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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
P A T I E N T E X P E R I E N C E - P A R K I N S O N ’ S
NAME: Steve Woodward
SEX: Male
COUNTRY: USA
AGE: 56
DIAGNOSIS: Parkinson's Disease Stage III
REASON FOR COMING FOR TREATMENT:
Steve was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1999. Although his symptoms were mostly controlled by the standard medications for PD, his "off-times" (period between two doses when medication is ineffective) were becoming longer. Feeling that his life quality is beginning to deteriorate Steve turn to stem cell therapy.
TREATMENT: 4 injections of neural precursor stem cells delivered via lumbar puncture (spinal injection) + a daily cocktail of neurotrophic factors (proteins responsible for cell proliferation) administered via IV.
BEGINNING OF TREATMENT: October 15th, 2007
CONDITION BEFORE THE TREATMENT:
See Video: before1 , before2
Steve's main symptom, during his 'off-times', were rigidity and stiffness of muscles in his legs, arms and torso. These symptoms were felt on both sides of his body, mainly affecting his right side where he had also developed slight tremors. Additionally, he experienced random "freeze-ups", when his body would freeze when he tried to initiate a movement.
Steve's symptoms caused him great difficulty in his mobility. When attempting to turn his body, he would strain and struggle to move his legs. When attempting to walk in the mornings, his feet could only take mini-steps and he had to shuffle his feet making his movement slow and unstable. At times, Steve would resort to crawling rather than walking as he found it less difficult.
In the few months before coming for treatment Steve had to start taking his medications every 3.5 hours during the daytime - instead of the 5 hours the medications used to hold in previous years.
When the medications wore off, Steve's hands would start shaking whenever attempting movements that required heightened dexterity or fine, concise movements. He had trouble opening bottles, unpeeling things, and writing had become increasingly difficult.
Steve also suffered from a weakened voice, muscle cramps and diminishing bladder control.
AFTER THE TREATMENT:
See Video: After1
Once Steve began receiving a daily IV for cell proliferation treatment, even before his first stem cell injection, he reported an obvious improvement in his mobility.
Few weeks after the beginning of the treatment Steve had his first full night's sleep in years. Turning over in bed has now become much easier than before, and in the morning he could now get out of bed with no more trembling in his legs, no more shuffling or crawling and walk smoothly to the bathroom. "When I go to bed, I am finally able to relax and get good sleep!" Steve says.
Steve saw a significant improvement in his gait and balance. He now no longer experiences cramping in his feet and his general movement has become more fluid. Steve also showed more facial expression than before the treatment.
He reports that daily activities such as dressing up, has become easier for him also during what was previously his 'off times', which meant that his 'off times' were getting shorter and the medications effect is now lasting longer.
Since his symptoms are now better controlled, Steve’s medications have been adjusted to one dose every 4 - 4.5 hours instead of 3.5, which minimizes Steve’s dependency on medications and helps him keep a more ‘normal’ and independent daily routine.
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UPDATE:
2.5 months after returning home from Beijing. Steve reports in his blog:
February 28, 2008:
"…since returning from China, I am , Sleeping well (able to relax when lying down in bed - impossible before), I can walk to the early morning bathroom visit, instead of my previous procedure, which involved a controlled "fall" out of bed onto the floor followed by a crawl on all fours to the bathroom door, where I would grab the door handle and pull myself up onto my feet. My first steps in the morning, before having taken any PD medications are initially a bit slow, but after a few steps I am able to walk almost normally for anything up to 45 minutes before taking any medication - that's a HUGE step for me. I can turn over in bed fairly easily - again almost impossible to do before. All this improvement has occurred during a period when I have decreased the amount of medication by 25%... With care (listening to my body!); I am able to function the whole day with only a few minutes occasionally without descending into a prolonged "off" period like before. Sometimes these "Off" periods could be as long as two hours."
Visit Steve's blog for continued updates on his progress at: www.stevewoodward.org
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 April 2008 )
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