MORGANTOWN, VA, March 31, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Knox Van Dyke has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Van Dyke is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at West Virginia University Medical School with 50 years of research experience. During the Viet Nam war, he developed the first effective screening for antimalarial drugs by measuring the effects of drugs on synthesis of malarial parasite DNA and RNA. He screened more than 10,000 drugs and found mefloquine and halofantrine which were developed commercially. He discovered a selective treatment for chloroquine resistant faliparum malaria using tetrandrine and chloroquine combinations and actually made chloroquine resistance a disadvantage to the parasite. He showed that this drug combination was very effective against chloroquine resistant falciparum malaria which was a deadly parasite that killed large numbers of our wartime troops and King Tut. In addition, he found that tetrandrine was highly effective against many drug resistant cancers and it has passed the threee major clinical steps for the FDA. In addition, recently Van Dyke has developed a new treatment for sickle cell anemia which helps prevents sickle cell crisis and allows people so stricken to live more normal lives and also helps those affected by malaria. This new and inexpensive treatment can be used in combinations with antimalarial drugs making the drugs more effective and help prevent deaths in the young and in pregnant women fighting malaria.
Dr. Van Dyke first solved the problem of black lung disease and silicosis by demonstrating that coal dust per se is not particularly toxic to human cells compared to silica and that silica is not particularly toxic alone but it is contaminated with calcium. When inflammatory cells of the lung engulf silica contaminated with calcium, the excessive calcium kills mitochondria of these cells and the cells die. By protecting the cells against the calcium, the silica is not toxic. This means that silica is acting as a carrier for the toxic calcium. Asbestos is a silicate that caries calcium and iron and its toxicity is likely similar to silica.
Knox Van Dyke began to study diabetes 1 and 2 and found that the actual cause of these diseases originates from the toxic peroxide called peroxynitrite. He used a combination of non-toxic substances and completely stopped both types of diabetes. This is the first observation of its type and it means essentially that all the drugs developed to treat diabetes only control blood glucose (sugar). Excessive sugar is not the cause of diabetes nor is the lack of weight control. These problems increase peroxynitrite, but they do not destroy excessive peroxynitrite per se, so the disease and its 6 major pathological consequences continue. He has developed a combination of non-toxic substances which will control these diseases effectively and prevent their many pathologies.
Dr. Van Dyke recognized that urate in the blood protects against peroxynitrite generating chronic diseases. All the devastating neurodegenative diseases (Alzheminer's and Parkinson's diseases, multiple sclerosis and amyotophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) which generate peroxynitrite will cause the death of key cells eg. neurons. By raising the urate levels - using purine- like substances excessive peroxynitrite is destroyed which can help protect and slow neurodegenerative diseases and create protection. These ideas are covered in USA and worldwide patents issued to Dr. Van Dyke.
The government of the USA spends 3 trillion dollars every year on disease treatment. Eighty five percent of those total dollars are spent on poorly treated chronic diseases. Dr. Van Dyke has recognized that many chronic diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes and heart diseases etc. are caused by excessive peroxynitrite or its derivatives. By controlling the peroxynitrite, we are actually treating the cause of these many chronic diseases and if done correctly and in a continuous manner, chronic diseases can be prevented or controlled, if treatment is started early enough in the disease state. Ben Franklin said it best when he stated, "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure."
Dr. Van Dyke has been a consultant in the drug industry for Cancer Biologics of America since 1989, and he has co-authored seven books on luminescence biotechnology. His professional organizations include the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Dr. Van Dyke's own educational foundation includes a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Knox College, earned in 1961, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Saint Louis University, earned in 1966. From 1966 to 1972, he worked with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's Military Malaria Research Program and was based at West Virginia University Medical School in the department of pharmacology and is presently in the WVU Department of Biochemistry /Molecular Pharmacology.
Dr. Van Dyke's hobbies include travel, history and baseball (Cub fan). His accomplishments have been featured in the 27th through 30th editions of Who's Who.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America , Who's Who in the World , Who's Who in American Law , Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare , Who's Who in Science and Engineering , and Who's Who in Asia . Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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