Dr.
Frank Shallenberger’s
Vol. 8, No. 3
Why Depression Risk Increases With
Age — And How You Can Stop It
Have you ever wondered why chronic
depression becomes so common as we age?
On the surface, that fact just doesn’t seem to
make much sense. All those trips around the
block must have taught us a thing or two
about life. The older we are, the more we
have experienced, and the wiser we become.
So we should be more secure in our work
and relationships. You would think that
In this Issue
Q How you can treat depression and
win ... see how one of my patients
cured it permanently .................. p. 4
Q Why you might not ever need to
have a colonoscopy again. New
test might make colonoscopy
obsolete........................................ p. 6
Q Why you shouldn’t use traditional
chemotherapy to treat ovarian
cancer … and what you should
do instead .................................... p. 8
Coming Next Month
• This new treatment gives amazing
hope for Lou Gehrig’s disease — and it’s
100% natural. It’s now the only known
treatment that slows down the progression
of the disease.
• A great-tasting way to improve your
brain function — but you have to take it
this way.
March 2009
depression would decrease with age, not
increase.
It’s not that there’s nothing to worry
about. It’s just that assuming our health is
good, and we’ve done reasonably well in set-
ting aside a livable retirement, there’s so
much less to get upset over. So why is it that
the incidence of long-term depression and
anxiety so dramatically escalate with age?
The answer comes in two parts. The
first part you have heard me talk about
many times — hormones. The older we are,
the lower our hormone levels become. This is
one of those facts of life.
And it’s not just a problem for women.
It happens to both men and women. It’s not
whether or not you will be hormonally defi-
cient — it’s a matter of when.
For some, this happens as early as the
30s or 40s. For most, though, it happens in
the 50s and 60s. By now, you probably know
that it’s this deficiency of hormones that’s
primarily responsible for the weakness,
frailty, and an increased risk of disease that
is the hallmark of aging.
But what you may not fully realize is
how vital hormones are for mental function.
In fact, they’re so vital that some of the most
common signs of hormonal deficiencies are
related directly to the brain — decreased
memory, cognitive function and, yes, depres-
sion. Because I’ve covered hormone deficien-
cies in great detail, I’m going to focus on the
second cause of age-related depression.
It’s not just hormones
The second cause is another deficiency
— neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters
are the brain chemicals that allow the brain
to properly operate. The two neurotransmit-
ters that are the most important for elevat-
ing mood and preventing long-term depres-
sion are serotonin and dopamine. You may
have heard of these. Serotonin is the primary
mood neurotransmitter for women, and
dopamine is the primary one for men.
Due to genetic differences, we are all
born with differing amounts of these neuro-
transmitters. Some are born with the ability
to produce higher levels, and some can pro-
duce only lower levels. But no matter how
much of a given neurotransmitter your
brain is able to produce, you can be sure of
one thing:
As you get older, your levels will decline.
If you were born with higher levels,
then you will be much older before you
become deficient than someone who was
born with low levels. On one end of the
spectrum, I see cases of depression from
depleted neurotransmitters occurring as
young as the teen years. And, in other cases,
I see people who are 80 years and older who
don’t have the slightest problem.
A national pastime?
Besides age, lifestyle and environmen-
tal factors can also lead to neurotransmitter
deficiencies. For example, eating carbohy-
drates (especially the sugars) lowers sero-
tonin levels. So if you are already starting
out with decreased levels because of your
One Warning Before You Take
5-HTP or L-Tryptophan
If you are taking any prescription
drugs, call your pharmacist and find out if
any of them are MAO inhibitors. Do not
take 5-HTP or l-tryptophan if you are tak-
ing an MAO inhibitor drug. The combina-
tion could cause a dangerous condition
referred to as serotonin syndrome.
—2—
genetics, you can give yourself chronic
depression simply by eating too many carbo-
hydrates. This is an extremely common
problem with women in particular. Likewise,
drinking too much coffee and alcohol lowers
dopamine levels. And, in many men, this is a
common cause of chronic depression.
Another major cause of neurotransmit-
ter depletion is stress — particularly severe,
long-term stress. This often occurs with job,
health, relationships, legal, or financial
problems. Stress depletes neurotransmit-
ters directly by forcing the body to use
them up at a higher rate. But stress also
causes other lifestyle dysfunctions that fur-
ther deplete them. It’s a simple fact that
many of us, when we’re under stress, resort
to the dietary habits I mentioned above. This
only further aggravates the situation. Stress
also leads to insomnia, and insomnia all by
itself is a major cause of neurotransmitter
deficiencies.
Now that you know what causes most
cases of depression, it's time to fix the prob-
lem. Americans take billions of dollars of
drugs to solve their depression. But these
drugs just mask the symptoms. We want a
cure. So let's look at how we stop the most
common cause of depression — a serotonin
deficiency.
Naturally raising
serotonin levels
The natural treatment for serotonin
deficiency involves taking the amino acid 5-
hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). You can find 5-
HTP at any health food store. When taken
orally, your brain converts 5-HTP directly
into serotonin. The more 5-HPT you take,
the more serotonin you get. Maximum sero-
tonin response occurs when you take the
doses between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. and again
at bedtime. Start off with 100 mg taken
twice. If this doesn’t do the job within four
to six weeks, double the dose to 200 mg.
When I treat my patients, I almost always
start off at the 200 mg dose just to be extra
sure I will get good results in less time.
Occasionally, I will find a patient who
can’t take 5-HPT for one of two different
reasons. The first is that it can trigger
migraine headaches in persons who are
prone to them. It won’t cause migraines,
but it can stimulate them. In this case, low-
ering the dose won’t work. The treatment
just has to be stopped.
The second potential problem is that
in some people, 5-HPT will cause abdomi-
nal discomfort. This is often a dose-related
effect, so reducing the dose will usually
stop the problem. However, I have run into
several people who develop abdominal pains
at very low doses. For them, 5-HTP is not
an option.
When you can’t take 5-HTP
If you can’t take 5-HTP, there’s anoth-
er natural treatment that will raise your
serotonin levels. It is the amino acid l-tryp-
tophan. Just like 5-HTP, you can find l-tryp-
tophan at any health food store. Your body
converts 90% of all the l-tryptophan you
take orally into vitamin B3 (niacin). But
your brain converts 10% of it into 5-HTP,
which it then converts to serotonin. And
because l-tryptophan requires two steps to
convert to serotonin, it doesn’t stimulate
migraines or abdominal pains. However, since
so much of it gets side tracked into vitamin
B3, you have to take five to ten times as
much. So, typical doses of l-tryptophan are
1,000-2,000 mg. Again, take it between 3:00
and 4:00 p.m. and again at bedtime.
You might wonder why I don’t immedi-
ately use l-tryptophan instead of only using
it when 5-HTP can’t be used. The reasons
are simple. First, 5-HTP is less expensive,
the pills are smaller, and it works better.
And the truth is that it’s rare to find some-
one who can’t use it.
Three more steps that
most doctors miss
But correcting deficient serotonin lev-
els is not usually as simple as just taking 5-
HTP. In addition, you have to address three
other factors in order to ensure success.
First, at the same time that you start
—3—
5-HTP (or l-tryptophan), it’s very important
that you eliminate all high-carbohydrate
foods, alcohol, and coffee from your diet
for the first three weeks. This includes all
fruit, fruit juice, sugars and sweets, starches
(potatoes, carrots, beets, etc.), and grains
(flour, bread, corn, rice chips, crackers, etc.).
During this time you should limit
your diet to plenty of water, vegetables
(that grow above ground), meats, eggs, and
dairy products. After this initial three week
“washout” period, you can reintroduce low-
glycemic carbohydrates such as berries and
beans. You should eat the other carbohy-
drates (the ones mentioned above) only one
day out of every week. Diets with too many
carbohydrates deplete serotonin levels.
And if you don’t limit them, it’s unlikely
that you will get a hold on your depression.
One interesting caveat: For some peo-
ple, especially women, both 5-HTP and l-
tryptophan work much better when they
are taken with some low-glycemic carbohy-
drates, such as berries. After the initial
three weeks off carbs, taking a small
amount of berries (strawberries, blue
berries, etc.) actually stimulates the 5-HTP
to serotonin conversion.
Dr. Shallenberger’s
Next Prolozone®
Seminar Is May 15, 16, 17
Even if you have been a reader of
Real Cures for only a few issues, you
already know how powerful Prolozone
Therapy is. It is the one-stop shopping solu-
tion for almost every kind of painful condi-
tion in the body. Dr. Shallenberger has
taught hundreds of physicians from all over
the world this exciting new technique for
pain and joint reconstruction for over 15
years.
The next seminar is this May in Reno,
Nevada, and those interested can get all the
details at www.ozonecourse.com. If your
doctor has not learned Prolozone therapy
yet, please give him or her this information.
The odds are good that either you or some-
one near to you will need it at some time.

How a Targeted Approach to
Theresa was 37 years old when I first met
her. She came to the clinic with her mother
complaining that, as long as she could remem-
ber, she had been suffering from symptoms of
depression and fatigue.
Depression often comes with fatigue
because of the insomnia and adrenal depletion
caused by the depressive state.
When she was six years old, her stepfather
molested her. She had always assumed that it
was the psychological impact of this trauma
that was responsible for her life of misery. She
started seeing counselors when she was in her
second year of high school.
According to her mother, she often did
nothing but sleep for days. This is a classic
symptom of severe depression. So her doctor
started her on antidepressant medications.
Theresa said, “The medications numbed me. I
did not feel sad. I stopped crying. But I did not
feel any joy or pleasure either.” This is the sin-
gle most common complaint I hear from people
who take these drugs.
For the next 23 years, Theresa took the
medications. I calculated that, at this point, she
had spent more than $12,000 on drugs and over
$40,000 on therapy. She was able to work, but
she was still living with her mother, was 20
pounds overweight, and had not been able to
sustain any kind of romantic relationship. She
was still suffering, still seeing a counselor, still
spending $1.90 a day on the drug Paxil, and still
didn’t have any hope for the future.
The first thing I did was to test her with
Treat any and all hormone
deficiencies
Hormones activate the receptors in the
brain that respond to serotonin. Without
this activation, serotonin cannot have its
full effects. So you have to treat any hor-
mone deficiencies. This includes the sex hor-
mones: estrogen, progesterone, and testos-
terone for women, and testosterone for men.
—4—
Clinical
Bio-Energy Testing. This is a unique form of
metabolic testing that I developed to help my
patients. You can learn more about it at
www.realcuresletter.com or at www.bioener-
gytesting.com. Several other clinics around the
world are using it as well.
And the numbers are growing as we
speak. Her Bio-Energy Test revealed that she
was deficient of the thyroid hormones T3 and
T4. In other words, she had hypothyroidism.
Her blood tests did not show this, but blood
tests miss the diagnosis of hypothyroidism more
often than not. So don’t rely solely on them. I
also checked out her sex hormone levels. She
definitely was deficient of the hormone proges-
terone. The rest of her tests were normal.
Based on her symptoms, and the test
results, I started her on the following program:
• topical progesterone cream 4%, 1 cc per day
• DHEA, 10 mg twice a day (morning and
noon)
• cortisol, 10 mg twice a day (morning and
noon)
• desiccated thyroid hormones (a mixture of
T3 and T4), ½ grain twice a day (morning
and noon)
• regular exercise and no carbohydrates
• 5-HTP, 200 mg twice a day, between 3:00-
4:00 p.m. and again at bedtime.
After two weeks, Theresa’s energy was
better. But there was no significant change in
her mood. I then began to slowly taper her off
Paxil. Even though doctors use drugs like Paxil
It also includes the thyroid hormones, T3
(thyroxine) and T4 (triiodothyronine), and
the adrenal hormones, cortisol, and DHEA.
If you have a deficiency of these hor-
mones, you will need a doctor to help you
restore your levels to normal. All of them
(except DHEA) are available only by pre-
scription. You can find a doctor trained in
natural hormone replacement at either
l Pearls
Depression Can Work for You
to treat patients with low levels of serotonin,
they actually have the opposite effect. They fur-
ther decrease the serotonin levels to the point
that they become dangerously low.
Suddenly taking Theresa completely off
the drug would have left her with close to no
serotonin. This can result in death. But the pro-
gram I had her on now was renewing her levels,
it was possible to slowly decrease the dose.
For two weeks, she took one-half of the dose
she had been taking. Then, for the next two
weeks, she took half again. At this point, she
had been on therapy for a total of six weeks. For
the next two weeks she took her medication
only every third day. I wanted to be absolutely
sure that her serotonin levels were increasing up
to the point that she could discontinue the drug.
At the end of these eight weeks she was
feeling great. Her moods were “the best they
have ever been as long as I can remember.” And
as an added bonus, because of the metabolic
enhancing effects of the hormones, and the fat
burning effects of the low carbohydrate diet, she
had lost 10 pounds.
At that point, I told her to stop the Paxil
entirely. Like most patients who have been on
these drugs all their lives, Theresa was fearful of
completely stopping. “I feel so great right now
that I don’t want to change anything.” So I
explained to her that she no longer needed the
drug because her serotonin levels were now
back to normal. And I also reminded her that
the drug had actually been a large part of why
she had gained weight and had been feeling so
www.acam.org or www.worldhealth.net. Or
you can call my clinic and make a telephone
appointment. I can often help you right over
the phone.
Besides these hormones, it’s also
important to take melatonin (if you have a
deficiency). This is because your brain con-
verts serotonin into melatonin. If you have a
deficiency of melatonin, much of the 5-HTP
fatigued. So after a little gentle coaxing, she
stopped taking the drug entirely.
I saw her two weeks later. She had a big
smile on her face, and told me that I had saved
her life. I hear this a lot, but I know it is never
true. And I explained to her that it wasn’t me
who healed her, it was God. God designed her
body so that it would heal itself. All we have to
do is to help it.
Unfortunately, in this day of so-called
“modern” medicine, we have all but completely
forgotten that simple fact. So instead of working
with the body’s innate healing power, we go
right to drug therapy. Drugs rarely solve prob-
lems like Theresa’s. And most of the time, they
do little more than add more problems to the list.
After nine more months of treatment,
Theresa was able to stop all of her supplements.
Why? Because, I really meant what I said –
given what it needs to do the job, the body will
heal itself. The serotonin and the progesterone
deficiencies were gone. Her thyroid never fully
recovered, but this is typical of thyroid glands.
We were able to get it working better, and I was
able to decrease her dose of the thyroid hormones.
I still see Theresa every now and then
when she has a minor medical problem. I saw
her just the other day for a strained ankle. She
has now been free of depression for over eight
years. She stopped seeing counselors long ago.
She’s married, and is now busy taking care of
her husband and two children. If you suffer
from depression, a program similar to Theresa’s
can work for you too.
you take may end up as melatonin instead
of building up your serotonin levels. Most
people think of melatonin as the “sleep”
hormone, because it induces the body into
sleep. Chronic insomnia is frequently the
result of a deficiency of melatonin. This why
many people who are depressed secondary
to low serotonin levels, also suffer from
insomnia secondary to low melatonin levels.
—5—
 If you’re over the age of 50 and your
sleep is not as sound as it used to be, just
assume you have a melatonin deficiency. In
that case, take one to three mg of melatonin
before bed, and that will often take care of
the problem.
One more thing to remember. As
unusual as it sounds, about one in every
twenty people will actually have worse
sleep after taking melatonin. Another one
in twenty will notice that they are drowsy
in the morning after taking melatonin.
These symptoms indicate that either there
is no melatonin deficiency present, or that
the dose was too high. If you reduce the
dose as low as .5 mg and still get these
New Colon Cancer Test Might
Make Colonoscopy Obsolete
Last year, at the age of 60, I was long
overdue for my regular colon-cancer screen-
ing. The guidelines for screening for colon
cancer are that each and every person
should have their first colonoscopy at the
age of 50. And if that examination is nor-
mal, then repeat screenings should happen
every 10 years. If it reveals polyps, since
these are considered to be a sign of
increased risk, the repeat examination
should be every five years. But is this really
the best way to screen for colon cancer?
A targeted prevention and anti-aging
program can dramatically reduce your
chances of getting cancer. But at this point
in time, no matter what we do, it’s just not
Real Cures (ISSN 1062-4163) is published monthly by
Soundview Publishing, LLC. Publisher: Wallis W. Wood;
Editor: Frank Shallenberger, MD. Subscriptions $49 per
year; foreign addresses add $13 U.S. per year. Send new
subscriptions or changes of address to our Business Office:
P.O. Box 8051, Norcross, GA 30091-8051, 800-728-2288 or
770-399-5617. Real Cures is a newsletter containing gen-
eral comments on health, nutrition, and medicine. Readers
are advised to consult with their own physician before
implementing any health idea they read about, whether
here or in any other publication. Copyright © 2009 by
Soundview Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction of this newsletter or its con-
tents by xerography, facsimile, or any other means is illegal.
—6—
symptoms, that’s a good indicator that you
don’t need it.
The final step
The third step is also very important.
You have to establish a regular exercise pro-
gram. This could be something as simple as
just taking a 30-minute walk every other
day. During your walk, break out into a run
for 30-45 seconds every 4-5 minutes. Along
with hormones, exercise activates the brain
receptors that use serotonin.
This total program, as I have outlined
it for you, will work in every case of depres-
sion secondary to serotonin depletion. I have
never seen it fail. Q
possible to guarantee that we won’t come
down with it. So it’s still important to
screen for cancer in order to detect it at the
earliest possible stage. Colon cancer is an
especially good case for screening.
The problem with colon cancer is that
it is a very slow growing cancer. It can be
there for years, and literally spread over the
entire body before the first symptoms occur.
So when I hit my 60th birthday, I decided
that even though I was 10 years late, the
time had come to bite the bullet and get the
colonoscopy.
I had avoided the procedure because,
like most people, I was perfectly happy to be
in a state of denial about the possibility of
having cancer. I rationalized my decision
based on the fact that there was a 1 in 300
chance of colonoscopy causing a perforated
colon, which would require hospitalization,
and maybe even death!
And, years ago, I had a perfectly
healthy 52-year-old patient who went in for
a colonoscopy alive and well, and came out
dead. He had a reaction to the anesthetic. I
never forgot that. But I also realized that
the risk of death from the procedure was
much less than the risk of dying from colon
cancer. So I scheduled the appointment.
I’m happy to say that it was your basic
“walk in the park.” The results were per-
fect. And other than having dispensed with
$2,000 and losing a day’s wages, I was very
happy with the information.
A new test is easier, safer, and
much less expensive
But now, just one year later, I’m not
sure I will ever have the procedure again.
That’s because there’s new evidence that
the days of routine colonoscopy may be over.
A new study just published in the
Journal of Gastroenterology looked at the
accuracy of a new kind of stool test for colon
cancer. A stool test is one in which all you
have to do is send in a stool specimen for
examination. This isn’t the same stool test
you’ve probably had done before. That test
simply looked for blood. And it missed colon
cancer as much as 60% of the time. No, this
newer version is very different.
The new test doesn’t look for blood at
all. It looks for the presence of DNA and
gene markers unique to cancers. When
these are present in the colon, this new test
can find them in the stool.
Researchers at the Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New York looked at 42
patients with known colon cancer. Each of
these patients sent in a stool sample to the
laboratory for the new DNA analysis.
According to the authors, “The vast majority
of cancers were detected regardless of tumor
stage, tumor location, or patient age.”
How accurate is the test?
To be specific, they found a sensitivity
of 83% for the test. That means that if you
have colon cancer, this test will show it 83%
of the time, and miss it 17% of the time.
Now you might be thinking at this point
that this doesn’t sound like a very accurate
test. But consider this:
In 2004, when doctors looked at how
often routine colonoscopy missed cancers,
—7—
they found a miss rate of approximately
10% for large (>5 mm) precancerous polyps.
This 10% miss rate is identical to what
other studies have shown.
According to the author of the largest
of these earlier studies, Dr. Douglas Rex,
who is a past president of the American
College of Gastroenterology, “It has been
clear for some time that colonoscopy is not a
perfect test.” And this 10% miss rate is for
larger cancers. Although it has not been
studied, the miss rate for smaller cancers
has to be much higher.
So the stool test misses the cancers
17% of the time, while colonoscopy misses
them a minimum of 10%. But remember
that the DNA stool test was able to discover
cancers equally well no matter what size
they were. This might make it an even bet-
ter test than colonoscopy. Not to mention
safer, easier, and much less expensive.
And here’s another factor. The sensitiv-
ity of any test is improved with each per-
formance of the test. This is important,
because colonoscopy is performed only every
10 years. You could easily have this stool
test performed every year. And that would
equate 10 stool tests with one colonoscopy.
As a math major, I would have to conclude
that it would be much more likely to discov-
er a cancer with the stool test every year
than with a colonoscopy every 10 years.
So, what’s the best way to go? At this
point in time, you’ll have to stick with
colonoscopy. This particular DNA stool test
is not yet available. There are other stool
tests on the market, but none of them are as
effective as the one used in this study. Once
it’s available, you’ll be the first to know.
This is an extremely valuable test that
should be available soon. Q
REFS:
Itzkowitz, S., R. Brand, L. Jandorf, K. Durkee, et al. “A simpli-
fied, noninvasive stool DNA test for colorectal cancer detec-
tion.” Am J Gastroenterol., 2008 November;103(11):2862-70.
Epub 2008 August 27.
Pickhardt, P.J., P.A. Nugent, P.A. Mysliwiec, J.R. Choi, and W.R.
Schindler. “Location of adenomas missed by optical
colonoscopy.” Ann Intern Med., 2004 September 7;141(5):352-9
 LETTERS TO THE
Q. My mother is 79 years old and just
had a tumor removed from her colon.
They biopsied the tumor and found it
to be ovarian cancer. She does not
want to do chemo. She’s tired and not
up for the fight. Can you suggest some-
one for her to see and/or what she can
do on her own? — Lynn H., via e-mail
Dear Lynn,
I can understand why your mom is
“not up for the fight” if the fight involves
chemo. I’m a strong critic of conventional
chemotherapy. It’s way too strong. It com-
pletely knocks out the immune system and
in stage-3 and stage-4 cancers (the kind your
mom has) removes all hope of a cure. The
statistics show that it just doesn’t work, and
I’m convinced that it’s a death sentence.
The only form of chemo that’s effective
in these kinds of cancers is a form called
insulin potentiation therapy (IPT). I’ll have
more on this safe and remarkably gentle ther-
apy in a future issue. In the meantime, you
can learn about it and find a doctor who per-
forms the therapy at www.iptq.com.
There are certain nutrients that have
history of working well in this kind of can-
cer. The first one that comes to mind is the
bioflavonoid quercetin. I would recommend
that she take 400 mg three times daily.
Another proven vitamin is vitamin C. I
would recommend 1,000 mg three times a day.
Next, one of the easiest things she can
do is to take my Super Immune QuickStart
(800-728-2288). One scoop each morning
along with a teaspoon of my Super Fats
special essential oils is an easy way to keep
her liver detoxed and her immune system
primed. You can order Super Fats by calling
775-884-3990.
These are the easy things she can do on
her own. There’s more that I can do if she’s
interested. Please contact our clinic and we’ll
get her started. Give her my best, and let
her know that people can live well despite
ovarian cancer.
—8—
EDITOR
Q. Do you have any suggestions for
sciatica problems? — Gloria P., via e-mail
Dear Gloria,
No, I don’t have a suggestion — I have
a cure. I have never seen a case of chronic
sciatica that does not respond to a course of
Prolozone injections. I have written about
this treatment several times in this newslet-
ter. You can read all about it on my website:
www.realcuresletter.com.
Not only will Prolozone cure sciatica,
but it will also cure most any condition that
causes pain in joints or the spine.
Prolozone therapy uses the power
of oxygen to stimulate the body to heal
itself. It is excellent for all forms of muscu-
loskeletal and joint pain, not just chronic
back and neck pain. I use it regularly for
arthritic hips and knees, degenerated discs,
plantar fasciitis, and even rotator cuff
injuries.
And keep in mind that Prolozone treat-
ments are not just treatments to decrease
pain. They actually cure the problem that
caused the pain in the first place.
To find one of the doctors that
I’ve trained in this technique, go
to the doctor referral section of
www.oxygenhealingtherapies.com. The
doctors with the medical insignia next their
name are the ones I have trained personally.
Find one of these guys and say goodbye to
your pain forever.
Got a Question?
Do you have a question for Dr.
Shallenberger? If so, please send it (typed
only) to him c/o Soundview Publications,
P.O. Box 8051, Norcross, GA 30091-8051 or
feedback@RealCuresLetter.com. While he
won’t be able to respond personally, he’ll try
to answer as many questions as he can in
these pages.