A MAGIC INJECTION

Over the almost half-century that I have been doctoring, I have injected thousands of patients who were contending with local pain syndromes, using dozens of medications. These were in nerve roots, trigger/tender points, joints, tendon insertions and even into the spinal canal. In the last twenty-five years, I have used Sarapin as part of a healing, pain relieving cocktail. Although there are other specialists who do similar injections such as pain specialists, orthopedists, rheumatologists and prolotherapists, my medicines and or technique seem to work better.

Prolotherapy that has been used for over 60 years heals tendons, joints, and muscles by injection of curative substances of which an irritant initiates the therapeutic process by proliferation of new cells. It is also called sclerotherapy because it hardens limp tissue. Proliferants used in Prolotherapy are basically substances that lead to new collagen formation. Collagen is the naturally occurring protein in the body that makes up ligaments and tendons. Prolotherapy solutions help strengthen these structures by initiating the first step in the wound-healing cascade, which is local inflammation. Once the inflammation has begun, fibroblasts are stimulated. These are the cells that make the collagen. New collagen is produced, making the ligaments and tendons stronger and tighter. The solution I now employ contains Serapin from the pitcher plant and 50% glucose as the proliferant. No cortisone is used because the inflammatory process is therapeutic and the steroid is anti-inflammatory

The Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) is also known as Eve's Cup, Fly Catcher, Huntsman's Cup, and Water Cup. It looks like a pitcher or water jug. Like the Venus flytrap, it catches and “eats” small bugs. The Pitcher plant has been used for stomach and digestive problems, for urinary tract disorders, and formerly as a cure for smallpox. 
Since it has been used medicinally for several millennia, it has not been evaluated by the FDA for safety, effectiveness, or purity. All potential risks and/or advantages of pitcher plant may not be known, but I have found this to be an excellent and extremely safe medicine. Sarapin is a biological medicine – which means it is derived from a naturally occurring source (the Pitcher plant). It works by stopping pain signals and initiate healing in the nerves. It does not affect any other nerve functions or motor functions as does local anesthesia such as lidocaine.

Research published by Bernard Judovich MD in 1935, who did not only original in vitro research, but also used this preparation in over 5,000 patients, found it to be almost a miracle drug. He was chief of the Intercostal Neuralgia Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate Hospital. Later, he taught C. Hollander, the father of modern day Rheumatology who in the late sixties mentored my best friend Chucky Kahn. Dr. Hollander was chief of Rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School for three decades and published the definitive textbook on joint injections. It was Dr. Kahn who taught me the science and the art of this technique 35 years ago.

Toxicity tests on Serapin published by William Bates, MD in the Ohio State Medical Journal in 1942 revealed that it was harmless and no evidence of tissue coagulation or sclerosis could be found. In that it is an alkaline extract, which releases an ammonium ion from the organic matrix, it was theorized that this was the active ingredient in the solution. It is known that this ion does affect nerve conduction, but Sarapin does more. Perhaps the plant's special amino acid content, because of the organisms it ingests, it was postulated that there was another yet unidentified biological fraction of the plant that is in the mix that is the active ingredient along with the ammonium molecule. We know the C fibers in the nerve carriy the pain sensation and this chemical tells them not to. Acute pain is a useful mechanism for us to know that there is something wrong that must be remedied. But once it has been identified and there is no easy fix, then to quiet these C fibers makes sense. Serapin does not only that, but also initiates the healing process.

Science probably will never know the true mechanism of action because SarapinR lacks profitability and marketing. As a biological medicine that has been in use for over 70 years, Sarapin cannot be patented. As a result, it can be made and sold on the open market without the huge price mark-up that are afforded to patent protected medicines. (Patent protection is the same reasons why branded drugs are so much more expensive that generic drugs that have the same chemical composition.) Not surprisingly, Sarapin has never had the financial sponsorship of a large pharmaceutical company to pitch it to doctors via the pharmaceutical company’s national network of drug representatives. I tend to believe in success and despite the fact that more research is needed, my patients have had much success. I use lots of it. Thank God there is a manufacturer.