also as replacement therapy for those receiving chelation therapy. This infusion is something referred to as the “Myers’ Cocktail” or the “Gaby-Wright Cocktail.”
As fate would have it I attended a symposium over a decade ago in New York City entitled “Nutritional Therapy in Medical Practice” given by non other than Dr. Alan R. Gaby, a luminary in nutritional medicine. This symposium was sponsored by the Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke’s- Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Its focus was on nutritional therapies and nutritional medicine. Of the five hundred or so in attendance from around the country I was hoping to bring back some real pearls of wisdom to my clinic in Savannah, GA at the time. This most fascinating conference included several lectures on the importance of nutrition in daily life and in treating and preventing disease from an integrative nutritional basis. Every lecture was supported and referenced by evidence found in the peer-reviewed medical literature in this country and abroad. Alan R. Gaby, MD as well as Jonathan V. Wright, MD are both highly regarded in the field of nutritional / integrative medicine and the conference was was one of the first in my career that exacted a change away from traditional practice guidelines focused on drug therapy.
Dr. Gaby would speak often of the Myers’ Cocktail uses in his clinical practice. First introduced by Dr. John Myers of Maryland in the mid-20th century and then forgotten after his death, until it was re-introduced by Drs. Gaby and Wright some twenty years ago, it is a mixture of relatively high doses of five vitamins and two minerals. Very often it is customized with varying doses of each agent and can also include Adrenal cortical extract (ACE), Glyceron (an extract from the licorice plant named glycerrhizin) and Glutathione (a potent antioxidant) helpful in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
It is quickly (within 30 minutes) infused through an intravenous access (IV) and in some patients the effects may last weeks. The theory behind high dose and quick infusions is that these vitamins and minerals are forced into the cells by sheer overload and are hence “trapped” intracellularly, where their effects last long beyond the expected short time following a slower infusion. Years ago Dr. Gaby and Dr. Harry Adelson have conducting a pilot study into the effects of the Myers’ Cocktail at the Naturopathic Medical Center at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT. Independently, I have collected date at several centers I have been affiliated with over the last 15 years. Literally hundreds of infusions in my patients have achieved rapid cure to acute viral infections such as Hepatitis A and Influenza (Flu). Additionally, what could almost be considered a miraculous recovery to an acute Epstein-Barr (EBV) or mono infection was realized in one of my own nurses. The prospects are exciting, many anecdotal and multiple case studies documented in my office, but no real large volume clinical trials have yet been performed. The national burn centers have even started using high dose Vitamin C therapy for better survival and quicker skin healing in their patients. This is essentially a modified Myers. Will the data back up the case studies and anecdotal claims that have been made over the decades? Double blinded placebo controlled studies have yet to be performed, however, case studies speak loudly in favor of this therapy.
The treatment is recommended and has been used with great success in treating Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, several autoimmune disorders, Chronic Depression, Fibromyalgia, Asthma (both acute flair-ups and the chronic conditions), Urticaria (hives), Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, Chronic Sinusitis, Congestive Heart Failure, Ischemic Vascular Disease, Dementia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Bronchitis, Interstitial Cystitis, Multiple Sclerosis and especially Acute Viral and Bacterial infections. I have used this therapy to recover people quickly from the flu, acute Hepatitis A and B infections and Infectious Mononucleosis. It has also be used to quicken the recovery phase in elite athletes in training and during competition. This was used with some athletes at Olympic levels of competition at Team Savannah’s Weightlifting facility some years ago. This therapy is also being used post-DMSA chelation of heavy metals to replace the good minerals and trace elements lost in this therapy. The Myers cocktail is very effective as a natural chelator of harmful metals and toxins, as a potent anti-viral agent, when other drugs fail and as a natural way to lower harmful inflammatory and oxidative states and levels.