The discovery of HPU
From 1993 the KEAC performs research on hemopyrroluria, from its own resources. The existing literature was analyzed and there extensive clinical research followed. More than five thousand patients cooperated in this research for over 10 years, mainly women with health problems reported within the KEAC. The results of this research are presented here under “research”.
This research led to the discovery in 2000 of HPU. An association was found with a complex chemical compound called ‘ hemopyrrollactam-complex ‘, formed from breakdown products of Copro I and degradation products of vitamin B6 (including pyridoxine acid). In 1980, the American researcher A. Gorchein mentioned in the Journal of Clinical Science that it is not one single compound, but a complex. Exactly twenty years later this could be confirmed by Dr. John Kamsteeg.
At least as important, is the discovery that HPU is far more often present in women as in men. According to the estimation of the KEAC, about ten percent of the women, has HPU. This estimate is based on an investigation that is carried out in a large sports center and some secondary schools in Arnhem/Nijmegen. People were asked to provide urine in anonymously. This percentage also sounds more serious than it is. The symptoms usually occur only as there is a lot of stress as well and a reduced whole blood histamine. A low histamine level, an indirect result of, zinc deficiency, plays a key role in the development of symptoms. Histamine is a kind of ‘ tissue hormone ‘ that in the body plays an important role. One of the functions is guarding the permeability of the blood vessel wall, so that nutrients and oxygen can be transported to places where they are needed and waste products can be transported from the tissue back to the central circulation.
That too low histamine levels can cause numerous health complaints, is in fact one of the most startling findings within the KEAC. In the regular medicine only an increased histamine level associated with symptoms. Dr. Kamsteeg has, in cooperation with an English clinic, showed that people are histamine-sensitive, whether they have a raised or lowered level. This sensitivity may be associated with the following symptoms: fatigue, headaches, premature ejaculation, migraines and allergies.
It is worth noting that people with (genetically determined) histamine offset an extended second toe; a so-called Greek foot. So far there is no explanation for this strange phenomenon.
