Get medical help yourself! By Walt Cheney According to a news article, Robert Lord, age 10, fell from a tree and fractured his spine. He underwent surgery at Children's Hospital and the fall threatened to paralyze Robert for life. His father, Stephen Lord, concerned for his stricken son, went for medical help on the World Wide Web. Using search engines Robert's dad discovered a study that used the experimental drug GM-1 gamglioside. The study results indicated that of the 34 patients with injuries similar to Robert's, those given ganglioside within 72 hours of the injury had significantly better improvement than patients given a placebo. His father was able to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant the boy a special "compassionate use" permission to take the drug and with the help of the manufacturer the drug arrived within hours of the deadline. Now, Robert is walking again with the help of a walker and may be on his way to full recovery. Limited Information If you have a serious medical condition, it is in your best interest to learn as much as you can about your specific problem. Doctors cannot provide other than limited information about your problem because of constraints on their time. And, although doctors and pharmacists advise you of conflicts in your medications, thousands of seniors die each year because of taking too many different drugs or as not recommended. So you need to learn of the interactions of the different medicines, including those you purchase over-the-counter and their side-effects. | |
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