From today's paper:
<http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/How-etanercept-is-aiding-stroke-victim
s-4128887.php#ixzz2FXtvSkPk>
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/How-etanercept-is-aiding-stroke-victims
-4128887.php#ixzz2FXtvSkPk

A single injection, then a five-minute wait.
That's all it took for hundreds of stroke and traumatic brain injury
patients nationwide to reverse years of debilitation. Now they're walking
more steadily, reading more easily, concentrating better, speaking more
clearly and regaining use of once-rigid limbs - long after giving up hope
that their bodies would ever respond.
The 25-milligram shot at renewed independence is the brainchild of Boca
Raton, Fla., physician Dr. Edward Tobinick
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Edward+Tobinick%22> . His patented method for
delivering the anti-inflammatory medicine etanercept to the brain is getting
notice around the world as a "radical breakthrough" in the treatment of
chronic neurological dysfunction.
"It's magic," said Dr. Rene Alfaro
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Rene+Alfaro%22> , an ophthalmologist from
Mexico, of the single-dose injection that almost instantly restored much of
his wife's movement and cognition more than a year after an aneurysm and
subsequent stroke incapacitated her left side. "It's like a click."
Within minutes of receiving the injection Monday, Anna Alfaro
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Anna+Alfaro%22>  walked without a cane, got up
from a chair more easily and regained sensation in her left arm. Hours
later, with some of her left eye vision returned, she could see the phone
clearly enough to dial a number for the first time since her illness.
Her response is not unique.
In a peer-reviewed study published Dec. 1 in the Adis medical journal, "CNS
Drugs," Tobinick's Institute of Neurological Recovery
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Institute+of+Neurological+Recovery%22>  gave
etanercept injections from November 2010 to July 2012 to 617 stroke patients
and 12 patients who had suffered a traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
Of the total studied, more than 80 percent saw improvements in their ability
to walk, more than 80 percent had less spasticity, and more than 85 percent
exhibited improved motor function. Improvements also were recorded in many
patients' range of motion, pain and cognition, as well as their ability to
speak, see, swallow, concentrate and maintain bowel control.
Hollywood, Fla., resident Jennifer Cody
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Jennifer+Cody%22>  said the treatment gave her
59-year-old father, a former outdoor maintenance man, renewed independence
18 years after his stroke.
"Within five minutes, he was saying how clear his head was," Cody said. "It
had always been so cloudy."
Though most people are satisfied after a single dose, Tobinick said he
recommends a second shot after one month if patients saw some improvement
but wanted more. About a quarter of his patients, including Cody's father,
choose the second shot.
The benefits reportedly are long-lasting. Tobinick said the first patients
treated in November 2010 continue to enjoy improved mobility and cognition.
"These results represent a sea change in the therapeutic possibilities for
stroke and TBI patients," Steven Ralph
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Steven+Ralph%22> , associate professor at
Griffith University <http://www.sfgate.com/education-guide/>  School of
Medical Science in Australia, said in an article produced by Adis' parent
company, Springer Science+Business Media. "Rarely do we see such a radical
breakthrough in medical treatment as this for stroke."
Tobinick's research - published in numerous scientific and medical journals
around the world - has found that this therapeutic technique is also
beneficial for treating sciatica and Alzheimer's disease.
Etanercept - better known by its brand name Enbrel - has proved effective in
neutralizing TNF, the chemical that causes inflammation in the body, and has
Food and Drug Administration
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Food+and+Drug+Administration%22>  approval for
treating rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
But because the therapy's "off-label" use of etanercept is not FDA-approved,
this treatment is not covered by Medicare
<http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=health&s
earch=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Medicare%22>  or most insurance plans.
Monday's visit cost the Alfaros $4,800, including the injection and
follow-up visits.
Tobinick thinks Enbrel's makers should use his research to seek expanded FDA
approval, so the treatment can be more affordable and accessible.
"This changes somebody's life. They can do things they couldn't do before,"
Tobinick said.

 

 


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