Most proponents of so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are ordinary, reasonable people, even when promoting beliefs that may be dubious or even thoroughly incredible. However, occasionally I run across one of those individuals with not only a bizarre understanding of health and disease but a bizarre sense of their own relationship with veterinary medicine. Individuals like Dr. Gloria Dodd and Eric Weisman (1,2,3) appear to see themselves as misunderstood geniuses, martyrs whose insights and efforts to improve the world are resented by the less enlightened and attacked by nebulous conspiracies dedicated to preserving their power and income by suppressing simple, cheap cures for disease.
Many of the warning signs of quackery are related to these narcissistic and self-serving narratives (including the Galileo Complex, the David and Goliath Myth, and the Dan Brown Gambit). While an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a persecution complex are not guarantees that the ideas a person is promoting are nonsense, they certainly should raise a red flag and lead one to pay even closer attention to the amount and quality of evidence behind these ideas. All too often, it appears that ego alone is all the evidence these folks need.
That seems to be the case for Dr. Al Plechner. Dr. Plechner is a California veterinarian who appears to have discovered the cause and the cure for most serious medical conditions not already curable by scientific medicine. He calls his one true cause of disease Atypical Cortisol Imbalance (ACIS), though he usually refers to it as Plechner Syndrome.
What’s The Problem?
Dr. Plechner begins his somewhat vague argument by referring to the “Medical Ice Age.”
The MEDICAL ICE AGE relates to the gradual breakdown of ourselves, our animals, and our earth. As this gradual breakdown is occurring, a concentration of predisposing factors of poor health are being created. Not only are we seeing entire families of people developing allergies, auto-immunity, and cancer, but we are also seeing even a faster progression of diseases in our animals due to indiscriminant breeding, and breeding without function. The lack of concern for our earth has further allowed for environmental breakdown, contamination of our soils and waters, and the development of an unstable atmosphere…
With this present day destruction, a potentially dangerous cortisol deficiency is being created in our bodies which allows the immune system not to protect people and animals, but instead allows the loss of recognition of the body’s own tissue by these cells, resulting in allergies, auto-immunity, and cancer. This is called, PLECHNER’S SYNDROME. The identification and control of this syndrome may slow down the MEDICAL ICE AGE which threatens our existence.
He goes on to describe ACIS or “Plechner’s Syndrome” and how he believes it is related to disease:
ATYPICAL CORTISOL IMBALANCE SYNDROME (ACIS) (PLECHNER’S SYNDROME) DESCRIBES A DEFICIENCY IN THE PRODUCTION OF CORTISOL FROM THE MIDDLE LAYER ADRENAL CORTEX AND ITS INABILITY TO PROVIDE ACTIVE (WORKING) CORTISOL WHICH IS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OFATYPICAL CORTISOL IMBALANCE SYNDROME (ACIS) (PLECHNER’S SYNDROME) AND THE MEDICAL ICE AGE. This shortage of active (working) cortisol leads to a domino effect through the deregulation of thyroid hormones leading to the production of excess ESTROGEN and the deregulation of the immune system and all of the diseases and maladies this resulting faulty immune system creates.
…The fact that these hormones (ALDOSTERONE and ADRENAL ESTROGEN) are present relates to whether the CORTISOL and THYROID HORMONES are working, and not the ESTROGEN and ALDOSTERONE, otherwise the electrolytes and the antibodies would not be working. The comparative levels refer to the CORTISOL and IMMUNOGLUBULINS and this is why it is so important to do comparative levels, including those secretions which are regulated by active (working) hormone.
This supposed endocrine disorder is identified as the underlying cause for many seemingly unrelated diseases, including:
Food Allergies: “You must realize that food sensitivities may only occur secondarily to Plechner’s Syndrome, which is a hormonal antibody defect. If this syndrome is damaged and uncontrolled, eventually the patient will develop food sensitivities to all food.”
Skin Allergies and Infections: “Most dog skin problems seem to come from a hormone antibody imbalance referred to as Plechner’s Syndrome.”
Vomiting in Cats: Of course, food allergies can cause vomiting, and this has already been attributed to Plechner Syndrome. But apart from this problem, “The 2nd most common reason why cats vomit is due to a hormonal antibody imbalance.”
Cancer: “What then is the cause of this uncontrolled tissue growth called cancer? It occurs because of a endocrine-immune imbalance that leads to a deregulated immune system. This endocrine-immune imbalance begins with a defective or deficient cortisol which is produced in the middle layer adrenal cortex.”
Feline Viral Leukemia: “…feline-leukemia victims usually suffer from a hormone imbalance. In treating more than 2,000 cases, Plechner has discovered that with an individualized hormone-replacement plan, dietary changes and regulation, the virus can be controlled, if detected early enough. There are cases in which leukemia-positive cats have become negative after several weeks of treatment, although veterinary textbooks say this is impossible.”
Other Retroviral Infections: “The cats and humans that suffer from these viruses [retroviruses], like HIV, FIV, FIP and FELV, all have a hormonal-antibody deficiency caused by the Plechner Syndrome.”
Bladder Infections: “Chronic bladder infections in cats are caused by a hormonal antibody imbalance which as yet has not been realized.”
Dental Disease: “The plaque, on the actual tooth may not be causing a problem unless the plaque is great enough to cause the gum associated with that tooth, to cause a gingival recession leading, to an exposed tooth root problem, causing the problem, but rather a hormonal antibody imbalance that is leading to a deficiency of the protective antibody for the gums?”
Inflammatory Bowel Disease: “The cause of the IgA imbalance, IBD and other associated diseases, come from a middle layer imbalance in natural cortisol, produced by the middle layer, adrenal cortex.”
High Cholesterol: “I have found in people and animals, that when there is a cortisone imbalance, the pituitary stimulation causes an increase of total estrogen in male and female patients from the inner layer of the adrenal cortex. This in turn binds the use of thyroid hormone, and reduces the metabolism of the liver where cholesterol utilization and breakdown occurs. Automatically you can see why cholesterol levels may remain high, even after you have done everything that had been recommended.”
Epilepsy: “However, my research studies have allowed me to discover a syndrome involving elevated adrenal estrogen, causing an inflammation of all the endothelial cells that line the arteries of the body. When this elevated level of adrenal estrogen, including ovarian estrogen, causes inflammation of the cerebral arteries, a migraine headache or epileptic seizure can occur…In animals that have had their ovaries removed and in males with no ovaries, this same elevated adrenal estrogen can occur, causing the majority of epileptic seizures in animals and other catastrophic diseases.”
Cherry Eye: “What is cherry eye? This is a condition seen in dogs that relates to the tissue near the inner area of the eye. At the inner portion of the white of the eye, is a membrane that is a remnant of amphibians. In amphibians, this is a membrane that covers the actual eye, and allows the amphibians to see under water. In dogs, there is only a small remnant. But in this remnant, there is a small lymph node, often referred to as the Hardarian gland. When Plechner’s Syndrome is present, it creates an antibody deficiency. When this occurs this small gland increases in size to make up for the antibody imbalance and can reach a size when it can actually abrade the cornea and definitely needs to be removed. At this time, you should insist that your healthcare specialist, remove the other lymph node even if it not enlarged. It will enlarge later and have to be removed, unless you correct Plechner’s Syndrome.”
Plechner Syndrome is also credited with a causal role in female infertility and poor breeding performance, Sudden Acquire Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS), “Rage Syndrome,” and infestations with fleas and ear mites.
And how is this syndrome detected when it can cause so many seemingly unrelated disorders? Why a simple blood test, of course. It has to be sent to the one lab he trusts, one which will measure the particular kinds of hormone levels he believes are important (which most labs don’t measure since most endocrinologists don’t agree with his assessment), but otherwise it is easy to identify this one underlying cause of many, if not all, diseases.
While Dr. Plechner identifies his eponymous syndrome as the root of most disease, he only speculates about what causes the syndrome itself: “It may be caused by genetics, exposure to toxins, stress, aging, lack of sleep, or in combinations thereof.”
And he does identify a few other causes of ill health, though most he mentions do ultimately cause disease by generating Plechner Syndrome. He feels there are “toxins” in the environment and in pet foods, though he only identifies a few specific substances (plastics, parabens, fluoride, and of course genetically modified food crops). He also considers inbreeding to be one possible cause of Plechner Syndrome, and he has a lot of concerns about radiation. And he recommends dosing the amount of vaccine given by size, in a purely subjective way despite the complete irrationality of this approach, presumably because “too much” vaccine would be harmful.
What’s The Solution?
What does Dr. Plechner recommend as treatment for Plechner Syndrome? The mainstay of his treatment is a lifelong supplementation of cortisol and thyroid hormone for any species, both as a treatment and a preventative measure. He may use the laboratory tests he recommends to guide the specific dosing he uses, but it seems clear that he isn’t really diagnosing Plechner Syndrome since he already knows it is always present; “Every patient I have been involved with, whether dogs, cats, horses or people, all have an identifiable, hormonal antibody imbalance.”
He also recommends calcium Montmorillonite clay as a panacea for numerous conditions, including: kidney disease, nutritional disorders, “detoxification” and chelation of supposed toxins, osteoporosis, urinary tract infections, radiation poisoning, skin disease, burns and wounds, gastrointestinal upset, and more.
And finally, he tosses in a hodgepodge of other alternative therapies, including homeopathy, another “magic water” called Kangen Water, and digestive enzymes.
So Why Isn’t Everybody On Board?
The first question one should always ask about any hypothesis or new approach to health and diseases is “What’s the evidence for this?” Here’s what Dr. Plechner says:
1. I have created a successful treatment program that has helped approximately 150,000 dogs, cats, horses and people. These were patients, not only at my hospital, but in healthcare facilities throughout the world.
2. My clinical studies also show that there are high levels of total estrogen in all female dogs that are diagnosed with cancer… although these dogs no longer have their ovaries.
3. Every cancer patient I have ever been involved with, whether it be animal or human, has an elevated level of total estrogen that is not indicated with standard estrogen testing.
4. Through my clinical studies over the past 50 years, I have been able to identify a genetic and acquired endocrine immune imbalance, which can be easily corrected so that the retrovirus will not end the life of a patient.
5. With my clinical studies I have found that 80 % of the causal control will not need antiepileptic drugs to control their seizures however 20 % even on hormone regulation of the seizures may need to stay on antiepileptic drugs.
Wow, these are pretty impressive research results! Let me just have a look at the published reports so I can get all the details….
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Hmm, I’m not finding any published research studies. I wonder why that is….
As a clinician, my patients are my primary concern. For that reason I have not conducted controlled studies where one group of patients receives treatment and another group, for comparison, receives a placebo. I cannot in good conscience deny treatment to suffering animals who I know will benefit from that treatment.
Please realize that my clinical studies have not been accepted by my peers.
Oh, there aren’t any controlled studies, published or unpublished. By “clinical studies” he means “in my personal experience.” The theoretical foundation of Plechner’s Syndrome and the evaluation of clinical efficacy of its treatment is empirical. In other words, he made it all up!
An examination of the articles and information on Dr. Plechner’s web site reveals that he invented the entire theory and decided he was right based entirely on clinical experience and anecdotes. He has neither the inclination nor the training to conduct controlled scientific research, so his claims are purely faith based. He quotes numbers and percentages, but there is no evidence that these are based on anything more than his own imagination.
It is often pointed out, quite rightly, that science doesn’t know everything, and our understanding of phenomena as complex as living organisms is likely to always be incomplete. However, the incompleteness of knowledge is not the same thing as total ignorance, nor does it mean that absolutely anything can be true. We don’t entirely understand how gravity works at the subatomic level, but that doesn’t mean we can simply imagine ourselves into a real ability to fly if we leap off a tall building.
Endocrinology, the study of glands and hormones, is an enormous field with huge amounts of highly detailed knowledge based on centuries of scientific study. While we don’t know everything, Dr. Plechner’s theory is fundamentally inconsistent with what we do know and so is highly unlikely to be true. Perhaps through pure imagination, study, and uncontrolled personal experience, one man has discovered a fundamental principle of endocrinology that will overturn decades, even centuries of established science. Or, perhaps he is mistaken. Which seems the more likely?
Beyond the fundamental implausibility of his theory and the complete absence of any pre-clinical or clinical trial research to support it, Dr. Plechner’s claims raise many of the red flags of quackery.
- The Galileo Complex: As already pointed out, his characterization of himself as a misunderstood visionary ahead of his time qualifies as a manifestation of the Galileo Complex.
- The David and Goliath Myth, and the Dan Brown Gambit: Dr. Plechner appears to believe that the medical profession is deliberately resisting his ideas out of selfish and venal motives:
How would you feel if you found out that they’ve discovered a cure for cancer but they’re not going to let anyone know about it? I’m sure you’re all responding to this question by attacking it. “Why would they do that?” “That makes no sense!” “What about the money they could make?”
I could answer all of your objections by stating a single fact. The profits that a cancer cure would accrue wouldn’t even come close to the profits made by all of the cancer treatment drugs and the associated services involved in treating cancer. Sad to say, the treatment of cancer has proven itself to be, a tremendously successful revenue builder. Why wouldn’t you keep a possible cure under wraps?
But of course, this is purely a hypothetical question. We couldn’t possibly believe that our medical institutions could be callously driven by the pursuit of profit. Why, they’re as ethical as our great financial institutions are and look at how successful they’ve been.
The frightening fact is that a cancer cure could prove to be financially disastrous to the pharmaceutical and all of the other dependent medical industries.
The One True Cause of Disease: He believes his insight explains many apparently unrelated conditions with a single, simple answer that all other doctors and scientists have somehow overlooked.
Remember, many healthcare professionals will treat the EFFECTS of the illness or disease, but not the ROOT CAUSE cause of it.
It is no longer enough to say that my Veterinarian or Health Care Professional did the best that they could. There is another way. You as a pet owner or as a patient need to DECIDE FOR YOURSELF if you or your pet want to be just another statistic.
PLECHNER’S SYNDROME ADDRESSES AND TREATS THE ROOT CAUSES OF CATASTROPHIC ILLNESSES AND NOT JUST THE MEDICAL EFFECTS. It has the potential to help millions of animal or human patients to realize their dreams of better health and greater longevity.
Other Red Flags from Dr. Walt’s List:
Is the product or practice promoted as a “Major Breakthrough,” “Revolutionary,” “Magic,” or “Miraculous”?
Is only anecdotal or testimonial evidence used to support claims of effectiveness?
Is the treatment said to be effective for a wide variety of unrelated physiological problems?
Is the product a quick and easy fix for a complicated and frustrating condition?
Is the treatment said to be effective for a wide variety of unrelated physiological problems?
Is the product a quick and easy fix for a complicated and frustrating condition?
Who Is This Guy?
While I don’t believe personal details about someone are key to evaluating the legitimacy of their scientific claims, they can be informative, particularly after the claims have clearly failed the tests of plausibility and scientific evidence and contain so many red flags of nonsense. Dr. Plechner provides a brief biography on his web site. In it, he discusses a number of dramatic experiences with the medical profession which might be expected to generate some suspicion of mainstream medicine:
1. One afternoon, when I was just seven years old, I was playing in the alley behind our house when a car came speeding up the alley and then ran over my four-year-old sister. The next door neighbors were both physicians and were home at the time. They rushed out and wrapped up my little sister in a blanket and headed straight to the nearest hospital. The interns and residents at the hospital were in a meeting at the time and were, “too busy” to attend to her massive head trauma. By the time we reached the next hospital, she had died .What a sad example for a seven-year-old child to suddenly realize that taking the, “Hippocratic Oath” must mean that you are a, HIPPOCRITE. Can you imagine what must have gone through my child’s mind seeing a hospital who did not care if a little girl died or not?
2. One afternoon, when I was eleven-years-old, my Dad had gone to the hospital for an injection of a bronchiole dialator for his asthma called, “Aminophyline”. He suffered from a horrible allergic reaction and died within a few minutes.
3. After five years of hard work I then applied to medical school. I had hoped that just maybe I could help stop those unnecessary tragedies that befell my Dad and little sister.
At the end of my first year in medical school, I developed a horrible upset gut. The Dean of Men attributed my problem to, “freshman nerves”. After losing forty pounds, and a lot of my hair, and after being given two weeks of Paragoric, I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “self, you are going to die”. I went to see the Dean of Men the next morning, and I was so dehydrated that I spoke with a, “clicking sound”. He said to me that I could go into Public Health because it would be much less stressful…I looked like I had just come from a Concentration Camp.
I went to see my physician who with serum titers and my clinical symptoms diagnosed me with typhoid fever. My physician was livid that this, “Third World” disease could have been missed in a “high powered medical school”?
He also describes how he came to “discover” Plechner’s Syndrome. His mother was treated surgically for breast cancer, including removal of her adrenal glands and ovaries. She was on steroid replacement therapy, and Dr. Plechner’s independent reading convinced him she needed thyroid hormone supplementation. He convinced her doctor to provide this and took her subsequent good health as proof of his theories.
Is It Safe?
Since there is no research data whatsoever concerning the diagnosis and treatment of Plechner’s Syndrome, it is impossible to directly evaluate the risks of this approach. However, the glucocorticoids and thyroid hormone supplements Dr. Plechner recommend have well-recognized and potential serious side effects. While he claims that such side-effects will not occur at the doses and with the particular combinations of drugs he recommends, it must be remembered that the physiological arguments for why this is are not consistent with what the rest of the scientific community believes is the way the endocrine system works, and there is no controlled scientific evidence to show the disease he is treating even exists or that the treatment is safe or effective.
Using real drugs to treat a quite likely imaginary disorder is not a sensible way to care for our pets and our patients. While these drugs often make pets look or feel better in the short term, regardless of whether the imagined “imbalance” exists, this comes at the price of both risk from the drugs themselves and the risk of ignoring, masking, or simply overlooking other real, and possibly treatable, disorders.
Bottom Line
Plechner’s Syndrome is an implausible hypothesis that conflicts with well-established scientific understanding of endocrinology. There is absolutely no supporting scientific data showing this theoretical disorder exists or that the proposed treatment is effective. Dr. Plechner is content with anecdotes, testimonials, and his own belief as sufficient evidence for his claims and has no intention of testing them through controlled scientific investigation. Most veterinary scientists, who generally prefer research data to storytelling, do not accept his claims.
Dr. Plechner, of course, feels this is due mostly to the veterinary profession’s fear that if his miracle cure is real it will lead to fewer sick patients and less income for veterinarians. This ridiculous and offensive suggestion is just one of many warning signs that he is promoting nonsense.
Dr. Plechner undoubtedly believes, genuinely and fervently, that he has “discovered” an important cause of disease that the rest of the scientific and medical professions have overlooked or suppressed, and he has convinced some clients and even other veterinarians of his claim. However, in the absence of any legitimate or compelling scientific evidence, despite apparently miraculous results, his treatment has not been accepted by the rest of the veterinary profession.
Just as there is no scientific evidence that Plechner’s Syndrome exists or that the proposed treatment for it works, there is no evidence to allow us to judge the safety of the approach. Using real drugs to treat a quite likely imaginary disorder is not a sensible way to care for our pets and our patients.
Do to free speech there is a platform for stupidity at it’s greatest. Dr. Plechner has the biggest heart for his patience. Mainstream medicine tales time to accept treatments that work so in the meantime his results do the speaking. If your familiar at all with SARDS, you would acknowledge there are additional effects to the body that must be taken care of to extend the quality of life.
His results would speak for themselves if he conducted controlled research and published it. If he just says “I cured a bunch of patients, take my word for it,” there are no results, just belief and claims without evidence. The burden of proof is always on the one making the claim, not on the rest of the world.
So you choose blindness when it comes to seeing the owners who have pets with positive results to Dr. Plechner’s protocol. It males me wonder if you would seek out his help if your beloved pet fell ill to SARDS.I hope your opinion falls on death ears so hope will prevail.
What I choose is science and evidence over faith and making things up. Dr. Plechner can say whatever he likes, but if he can’t back up his claims with evidence then it is foolish to believe him simply because he’s a nice guy. We spent thousands of years treating disease with bloodletting, ritual sacrifice, and prayer alone simply because we relied on anecdotes, and we made no progress actually improving health. In a few hundred years, the scientific method has brought us great health and longevity than any generation in history. If you can’t see the lesson here, it s you who are being willfully blind.
Faith has not let people down who have it and has experienced a miracle from God. This is a seperate issue when discussing Dr. Plechner.For those who are reading comments to determine what to believe, please continue to read about Dr. Plechner and form your own opinion.
Onyx, put up the indisputable evidence or move along. That’s how this works. Plechner has put up ZERO evidence, and anyone who supports his bogus claims is as delusional as he is. Why don’t you ask him to put up the evidence? You know, that which is not anecdote, wishful thinking or made-up lies that take advantage of desperate people.
Dr. Plechner kept my epileptic Standard Poodle going for seven years after failed treatment by several other vets. His protocol reduced frequency from once a week to once a month and at times even less often. As a pet owner, I find that far more valuable than publishing papers or mollifying skeptics.
M. Maurer, the point is, yours is just another anecdote to add to the endless list. Without proper trials to prove Plechner’s claims, anecdotes are only adding confusion to the matter – which is why we should be extremely skeptical and not simply take the word of others (without supporting evidence) and without a properly done trial to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Alas, the author of this does not provide his own studies or refuting evidence, just does what typical westerners do: proclaim expertise with nothing to back it up, and remain closed-minded and steeped in western medicine. I think that this author has never met Dr. Plechner or had the good fortune of having him successfully treat an esteemed furry family member. Dr. Plechner is brilliant, caring, educated and has an open mind to treat my girl with holistic medicine instead of always prescribing drugs that will damage her internal organs. He truly cares about animals and, being a highly educated woman who has run my own research studies, trust him completely. Should you provide me with evidence to the contrary of what this wonderful Doctor has shown me to be true, then I will give your article some credence.
Sorry, but you’ve got this backwards. When I make a claim, like I know the cause and cure of a disease know one else knows, it’s my job to prove that’s true. It’s not everyone else’s job to prove my claim is not true. Science works because it judges fairly and objectively on evidence. Dr. Plechner is not right or wrong because he’s a nice person or not a nice person but because he either has or does not have evidence to back up what he says. Anyone can claim anything they like, but it is silly to expect the rest of the world to just take their word for it or to claim there is something wrong with asking for real evidence.
Exactly what my point is with your claim as well. I know of other whose furry family members have been cured or bettered with his treatment, just because he sites only one patient doesn’t mean he doesn’t have others. And also, you make claims that he is wrong but don’t have any research to back it up. To me, you are making things up, as anyone can indeed claim whatever they want, to use your own verbiage. Your claims are no more scientific in any way.
You think you know animals who have been cured. People think they know people who have been cured by every single therapy ever invented, from bloodletting to prayer. The issue is that this kind of personal experience is unreliable, which is why science exists and has improved our lives in ways nothing ever did before in the history of mankind. If anecdotes and personal experiences were all that was needed to decide whether or not medical theories were true, we wouldn’t have needed science to finally push our average life expectancy above the early 40s, prevent the deaths of most children before they reached adulthood, eliminate diseases like smallpox and polio that had raged unchecked for centuries, or any of the other things only science has been able to accomplish
And I’m not making claims about a specific therapy, so it makes no sense to say my “claims” are no better than Dr. Plechner’s. What I am doing is asking Dr. Plechner to justify his. I’ve already provided the argument and evidence for why your faith in anecdote and personal experience doesn’t count as reliable evidence for his claims. You may find it comforting to believe that you can know the truth based only on your own experience or the stories other people tell about Plechner’s treatments, but unfortunately this view is mistaken and leads people to reject science and suffer unnecessarily.
Have turned to Dr. Plechner many times, when all else (including so-called specialist vets) have failed. Yes, he does stress diet but he is not pushing any product. He doesn’t approve of chemical flea deterrents but so what. It is up to the owner. Personally, he has never harmed my dogs over many, many years. He has only offered common sense advice, which I can take or ignore. I usually take and my pug is 17 and thriving.
I agree that there are no good clinical trials supporting Plechner’s approach. However, I am discovering that there are no clinical trials supporting the other treatments that are typically used for IBD in dogs. Per Stanley Marks at UC Davis (http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/wsava/2009/lecture26/8.pdf?LA=1): “Corticosteroids remain the cornerstone of medical therapy for IBD, despite the lack of published controlled clinical trials documenting their benefit in dogs with IBD.”
We brought our dog to Davis for testing and treatment of IBD, and (after a high dose of pred, tapered), they are recommending budesonide long term. I can find no evidence that that approach will work; no long term clinical trials; barely any short term ones. The trials for other dog IBD meds (sulfasalazine, Imuran, cyclosporine) are also nearly nonexistent. What’s worse, is that in humans that have IBD, there is plenty of evidence that steroids are good for treating flare ups, but no good for maintaining remission. So why would you use steroids (in the form of budesonide) long-term to maintain remission in a dog with IBD? However, that is the conventional standard of care.
So on the one hand, you have conventional medicine which (without trials) recommends that you use a lot of steroids long term to maintain remission. On the other hand, you have Plechner, who (without trials) recommends that you use very small amounts of steroids to maintain remission. In both cases they are working with experience, not with any decent data. I would think that if you can maintain remission on one or the other, it would make sense to use the one that requires a lower dose of steroids.
It is very frustrating to realize that most (not all) of the legitimate criticisms of Plechner’s approach, could be applied to conventional veterinary treatment.
There is some truth to this characterization of the situation, but it is also mistaken and misleading in some details. For one thing, the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of IBD in dogs is based on a thorough understanding of the underlying pathophysiology. The idea is plausible based on existing science. Dr. Plechner’s theories, on the other hand, are completely idiosyncratic, made up by him and not very well supported by basic science.
Secondly, there is clinical research evidence concerning the effect of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive medications on inflammatory GI disease in dogs. The evidence base is not perfect or without gaps, particularly with regard to long-term management. But it is very, very far from the absolute absence of any studies on Plechner’s methods.
Finally, the use of steroids in humans has largely been replaced with the use of newer compounds which have not yet been tested in dogs, and so which are only experimental. Unlike Dr. Plechner, most GI specialists have not chosen to blindly implement untested therapies when there is extensive experience bearing on the pros and cons of current therapies.
While the evidence is weak in many respects for conventional therapies, these therapies still have not only far more clinical experience to support them than Plechner’s but far more actual research evidence at all levels, from basic science to clinical trials. So while it is fair to point out the very real gaps in the evidence for conventional treatments, it is not correct to suggest the levels of evidence are even close to equivalent. Dr. Plechner is essentially making up stuff as he goes along and justifying it entirely based on his own individual experience, which is quite different from the situation in conventional medicine even given the lack of high-quality clinical trial evidence for many therapies.
Here are some examples:
Dye TL, Diehl KJ, Wheeler SL, Westfall DS. Randomized, controlled trial of budesonide and prednisone for the treatment of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease in dogs.
J Vet Intern Med. 2013 Nov-Dec;27(6):1385-91.
Jergens AE, Crandell J, Morrison JA, Deitz K, Pressel M, Ackermann M, Suchodolski JS, Steiner JM, Evans R. Comparison of oral prednisone and prednisone combined with metronidazole for induction therapy of canine inflammatory bowel disease: a randomized-controlled trial. J Vet Intern Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;24(2):269-77.
Pietra M, Fracassi F, Diana A, Gazzotti T, Bettini G, Peli A, Morini M, Pagliuca G, Roncada P. Plasma concentrations and therapeutic effects of budesonide in dogs with inflammatory bowel disease. Am J Vet Res. 2013 Jan;74(1):78-83.
Angelucci E, Malesci A, Danese S. Budesonide: teaching an old dog new tricks for inflammatory bowel disease treatment. Curr Med Chem. 2008;15(24):2527-35
Allenspach K, Rüfenacht S, Sauter S, Gröne A, Steffan J, Strehlau G, Gaschen F. Pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of cyclosporine treatment of dogs with steroid-refractory inflammatory bowel disease. J Vet Intern Med. 2006 Mar-Apr;20(2):239-44.
Thank you for the links. I was familiar with some of these studies, but not all. As you mention, the real weakness here is the length of the trials. The Dye(2013) study lasted six weeks. The Jergens (2010) study lasted 21 days. The Pietra (2013) study lasted 30 days, and the Allenspach (2006) study lasted ten weeks.
Human trials, unfortunately, show budesonide does not maintain remission:
“Budesonide has been studied as a possible agent for maintaining remission in Crohn’s disease. To date there have been four controlled trials.(19-22) Though two of these trials imply some efficacy due to a longer mean time to relapse, in all cases the one year relapse rate was nearly identical between budesonide and placebo. Perhaps this finding should not be surprising, as other glucocorticoids have not been proven effective as maintenance therapy. (“http://www.fascrs.org/physicians/education/core_subjects/2002/ifb_advances_medical_management/)
So if the dog studies had lasted as long as the human studies, they could well have shown that, as in humans, budesonide is no better than a placebo in maintaining remission. The dog studies just don’t tell us whether budesonide is useful long-term, and the human studies suggest it wouldn’t be. But budesonide is the standard of care in dogs.
Well, like many other people, we will try the Plechner approach (or some other anecdote-based approach), if our every attempt at conventional treatment fails. At that point it would be rational to do so. I agree that it would not be rational before reaching that point, and I hope we don’t reach it.
I would be curious to know what percentage of U.S. patients with IBD are now taking the biologics. I have been reading many human IBD/Crohn’s posts (in trying to get leads for our dog), and it is my impression that there are still a huge number of people on the old meds because the biologics are so expensive and because they often stop working.
Anyway, thanks again for the links.
How can you dismiss the relationship between elevated estrogen levels and the potentially reduced free cortisol(non-bound) that is likely to be present?
With respect to transcortin production.
It’s a far more complex issue than your question makes it sound. First, the definition of “elevated” needs to be established. Normal ranges are created by studying variation within presumably healthy subjects and a specific test and then establishing a statistical range within which most values will fall (typically 95%). The it has to be established that values above this range will have a measurable AND biologically meaningful impact on the glucocorticoid levels. Then, it has to be established that this relationship produces predictable clinical symptoms. This is all before we even get to the issue of what causes the initial elevation and how we should treat the patient. My trouble with Dr.Plechner and his claims is a great deal larger than whether he is right or wrong about this small point.
Dr. Plechner has not done any of this work, and neither has anyone else. There are companies that offer estrogen tests for dogs, but there is no agreement on what constitutes normal in various populations (age, sex, neuter status, breed, etc) or whether or not this is related to clinical Cushing’s Disease. Almost every dog tested on these sex-hormone panels has one abnormality or another. Do we really believe every dog has a glandular disease, or is there something wrong with our testing?
Dr. Plechner has chosen to take a small piece of info, spin it into a complex theory, and then charge into diagnosing and treating patients without any of the necessary evidence to back this up. If he turns out to be right, he will have been extremely lucky. If he is wrong, his ideas will justly be forgotten. In either case, the process is not good science and doesn’t use the tools of science to create the best possible chance for real, beneficial therapies.
I wasn’t even talking about his work, rather the fact that dismissing something for lack of statistical data based on clinical studies is as radical as his approach. I can see your point though-a course of treatment requires sufficient information. In your opinion, is hormone replacement a viable option for treatment of SARDs?
The medical profession should possibly start being proactive in general and stop treating conditions and symptoms, and start treating the cause. My dog was just diagnosed and as a result I started looking for answers all the vets in my area had no idea of the many roles cortisol has. After speaking to a senior scientist at a pharmaceutical company and an endocrinologist in Europe, both of whom are currently performing clinical studies in mice, I am convinced I should at least attempt hormone replacement. As you pointed out it will be extremely difficult to adequately come up with the actual course of treatment for lack of precise scientific data. Hopefully with the help of the above mentioned people and regular blood and urine testing it will work.
Hopefully my answer makes it clear that we are not talking about “dismissing something for lack of statistical data.” We are talking about the burden of proof that rightly falls on those who make a claim and sell a therapy to demonstrate something beyond theory and anecdote to back up that theory. If all that is needed to introduce a medical treatment is to have an interesting theory, even if it is one widely rejected by the experts in the field, then there is no standard at all and anything goes. We’ve tried this, for much of human history, and it is a poor way to find the truth about health and disease or to help patients. Science is not some picky statistical extra we tack on to what we already “know” from experience. It is how we know what makes people ill and how to prevent or treat disease. What disturbs me about Dr. Plechner’s approach is his belief that his idiosyncratic theory is sufficient to justify telling people to use his unproven treatment and then his belief that he can validate all of this by haphazard and biased recollection of cases rather than systematic study. This is exactly, in every respect, the same kind of thinking that gave us homeopathy and innumerable other failed therapies.
As for the medical profession treating causes rather than “just” symptoms, that’s a wildly inaccurate alternative medicine cliché. Vaccinating against smallpox WAS the result of finding and treating the cause, which is why the disease no longer exists, and why the amount of death and suffering caused by so hundreds of infectious diseases is so much less than it once was. Likewise, preventing nutritional diseases (e.g. scurvy and rickets), preventing all the cancer once caused by cigarette smoking, encouraging exercise, healthy nutrition, and appropriate weight management, treating trauma patients with medicines, blood products, and surgeries, curing leukemia with bone marrow transplants, and many, many other such practices are examples of science-based medicine discovering and addressing the cause of disease. And as for treating symptoms, if someone gets pneumonia and we treat their symptoms with antibiotics so they don’t die, that seems a pretty significant intervention even if we don’t know the precise sequence of causal factors behind every case of pneumonia and haven’t eliminated pneumonia entirely as a disease. So I think you are rather casually shrugging off an enormous, really unprecedented history of success on the part of medicine at doing exactly what you suggest it is not doing.
Your own words about evidenced based medicine contradict your opinion of Dr. Plechner….
Have you listened to yourself?
I don’t see the contradiction. Do you have a specific example?
The reason Dr. Plechner has not done clinical trials is because he does not want to watch 50% of his patients suffer. Who needs trials when results speak for themselves….
Ridiculous. If haphazard trial and error results could speak for themselves, we wouldn’t need science. You appear to think we don’t, but that ignores centuries of history and the fact that using science to figure out what works and what doesn’t in medicine has improved our health and longevity dramatically and beyond any previous change in human history. There have been thousands of therapies people believed in which didn’t help and actually hurt patients, and only controlled studies have shown us this. You’re simply completely wrong about how we get reliable knowledge about how to help patients.
Science starts with a theory which is then proven or disproved by a variety of means. If you want to disprove Dr. Pletchners findings, then why don’t you do some clinical studies rather than trying to discredit him with words?
Science starts with a theory which is then proven or disproved by a variety of means. If you want to disprove Dr. Pletchners findings, then why don’t you do some clinical studies rather than trying to discredit him with words?
And your comment isn’t contradictory? LOL.
You know what they say, the onus is upon those who make the claims – in Plechner’s case, pretty wild claims – to prove such claims. It’s not skeptvet’s obligation to prove Plechner’s b.s.
Btw, the results speak for themselves – you mean when only Plechner says they do? Or when his clients says they do because they believe in his imaginary “disease”?
There are no “findings” to disprove, merely a hunch and some anecdotes. If you have a theory, then you have to do the work to prove it. If you choose to advertise and sell it without doing that work, then you are taking advantage of people. He discredits himself by making claims without the evidence to back them up.
Will Hutch, you aren’t getting it. Making dubious assumptions about skeptvet because you don’t approve of what he’s saying, does NOT MAKE PLECHNER’s CLAIMS TRUE.
It is up to Plechner, and he alone, to prove his theory, to prove his disease exists and to prove his medical concoction does what he claims it does. Ultimately, “Plechner’s syndrome” and his so-called “treatment” falls way short of everything we know about science, medicine, disease.
Problem is, you can’t pull stuff out of thin air (make stuff up), make wild claims about that stuff, concoct some treatment plan for the thin air stuff, then sell the idea/claims/treatment/product to uninformed people and expect not to have some criticism and challenge to the dubious claims. Are you getting this yet?
Thank God for evolution. My dog who has been diagnosed with Plechner’s Syndrome by another Vet on the East coast is now thriving after four years of bad health. The proof is in Plechner’s patients. Let’s take sick animals, one after the other and watch them recover.
Or, we could do a clinical trial, prove that his method works, and then get it into much wider use. Collecting anecdotes makes people feel like they know things, but they aren’t reliable evidence. If the answer is so obvious, it shouldn’t be hard to demonstrate scientifically, which raises the question why Dr. Plechner hasn’t bothered to try.
My 10 year old Maltese was recently diagnosed with SARD about a month or so ago. My vet agreed to do Dr. Plechner’s protocol…..I guess time will tell……that would be good enough for me…..there is clearly more going on with my dog other than being blind and I believe his theory in that it is not just a blind issue. I guess time will tell.
Well, whether or not your pet improves it won’t tell us anything about Dr. Plechner’s theories, but I hope for the best!
Hello, my request is for information from LOIS and others who have tried Dr. Plechner’s SARDS protocol with steroid injection and thyro-tabs… Would you be able to provide me with any news on your progress and current condition of your dogs?
I’m only just starting the protocol, as well, with my newly diagnosed dog and doing my due diligence on this and other sites. Although peer-reviewed and scientific research would be a great thing to have, of course, it takes a lot of time and a lot of funding… two things my dog and I don’t have against this rapid, horrible, devastating thief of a condition. It TOOK my dog away from me in a matter of weeks (maybe less), and two weeks ago my boy could see me, fetch his favorite toy and enjoy tug-of-war looking me straight in the eye with his big, bright, beautiful brown ones.
Now, he’s a hormonal mess of ravenous hunger, heart-breaking confusion and separation-anxiety from me and the world he saw so clearly just a week ago. I may never get him back, and all science has to offer me at the moment is, “yep, we got nothing for ya… here’s a nice handout on living with your blind dog now”.
So, I’m just wondering if there is some confirmation of good results for others who have tried the Plechner protocol.
I heard there is a lot of funding and effort being thrown at discovering therapeutics and advances in possible treatment for SARDS, such as this CURRENT grant by the Vision for Animals Foundation, http://www.visionforanimals.org/
And that’s GREAT, definitely great news!
But, while we wait god knows how long for all the evidence-based, peer reviewed, double-blind (no joke), fat book of stats and advances and therapies to arrive from the land of Oz… I’d like to know if we’ve found a yellow brick or two to follow from the potential Wizard of SARDS with respect to actual progress and safe mitigation of this disease.
Could anyone share… sight improvements or stabilization? Has it been worth it? Any side-effects of the steroids at all now or later on?
Thank you, I appreciate all the respect and love we share for our animals whichever opinion we hold. It’s all in an effort to help them in the end.
All the best.
I have used the “Plechnar” method for allergies in my dog for years now. He went from licking at his paws until they were raw and bleeding to having an occasional lick. Not sure why people feel the need to have published research on the method, if it works for your pet than that is all that should matter. I know I tried several different “traditional” vet therapies before being introduced to the Plechnar method and not one on the “traditional” methods helped. So personally to have documented and written research and proof that the Plechnar method does or does not work should not matter. what matters is if it helps your pet than it has worked. It’s unfortunate their aren’t more vets who are educated and opened minded to the Plechnar method as I would not have to travel so far to have quality care for my pet in a non traditional western fashion!!
My Yorkshire Terrier of 9 years started the Plechner protocol a little over a year ago. It took her about 28 days, but the changes started to appear. She regained a portion or her sight (some issues still with depth perception), and just as important, her attitude returned. I highly recommend Dr. Plechner’s program BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN THE RESULTS. If your dog has lost their sight, DON’T WAIT. Time is one of the biggest factors. Contact Dr. Plechner ASAP.
Anecdotes….
Don’t Believe your Eyes (or Your Brain)
Medical Miracles: Should We Believe?
Testimonials Lie
Alternative medicine and placebo effects in pets
Placebo effects in epileptic dogs
Medical Practices Once Widely Accepted that Proved Ineffective or Harmful when Studied Scientifically
Why We’re Often Wrong
Not a veterinarian, not a medical expert. Don’t care about blind tests!
I want someone to help my dog, and not give me euthanasia as the answer. We have spent thousands and thousands at Tufts/Cummings veterinary hospital, Angell animal care, and many other “specialists”, plus our regular veterinarian at VCA hospital. Tests…food changes….medications….procedures…..home made diets…..etc…..etc……etc!
We have watched two of our dogs be euthanized at 11 years old because there was no answers!
How dare ANYONE discount any one who can help, how dare you say there is no use doing “trial and error” to help, especially after doing all the “tried and true” methods.
Veterinarian medicine needs to look into backing up these alternative ideas and work together to help the animals instead of working with the drug and pet food companies for profit.
I used to hear all the time that you can’t make a profit breeding animals, if you are doing it for the love of them, and if you are, you are skipping vital steps to healthy animals! Should we expand this thinking to the veterinarian medical community also?
Leave Dr. Plschner and others like him, pioneering in this field, alone.
I have always felt that if something is made up or not helping, then they are no threat and should not be of any concern. Your protest of him seems like a little too much. These ideas are working and spreading. Hopefully someday even you will have to admit it.
You have plenty of passion and are clearly very sure of yourself, but that doesn’t make you right. And while you’re entitled to your opinion, so is everyone else, so there’s no point in telling me not to criticize someone just because you happen not to be bothered by what he’s selling. Opinions are a dime a dozen, and they don’t help us understand what to do for our pets. Science doesn’t have the answers to everything, but it has far more answers than all the opinion and guesswork in human history were able to give us, so there’s a good reason to choose controlled studies over stuff people like Dr. Plechner make up. You are free to do as you please, but you haven’t offered any evidence or even any real argument for why anyone should choose your approach. It hasn’t worked well in the past, and there’s no reason to think it’s a good bet now, no matter how strongly you believe otherwise.
well…after all this time, my 18 year old cat fell from my bed severely spraining her ankle. she is a rescue that was mistreated and has many pre-existing injuries – such as arthritis in her spine such that she is unable to lift her tail. An associate of Dr. Plechner saw her and wrapped her ankle. We went back to Dr. P for the follow ups because we were not happy with the treatment his associate gave her. A few months later, she was still not healed up. Dr. Plechner noticed signs of hormonal imbalance, such as coat issues and a gingival flare. He gave her a shot of depromedrol, and it helped her a lot. He then ran the blood test to determine if she indeed had elevated estrogen and she did – alarmingly so. She had 3 shots spaced 10 days apart which helped her tremendously. She had improved enough after the 30 days to receive the prednisolone through the mouth. We spent several months adjusting the dosages, and it’s been like a miracle. She can jump, she can lift her tail, she can sit on her rear without pain, she can stand on her hind legs (which she couldn’t do before) and her gingival flare and bad breath are gone. And her spunk has returned as well as her affectionate nature. To me, that’s proof positive that his treatment works – what else do you need? Now, scholarly studies and statistics (math for liars) can prove things to a certain degree as well, but these results prove to me unequivocally that his cure for Plechner’s syndrome is legitimate.
So if your story shows that Dr. Plechner’s methods work, then this story must also prove the effectiveness of Shona traditional healing:
“When I was thirteen years old, my dad became sick. He was having a hard time sleeping because he was plagued with headaches; he could not concentrate, and his body was weak. I remember my dad being sick for so many months that he had to be granted sick leave from his teaching position at a school. After six months of receiving treatment at the local psychiatric hospital, my dad did not show much change in his conditions. His brothers and sisters requested permission to take him from the hospital and seek help from a traditional Shona healer. The request was granted…
Traditional healers inherit their spiritual gifts and skills from either or both their paternal or maternal ancestral lineages. To maintain good relationship with these ancestral spirits, the traditional healers periodically make sacrifices and offerings to those spirits. Generally, traditional healers come in four different types: the diviner, whose duty it is to make a diagnosis; the herbalist, who prescribes and treats ailments; the traditional midwife; and the exorcist, who plays a large part in freeing people from troublesome and evil spirits…
My dad spent another three weeks at the traditional healer’s place receiving further attention. In addition, since the role of the family is regarded as vital when an individual gets sick, my whole family was invited to partake in the ritual and cleansing ceremonies. Upon coming home after three weeks, the whole family went through a cleansing ritual to chase away any evil spiritual forces and to appease the ancestral spirits. We were told that until the ultimate cause of my dad’s problem was dealt with, there remained the possibility of continuing suffering. When my dad came home from his stay at the traditional healer, he was feeling better; somehow, he had been cured.”
Can you see why if we believe one personal story of healing, we must believe them all? Medicine and religion become indistinguishable, and there is no longer any difference between steroid shots and ritual sacrifice so long as someone believes it works. This is how humans practiced medicine for tens of thousands of years, and for all those centuries we were lucky to live into our 40s. Using the science and math you mock has doubled that and bettered our lives, and those of our pets, more than all the stories ever told.
Yep, docs like you make me WISH there was a witch doctor nearby i could see to avoid seeing someone like you. You know that is not the same thing – too arrogant to see that alternative treatments work, but you’re not stupid or as uneducated as you’d like me to think with your comment. If a treatment works over time, it works. Nothing helped my cat until he started the treatment. Period.
The arrogance is in being unable to even consider that everything might not actually be the way it seems to you, not in pointing that out. You are quick to judge other people’s experiences as not proving their claims, but you don’t accept that your own experiences contain the same limitations. Science requires the humility to accept that our perceptions and judgments are often wrong. Your absolute faith in your own experience may comfort you, but it proves nothing, and it is hypocritical to call someone else arrogant for not accepting your word as proof when you do the same when it comes to other people’s experiences and beliefs you don’t share.
So, SS, a licensed DVM (Plechner) gave your 18 year old feline multiple DepoMedrol injections in a period of a month? This would be surprising as most DVMs (and by that I mean almost all) recognize that multiple injections of long-acting corticosteroids are completely contraindicated in geriatric felines as they have a propensity to cause diabetes mellitus and renal failure — or both concurrently.
The very tissue that Plechner claims is underperforming (adrenal cortex) is further suppressed by what medication? Care to guess? Exogenous steroids! Yes, and the longer-acting the steroid (which DepoMedrol is one of the longest), the greater the adrenal suppression.
Just take a look at the name, please. “Depo” stands for “deposit.” “Medrol” stands for methylprednisolone.
So, the good Dr. P is claiming in his eponymous (and therefore arrogantly, IMHO) syndrome that the very tissue that he says is functionally suppressed, is successfully treated with a medication THAT SUPPRESSES THAT TISSUE’S FUNCTION EVEN MORE. Please explain the scientific justification for this….
It has been said that there is a sucker born every minute. That means that Plechard has the potential to grow his practice by 1440 people every day…
SS, be sure to let all here know when you start your cat’s insulin therapy and K/D diet, please….
Plechner made my cat more sick, after charging me an arm and a leg for his ridiculous theory and promising that he had solved my cat’s chronic bladder problems.
Anecdotal evidence means nothing. I trusted a vet to know what he was talking about and am now paying for it. This guy makes me sick.
Josh, that is so disheartening to hear. Please seek a new opinion from a qualified veterinary urologist – there are various treatments and interventions for chronic bladder issues (depending on the issue, surgical procedure may also be an option). Don’t give up!
I have used the Plechner Protocol with my previously 100% blind doxie with fantastic success. We were told by our Board Certified Opthamologist that he had SARDS and there was no cure. He was verified 100% blind. My vet had no better news. He was hanging his head low and seemingly very depressed. As a future Nurse Practitioner and practicing Kalish/FDN specialist , I am quite aware of how powerful hormonal imbalances can be. I have worked personally with physicians and cortisone therapy. The theory that the good doctor has purported in entirely plausible. Are there questions….absolutely!
What I can tell you is this…a once blind 13 year old daschund can now see. He has his distance vision back and his puppy like attitude has returned.
I will continue to study the science, until I find all the answers, I will just sit back and enjoy my Tanner and his 2nd chance at life. Thanks to Dr Plechner for his vision and his commitment to HEALING. The science will come along at some point…I can wait, in the meantime, we will continue to HEAL and not just treat symptoms.
T quote one of my knowledgeable colleagues “The plural of anecdote is not data”.
My 11.5 year old deer head chihuahua was diagnosed w SARDS by two opthamologists and 3 other Vets and was confirmed with an ERG on the 4th of July 2015. I found Dr Plechner and my Vet here in Tampa Fl followed the protocol and now, 5 months later, Beanie has his sight back, lost his asthma, and stopped shedding profusely. He was 100% blind on 4 July as confirmed by 5 different veteranarians–and is now sighted.
The Plechner protocol works and you can see my documented results on You Tube SARDS blind dog can see
I could never thank Dr Plechner enough!!!! Please watch my videos!
There ‘is’ a cure for SARDS
Dan Murphy
Tampa, Fl
Thank you and so well said!!
Dan Murphy and Beanie