I had it done to me in 1978; it worked for me, but only a little. I decided to let the battery die and not get a new battery, becausae the benefits didn't compare favorably with the expence. I was letting society dictate to me what they wanted of me (less jerkiness, more co-ordination, more clear speech), instead of understanding that society is the one that disables. Once I understood that, I said no more expence.
---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 11:44:48 -0600
>From: "Kendall D. Corbett" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: NEURO 'PACEMAKER' [man] Emerges from 6 yea rs in coma- like state after new treatment
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Meir,
>
>I heard this, and heard the same thing had been tried with Terri
>Schiavo, and it didn't work. Have heard of deep brain stim being used
>in people with brain injuries and CP for spasticity and dystonia.
>
>http://jnnp.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/72/2/249
>
>http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ProduktNr=224132&Ausgabe=228997&ArtikelNr=68963&filename=68963.pdf
>
>http://tinyurl.com/2xmes4
>
>
>
>
>
>On 8/2/07, Meir Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Article rank CLEVELAND CLINIC
>>
>> Three-dimensional computer rendering depicts deep-brain stimulation electrodes
>> that U.S. researchers say helped a 38-year-old man, who had been unable to
>> communicate or feed himself for six years, emerge from a coma-like state.
>>
>> Implants awaken brain-injured man
>>
>> NEURO 'PACEMAKER' Emerges from 6 years in coma- like state after new treatment
>>
>> MARGARET MUNRO CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
>> A 38-year-old U.S. man unable to communicate or feed himself for six years has
>> been reawakened from a coma-like state by tiny electrodes implanted deep in his
>> brain.
>>
>>
>> The man, incapacitated after an assault left him in a "minimally conscious
>> state," is interacting with family and friends, and gradually regaining more
>> control of his mind and body.
>>
>>
>> The family has requested anonymity, but the man's mother gave a tearful account
>> in a teleconference yesterday of how her son was declared a "vegetable" and
>> languished in a care facility after his skull was crushed and he was "left for
>> dead" following a robbery.
>>
>>
>> She thanked doctors for bringing back the eldest of her three sons, who had
>> loved music, drawing and comic books.
>>
>>
>> With the electrodes delivering weak electrical pulses to his brain for 12 hours
>> a day, she said he is once again connecting with the world. He can watch movies,
>> drink from a cup, cry, laugh, express pain and say: "I love you, mommy."
>>
>>
>> "I still cry every time I see him, but now it's tears of joy," she said.
>>
>>
>> The researchers, who describe the case in the journal Nature, say deep-brain
>> stimulation is opening the door to treatment of severe brain damage and might
>> eventually help thousands of families.
>>
>>
>> Dr. Ali Rezai, director of the Centre for Neurological Restoration at the
>> Cleveland Clinic, led the surgical team that implanted two electrodes in the
>> man's brain in 2005, wiring them to pacemaker batteries in his chest in a bid to
>> switch on undamaged regions of his brain. Rezai likens the result to a pacemaker
>> for the brain. The doctors charting the man's progress say the changes have been
>> "remarkable and sustained."
>>
>>
>> "He regularly uses words and gestures and responds to questions quickly," said
>> Dr. Joseph Giacino, co-leader of the study and associate director of the
>>
>>
>> Wired wonder: New Jersey Neuroscience Institute. The man, who lives in an East
>> Coast rehabilitation centre, no longer requires a feeding tube and can drink
>> from a cup and brush his hair. He routinely speaks in snatches of two and three
>> words and has been able to recite the first 16 words of the U.S. Pledge of
>> Allegiance.
>>
>>
>> While the man is good at engaging in the moment, the doctors say he has trouble
>> retaining new information and remembering what has happened from day to day.
>> Years of severe immobility also greatly limit his movements, and he is unable to
>> stand or walk, although the researchers are not ruling out the possibility that
>> he will be able to do so.
>>
>>
>> "His body now has to catch up with his brain," said Dr. Joseph Fins, chief of
>> medical ethics at New York's Weill Cornell Medical College, who is helping guide
>> the project.
>>
>>
>> The U.S. team plans to try the procedure on 11 more patients as part of a
>> government-approved trial. If successful, it could lead to re-evaluation of
>> countless people in the minimally conscious state. There is little reliable data
>> on how many people are in such a state, but the researchers said one study has
>> estimated there could be as many as 280,000 North Americans.
>>
>>
>> "It will force us to take a second look at each case and - for appropriate
>> patients - move away from the therapeutic nihilism that has so plagued this
>> population, most of whom are ignored, receiving what is euphemistically
>> described as 'custodial care,' " Fins said.
>>
>>
>> Observers caution that the procedure has so far only been shown to work in one
>> carefully selected patient and much more research is needed.
>>
>>
>> "It is impressive, but it is just the first step," said Dr. Elena Moro, the
>> neurologist in charge of deep-brain stimulation at Toronto Western Hospital.
>>
>>
>> The Toronto team, the largest group of its kind in Canada, implants deep-brain
>> stimulation electrodes in about 60 patients a year to treat movement disorders,
>> pain, epilepsy and, as part of a clinical trial, severe depression.
>>
>>
>> The probes target different regions of the brain depending on the disorder. Moro
>> said it is not clear how the electrical impulses work to reduce pain, restore
>> the ability to walk or, as appears to be the case with the U.S. man, to
>> reconnect individuals with the conscious world.
>>
>>
>> The U.S. researchers speculate that the electrical impulses are amplifying their
>> MCS patient's brain activity and are "bumping up" its efficiency.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>--
>
>
>Kendall
>
>An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
>
>The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
>persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
>progress depends on the unreasonable man.
>
>-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>
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>
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