Two therapies that have worked well for my Mother...

[Kevin Johnson]

Most recently is http://www.polfit.com/ which has been dramatically more successful in rebuilding her ability to walk than years of more conventional physical therapy. I add the caveat that because the therapy is considered unconventional in the USA you will likely have to pay out of pocket.

Going back a decade, she was diagnosed with Parkinsons and given six months to live. She chose to undergo stem cell therapy in Holland which not only cured the Parkinsons but fixed many other issues in her body at the same time. I spoke with my Father the other evening again about this and I was unaware that her life-long lactose intolerance was also somehow changed.

[In-Tech]

Kevin, I feel for you. I wish you and yours the best.

Salt water hydration and other appropriate minerals and vitamins have helped with my mom. We are mostly salt/water.

The physical therapy helps in some instances where we can push the adrenalin crystalin from our muscles and reintroduce it with enough water/salt so our bodies can take what we need. Not the same but similar to how "cancer" is our protector in that it is an over production of white cells and oxygenates its counter.

Sorry to bludgeon.

[paulzig]

Resistance training with those bands is great remedial therapy for injury,so I cant see it doing anything but good . I believe one must keep increasing the resistance as strength is regained though..

So sad to hear that this sort of resistance training is classed as unconventional ...

[Kevin Johnson]

She has had some small strokes that affected both her ability to walk and speak. I have come to appreciate the sound fidelity of landlines. Always better to have at least one landline if possible -- two cell phones are horrible.

[Kevin Johnson]

My Father wrote this to give to people that asked about my Mother's treatment. I hope it can help someone else as well or better.

Geron's stem cell program is of deep personal significance to me since it has given my wife, a Parkinson's patient, at least twelve extra years of life (and counting).

On April 10th1996, she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. In June, 2000 her psychiatrist noted behavioral symptoms not necessarily associated with Bipolar Disorder and recommended she be evaluated neurologically. The examination revealed she was additionally suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Over the next four years the Parkinson’s symptoms developed rapidly. By August, 2004 it had reached Stage 4 with symptoms including facial paralysis, asymmetric tremor, mental confusion, deteriorating eyesight, limited short and long term memory and others.

During the two years following her diagnosis, we explored various treatment options through contact with research institutions, studying medical publications and browsing the internet. Nothing emerged as obvious until I attended the March Meeting of the Santa Clara Section of the American Chemical Society featuring a presentation by the Geron Corporation's then President, Dr. Thomas Okarma, entitled “Human Embryonic Stem Cells – Progress and Promise”. Following the formal presentation I joined a number of other scientists, in a lively discussion with Tom. As the conversation progressed, I became convinced that pluripotent human embryonic stem cell therapy could be a basis for treating Parkinson’s.

No reputable clinics willing or able to provide this type of therapy could be located in North America. As a result we worked with a clinic in Rotterdam. On September 8, 2004 she was infused with 1.5 MM pluripotent CD34+ cells derived from Cord Blood. Specialized subsets (CD133+/- and CD34-) were included in the infusion. We remained in our hotel for a week following the treatment to allow for adverse reaction. A transient 1°F increase in body temperature was the only symptom noted.

Positive changes were unexpectedly rapid with some occurring within a couple of weeks. These changes included regain of facial expression and improvement in cognitive ability. She described it as like a curtain being drawn back in her mind. In subsequent weeks vast improvement in long and short term memory became apparent. Asymmetric tremor stopped. We later discovered that she was no longer lactose intolerant. Lower back pain resulting from a prior lumbar disk problem was greatly reduced. Her tendency to develop psoriasis lesions stopped.

In September, 2006, we traveled to the Miami offices of renowned Parkinson’s specialist Dr. Abraham Lieberman. At the time he was Medical Director of the Miami based National Parkinson’s Foundation. He currently is the Director of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. Dr. Liebermann confirmed that Margaret’s Parkinson’s disease appeared to have been arrested. His observations were confirmed by whole body MRI imaging a month later. The MRI also documented repair of the spinal cord lesion and of some Parkinson’s related brain damage. There had been hope, (basis studies at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and at the University of Copenhagen hypothesizing a common etiology between Parkinson’s and Bipolar Disorder) that the therapy could have had a positive effect on her bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, this has not been the case.

The research of Geron and others centered on differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into populations targeted to address specific injury or disease. This would result in high value therapies. Since there were no Parkinson’s targeted differentiated cells available to us, we had to rely on the natural ability of pluripotent cells to identify and target conditions in her body – which they did. We had only to address the blood-brain barrier and other issues such as heavy metals and certain other materials with teratogenic tendencies.

I mention this because our experience infers a basic difficulty in isolating high value therapies that would be of profitable interest to Geron (or any other company looking for a reasonable return on R&D Investment). This could be another instance of new technology eventually capable of turning an existing business model on its ear. Anyone want to invest in a factory making buggy whips, 8 track audio tapes or slide rules?

Geron divested their stem cell program and it is now being run by the newly created Asterias Bioherapeutics Inc. Last year they captured a $900 million plus arrangement with a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary which is now funding phase 2 studies of regenerative repair of spinal cord trauma.

[Kevin Johnson]

Hi Kevin;

I'm so happy to hear your Mother is enjoying some quality of life successes!!

I would respectfully like to think prayer played some role.

Wishing Gods Blessings to you and your family.

Thanks
Randy

PS: Best regards to Samantha.

Hi Randy,

I agree and am positive she and my Father agree with you as well. She has been a lay minister in the Episcopal Church for many, many years. I follow the activities in the church that they were married in sixty years ago.

[n2xlr8n]

Kevin,

Reads like you have a family to be proud of- God bless you guys and Merry Christmas.


Kind Regards,

Steve

[pdq67]

Kevin, I feel for you. I wish you and yours the best.

Salt water hydration and other appropriate minerals and vitamins have helped with my mom. We are mostly salt/water.

The physical therapy helps in some instances where we can push the adrenalin crystalin from our muscles and reintroduce it with enough water/salt so our bodies can take what we need. Not the same but similar to how "cancer" is our protector in that it is an over production of white cells and oxygenates its counter.

Sorry to bludgeon.

Water..

My Buddy Doc takes, "Willard's Water", daily because of the trace minerals and such in it.

http://www.drwillard.com/

I think it is basically coal mine drainage type water with some surfactant in it to make it wetter??

Just trying to help.

pdq67