Health Enhancement Products, Inc. (OTCBB: HEPI) is a nutraceutical company engaged in the development of dietary supplements, food additives, and ingredients which are created entirely from pure, all-natural compounds. The Company recently announced the addition of Dr. Fazlul Sarkar, a Professor of Pathology at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. The Company’s premier product is ProAlgaZyme (PAZ), a liquid product drawn from living algae grown in purified water through a process whereby the water in which the algae is grown is drawn off, filtered, and bottled as PAZ. Dr Sarkar is conducting tests at Wayne State University School of Medicine which so far have pointed to effective and significant management of inflammation at the cellular level without stimulating undesirable side effects.

Inflammation results when immune cells secrete an abundance of messenger chemicals collectively known as cytokines.  These cytokines include prostaglandins, TNF-alpha, leukotrienes, histamine, and interleukins.  These inflammatory chemicals signal the immune system to produce free radicals and other inflammatory chemicals.  This inflammation is often a result of infection, the free radicals and TNF-alpha help to defend the body by attacking foreign invaders. But when the inflammatory response is due to antigens unrelated to infection such as an allergy or pain, the body suffers paind and damaginf effects from the inflammatory chemicals and the free radicals.

Dr. Sarkar believes that HEPI has a potential breakthrough in the management of inflammation, whether that inflammation is caused by metabolic issues, injury, or disease. Today there are few, if any, anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds that exhibit a similar range of desirable benefits with little or no measurable unwanted side effects according to Dr. Sarkar. The results, although characterized as preliminary until a formal paper is presented for peer review, point to significant and marked inhibition of certain inflammatory processes at the cellular level. The Company continues to protect its intellectual property by filing patent applications and taking other steps to ensure that the value of its intellectual property is maximized. Once patent applications are completed over the next several weeks, the Company will disclose additional information relevant to these test results.

In addition to cancer, there is some evidence that Autism may be accompanied by abnormalities in the inflammatory response system (IRS). Products of the IRS, such as proinflammatory cytokines, may induce some of the behavioral symptoms of autism, such as social withdrawal, resistance to novelty and sleep disturbances. The writer of the Blog son suffers from Autism and is currently on a nutraceutical called Lutimax.  The Company has made no claims to treating Autism, but there is a growing body of evidence that inflammation in a key piece of Autism.