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Peg, I thought I had read Turner had his brain cells removed during DBS surgery and that could certainly account for his improvement. Some people turn their stimulators off and on. I have to have dental work done tomorrow and may get turned off - I will take my magnet that turns me on. thanks for this post. Turner has not responded to me. He seemed "down" when I talked to him on 4-24-06, claiming I wasn't bothering him, but I felt he wanted to be left alone. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peggy Willocks" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 8:11 AM Subject: Rayilyn's letter to Dennnis Turner PART I > Rayilyn > I read your letter to Dennis Turner posted on the listserv on 12/3/06. It > concerned the resurfacing of the story of Mr. Turner's experience with the > use of autologous cell implantation (i.e. using one's own cells to correct > Turner's PD). The example of Turner's experience is why we must be so > very > careful not to get too excited about research projects, especially those > not > properly designed. I would like to comment on Turner's story. IT IS SO > LONG THAT I PLAN TO GIVE IT IN TWO PARTS. > > In November, 2002 and December, 2003 ,Grassroots Connection editors (GRC - > an independent website on PD advocacy)and others interviewed Dr. Levesque > on two occasions concerning Turner's surgery. At that time Dr. Levesque > was > anxious to get the word out about Dennis Turner's "miraculous" recovery > from > advanced Parkinson's. Turner had shown an 80-90% improvement in his > symptoms holding its own 3 years post-op. That, my friends, even if for > but > 1 year is something to write home about! (To read the interviews, go to > www.grassrootsconnection.com then click on Dr. Michel Levesque under > "Voices > to Inspire." > > At the time of the interview there were several red flags that went up. > First of all, this was a study of one person only. It doesn't take a > rocket > scientist to know that the effects of a procedure for one only person is > not > a reliable way to measure the success of a treatment. Those who > interviewed > Levesque at the time asked what criteria were needed to participate in the > next trials of this astounding discovery. His answer raised our brows. > Phase II criteria disqualifies one if prior brain surgery had been done, > because the auologous cells were initially removed from Turner during a > DBS > procedure. Hmmm? I am wondering how they retrieve one's own brain cells > to > culture and implant? > > GRC also asked about the DBS - how they could determine if the DBS or the > cell implantation was responsible for Turner's improvement. Dr. Levesque > told us that Turner was able to function without turning on the > stimulator. > He had this to say: > " . . .the initial procedure was only approved to access the tissue from > the > individual's brain if we were to perform a DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) > procedure. That is how we were able to access and harvest some of his own > brain cells. His device has now been turned off for the last 2-3 years, > and > can obviously be removed now. His medication has also been cut almost by > half. He was the first candidate to use this therapy using the same > criteria used for transplantation of fetal tissue." But today he has > returned to Parkinson's symptoms consistent with advancing Parkinson's. > TO BE CONTINUED > Peggy > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn