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Ronald Reiner wrote: > > Is this technique something new? > Ron Reiner (50/3) > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chinese Doctors Fighting Parkinson's Disease (1) > > April 22, 1998 > > Xinhua : BEIJING (April > 21) XINHUA - More than 100 patients with > Parkinson's disease have had their suffering > alleviated by a surgical procedure in Xi'an, capital of > northwest China's Shaanxi Province. > > Doctors have applied microelectrode technology in > their operation, which can increase the precision of > locating pathological cells in the brain, said Gao > Guodong, director of the Neurosurgery Department > of Tangdu Hospital attached to the No. 4 Medical > College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. > > Gao told Xinhua today in a telephone interview that > since the first successful operation in October, > more than 110 patients have been operated on in > his hospital with an effective rate of 100 percent. > > Parkinson's disease, which usually afflicts people > 60 and older, is a nerve ailment characterized by > trembling in the hands, muscle rigidity and a > shuffling walk. > > The hospital has established an International > Parkinson's Disease Treatment Research Center. > Twenty patients from the Republic of Korea, > Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong > region have written letters asking for treatment in > the center. > > The center currently carries out two operations > every day, but many patients will have to wait until > 2000 because of a shortage of beds. > > Gao said the treatment expense in the hospital > averages 25,000 yuan (3, 000 U.S. dollars), > compared with 30,000 U.S. dollars in the United > States. > > Gao, 44, explained that he first cuts a > centimeter-long hole in the patient's cranial bone, > then sends the microelectrode into the brain to > detect the pathological cells, and then kills those > cells and blocks the wrong nerve conduction. > > A 73-year-old man living in Nanjing in east China > had been plagued by Parkinson's disease and > confined to bed for years. He couldn't turn over in > bed unassisted. But ofter the operation, he > immediately got out of bed and walked without help. > (more) 21/04/98 09:08 GMT No reason why the PRC could not acquire western technology, but in such risky surgery I'd be cautious. I think perhaps some U.S. patients have gone there in desperation to avoid the long delay here, and I have at least one report of an American surgeon who did a fetal transplant there because presumably he was unable to set up practice here, but the patient died. Cheers,, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013