21st-century conditions require 21st-century therapies and tools.
Before we dive into the topic of this blog, “The Cell Danger Response” (CDR), if you have not read or heard about Dr. Robert Naviaux’s research (a professor of genetics in California) on children with autism spectrum disorder, it is a must-read. His work is groundbreaking. Read more HERE on CDR.
This post isn’t here to overwhelm you with biochemistry, but to show how WHOLE health depends on understanding what happens inside your body—specifically, how the recovery phases of the Cell Danger Response (CDR) affect well-being. We use an integrative, holistic approach to nutritional medicine that blends psychological coaching with cellular healing to guide the body through every stage of the CDR. Buckle up, because you will be hearing a lot more about it! It can take up to 17 years before it is integrated or even recognised by mainstream medicine.
Why ATP outside the cell is dangerous: Most people know ATP as the body’s energy currency, but that is only true when it stays inside the cell. When ATP leaks into the extracellular space, the immune system reads it as a siren—a signal of cellular damage and threat.
Dr. Robert Naviaux theorised that in conditions like autism, cells remain trapped in this “danger state” due to persistent extracellular ATP signaling. In a small clinical trial, he administered low-dose Suramin, a drug that blocks purinergic ATP receptors.
By blocking the danger signal, the cells finally received the ‘all-clear’. The result? The children experienced noticeable improvements in communication and social connection, with some speaking their first words. More details HERE.
At the Leading Edge of Science
At The New School of Nutritional Medicine, we believe in staying at the forefront of scientific research. We constantly update our curriculum as new breakthroughs are published, whether they’re new biochemical pathways, organelle dynamics, neuroscience, or evolving models of chronic ‘dis-ease’.
Tragically, there is a famous 17-year lag between scientific discovery and standard clinical practice. We bridge that gap so our practitioners lead the way.
Post Covid
The last few years have brought seismic shifts to our world—not just in how we shop, eat, work, and educate, but in our collective biology. We are seeing unprecedented rates of chronic illness, shifting food quality, and overwhelmed nervous systems. As our lives have changed, so too must our approach to treating chronic dis-ease.
To understand where progressive healthcare is heading, we also integrate Dr. Robert Naviaux’s groundbreaking work on the Cell Danger Response (CDR). Have you ever wondered why certain natural or medical protocols fail to deliver results? The answer often lies in the ‘stuckness’ of the CDR, where cells remain trapped in defense mode long after the threat has passed.
The Cell Danger Response
Most of us were taught in our school biology about the mighty mitochondria, the little organs (organelles) that produce energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). They are called the powerhouses of the cell because they produce ATP, the cell’s energy currency.
However, the mitochondria have a more critical role in human physiology, and that includes the Cell Danger Response (CDR). Dr. Robert Naviaux says, “The cell danger response is the evolutionarily conserved metabolicMetabolism is not a calorie-burning furnace that sits somewhere near your belly button, deciding whether you can fit into last year's jeans. Metabolism is the set of chemical processes taking place inside your body every second of every day, keeping you alive. response that PROTECTS cells and hosts from harm.”
What exactly is this Cell Danger Response (CDR)?
This CDR is a response that is activated when the cell is ‘threatened’, a threat that can result in injury or even death. What is this threat? This threat can be;
- Physical such as whiplash, UV, heat, pH changes
- Biological such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites
- Chemical such as medications, BPA, DDT, pesticides
- Psychological such as shock, grief, fear, anxiety
Dr. Naviaux describes a key turning point in the way we view chronic illnesses. His paper on the Cell Danger Response can be found HERE.
We are excited to share and teach this new paradigm in nutritional biochemistry. This amazing area of research, especially post-COVID, is vital for every 21st-century practitioner to know and understand.
In the times gone by, acute illnesses ‘reigned’. One got an acute and either they survived or died from it. Then came medications, and while they can help in some cases, in others they can suppress acute conditions, which can cause the healing response to get ‘stuck’. We like to use Rapid Relief Homeopathy to help with that acute shift and the work of Dr. Reckeweg. Did you know that Rapid Relief Homeopathy is part of our curriculum at The New School?
Healing is not to be rushed; the body knows what it is doing, but it needs the ‘right’ environment and understanding.
However, 21st-century rush culture and fear have driven the inappropriate management of acute illnesses, such as suppressing symptoms, leaving us with an exhaustive list of chronic conditions, including:
- Toxin overload such as toxic metals mercury, aluminium, BPA
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Endometriosis
- Lyme disease
- Autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s
- Heavy metal exposure
- Mold/mycotoxin exposure
Chronic illnesses arise due to a whole host of reasons, but for now the focus is on the CDR and chronic illnesses.
When the body is ‘under’ ‘threat’ it is detected by the mitochondria which trigger the CDR in order to protect the cell from further injury and to prevent the spread of the ‘injury’. This whole CDR is like a healing cycle, beautifully choreographed, and it consists of three phases.
Cell Danger Response 1, CDR1: Containment and removal
CDR1 is the ‘contain & remove’ stage, whereby the innate immune system is activated such as the white blood cells raising ‘inflammation’ thereby destroying the threat and the cycle moves on to CDR2.
It is important that this inflammation is controlled, that the ‘threat’ is eradicated and the inflammation is no longer required. In this phase the mitochondria also reduce the production of ATP, think about how you feel when you have the flu…lethargic, pain (inflammation). This is CDR1. This is your body ‘doing the job’ as it should. As mitochondria slow ATP production, oxygen builds up (oxygen is required by mitochondria for ATP production), resulting in oxidative stress, which is part of the body’s innate immune system. But we only want enough to remove the ‘threat’ (aka bacteria or virus etc). If oxidation persists, causing this phase of the cycle to get stuck, the ongoing oxidation will create inflammation, which can go on to damage the cells.
A healthy CDR1 response contains and destroys the invader/threat and moves on to CDR2.
If the healing gets stuck in the CDR1 phase, it can result in too much inflammation and this can result in chronic inflammatory conditions.
Cell Danger Response 2, CDR2: Growth and repair
This stage is about healing any damage caused in CDR1. This is much like a wound on the surface of your skin growing a scab. New cells are being made and damaged cells are either repaired or cleared out by autophagy.
If this stage gets ‘stuck’, the cells can continuously proliferate, which can lead to pathologies such as cancer. Dr Naviaux calls this ‘stuck’ stage the ‘Proliferative disorders’.
Cell Danger Response 3, CDR3: Repair and restore
This is the final stage of the cycle. The new and healed cells stop dividing; as they connect with one another, they know their ‘place’ and their healthy boundaries. The mitochondria go ‘back online ’, whereby ATP begins to rise again. This is akin to the end of the flu, when your energy is back, no more lethargy or pain. CDR3 also involves maturation of the immune system, as in the case of the threat being an infection, in this stage there would be the production of antibodies. So next time this threat comes along, the immune cells have already encountered it before and therefore raise a rapid response, preventing any damage being done by the threat.
If the healing gets stuck in the CDR3 phase, then this can result in ongoing inflammation and pain. When the cycle has gone through all three stages the body returns back to health, back to homeostasis, back to balance.
In order to achieve health, the healing cycle must be completed.
In essence when the cell feels threatened it shuts itself down in order to limit the damage. It then goes through the cycle of healing, from CDR1 through to CDR3.
The cell has to ‘feel’ safe to complete the whole cycle
We cannot just trick the cell it by giving it vitamins or herbs, or a protocol of sorts (such as a parasite protocol), the cell has to feel safe. The cell needs to know it is biochemically safe. We cannot just throw nutrients at the mitochondria such as L-carnitine, CoQ10, d-ribose, etc.
When a cell is threatened by a virus, the body will shut down/slow down methylationMethylation is one of the body's most important ‘behind-the-scenes’ processes. Happening millions of times every second, it helps regulate everything from energy production and hormone balance to detoxification, neurotransmitters, DNA repair, and how we respond to stress. Yes, it is literally involves in every reaction in your body. At its heart, methylation is the process of transferring tiny chemical tags, called methyl groups (one carbon with 3 hydrogens if you like a bit of chemistry), from one molecule to another. To do this efficiently, the body relies on nutrients such as folate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, zinc, choline, methionine and more. Together, these nutrients help produce a molecule called SAMe, which acts as one of the body's main methyl donors.. Why? Because the virus cannot spread itself in a body if it cannot take over the host’s methylation. Viruses cannot replicate without hijacking their host. So the body, in its wisdom, decides to ‘slow things down’.
Are supplements helping or hindering?
Dr Naviaux also mentions that Vitamin D metabolism (article HERE) is also dramatically altered in the CDR, whereby an enzyme (details in this article HERE ) called 24α-hydroxylase, is increased by cell danger and this increase, reduces the concentration of active vitamin D and contributes to the CDR by increasing inflammation. So should we be supplementing with Vitamin D?
How would it serve the body if antioxidants are being prescribed and the individual actually is stuck in CDR1? Surely, if CDR1 is about raising oxidation in this phase, then why take antioxidants
Nutritional Medicine integrated with coaching, in which we address the Cell Danger Response through a neurobiological lens, is not only fascinating but also rewarding as we see people heal.
We believe in training future practitioners who can help others complete the natural healing cycle by restoring WHOLE health, with a systems biology approach.
We encourage our students to cast a wider net, ask questions, look deeper, as to what has created that ‘unsafe’ feeling? What has arrested the Cell Danger Response? It is not just a matter of diets, cleanses, nutrients, a parasite etc.
New School of Nutritional Medicine’s approach to the Cell Danger Response
How do we guide a body out of the Cell Danger Response (CDR)? By integrating nutritional medicine, applied neuroscience, and psychological coaching. For a body to transition from cellular defense to cellular healing, we must address the nervous system first. In many cases, creating safety and shifting the CDR comes before prescribing supplements or dietary plans.
The future of nutritional medicine isn’t about one isolated modality, it is about the power of the whole.
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TO WHOLE-ness
The team at the New School Of Nutritional Medicine.
Learn about the Founder & Principal of the New School of Nutritional Medicine, Dr Khush Mark PhD HERE.
