Posted on 10/14/2004 7:55:24 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
Life seems to ebb away slowly and painfully for those suffering from some life threatening disease. In this time of despair a new cure always brings a ray of hope in the life of such patients and their families
Uma Devi , Bangalore - Today a busy woman who will entertain guests at home this weekend. "It's going to be hectic. But then I enjoy cooking," she says. For the record, Uma has just been cured of glioblastoma (highly invasive), a form of brain tumour. Till about two months ago, she had a "perpetual headache." Today, she is free of the pain and according to her husband, smiles a lot more.
Prabhakar Yaadav , Meheboobnagar, Hyderabad - Fond of eating spicy Hyderabadi food, Yaadav was asked to eat on one side of the mouth after being diagnosed of tongue cancer. "Now I eat on both the sides. Slowly, I will be able to eat everything, including biryani, but not very spicy."
Dr Iqubal Kaur , CV Raman Nagar, Bangalore - The lady used to find it difficult to climb stairs till about six months ago. "The pain in my right knee was awful," she reminisces. Kaur was suffering from osteoarthritis. Things have taken a U turn now. So much so that she doesn't think twice before planning a trek.
Jayshree Sharma , Jaymahal, Bangalore: "I would keep standing all day long. My back would go for a toss by the time I reached bed." Sharma was a serious case of osteoarthritis. Both her knees' cartilages had degenerated. "People at home now say I become a kid when I play with my grandchild."
A turn of destiny's hand and over 20 people have been treated for cancer and 40 for osteoartritis after they were exposed to Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance (RFQMR). Developed jointly by two Bangalore-based institutions – Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) and Centre for Advanced Research Development (CARD) – the machine that looks like a mini CT scanner works on the principle of tissue and cell engineering.
"Both regeneration and degeneration of cells is possible with 96 guns shots RFQMR beams. The beams reach the target area but unlike chemotherapy and radiotherapy, do not affect the normal cells," said Wing Commander V G Vasishta, principal investigator and head of radio diagnosis at IAM.
The normal cell membrane potential is -70, which increases to -20 in case of tumour cells. During the treatment, the potential is brought down to -90 thus programming the cell to commit suicide. "The treatment is painless, causes no discomfort and is non-invasive," added R Vijay Kumar, engineer and chief scientific officer at CARD.
The dead tumour cells form a shell and remain in the body as waste matter. "In case of the brain, we remove the shell which looks just like an egg. While for other areas, like the abdomen, we let the dead matter be and over the years, it is flushed out of the body," added Vasishta.
All this comes with a caution. "A patient needs to be terminal case, ie he/she should have exhausted all other forms of treatment like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medication. Also the tumour has to be localised. A patient with multiple tumours cannot take this treatment," said Vasishta. The queue outside the centre is long. Appointments till 2005-end are checked out.
At present there is just one machine, but two more are on the anvil and should be in by October-end. The new machines will have three times the potential as they will have 288 guns that will shoot beams at a time.
What started as a dream a decade ago for these two scientists, became something tangible in 2004. "In case of our first patient - Ravi Kumar - we would go and check him every five minutes," said Vasishta. It's been a long journey and the two scientists have no regrets. "It is somewhat magical to save lives."
For all the madness we hear of around the world, there is order in some of the corners.
Just some optimism for everybody.
Well this is heartening...I hope it works for millions.
And I'll bet John Kerry is already trying to figure out how to claim credit.
In more ways than one;
1. Hey, western chemical based medical morons, there are other ways.
2. Hey, high tech space geeks, dudes, there's nothin' up there, but you could be hero's right here if you give us a hand.
3. Hey, loony religious facofanatics, shut-up, sit down, we're trying to do some good work here, in fact, help out, get involved with something useful here on earth for a change.
I'm sure your invisible friend in the sky won't mind.
Bump!
ping-a-ling
I thought this was going to be some lib propaganda piece on stem cells when I saw the headline. What great news! And I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED to learn that some illnesses can be cured without killing children. Who woulda thunk it?!
The beams reach the target area but unlike chemotherapy and radiotherapy, do not affect the normal cells," said Wing Commander V G Vasishta, principal investigator and head of radio diagnosis at IAM.
Then why is this so?
All this comes with a caution. "A patient needs to be terminal case, ie he/she should have exhausted all other forms of treatment like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medication. Also the tumour has to be localised. A patient with multiple tumours cannot take this treatment," said Vasishta.
Just wondering.
Probably a support clause just in case the insurance company sues the inventor.
"A patient needs to be terminal case, ie he/she should have exhausted all other forms of treatment like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medication"
After first nearly killing the patient with conventional therapy then we can use something non-invasive and non-toxic.
I didn't know John Edwards had an office in India.
I believe you were ahead after #1. Your #2 and #3 put you way down on the scale as a decent human....
Some of the oldest insurance companies are in India, and it is not new to insurance.
Since it is inarguable that we are human, that in itself is a vast frontier to explore without the limits of unprovable prejudice.
To really be concerned towards ending suffering is to be involved in understanding human health on any practical common sense level.
I don't think it's at all out of line to propose we all learn to be healthy & happy without great expense & confusion before we hop a rocket or blow ourselves up for virgins in space.
"But that's just my opinion, who wants cake"?
Here's some more info:
http://www.chennaionline.com/health/research/07aerospace.asp
Junk Science? "New Age" Scam?
My uncle is pretty ill, and I'm trying to get in touch with these people.
If I remember correctly, Oppenheimer placed a small, radioactive cell directly on his mother's crotch in the hope of "curing" her cancer.
bump
Yeah I remeber the gamma knife from a science show in the late 80's...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.