In this interview, the Editor of the Aging Matters™ magazine, Phil Micans (PM) interviews Walter Pierpaoli, M.D., Ph.D. (WP)
Dr Pierpaoli is famous for his scientific and clinical published research into melatonin, the thymus, immunity and much more. In addition, he is also recognisedfor being one of the world’s foremost antiaging physicians. In this interview, Dr. Pierpaoli describes his latest work and how it impacts his ‘rotational theory of aging.’
PM: “Once again Dr Pierpaoli it is my pleasure to be talking with you on our favorite subject- aging! I know it is a subject that fascinates you, me and many of our readers.”
WP: “Quite right Phil, as always it is a delight to be doing so. Who isn’t interested in how they are aging?”
PM: “Let us start then with the 64 billion Dollar question! Please tell us what you believe aging to be.”
WP: “In a nutshell, the pineal gland, via its links with the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus, is the biological clock network; it is a true scanner for growth, fertility, aging and also death.”
PM: “So in-effect, the pineal gland acts as a day-night counter limiting our lifespan?”
WP: “Yes, it seems blatantly obvious to me. Are we different from dogs, cats and mice? No, we are all mammals!”
PM: “I think that an age-clock counter explains why there have only been a handful of people who have made it past 120-years of age. If it were, for example, just down to free radicals as the cause of aging, there should have been some numbers of persons with excellent free-radical scavenging activity who would have had significantly longer lifespans by now. My assumption is based on the estimates that there have been 128 Billion homo-sapiens who have lived on Earth- that’s stated on Wikipedia so it must be right!!! (Ha ha)”
WP: “As you well know, I do not believe to the fairy tale of poisonous radicals. It is fashion in science, such as the other fairy tale, that you can prolong life by maintaining telomere length. It is a desperate attempt which makes me laugh. The body takes care of itself, if the central ‘clock’ is synchronized!”
PM: “Of course many people know that lifespan averages are increasing worldwide; but this is the mean lifespan for the average person, the maximum lifespan doesn’t seem to have expanded much- if at all. Roman records suggest there were individuals living up to 120-years, even thousands of years ago. This maximum lifespan of 120 years is even recorded in the Bible.”
WP: “What prevents man to live normally to 110, 120 or 130 years are diseases! Now today’s highly polluted environment facilitates all kind of diseases, which when combined with bad genetics is the main cause for atherosclerosis and tumours, which kill 80-90% of the population. New generations are now doomed to age earlier. In fact, the long-lived people are those born before 1950, before the environmental disaster. They were raised and grew up in a more pristine nature- it is my own generation. Longer and healthier life now is a lie and I can see it in children! Believe it or not, healthy children do not exist anymore!”
PM: “So by understanding that the pineal can recognise day from night, by releasing melatonin during darkness, and that this action could be a counter, why is your theory of aging called the rotational theory?”
WP: “It is time to explain planetary and atom rotational movements, all being in cyclicity etc. Everything in the cosmos is rotational and totally synchronized, from the atoms to the galaxies! Every cell in our body follows a strict circadian, day-night cyclicity, lunar and seasonal periodicity. We are generated, grow, procreate and follow our species program in a completely rotational system, controlled by our ‘clock’ in the hypothalamic-pituitary-pineal network. We are a bunch of ‘tubes’ – arteries, gastrointestinal, urinary, etc., all strictly controlled by hormones, which in turn synchronically maintain cyclicity and periodicity, all linked to the rotational forces of the lunar-planetary system. After all, is the menstrual cycle different from the moon cycle? No it is not; but disruption of our adaptability to the rotational forces leads to diseases and early aging.”
PM: “So can melatonin, when taken as a night-time supplement, trick the age-clock? What have your animal experiments told you about their maximum lifespans and indeed the condition of their health in their later years?”
WP: “Melatonin a precise night signal from the pineal gland; my murine experiments clearly illustrate that by ‘putting to rest’ the pineal gland, with night administration of melatonin, that the mice do not become immortal, but they do prolong their vitality which enables them to reach their maximum life-span, which is 3 years and would correspond to 110-130 years in man. It is simple and clear, with melatonin, which protects the pineal gland, we can prevent the ravage of time afflicting our later years.”
PM: “And how might this play out in humans in terms of lifespan and health?”
WP: “I do believe that ‘resetting the pineal clock’ with melatonin, formulated in a way which produces and mimics the physiological night peak, we can enter a new phase of human life which allows all of us to reach our maximum lifespan in a useful way.”
PM: “As a medical doctor I appreciate you have been treating many thousand of patients over decades, how have your patients’ health been improved by your protocols?”
WP: “From the publication of the USA bestseller, ‘The Melatonin Miracle’ in 1995, I was almost forced by people and circumstances to apply my discoveries to patients. I verified my re-synchronization method in several thousands of patients. All of them are cured from even the most hostile diseases such as cardiovascular; neurodegenerative a.o. Tumors can be easily prevented. I did not see a single case in my patients. A book is now being assembled collecting letters from the cured patients which is entitled; ‘The happy patients of Dr. Pierpaoli.’ Isn’t it the ultimate defiance?”
PM: “I happen to know that your protocols include more than melatonin supplementation; can you describe some of your other fundamental approaches to optimal health please?”
WP: “If the pineal gland controls our rotational adaptation to lunar and planetary cyclicity, obviously the night protection of the pineal gland with melatonin is fundamental. However, what will happen upon night protection of the pineal is a cascade of positive events which concern hormone inter-synchronization. In most cases I observe pituitary and thyroid dysfunctions, mostly hypothyroidism, which goes undetected owing to the laboratory assays which are totally misleading and wrong! I think this is a complete disaster. Clear or latent, insidious hypothyroidism is affecting 99% of the adult population. I do not know the reason for it and probably it is the main cause of pathologies in the new generations. But nobody talks of it! I developed my own parameters. For example, I keep TSH at zero and ‘free’ T3 with ‘free’ T4 two-three times higher! TSH is a carcinogenic polypeptide similar to prolactin, whose value should not exceed 10 ng/ml. But it is prolactin that is the most dangerous carcinogenic, tumor-promoting agent in men and women. Also, in the course of my studies, in 1989, I discovered some totally unexpected activities for TRH, which has the totally misleading name of thyrotropin-releasing hormone. I wish to tell its story in a book. In fact, my observations on TRH activities over the past 25 years, allow me to say that a different level of basic regulation exists in the body- which goes back to the origin of life. This tiny molecule occupies a fundamental role, including the regulation of insulin production and release and consequently the precise control of blood sugar!”
PM: “Ah yes! TRH or thyrotropin releasing hormone; we did cover it in the lead story in Aging Matters™ issue 3, 2012 (copies of which are all online at: https://aging-matters.com/) Perhaps I could ask if you could please do a quick recap of the beneficial properties of TRH?”
WP: “My published experiments have shown that TRH may become a key molecule to invert the clock of aging. For example, it regenerates testicles in very old animals and also restores kidney function in sclerotic infiltrated kidneys. It seems to produce a regeneration of beta cells in the pancreas of diabetic animals. I am deeply interested to pursue clinical studies with TRH.”
PM: “I appreciate that you like to refer to TRH, much like melatonin, not as a hormone, but as a life generating molecule, why is that?”
WP: “The semantic attribution of ‘hormones’ to TRH and melatonin is an outrage to good sense and human intelligence. Both molecules are totally devoid of any side- or toxic effects even at huge concentration and even when given intravenously. In spite of this, European countries have waged a war against them, in particular Switzerland and Germany, obviously fearing their therapeutic activities when confronted by the profits generated by the industry of the chemical, man-made drugs.”
PM: “TRH is actually a tri-peptide and as many of our readers are aware, there is a wave of interest in the ways peptides work within the body now. So let us cut to the chase, after all, knowledge is worthless without power, or in this case – application. How do you recommend your patients use TRH, in terms of its dose and its timing?”
WP: “With 20-years of studies at my disposal, I developed an elegant method to allow TRH to enter the blood stream. In fact, the fragile molecule cannot be given orally because it is rapidly destroyed in the stomach. Also its production costs are prohibitive. Thus I recommend sublingual tablets of 5 mg and 10 mg. This method allows a direct entrance to the blood stream via the sublingual, superficial venous plexus.”
PM: “And does it need to be taken every day?”
WP: “We do not really know if TRH follows a circadian rhythm. However, in some of my experiments I observed that TRH shows more pronounced effects when taken in the morning. I suggest cycles of TRH, 5 mg sublingual tablets for periods of one month, on and off. I also suggest some blood tests of glycemia and lipids regularly in order to ascertain its benefit. It is particularly rewarding for patients suffering from Metabolic Syndrome X.”
PM: “And for Melatonin, how should one take Melatonin?”
WP: “The real value of melatonin is its formulation which allows its night release between 1am and 3am. Many years ago I formulated melatonin with zinc and selenium; it is sold in Italy as Melatonin Zn Se® and by IAS as MZS™. After many scientific studies showing how melatonin can dramatically enhance zinc levels, whose concentration in blood notoriously decreases with aging, it was the combination of melatonin with zinc and then particular excipients- that also determine a night peak- that have created this true biological bomb! One must know that zinc is a basic mineral for synthesis of more than 200 enzymes. One tablet at bedtime between 9pm and 11pm is proper. The dosage of 3 mg is suggested, some may require less, some may require more.”
PM: “And are there any particular times to take melatonin?”
WP: “One should try to emulate the night peak; this means that nature has determined that melatonin levels are highest between the hours of 1am and 3am. The MZS™ when taken between 9pm and 11pm releases the melatonin into the blood during the period of 1am and 3am, therefore inducing this same as nature response.”
PM: “I have to say, that we here at IAS like original products, after all they are the ones that achieved the original results in the clinical studies- the results that the copycats will allude to! I know that your MZS™ works well because I’ve seen it in patients time and again. Even on those who were going to give up on melatonin because they had seen no benefit with the generic they had been using; as is often said in pharmacology, the devil is in the detail!”
WP: “Exactly Phil. Many people probably do not realise that many of the clinical melatonin studies have used our brand. For example, a study published in the New York Academy of Sciences in 2005 showed that our MZS™ can reverse both wet and dry versions of macular degeneration- can you imagine! Yet how many people are aware of this fact?”
PM: “Quite true, my joke is that if you want to keep something a secret – publish it! (Ha ha) After all, who can read everything? This fact and the pressures on doctors’ time, means that many rely on the pharmaceutical rep to keep them appraised of developments. Accordingly, they only hear what the drug companies are selling. Still, let us not dwell on this negativity; please tell us a bit about your latest projects.”
WP: “Right now Phil, I am working on two new books. One will describe TRH in detail– this is because the effects of TRH are both important and impressive, yet hardly anyone is aware of this news today. The second book will have examples of my patients, their before-and-after results and what was done in-between. I am writing that one, not because of my ego, but because I am so often asked what I do to achieve such good outcomes. Right now, I have 1000 patients, none of them have cancer or heart disease or dementia- can you imagine?”
PM: “Excellent news! In the meantime, by the time folks read this interview, we should have your eBook ‘Melatonin, the key of life’ available for download.”
WP: “I hope that will be helpful to people. I would like to make a statement about why it is vital to talk directly to the public.”
PM: “Please go ahead.”
WP: “A revolution can only be started by the people themselves, from the ground-up. Once the public wake up to the current medical mafia and understand what is truly possible with alternatives, by which I mean non-orthodox, but nonetheless scientifically proven approaches; then the world of health will become a very different place.”
PM: “Amen to that. I know many will enjoy hearing from you again Dr Pierpaoli, thank you very much for all your valuable time today.”
WP: “I always have time for you Phil and all the great people at IAS.”
