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As I promised early last week, after attending my PD support group's discussion today which presented a speech pathologist from UCLA Medical Center, I'm reporting back to the List members what was said about this new collagen treatment. The treatment takes about 5 minutes, and no sedation is involved. The results are immediate. It does not profess to "cure" anything, nor can it help the patient suffering from poor enunciation, i.e., the inability to pronounce words correctly so that they sound right to the listener. It DOES significantly help the individual who has problems maintaining the proper passage of air thru the vocal cords. This is a common problem for persons with PD. Prior to the treatment, an individual with this problem cannot direct enough air thru the two vocal cords because the vocal cords are more flaccid and relaxed then is needed to push the sound out. After the treatment, the vocal cords regain their firmness, thus causing the tones to be fuller and louder. The initial treatment lasts from 3 to 5 months, and then another is needed. The second and any subsequent treatments last longer with each treatment so there IS accumulated benefits... This treatment is performed by Dr. Berke at UCLA, and so far, he's the only physician performing it. It costs $500, and IS covered by Medicare and most health plans (in the USA) as this is not an experimental treatment using heretofore untested drugs or products. The use of collagen has been approved by the FDA some years ago, and at this time there are two types of collagen in use. Bovine collagen and autogeneous collagen. The latter is created from the patient's own body by "harvesting" a tiny patch of skin and culturing it to grow additional collagen from it. For the faint at heart, the collagen is transferred directly to the vocal cords by an injection into each cord. The two injections are not any more painful than any other shot, however, the initial response amongst all of us who sat there enthralled by the prospect of this treatment, upon hearing of the injections, was an instant and resounding "YUCK!" <grin> I plan on calling Dr. Berke for an appointment ASAP, and if I go ahead with this treatment, I'll report back to the List members. For those who are interested in more information or making an appointment, the phone number to Dr. Berke's office (in the ear-nose-throat field of medicine) is (310) 206-6688. Barb Mallut [log in to unmask]