I have been looking for more information on this and finally I found it so I thought I would share. PoNS (Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator) was developed to help repair brain damage for veterans injured with traumatic brain injury. It is being tested on people with MS, especially the PP (primary progressive) form where the key to improvement is to grow new nerves and make new nerve interconnections.
My own doctors have applied for a permit to run a clinical trial here in Chicago but they are waiting for the local Institutional Review Board to approve it (I think there is some concern about making sure users don't burn their tongues). They tell me it will cost me $1000 (no drug company is subsidizing this) but I think it's worth trying.
I cannot post links yet so you will have to Google "Pons therapy stimulates the tongue to treat ms" or "Train the Brain" to find the articles (one is on Slate).
This could be an important treatment due to the fact that it requires no surgery or implants of any kind. You would still have to be on some kind of DMT (like Tysabri) to stop the MS inflammatory process, but neither Tysabri nor other DMT regrows nerves, so for a PP person that's the other half of the equation to regaining function.
How did I find out about this? From a trivial article about Montel Williams, the tv personality 6 months ago in Parade (no kidding). Apparently he has been PP since 1999 and is a real fitness freak so he was determined to regain muscle function and being a veteran sought out the trial in Wisconsin. You never know where useful info is going to come from.
My own doctors have applied for a permit to run a clinical trial here in Chicago but they are waiting for the local Institutional Review Board to approve it (I think there is some concern about making sure users don't burn their tongues). They tell me it will cost me $1000 (no drug company is subsidizing this) but I think it's worth trying.
I cannot post links yet so you will have to Google "Pons therapy stimulates the tongue to treat ms" or "Train the Brain" to find the articles (one is on Slate).
This could be an important treatment due to the fact that it requires no surgery or implants of any kind. You would still have to be on some kind of DMT (like Tysabri) to stop the MS inflammatory process, but neither Tysabri nor other DMT regrows nerves, so for a PP person that's the other half of the equation to regaining function.
How did I find out about this? From a trivial article about Montel Williams, the tv personality 6 months ago in Parade (no kidding). Apparently he has been PP since 1999 and is a real fitness freak so he was determined to regain muscle function and being a veteran sought out the trial in Wisconsin. You never know where useful info is going to come from.
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