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P A T I E N T E X P E R I E N C E – ALS (Motor Neuron Disease)
NAME: Karen Brooks
SEX: Female
COUNTRY: Australia
AGE: 43 years old
REASON FOR TREATMENT: Karen was diagnosed with ALS in May 2006. Her condition rapidly deteriorated ever since.
DIAGNOSIS: ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
ALS, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body.
BEGINNING OF TREATMENT: 4th June 2007
TREATMENT: 4 injections of neural stem cells through the spinal cord fluid + nutritious intravenous cocktail treatment (IV).
CONDITION BEFORE THE TREATMENT:
See Videos: before1 , before2
Karen was diagnosed with ALS only one year ago. Her condition since then has deteriorated to the point that she could no longer use her arms and legs, and had to use the help of caregivers for all her personal daily care, helping her in washing, dressing, getting in and out of bed. While being dressed up, or forced to do big movements, she suffered great pain in her muscles.
She needed someone to feed her as she did not have enough strength to bring her hands to her mouth, she could not hold a cup of water, or even turn the pages of a book.
Her voice was getting weaker, and her speech was slow and difficult to understand.
She did not have enough strength to hold herself sitting on the bed or lie down from sitting position without help.
Her neck muscles were very weak and her head was falling backwards while she could not bring it forward on her own.
Her legs were weak and stiff and she suffered frequent cramps and twitches. She could lift her legs only few inches high from a sitting position.
She could not walk anymore or stand without support, and used a wheelchair for transportation.
AFTER THE TREATMENT:
See Videos: after1 , OT , walking Karen started to slowly show improvements few days after starting to receive a daily nutritious cocktail through IV. She then continued to show improvements along the 6 weeks of her treatment.
Her hands and arms were the first to respond to the treatment; her fingers, that before were closed inside her palm, opened up and straightened. Before the treatment her arms lay in her lap and she could hardly lift them up. After the treatment Karen could lift her arms to chest high, and was able to resist to a light pressure with her arms.
Her legs got significantly stronger; she could now lift them from a sitting position almost to knees high, she could put more weight on her legs while trying to stand and eventually – walk. The cramps in her legs were almost gone.
Since her muscles got stronger, and were now more open and flexible, she could hold herself in a sitting position on the bed without support, she could participate more in the process of dressing up, washing up and transportation from one place to another; and the muscle pain that she suffered during these activities was greatly reduced.
Her neck muscles got stronger and she could now control her neck movement, bringing her head backward and forward by herself.
Karen’s voice had little improvement of getting louder and stronger, and her speech, though still slow, could be better understood.
Karen’s condition will be monitored carefully in the coming months. She was recommended by the doctors to come back for another treatment.
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