Low Dose Naltrexone (Google LDN) by Joseph Wouk
Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2009/04/25 - Updated: 2025/12/28
Publication Type: Literature / Review
Category Topic: Publications - Related Publications
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This report examines Joseph Wouk's book "Google LDN," which documents his personal experience with Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis and his discovery of low-dose naltrexone as an alternative treatment. Wouk explains how LDN works by stimulating the body to produce elevated levels of endorphins, which restore immune system function, potentially addressing not only MS but other autoimmune and immune-related conditions including cancer, AIDS, Parkinson's, and Crohn's disease. The account combines personal narrative with exploration of relevant scientific concepts, offering practical value to those with autoimmune diseases seeking treatment options beyond conventional medical approaches, particularly those who may have exhausted standard pharmaceutical interventions or experienced their limitations - Disabled World (DW).
Defining Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
- Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (PRMS) is a rare form of MS - affecting only about 5% of people newly diagnosed with the disease - characterized by a steadily worsening course from the outset, combined with occasional sudden attacks or relapses that cause acute symptom flares on top of the underlying progression. Unlike relapsing-remitting MS, where patients experience distinct periods of stability between attacks, people with PRMS never experience true remission; instead, their baseline level of disability continuously declines between relapses, meaning each attack leaves them worse off than before. The disease typically progresses more aggressively than other MS types, with patients accumulating neurological damage at a faster rate, and it tends to develop later in life than relapsing-remitting forms. This combination of steady deterioration plus unpredictable relapses makes PRMS particularly challenging to manage, as treatments must address both the ongoing progression and the acute inflammatory episodes that punctuate it.
Introduction
The only way to find out about Low-dose Naltrexone (LDN) is to Google the word itself; thus the title of Joseph Wouk's book - Google LDN. Joseph explains how Low-dose Naltrexone works its magic by causing the human body to produce 2 to 3 times the normal amount of endorphins, it restores the human immune system to its full operating condition. This is why it works not only for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but for other serious diseases such as Cancer, AIDS, Parkinson's, Autism, Chron's Disease, and just about every other Immune system related disease.
Main Content
Google LDN is Wouk's attempt at Dana Paramita, which is the Buddhist version of Christian "good works". Google LDN will have you both laughing and crying through the first part of the book and you'll be inspired by the second part. Told with humor and honesty, Joseph Wouk captivates the reader through his thought processes as he watches his own mind dissolve from the subcortical dementia caused by MS.
Diagnosed with Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis, Joseph Wouk refuses to accept the doctor's opinion that there is nothing more to be done for his medical condition. He plans to go to the Amazon to try to cure himself with a Shaman's ayahuasca ceremony. Just before he is scheduled to leave for Peru, all of his MS symptoms suddenly disappear after taking LDN. A man who refuses to give up in the face of insurmountable odds ends up completely healed despite the hopelessness that western medicine tells him he faces.
From the back cover of Google LDN
Diagnosed with Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis, Joseph Wouk, youngest son of novelist Herman Wouk refuses to accept the doctors opinion that there is nothing more to be done for his medical condition. He plans to go to the Amazon to try to cure himself with a Shamans ayahuasca ceremony. The book begins as a journal entitled, PLACEBO A Rationalist Seeks a Miracle Cure. Wouk, a hardened western rationalist has no patience for spooks or spirits or any other new age wishful thinking. His plan is to try to delude himself with psychedelics into thinking he is cured - Thereby activating the placebo effect to cure himself for real. He covers all the bases: From Buddhism to Judaism. From quantum physics to Godels incompleteness theorem. From alternative medicine to the Metaphysics of Quality.
Editorial
As with most medications, there can be side effects to contend with. From observations, the most common is initial sleep disturbance, and; in the case of some diseases such as progressive forms of Multiple Sclerosis, there's also a possibility of exacerbation in the first six months of treatment.
I've also learned from observations that those who don't succeed with LDN often have a long and recent history of medication reliance, or have deferred making complementary lifestyle changes. In particular, abrupt cessation of opioid-based (narcotic) pain medications, steroids or other immune system suppressants following a lengthy period of reliance can result in withdrawal symptoms or rebound effects, and hence, abandonment of LDN as a treatment option.
This is an understandable 'catch 22'. We want the 'high impact' health fix for many reasons: We can't afford time off work or for our boss to discover our health's been compromised, or we have families relying on us to care for them - and so we lean on the health solution that helps us get on with our day-to-day lives with the least interruption - but not necessarily in the least invasive way.
Clinical trials of LDN are needed, but as some would need to run for six to twelve months or longer, they'd be costly. Naltrexone has long been 'off-patent', so the pharmaceutical companies that initiate clinical trials are unlikely to perceive this particular unmet market need as potentially profitable and worthy of investment.
Commercialism can benefit markets - but there are distinct areas where commercial markets should not dominate, infiltrate, conflict, or otherwise influence to the detriment of the greater public good. Indeed, the story behind LDN infers the health market scales have long been tipped too far in favor of commercialism and are in need of re-balancing.
'Optimum quality of life' is a basic human right that should stand tall, above all other rights. It is sacrosanct and must therefore be protected from the taint of 'conflict of interest'. Societies thrive in an environment of fair play and balanced needs, and there is no greater need for fair play and balance than in health.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The story of low-dose naltrexone reveals a significant gap in modern medicine: a treatment that shows clinical promise yet remains chronically underfunded for rigorous study because its patent has expired, making commercial investment unattractive to pharmaceutical companies. This market failure points to a deeper problem in how we structure health research and development - where profitability, rather than genuine human need, determines which treatments receive serious scientific scrutiny. Until we realign our priorities to fund research on interventions that serve patients rather than shareholders, countless people with chronic illnesses will continue to rely on anecdotal reports and personal testimony to make decisions about their health, a situation that serves neither science nor patients well - Disabled World (DW).
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.