| FORWARD TO NATURE
IT IS TIME FOR NEW GENERATION
MEDICATIONS
We are talking to the Director of
the Research Center
research and production company (Koltsovo)
Alexander I. LELYAK
“According to medical statistics,
every year one third of all mankind suffers from infectious diseases. For
this country the figure is up to 70 percent”, these were the opening
words of Alexander Lelyak. And the list of these diseases and provoking
agents (bacteria, viruses and fungi) is constantly getting longer. About
30 infectious agents have been registered over the last few years. Among
them are Ebola and hemorrhagic fevers, the Marburg disease, Legionellosis,
rotavirus infections, etc. We also have our old acquaintances –
influenza, intestinal infections, hepatites, chlamydioses, tuberculosis.
The epidemological situation in the world and in Russia is aggravated by
the constant appearance of new strains of microorganisms resistant to
antibiotics which are widely used in practical health care. All these
agents are a real threat to humans and animals, all the more so because
the disease often becomes chronic and is followed by complications.
Alexander Ivanovitch, what are the main features of infectious
diseases, where does the danger lie?
- Pathogenic
microorganisms penetrate animal and human organisms by a variety of routes:
through the skin, respiratory tracts, mucous membranes, the digestive
system. If, at this stage, they do not encounter adequate resistance from
the immune system, they begin to proliferate exponentially, their number
increasing by thousands of times in a matter of hours. The immune system
cannot keep pace and suppress them – clinical presentations of the
disease appear accompanied by corresponding symptoms. The danger of
infectious diseases is due to the fact that during their development and
disintegration pathogenic organisms release toxic substances which,
penetrating various organs via blood stream, poison them. And quite often
it causes serious complications.
Note that a healthy organism also
always has microorganisms, pathogenic to a certain degree, but they are
“watched over” by the immune system and cannot cause an acute form of
disease. We all can carry and spread pathogenic microbes and viruses
without even suspecting it. This is why prevention measures are extremely
important – personal hygiene and prophylactic medications which
strengthen our host defenses.
It is now generally known that
all natural phenomena both in the physical and philosophical sense of the
word have their antipodes. Plus and minus, good and evil, particle and
antiparticle. This list can be extended. Does the same hold true for
microbes, bacteria and viruses?
- Yes. There is harmful (or, in
the language of science, pathogenic) microflora and there is beneficial
microflora. And if the latter were “in the minority” we wouldn’t be
talking now. Using imagery, we call useful microorganisms “white
warriors”. Mankind and the whole animal world wouldn’t be able to
survive without them. These “white warriors” constantly rebut the
attacks of “black warriors” carrying various infections.
Research conducted over a number of
years has demonstrated that balance of the microflora in a person’s body
is of utmost importance for maintaining health. It is present on the
surface of the skin and mucous membranes, in the body cavities, and
actively participates in the interaction between the “host” and the
environment. The functions of these microorganisms are very diverse: they
regulate the functioning of the intestines, take part in the metabolism of
proteins, fats, carbohydrates, produce biologically active compounds (vitamins,
amino acids, enzymes), neutralize toxins, etc. Besides, normal microflora
opposes many infectious agents and protects humans from infections.
But the medicine doesn’t
stand still. Many diseases which used to haunt mankind sank into oblivion,
so to say. Do you agree?
- Yes, this is so. And the
discovery of vaccination and antibiotics was of critical importance here.
However, when using any remedies one should know where to stop.
In their combat with pathogenic
microflora modern human and veterinary medicine mostly use chemical
substances, purified and concentrated agents of biological origin or their
synthetic analogs. Large-scale use of such substances has caused a new
problem – drug resistance. Medications reapplied many times lose the
desired medical effect. A good illustration is the use of antibiotics.
When antibiotics are applied part of
the colony of "black warriors” is not destroyed. It adapts and
survives in the medium of this specific antibiotic. Moreover, the microbe
cell registers the information about the mechanism of defense in its
genetic memory making next generations of microbes resistant to this
antibiotic. The use of a different antibiotic triggers this process once
again, and so on.
Thus, the development of medical and
veterinary science commonly requires the creation of super-antibiotics.
The response of the microworld to the introduction of super-antibiotics
into the medical practice is obvious, as can be seen from the experimental
material already at our disposal. It is the birth of a super-microbe. This
process can go on indefinitely and clearly leads us into a dead-end.
Nature has provided all living beings with the ability to change, which,
considering the speed of multiplication of microbes, turns them into
perfect self-developing and self-learning biological “machines”.
The price paid for scientific and
technical progress turned out to be rather high: the balance which existed
in nature is now disrupted, the host defenses of humans and animals
weakened. Some links of the immunity chain which protects humans from
harmful influences from the outside gradually began “to fall out”,
weakening the immunity. One consequence was the appearance of AIDS, the
most wide-spread disease on the planet – the Acquired ImmunoDeficiency
Syndrome (it is not only the HIV infection), and also AAIDS –the
Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome in Animals. This term has been
introduced by Professor Nozdrin from the Novosibirsk Agrarian University.
The attempt of humans to defend
themselves against “black warriors” by chemical treatment of
vegetables – both for their disinfection and increasing storage time –
has led to a chronic shortage of “white warriors” which also enter our
organisms with fruit and vegetables.
“White warriors” are as variable
and inventive as “black warriors” in their struggle which has been
going on for millions of years and which allowed us to form as a species,
to survive and live healthy and productive lives.
However, all this does not mean that
starting from tomorrow we all should stop washing the products of
agriculture. Technogenic development of our civilization has significantly
altered the state of many eco-systems, including the balance between the
“black warriors” and the “white warriors” in the soil. This
balance was the result of Mother Nature’s efforts for millions of years
and was to ensure the health of all growing and living organisms on the
planet. In many regions biocenosis has been pushed into the "black"
area. This is why the products of agriculture need to be washed and the
soil healed.
So, is it “back to nature”?
This is the slogan of many ecological movements the activists of which
believe that mankind is developing in the wrong way, mercilessly
exploiting natural resources and increasing the production of chemical
substances.
– Time cannot be turned back.
This is why I would say – forward to nature. It is impossible to get rid
of automobiles, computers, other achievements of our civilization. We need
to move on in the same direction and move faster because without
scientific achievements in various fields of knowledge we won’t be able
to satisfy the growing needs of mankind. Limiting them is a senseless
enterprise.
To improve the health of all that is
growing and living on Earth we need to make full use of the potential
inherent in living nature. We also need to make better use of our
intellectual capacities in order to understand nature and to learn how to
live in peace with other parts of the ecosystem, using the "do no
harm" principle.
In my opinion, one of the promising
directions of creating medical, preventive and other products and
medications is the development of probiotics in which the acting agents
are bacteria, “the white warriors”, with required capacities. For this
purpose we learned how to locate and “educate” the “white warriors”.
After this process the culture is produced in the corresponding
preparative form.
This is how VETOM appeared – a
product containing the culture of the Bacillus subtilis bacterium.
The main work on the development of
the recombinant culture Bacillus subtilis VKPM B 7092 was carried out in
the Vector research and production association and, under its guidance, in
other organizations. It was part of the research program approved by the
government of the former USSR. Hundreds of microbiologists worked on this
project. Research Center participated in the development of this culture,
besides, the company developed its preparative form allowing for the
survival of the bacteria in the external environment and their efficiency
in the gastrointestinal tract. The patent for this culture belongs to the
Vector state research center of virology and biotechnology and
Koltsovo-based Research Center. The patents for the technology and the
trade mark belong to Research Center.
And it is very easy to use this
product – it has to be eaten. When the bacteria get into the
gastrointestinal tract, they multiply and form a colony which, through its
metabolic processes, supplies the gastrointestinal tract with healing
substances: human leukocytic interferon alfa-2, a wide range of
bacitracins, enzyme and vitamins. The use of ВЕТОМ allows to bring
two main functions – the immunity and the intestinal microflora
composition – to the state corresponding to a healthy human organism. As
the result, the organism can cope with foreign microflora (“black
warriors”) by itself, without medications.
Alexander Ivanovitch, but the
products of the VETOM series, as follows from the application instruction,
are intended for veterinary medicine, that is for animal treatment… But
you are talking about humans.
– It has been developed for
humans. Unfortunately, at the first stage of its implementation animals
and poultry had more “luck” because the certification procedure in
veterinary medicine is cheaper. Preparations of the VETOM series have
passed state tests on animal farms of 15 regions of the Russian Federation.
These tests showed that this product allows to successfully fight diseases
caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. VETOM also stimulates weight
increase of the young animals. It is currently widely used on animal farms
in Russia. On many farms antibiotics are now used only in exceptional
cases and then this treatment is always followed by a therapy course with
VETOM 1.1 in order to restore normal intestinal microflora. As the result
of targeted and professional use of VETOM 1.1 the murrain rate in herds
was reduced to 1 percent or less. In poultry farming the results are
similar.
Among bacterial preparations that we
produce and which are based on the above principles I’d like to note the
ointment Bioseptin, the product for the weight increase of animals
Vetotsil, the medication for the treatment of cow’s endometritis
Vetomgin, the preparation for injections Nozdrin. All these products are
highly effective and surpassing by far standard norms and requirements.
Presently we are busy working on the
certification of the VETOM preparation as a biologically active food
supplement. The certificate will allow us to sell it in drugstores and
other places. Besides, we’ll have the possibility to conduct wide-scale
medical research.
Our path of the development of
medical products fully corresponds to the direction of the evolutionary
process. This is why the medical and preventive products that we have
developed are equally effective in treatment and prevention of the widest
range of infectious diseases in both humans and animals.
So, they are "live
products", if you allow the comparison?
- Exactly. Pathogenic microflora
cannot adapt to the bacteria contained in our products in principle,
because they are as or even more dynamic in their perpetual fight with
pathogenic bacteria. It is also important that the channels of infection
and channels by which our bacteria enter the organism are the same.
Giving VETOM to animals for
prophylactic purposes allows to strengthen their immunity and get rid of
dysbacteriosis, decreasing the risk of various diseases and maintaining
high productivity of animals. Our "white warriors " guard the
organism against infectious diseases and perform its thorough clean-up
from residing dangerous microflora. It is this microflora which is one of
the main reason of premature aging and early death.
Well, let’s wish our readers
– from children to people of mature age – to be as close to nature as
possible and to remember about the possibilities it offers us. And, of
course, to live healthy and long lives.
- Absolutely.
Yury TYURIN,
Correspondent, RIA-Novosti
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