The IPT Method in the Past

Insulin potentiation therapy has existed since the 1920s. Needless to say, much about it has changed and evolved over these more than 70 years. But the basic protocol has stayed the same: insulin injection, development of hypoglycemia, and absorption of substances along with sugar.

Dr. Perez Garcia 1 documented his practice of IPT in his 1953 book "Terapia Celular" or "Cellular Therapy".

The practice of Dr. Perez Garcia y Bellon 2 in 1975 was documented by Dr. SGA in a wonderful paper.

Here are some of the ways IPT has been different in the past. Some of them are of mere historic interest. Others give us clues to the full range of possibilities for IPT, many of which are not now being used, but which may be useful when we want to "push the envelope" of IPT into new territory in the future.

1. Different names: Donato Perez Garcia MD 1 called his method "Terapia Celular" or "Cellular Therapy". This shows that he saw his method as mainly treating the whole body at the level of each cell

At a later time, he and his son Dr. Perez Garcia y Bellon 2 called it "Donatian Therapy" after their mutual first name (now also held by Dr. Perez Garcia 3 and his son). It reflects the informal first-name affection and gratitude that their happy patients had for them. And it probably reflects their feeling of pride in their treatment, and their hope that the therapy, once its value had been universally recognized, would be named after its discoverer.

For one of its main applications, Drs. Perez Garcia 1 and 2 called it "Cellular Cancer Therapy Through Modification of the Blood Physico-Chemical Constants". This was a more specific name, with a more specific expressed theory of how IPT works. The theory is controversial and probably too specific. And this name has way too many words for anything but a book title.

Jean-Claude Paquette MD slightly modified Dr. Perez Garcia 1's original cell-focused name, adding insulin as a dominant element: "Thérapie Insulino-Cellulaire" or "T.I.C." in French, and "Insulin-Cellular Therapy" or "ICT" in English. A more compelling name that expressed both the agent and the target of the therapy.

In the 1970s and 1980s, SGA MD began calling the method "Insulin Potentiation Therapy" or "IPT". This more kinetic name emphasizes the agent and the action. This name ignores the cellular target of the therapy, and may not include all aspects of the action going on (more discussion of this). But this appears to be the name that will stick. It has now been used in numerous publications for some 20 years, and the one living IPT pioneer, Dr. Perez Garcia 3, is committed to using it. Worldwide publication of this website named IPTQ.com will certainly help reinforce the use of this name.

2. Different insulins. All types of insulin that have been tried have worked fine for IPT, according to Dr. Perez Garcia 3. For most of the history of IPT, only cow and pork insulin have been available. In the 1980s, genetically engineered insulin and eventually human-based insulin became available (Humulin Ž) and Drs. Perez Garcia 2 and 3 tried and adopted it quickly. In the 1990s, Lilly came out with a fast-acting human-based insulin (Humalog Ž) that saves up to 20 minutes for each IPT treatment. This is now becoming the preferred insulin for use in IPT because it speeds up the process.

3. Different insulin doses. The first time Dr. Perez Garcia 1 injected himself (not recommended!), it was 10 units of insulin. Depending on his weight, this was probably about 0.15 units of insulin per kilogram of body weight, enough to create mild hypoglycemia that could be assuaged with food and sweet drinks. As his experience with patients grew, he gave larger doses, sometimes very large. At one time the dose he used in his practice was enough to send a patent into insulin shock -- very deep hypoglycemia where the patient can lose consciousness -- and he brought them back quickly with intravenous glucose before convulsions could develop. Over the years, the Drs. Donato have reduced their recommended dose to a safer level, finding that it works just as or almost as well. In recent decades, the most common dose has been 0.3 to 0.4 units of insulin per kilogram, sometimes going as low as 0.1 units per kilogram.

4. Different sugars. Dr. Perez Garcia 1 brought his first induced hypoglycemias to a close with food and sugar-saturated drinks. [I have an old magazine article in which Dr. Perez Garcia y Bellon 2 talked of giving patients honey.] He later moved to a quicker and more controlled method -- injecting hypertonic glucose intravenously. This is the method still used today, with sugar drinks offered afterwards so the patient can satisfy any remaining craving and bring blood sugar level back to normal. The relative importance given to intravenous and oral sugars may have changed over time.

5. Different medications. IPT potentiates and delivers medications, and helps in detoxifying and balancing the functions of the body. A wide variety of different medications have been used in IPT. Different ones have been used as the doctors have tried them, as old products went off the market, and new products were introduced. In 1939 Dr. Perez Garcia 1 patented a combination of glucose, calcium chloride, and arsenic drugs for treatment of neurosyphilis. There are many recipes of drug combinations that have been found useful for IPT treatments of different diseases. And in prescribing the medications for an individual patient's treatment, the doctor has complete freedom to choose from any drugs that he thinks could help, while considering the existing knowledge and experience of what drugs have been found to work best with IPT.

Intramuscular injection.

Intravenous injection through butterfly needle.

Intravenous injection using IV bag, line, and
saline drip.

6. Different administration methods. At first Dr. Perez Garcia 1 tried injecting insulin intramuscularly. This worked, but the timing of development of hypoglycemia could vary. He settled on intravenous insulin administration because the timing and the effects were more repeatable and controlled.

In his early practice, Dr. Perez Garcia 1 probably injected insulin and medications directly into a vein. In later years, Drs. Perez Garcia 1 and 2 used a "butterfly" needle for intravenously administering insulin, medications, and glucose. This is a disposable needle that is inserted in a vein and held to the arm with a butterfly-shaped bandage. It has a valve to keep the needle closed except during an injection. The big advantage of this device is that the vein is only found and punctured once, yet many syringes can be inserted and discharged over time. This device could still be useful in developing regions where cost and availability of supplies is a major consideration.

However, the current IPT method is to use a standard intravenous bag and line, with saline drip. This helps keep the vein open, makes injection more convenient, and is gentler for the patient.

As already discussed, intravenous glucose, and orally ingested sugars have had varying relative importance in IPT.

Drs. Perez Garcia 1 and 2 often mixed medications with glucose before intravenous injection. Now Drs. Perez Garcia 2 and 3 find it simpler, and perhaps more effective, to inject the medications first, and immediately afterwards inject glucose.

For treating neurosyphilis, Dr. Perez Garcia 1 used a large dose of insulin to enable the body to accept a larger-than-normal dose of very toxic drugs, kill the disease organisms, and then eliminate the drug from the body before it killed the patient. Now IPT doctors generally give a smaller dose of insulin to deliver a smaller-than-normal and less toxic dose of drugs.

Medications have always come packaged for different administration routes. So the IPT doctors have had to incorporate all of these rooutes into their practice. Oral and intramuscular drugs are given at the time of insulin injection, and intravenous drugs are given at the therapeutic moment, just before glucose injection. Given a choice, the doctors prefer the intravenous form of a drug, because its effect can be better controlled.

7. Different diagnosis methods. The IPT doctors have always used the standard diagnosis methods of the time, x-rays, CAT scans, MRI, and lab tests. In the 1960s, Drs. Perez Garcia 1 and 2 invented and experimented with a simple colorimetric electrochemical blood analysis method. They claimed to have preliminary evidence that this method could diagnose cancer and precancerous states, as well as other diseases. This method and device (called the "Oncodiagnosticator" tm) has not been used in a clinic since around 1985. But if it actually works, there could be potential applications in today's world, after updating it with current technology and biomedical knowledge.

[A small preliminary study by SGA MD, at McGill University in 1975, found no predictive value. But the method has not, to my knowledge, been tested in any other laboratory. ]

Most IPT doctors prefer less invasive diagnostic techniques when they are available. For breast cancer, they generally recommend fine needle biopsy rather than surgical biopsy. It is far less traumatic and disfiguring, and apparently is very effective.