dreinke

Stroke Survivor - male
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  1. dreinke

    Years pass

    By dreinke,

    It has been years since posting here or replying to content. Too busy living life. Just got back from a two week trip to Spain. I keep busy updating my personal blog and writing chapters in a collaborative stroke book.  I barely have enough time writing 5-25 posts a day to visit stroke forums along with a full time job.  Deans' Stroke Musings for those who aren't offended by swearing. 11 years and having the time of my life.  My 10,000 step a day goal has been going strong for 13 weeks.
  2. dreinke
    And it only took 4 years 1 month. www.oc1dean.blogspot.com
    I like having my own blog where I can say completely outrageous things like the entire stroke medical world is f-bombed up, and then prove it by pointing to research they should be following. This does not meet Dale Carnegies book, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'. I will need someone else to play the good cop.
    http://www.oc1dean.blogspot.com/2014/09/1-million-views-of-this-blog.html
  3. dreinke
    I have visions and I'm soft in the head, I've actually become smarter and more focused post-stroke.
     
    All strokes are immediately diagnosed via the tri-corder into ischemic vs. haemorrhagic. In the ambulance.
    Then those suitable for tPA are serviced with magnetic nanoparticle tPA that is directed to the exact spot of the blockage via magnets. And since tPA has an appalling 12% efficacy rate we go directly to the stopping of the neuronal cascade of death has been identified with some of these 31 things contributing to this.
    Specific dead and damaged neurons are helped via angiogenesis, neurogenesis, arteriogenesis, stem cells and scaffolding.
    The leftover disabilities are helped by the protocols that address exactly how neuroplasticity causes neighboring neurons to help those in need.
     
    The complete vision includes almost 100% recovery for every survivor.
    I see no reason this can't be accomplished. There is enough research out there for most of this already.
    My 4600 posts can be used as a template for what needs to be done and researched to meet this goal. I challenge the WSO to do better, they have plenty of PhD.s that should know more than me.
    All stroke survivors questions will be answered via personalized responses to the stroke knowledge database. This will be completely different than the crap answer the National Stroke Association provided to this question.
    ' What therapies are available for spasticity?' 'This question falls under our organizational guidelines as a medical inquiry and we defer to the medical community to respond. '
  4. dreinke
    I'll be provocative here. :Rant-On:
    ARE we having more strokes? WILL they have devastating consequences? These do not overly worry the placidly ensconced. The solution is the responsibility of medical world. YOU do more work. YOU cater to my indifference and confusion. YOU make it easy for me. It's YOUR problem, not mine.
    This was paraphrased from Tom Toles' comment on saving the environment copied below:
    ARE we changing the climate? WILL it have devastating consequences? These do not overly worry the placidly ensconced. The environment is the responsibility of "environmentalists". YOU do more work. YOU cater to my indifference and confusion. YOU make it easy for me. It's YOUR planet, not mine. --Tom Toles\
     
    To bluntly paraphrase: Get off your butts and take some responsibility for the stroke solution.
    No one is doing anything, especially our stroke associations. :growl: :crazysmile: :Rant-Off:
  5. dreinke
    I brewed some Irish Draught Ale a couple of months ago and today decided to bottle it by myself(48 bottles). This was quite the challenge since I usually invite a friend over to cap the bottles in return for some of the beer. I have a two-handed capper. Keeping the cap in place while I pry my hand onto one of the levers involves picking the cap up several times. I can't get my wrist to unlock from spasticity so I could never get my upper body weight over the levers to properly crimp the cap. Luckily I only knocked over one bottle. I ended up putting the bottle in one of the slots in a wooden soda case and used my teeth/mouth on one of the levers to get about 15 bottles capped. Then my wife and daughter came home and I got them to finish the capping for me. I try to do this when they are out because both of them dislike the smell or taste of beer. If I continue this I'll have to get a single arm capper . I had a homebrewed coffee stout to celebrate this evening. Sorry about no pictures but that made it too long.
    Pictures available here: http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2012/03/beer-bottling-stroke-rehab.html
  6. dreinke

    Billiards stroke rehab

    By dreinke,

    I was in northern Minnesota this weekend visiting a friend who owns a bowling alley. My bowling was not good the balls that fit my fingers were 14-16 lbs and at that weight I can't really control the swing very well, my regular bowling is with a 10 lb. ball. But the really fun part was playing bottle billiards. The official rules are listed here. Our rules are slightly different, you can't start scoring until you Carom the cue ball off both object balls, either object ball sank in a pocket is 1 point, a carom during a game is 2 points. We use an empty plastic soda bottle. This requires you to really stretch your arm out straight, loosen your fingers or thumb to guide the cue stick. My modification is to place the cue in crook of my wrist or sometimes underneath my wrist. I tried once to put the cue between my fingers but that only resulted in not being able to move the cue at all due to finger spasticity. We played 4 games and a lot of fun was had by all, especially the last game where my team won 31-0. The bars up there had dart games also so that would probably be another therapeutic possibility. So join your friends at the bars and play pool or darts with them. Ordering a diet Coke is acceptable. :beer: :cocktail: :Beer-Chug:
  7. dreinke

    Nude stroke rehab part1

    By dreinke,

    Got your attention didn't I.Last weekend I was in northern Minnesota at the Maplelag resort. XC skiing went ok, about 4k Sat., only fell once going down a slight hill when the groomed tracks disappeared and I no longer can jump around on my skiis to catch myself before falling. The owner collects signs and look at part 2 for the picture. On Sunday I skied 8k, fell three times, twice because the temperature hit 43 softening the snow in the sun, going down hills switching from shade to sun caused me to lose control plowing face forward into the snow. The third time I was skiing on Luckys' Loype, a single track trail, you need to be able to do step turns on this one, the groomed tracks disappear quickly. I sat down and plowed into the woods. Still a lot of fun.
    try this link for the picture:
     
    http://www.oc1dean.blogspot.com/2012/02/nude-stroke-rehab.html
  8. dreinke

    Bowling

    By dreinke,

    A stroke group in Minneapolis has a weekly outing. We get 8-12 people there every Friday. A few of us can walk up to the line to bowl, some bowl from a standing position at the line. We even have a wheelchair user who rolls up to the line where he stands up and someone hands him his ball. No ramp use for any of us. Last week he got a little too vigorous on one of his releases and did a slow motion fall at the end. It only took about 6 survivors to get him back in his chair. The alley even lets us use our own tennis shoes to bowl so we don't have to practice tying the rental shoes. One other guy stepped onto the lane a few weeks ago and found out exactly how slippery they are, bruising his affected hand. I've been doing pretty good, 2 weeks ago a 180, last week a 190, this week I'm expected to hit 200 --- No Pressure, the organizer tells me thats the best ever bowled in this group. :roflmao:
    It took a couple of weeks but I hit 215 with 5 strikes in a row.
  9. dreinke
    I was at a bar(Shamrocks) on Sunday night listening to a college friend play in a band Rythym Pups. They have a wonderful mural in there with ghosts hovering over patrons eating at the tables. A good friend, Sue brings various musical instruments for the audience to play. I grab the hollow wooden percussion frog and a drumstick. I pry my fingers open enough to get the frog into my left hand. This provides hours of spasticity relaxing therapy. When I beat on the frog with the drumstick , this sends vibrations trying to find their way back to my sensory cortex. Trying to get growth cones and axonal sprouting going. This is just a continuation of my 24 hour a day therapy. There is no time to waste , every minute of the day can and needs to be used for therapy.
    :bouncing_off_wall:
  10. dreinke
    A couple of possibilities:
    1. Design a Brain Experiment Competition
    The Dana Foundation is holding a competition for high school students. Talk your teacher into this, they have to submit it. So if you have one or a grandchild of that age have them put together a proposal. You should be able to come up with ideas, if you can't email me and I'll propose one of the dozens percolating. By Jan. 19 so start your brains. Lets flood them with stroke research ideas.
    http://www.dana.org/uploadedFiles/brainexperimentcompetition.pdf
    2. What’s Your Health Story?
    Found from the 33charts blogger, lets video our health story, add it to this site and see if we can't overwhelm it with stroke stories. Somehow we have to make stroke survivors visible if we ever expect to get the medical establishment to focus on stroke rehabilitation needs.
    Your health story here: http://myhealthstory.me/
    3. 2012 Neuro Film Festival
    http://patients.aan.com/go/about/neurofilmfestival
    The American Academy of Neurology Foundation is calling on all neurology patients, caregivers and others to submit a short video to its 2012 Neuro Film Festival, telling their story about why more research is needed into finding cures for brain disorders. Winners could win up to $1,000 and a trip to New Orleans. The deadline to enter is January 31, 2012.
     
    Now in its third year, the Neuro Film Festival aims to raise awareness about the need to donate money for research into the prevention, treatment and cure of the brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, autism, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. In 2011, more than 100 films were submitted and more than 100,000 votes cast.
    Come on: Do something for the greater stroke community
    Dean :oohlala: :2cents: :chat:
  11. dreinke
    When I came back from Winnipeg I stopped at a friends cabin. There was a bicycle leaning against a car in the paved parking lot. I stared at it and decided it was time to see if I could still ride. I pried my left hand onto the handlebar. I tried about 6 times standing on my left leg to swing my right leg over the seat. Finally just put my right hand against the car. Luckily the left pedal was at the bottom of the arc., so I didn't have to counteract the spasticity to get it situated. I successfully did three loops around the parking lot. So now I have to get my bike out of the basement, pump up the two flat tires, lower the bike seat and add toe clips. Maybe I can finally have a sport that I can have the wind blowing through my sparse hairs again. Don't worry I'll be wearing a helmet.
  12. dreinke
    I loved the title, and it does make some interesting points about how little brain you really need and still function quite well. Maybe single neuron power works just fine.
    http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/04/single-neuron-power.html
     
     
    http://www.sciencemag.org/content/210/4475/1232
    You'll have to look at it on the web since it's an image.
    This blogger does a good job describing it;
    http://blog.ketyov.com/2011/03/why-we-dont-need-brain.html
    And since my biking incident maybe I would be better off with less brain. :roflmao:
    :beer:
  13. dreinke

    Epic failure

    By dreinke,

    Well I tried the bike thing again, failed spectactularily. I didn't follow thru on my plans, which was to have a friend over to help me. I looked at my initial success and didn't analyze it enough to figure out why it worked. I wrapped my left hand on the handlebar, grabbed the arbor with my right hand to get my right leg over the seat. The left pedal was at the bottom of the arc so I could easily get my left foot on the pedal. I pushed off with my right foot and got the right foot on the right pedal, however since it was at the top of the arc I didn't have any leverage to start pedaling. So I fell directly to my left smashing directly on my left hip. On concrete no less, my upper body fell into the flower garden. A woman walking by asked very concerned if
    I was ok. I assured her I was, I pried my left hand off the handle bar, got up and hobbled my bike back into the garage. What the difference between the two tries was that the earlier one had a slight downward slant from where I started so I started rolling downhill immediately, if I had waited for my friend to be around he could have given me enough of a push to get rolling. I hobbled into the house and as I'm walking in the living room I realize my head is spinning and if I don't sit down immediately I'll fall, I fall onto the couch and roll onto the floor(on my good side at least). While down there our rabbit comes by and sniffs me. I spent the rest of that day crawling on my hands/elbows and knees to get around. The next day I can at least use my single point cane to move around the house. Day 2 I am reduced to using my 4-point cane and very heavily leaning on it. So much that my right hand goes numb from the pressure on the nerves. I manage to drive my car to pick up some groceries and library books. That night I go to X-Men: First Class, good movie but sitting still for two hours stiffens me up and hobbling out of the theater is pretty bad. I thought I was slow before but now I am glacial, half-step every minute. I will be going to a doctor soon to make sure I didn't break my hip, movement while non weight-bearing is ok. So I now have skinned knees and floor burns on my left toes. After three falls onto my left hip I wonder why none of them bruised and colored up. :sword:
     
    Conclusion: I didn't analyze why my first attempt worked and was too arrogant to think I needed help the second time if the first time worked. I was already imagining long bike rides on the converted rail lines near our house. Baby steps were needed and I went off into full speed running instead. I know there is a medical term for that inability to see our defects. I will have to remember that when I attempt to run.
    :oops: At least it happened immediately rather than a mile away.
    Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! :bop:
  14. dreinke
    This is one of those off the wall posts. :bouncing_off_wall: While resting between sessions of tree cutup work, I would dangle my left arm over the arm rest and rest it on the ground. My reason is to let my arm muscles know they can relax but opportunistic flies would come by and give me painful bites on the arm and hand or just go straight through the sock If I had a really poor case of sensation this could be a wonderful therapy for reconnecting the pain receptors in the brain. For a longer term one you could try the scratching produced by mosquito bites. When I would go camping I would have to wear a mitten on my left hand to protect it from mosquito bites.
    Then you can consider the movement therapy. Besides the fine motor skills needed to scatch a single bite there is also the fast slapping needed to kill them on the good side of your body. Ask your therapist to be put into a mosquito room for therapy purposes and see what the response is. :roflmao:
  15. dreinke
    STOP READING NOW. THIS IS A JOKE AND SARCASM. DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING LIKE THIS WITHOUT YOUR DOCTORS PERMISSION. My dad wanted a butternut tree cut down and I wanted to help since I wanted a lot of the wood for woodturning. Dad is 84 and shouldn't really be running a chainsaw all day long, thats what younger sons like me are for.
    My help was mostly piling branches and getting the foot-long pieces I wanted out of the way. Since I can't pick up any wood with two hands I would walk back and forth dozens of times with one piece of wood in my right hand. I have a cool looking iceblock grabber that I use to pick up the hefty chunks of wood(20-40 lbs.) My walking deteriorates with the weight pulling me on the right side but it definitely strengthens the left leg. Dad jokingly said that I should use the chainsaw as therapy, my right hand would be the trigger finger and the left hand on top basically getting lots of vibrations and either pushing down or pulling it up. I can just see the therapy disclaimer, we are not responsible if the chainsaw gets away from you and cuts off one of your limbs. Side effects: hearing loss, massive bleeding, loss of limbs, fingers, death. :roflmao: :dribble:
  16. dreinke
    I know this is outside the normal brain expectation but I rhetorically ask anyway. And this really does not help myself or anyone else, but someone has to ask the head-scratching questions if we want to understand how recovery works. Stump your neurologist with this question.
    Standard dogma in brain exercise is that the more you use an area more neurons are recruited from adjacent areas to strengthen your ability to do those tasks. Ie. braille readers increase the area of the sensory cortex mapped to finger tips. This brings up the conundrum in stroke rehabilitation, we have lost millions of neurons and have damaged millions more. If we make the assumption that neurogenesis and stem cells will not be able to help us we are led down three possible paths of complete recovery. I actually believe in neurogenesis. :bouncing_off_wall:
    1. Neurons can do double duty, control toe function and finger sensation.
    2. Single neurons are enough to control functions. This is described here;
    http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/04/single-neuron-power.html Meaning that we take an area that used to use 1000 neurons to control a function and reduce control to 1 neuron, thus freeing up 999 neurons for other uses. I'm sure it would take a lot of research to even prove if this is possible.
    3. An area of the brain is selected for takeover, cleaned of its old functions and replaced with more agressive needs. Ie. toe function is lost and replaced with finger function. In this case you hope your cognitive functions are strong enough to resist being taken over.
     
    Never mind me, my stroke-addled brain is trying too hard to figure out the brain. :roflmao:
  17. dreinke
    Practically every stroke forum I go to has persons commenting that stem cells are the only thing that will provide recovery for them. So far the only stem cell trials for the brain are in the safety stage, that is just to test that the stem cells do not cause problems. I see numerous problems that have to be considered and fixed before they can be considered successful.
     
    1. If the cells are injected into the dead area they would need a blood supply and the cerebral spinal fluid would have to be moved out/absorbed.(angiogenesis)
     
    2. Nothing would directly have the new cells take on the functions that used to exist in the dead area.
     
    3. Injections next to the infarct but within a still working area would probably take on the functions that surround them. Neuroplasticity at work.
     
    I believe that stem cells can generate enough cells to make up for the dead ones.
    I know magical stroke recovery is the holy grail of stroke recovery but I don't think this is the solution. It may be helpful especially for smaller infarcts.
     
    I won't make any comments on these except to say, read and ask your doctor.
     
    World's first stem cell trial for stroke patients
     
    Doctors have injected stem cells into the brain of a British stroke patient in the world's first trial of its kind.
     
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8137163/Worlds-first-stem-cell-trial-for-stroke-patients.html
     
    ReNeuron gives update on stroke clinical trial
     
    http://www.drugs.com/clinical_trials/reneuron-gives-update-stroke-clinical-trial-11261.html
     
    Information on Stem Cell Research from NINDS
     
    http://www.ninds.nih.gov/research/stem_cell/index.htm
     
    Can Stem Cells Block Stroke Damage? Yes, but in a Surprising Way
     
    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-stem-cells-block-stroke-damage
     
    Ischemic stroke treatment with stem cells
     
    Recruiting patients April 2011
     
    http://mynewtherapy.com/ischemic-stroke-treatment-with-stem-cells/
     
     
    But this does make a powerful placebo, probably the same reason these nostroms worked in the 1800s.
    http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/03/nostrums-for-apoplexy-rehab.html
  18. dreinke
    Within an hour of getting to the hospital I got tPA. It looks like I had 90 minutes from onset to tPA.
    <b>So lost neurons = 171 million
    lost synapses = 1260 billion
    lost mylinated fibers = 675 miles
    Lost 5.4 years in brain age.
    </b>
    In each minute, 1.9 million neurons, 14 billion synapses, and 12 km (7.5 miles) of myelinated fibers are destroyed. Compared with the normal rate of neuron loss in brain aging, the ischemic brain ages 3.6 years each hour without treatment.
    It has been estimated that the adult brain has around one hundred billion neurons and an even larger number of glial cells.
    And with the one neuron handling functions I should be able to handle that minute loss: href="http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/04/single-neuron-power.html
     
    This is something our doctors should be keeping track of, it would be a much better way of describing damage rather than mild, severe, catastrophic.
    Someday this will be correlated with a 3d MRI and cubic volume of the stroke.
    Considering my damage, my penumbra(partially damaged area) was also 171 million neurons. With that small a percentage dead and damaged I wonder why I was so close to dying.
  19. dreinke
    Billk from strokenet referred to it as 'one big biology experiment, with me in the bottom of the Petri dish'
    A friend from Australia put in a presentation to a stroke conference. 'It seemed like I was the first person on this journey.'
    My take is something my dad sometimes used to say 'Up sh*t creek without a paddle'. I finally did manage to buy a t-shirt from the Sh*t Creek Paddle Company. This is kind of what I as a stroke survivor feel like. No directions and no propulsion aids. And no towing service available. :roflmao:
    Whats your take? I'm sure there are other equally subversive and pungent ones. Please add some more, I'm collecting them for letters I want to write. :ranting:
    Dean
  20. dreinke
    It started quite slowly, I was waiting for my medical staff to give me some concrete information on rehabilitation and then I could follow that and recover. That never occurred, I don't think my doctors in 30+ years of practice had ever figured out anything about stroke rehab. Since my cognitive abilities were spared, as soon as I got access to a computer I found a number of stroke forums and everyone on them was looking for information that no-one had gotten from their doctors. It became painfully obvious that all stroke survivors are on their own, they need to figure out their own therapy protocols. Of the 5 stages of grief:
     
    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance :thumbsd:
     
    I am still in denial that I won't recover, I refuse to accept that compensation is the best I can do. Anger still exists against the medical establishment that has not set forward a strategy for stroke rehabilitation for all survivors. Bargaining I never did. Depression was from the total lack of communication about what recovery looks like. My vision was that in 6 months I would be canoeing again. With no discussion from any medical staff that this was impossible, depression was inevitable. I haven't accepted my physical limitations because I know I will eventually get them back. I have enough drive ,persistence, pugnacity and smarts to move my brain functions around. In any event I set myself a goal to change stroke rehab worldwide, this is probably an insane belief. And the way to do that is to research and plan what needs to be done. Blogging is my starting point and from some of the responses it's doing a good job. :Tantrum:
  21. dreinke
    I told you I can correlate anything to stroke rehab.
    This came from Maree of Australia and I had to share
    Two Frogs
    By: Author Unknown
    A number of frogs were traveling through the woods. Two of
    them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered
    around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they
    told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.
    The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out
    of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept
    telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.
    Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs
    were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.
    The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could.
    Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the
    pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made
    it out.
    When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear
    us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He
    thought they were encouraging him the entire time.
    This story teaches two lessons:
    1. There is the power of life and death in the tongue. An
    encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up
    and help them make it through the day.
    2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be the
    push over the edge. Be careful of what you say. Speak
    life to those who cross your path. Anyone can speak
    words that can rob another of the spirit to push forward
    in difficult times. "Acceptance" is a destructive word.
    This matches my blog on being a 'bad patient'.
    http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/10/you-should-be-bad-patient.html
    Now if we could get our therapists and doctors to help us out
    of the pit rather than standing on the sidelines yelling, 'You're in denial'.
     
    And another;
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.
    Mao Tse-Tung
     
    And another;
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The phrase itself is borrowed from two quotes from Mark Twain:
    - “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, the rest of your day will be wonderful.”
    - “If you have to eat a frog, don’t look at it for too long.”
    Not sure how to take these, but I think it is - tackle the large and distasteful things first.
     
    And another;
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    http://166.122.164.43/archive/2003/June/06-24-tara.htm
    TWO WAYS TO BOIL A FROG
    By Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka
    I think it was Mark Twain, author of the American classics, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, who said that there are two ways to boil a live frog. The first involves heating the water until it boils and then throwing in the frog. It is likely the frog will feel the heat and jump out. The second involves putting the frog in a pot of cold water and then slowly heating up the water until it boils. He asserts that the frog will not realize the slow increase in temperature. It will change its body temperature to balance with the surrounding environment. By the time the frog realizes the water is too hot, it would have been boiled to death.
    :yadayada: :blah_blah:
    Now this is a metaphor, I take it to mean - Ask for your worst diagnosis all at once so you can rail against it and jump into action, rather than just meekly listening to your doctor describe the therapies you will need to go thru and not understanding the effort involved.
  22. dreinke
    This kind of gets into whether you want to be able to compensate for aphasia or recover. With this I talk about that here: http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2010/10/compensation-vs-recovery.html
     
    http://ca.news.yahoo.com/myvoice-helps-autism-stroke-20110406-092443-911.html
    A new iPhone app that will help people with autism or who are recovering from strokes has been developed in Canada.
    The creator and lead researcher at the University of Toronto, Alexander Levy, says MyVoice, which says words when the iPhone screen is tapped, is advanced for a couple of reasons.
    First of all, it is location aware. This means, explains Levy, that the phone knows where you are. Words and phases that are put in ahead of time, will automatically pop up.
    "So to give you a very Canadian example. The concept is that if you were to walk into a Tim Hortons, you automatically get words like Timbits and double-double so you can communicate quickly and easily."
    Secondly, as Levy told CBC's Matt Galloway, the software is supported by a website where caregivers or the user can log on and add words.
    The response has been overwhelming. Levy says he never thought it would be a product but was often asked when it would be available when he took the prototype to conferences to demonstrate.
    People like it, he says, because it is small, easy to use and allows them to communicate more fluidly and to fit in socially.
    It is available for free from the iPhone AppStore or by going to the website myvoiceaac.com. The company is developing an app for the Android market.
    In four to six months more features will be available through a monthly subscription fee. Proceeds from these sales, says Levy, will go toward making better speech aids.
  23. dreinke
    A little bit more of news on the spasticity front. Ask your therapist if this might help you. This is only 10 years old so if your therapist doesn't know this ask them why.
     
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11370763
     
    Tsai KH, Yeh CY, Chang HY, Chen JJ.
     
    Department of Industrial Management, Southern Taiwan University of Technology, Tainan, ROC.
     
    by KH Tsai - 2001
     
    Abstract
    The control of spasticity is often a significant problem in the management of patients with spasticity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single session of prolonged muscle stretch (PMS) on the spastic muscle. Seventeen patients with spastic hemiplegia were selected to receive treatment. Subjects underwent PMS of the triceps surae (TS) by standing with the feet dorsiflexed on a tilt-table for 30 minutes. Our test battery consisted of four measurements including the modified Ashworth scale of the TS, the passive range of motion (ROM) of ankle dorsiflexion, the H/M ratio of the TS, and the F/M ratio of the tibialis anterior (TA). The results indicated that the passive ROM of ankle dorsiflexion increased significantly (p < 0.05) compared to that before PMS treatment. Additionally, PMS reduced motor neuron excitability of the TS and significantly increased that of the TA (p < 0.05). These results suggest that 30 minutes of PMS is effective in reducing motor neuron excitability of the TS in spastic hemiplegia, thus providing a safe and economical method for treating stroke patients.
    :happydance:
    I do wish they had come up with another acronym, I really don't want to say I worked on PMS with my therapist today.
  24. dreinke
    This was so fascinating I had to research some more. And all these 9 wonderful cures for apoplexy from the late 1800's to early 1900's. I wonder what happened to them all. And if you die from apoplexy just take, Dr. Sibly's Re-Animating Solar Tincture.
     
    The word derives from the Greek word apoplēxia (ἀποπληξία). Hippocrates used the word in his day to describe stroke.
    Dr.Greene's Nervura sold for apoplexy along with 29 other afflictions
    Geenes Nervura This was so fascinating I had to research some more. And all these 9 wonderful cures for apoplexy from the late 1800's to early 1900's. I wonder what happened to them all. And if you die from apoplexy just take, Dr. Sibly's Re-Animating Solar Tincture.
     
    The word derives from the Greek word apoplēxia (ἀποπληξία). Hippocrates used the word in his day to describe stroke.
     
    Dr.Greene's Nervura sold for apoplexy along with 29 other afflictions
     
    R7GzIPnj5w&sig=0SVhlL-OS_5CYelm6nXiZUZLNTU&hl=en&ei=JZWHTd3gDoeKrQGwqOSzBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=apoplexy&f=false
    Dr. A. Upham's Valuable Electuary - remedy for paralysis, apoplexy and measles
     
    http://books.google.com/books?id=8AVEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA627&lpg=PA627&dq=nostrums+apoplexy&source=bl&ots=Uh1r9dPxGe&sig=HomJoen82mRTUvQW6EnyYvEv3QA&hl=en&ei=JZWHTd3gDoeKrQGwqOSzBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nostrums%20apoplexy&f=false
     
    Paul Gage’s Tonic Antiphlegmatic Elixir
    As well as worms and the more likely coughs, colds and asthma, the Elixir would cure apoplexy, scrofula, gout, dropsy, palpitations, skin conditions and ‘diseases of women.’
     
    http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/paul-gages-tonic-antiphlegmatic-elixir/
     
    Dr. Munyon’s Homoeopathic Home Remedy Company The Wonderful X-Ray machine---It is medical electricity. Cures nervous prostration,overworked brains and broken-down systems, stiff joints, paralysis, pains in any part of the body.
     
    Sounds like it could help my apoplexy
     
    http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/munyon-is-ready/
     
    Dr Junod's Exhausting Apparatus http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/dr-junods-exhausting-apparatus/
    Important Notice to the Afflicted
    ALL Persons suffering from PARALYSIS, SPINAL
    AFFECTIONS, RHEUMATISM, NEURAL-
    GIA, ASTHMA, Pain in the Head, or all cases of INFLAM-
    MATION or CONGESTION, should at once try Mr G. W.
    Gedney’s VACUUM APPARATUS, by Dr. Junod, which has
    been practised with great success for upwards of 40 years.
    Testimonials of the highest character on application to
    Mr. G. W. GEDNEY,
    64, Victoria Street, London Road, Ipswich.
     
    Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/dr-williams-pink-pills-for-pale-people/
    The same medicine cures
    rheumatism, sciatica, neuralgia, paralysis, locomotor
    ataxy, nervous headache, scrofula, chronic erysipelas,
    and influenza
     
    Allcock's Porous Plasters http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/allcocks-porous-plasters/
     
    The plasters were not only supposed to to help lumbago – other adverts suggested using them for such varied disorders as quinsy (you had to put a strip of plaster under your chin, stretching from ear to ear), diabetes, St Vitus’s Dance, epilepsy, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, coughs and colds, asthma, pleurisy, whooping cough, consumption, ruptures, sciatica, paralysis, rheumatism, tic douloureux and kidney problems.
     
    GAMJEE’s ORIENTAL SALVE http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/gamjees-oriental-salve/
     
    CURES Burns, Sores, Piles, Rheumatism, Paralysis, Lumbago, Stiff Joints, White Swellings, Wens, Hip Disease, Chest and Lung Complaints, &c., &c.
     
    Allan's Anti-Fat http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/allans-anti-fat/
     
    Some adverts claimed it also cured dyspepsia, palpitations, rheumatism and gout, and prevented heart disease, apoplexy and paralysis.
     
    And something for my baldness:
     
    http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/you-neednt-be-bald/
     
    Dr. Sibly's Re-Animating Solar Tincture - So use this to prevent death from 1793
    In all circumstances of suicide, or sudden death, whether by blows, fits, falls, suffocation, strangulation, drowning, apoplexy, thunder and lightning, assassination, duelling, &c., immediate recourse should be had to this medicine, which will not fail to restore life, provided the organs and juices are in a fit disposition for it, which they undoubtedly are much oftener than is imagined.
     
    I do wonder how you successfully get the medicine down the throat of a 'perishing' person.
     
    http://thequackdoctor.com/index.php/dr-siblys-re-animating-solar-tincture/
     
    Just think, these nostrums may come back as the height of medical intervention if our medical insurance/HMOs price everyone out. Remember to ask your doctor about the validity/efficacy of these, you are not to self-medicate.
     
    In 100 years we have gone backwards, today there are no cures available for stroke when 100 years ago there were 9 of them. :roflmao: :dribble:
  25. dreinke
    This might make it easier to deliver a lot of the drugs I mentioned in my main blog.
     
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12776222
     
    A new way of delivering drugs to the brain has been developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.
     
    They used the body's own transporters - exosomes - to deliver drugs in an experiment on mice.
     
    The authors say the study, in Nature Biotechnology, could be vital for treating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Muscular Dystrophy.
     
    The Alzheimer's Society said the study was "exciting" and could lead to more effective treatments.
     
    Research barrier
     
    One of the medical challenges with diseases of the brain is getting any treatment to cross the blood-brain barrier.
     
    The barrier exists to protect the brain, preventing bacteria from crossing over from the blood, while letting oxygen through.
     
    However, this has also produced problems for medicine, as drugs can also be blocked.
     
    So would this help get
    tPA in;
    nicotine;
    marijuana;
    magnesium;
    viagara;
    nitric oxide;
    anti-depressants
    tgf alpha;
    lobster shells;
    tumeric;
    niacin;
    caffeinol;
    drug that activated the sigma-1 receptor;
    Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a component of fish oil?
     
    All these possibilities just waiting to be further tested. Ask your doctor which ones s/he believes has the most promise and when they are going to start a clinical trial. Come on lets start the guilt trips on our medical staff.
    I know this is presuming a lot in suggesting survivors might actually have ideas for researchers. I am planning on putting this in a letter to the director of NINDS, Ms. Brown
    Dean