This drug was earlier referenced here and because it seemed to be all anectdotal I didn't trust it. If you have any form of reporter background ask for the full report, I'm no longer the Newsfeed editor for StrokeNet. The full-text article is available to journalists on request.The authors are also available for interviews. I do hope this explains TNF and its reduction.
http://www.springer.com/about+springer/media/springer+select?SGWID=0-11001-6-1394543-0
Single dose of etanercept targets brain inflammation years after damage.
A new ground-breaking study about to be published in the Adis journal
CNS Drugs provides clinical evidence that, for the first time, chronic
neurological dysfunction from stroke or traumatic brain injury can
rapidly improve following a single dose of a drug that targets brain
inflammation, even years after the stroke or traumatic event.
The
observational study¹ of 629 patients, conducted over the course of
nearly two years, documents a diverse range of positive effects,
including statistically significant rapid clinical improvement in motor
impairment, spasticity, cognition, etc. in the stroke group, with a
similar pattern of improvement seen in the traumatic brain injury (TBI)
group. The study involved 617 patients treated an average of 42 months
after stroke and 12 patients treated an average of 115 months after TBI,
long after further spontaneous meaningful recovery would be expected.
The study was conducted at the Institute of Neurological Recovery (INR) in the USA.
The
drug utilized was etanercept, a therapeutic that selectively binds and
neutralizes an inflammatory immune molecule that may remain elevated for
years following stroke. Etanercept was administered utilizing a novel
delivery method, invented by Edward Tobinick M.D., lead author of the
study.
"These results represent a sea change in the therapeutic
possibilities for stroke and TBI patients," said Steven Ralph PhD,
Associate Professor at Griffith University School of Medical Science in
Australia. "Rarely do we see such a radical breakthrough in medical
treatment as this for stroke. A previous example was the advance with
thrombolytic therapy using drugs such as tissue plasminogen activator
(t-PA) for the treatment of acute stroke with their significant impact
when applied at the early stages. However, no similar treatment has
existed for chronic stroke until now."
Professor Ralph recently
led a team of physicians to the INR for training in the new etanercept
delivery method, prior to their initiation of randomized trials in
Australia. "Our team observed, first hand, rapid clinical improvement in
stroke patients following this brief office treatment," said Professor
Ralph.
In an accompanying editorial², Professor Ian Clark, a
world expert on tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and brain dysfunction,
discusses the science underlying the novel treatment method and clinical
results. The high prevalence of chronic post-stroke and post-TBI
neurological disability, with millions of individuals affected
worldwide, highlights the study's significance.
Dean, this study, like most are solely authored by Dr.Edward Tobinick, Dermatologist, Institute of Laser Medicine (hair removal) who also are the same staff and home of Institute of Neurological Recovery which also went under the name Institute for Neurological Research. Tobinick began making claims in 1998 for the off-label use of the then new rhumatoid arthritis drug Etanercept (Enbrel). Tobinick promoted the use of this drug for disc-related conditions such as chronic back pain. Tobinick created his own 'patented' administration of the drug and called it DiskCure with claims of relief within minutes. Tobinick advertised the treatment and charged patients thousands of dollars for this 'unique' treatment. Tobinick self autored studies to support these claims. A few years later Tobinick played the same trick, this time it was Alzheimer's, and after a number of years of causing havoc, Tobinick would appear to have prioritized his new target STROKE and Traumatic Brain Injury. A new patient can expect to pay around $4500 for an intitial consultation and 1st injection. Etanercept (Enbrel) carries a Remember a vial of Etanercept (Enbrel) costs about $230. Just because it is expensive, does not mean it works. These scams cost some money to run. In recent years I have observed Australians being targetted successfully by Tobinick with his scams be they for Alzheimer's or STROKE etc. Here are a list of chronic conditions which Tobinick claims to treat.
ReplyDeleteAlzheimer’s Disease
Traumatic Brain Injury
Recovery after Stroke
Vascular Dementia
Frontotemporal Dementia
Primary Progressive Aphasia
Etanercept (Enbrel) carries a Boxed Warning
http://pi.amgen.com/united_states/enbrel/derm/enbrel_pi.pdf
Challenging Tobinick's claims and practices feels like a gnat fighting on the back of an elephant, but maybe someday the past will catch up with Dr. Edward Lewis Tobinick, Dermatologist.