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Spinal Cord & Brain Injury
I do not know of a case where the acute or chronic effects of traumatic
central nervous system (CNS) injury have been successfully treated with insulin
potentiation therapy (IPT). But with further research, and it must be done first in animal
models, I think that IPT may have great potential for treating CNS injury.
There are many indications that this could be be so.
This essay encompasses CNS traumas including: traumatic
spinal cord injury, concussion,
and the effects of ischemia (decreased or blocked blood flow). Here on IPTQ you can
find many clues that IPT may be an ideal treatment for CNS injury.
 | First, consider the three cases of hemiplegia
(paralysis of half the body) due to stroke, treated by Dr. Paquette.
In each case, rapid and profound improvement in motor function was obtained
after the first IPT treatment. Exactly how this improvement occurred, we
do not know. But we can infer not only improvement in circulation, but
also, it seems, regeneration of neural tissue in the CNS.
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| Next, consider the cases of paralysis of polio treated
by Drs. Perez Garcia 1 and 2. Again, rapid and profound improvement, and
apparent return to normal motor function was obtained, this time over a course
of treatments. Suspected modes of action include clearing of remnant
infection, but also, perhaps, regeneration of neural tissue in the CNS.
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| Note that Dr. Perez Garcia y Bellon 2 had a
protocol in his 1975 practice for treating
trauma to spinal cord with paralysis,
so presumably he had experienced some success in at least one case.
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| Then, consider IPT's apparent successes in treating mental illness,
addiction, and migraine. And its potential for treating multiple sclerosis
and Alzheimer's. And the way it can apparently heal severely
inflamed and necrotic wounds and tissues. And its improvement of
circulation and reduction of edema and swelling.
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| And finally, consider insulin's many roles that may be relevant here:
stimulating and balancing immune function, stimulating revascularization,
stimulating neuron and oligodendrocyte growth, reducing cell death, stimulating myelination
and re-myelination of neurons, stimulating
differentiation (and possibly proliferation) of neural stem cells, helping keep
harvested organs alive for transplantation, increasing permeability and
transport of nutrients and wastes across cell membranes and the blood-brain
barrier. These read like a wish list for CNS injury scientists! |
All these observations and relationships point to the possible benefits of
trying the IPT protocol in cases of CNS trauma.
| In the case of acute brain ischemia or glucose starvation, IPT could
perhaps bring dying brain cells back to life, by transporting nutrients and
oxygen in, and wastes out, by acting as a growth factor, and by balancing
chemistry of the blood.
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| In the case of the chronic effects of brain ischemia or glucose starvation
(paralysis, coma), IPT may provide both the chemical environment and the growth
factor (insulin) needed to stimulate neural stem cell differentiation and new
neuron growth. Wouldn't it be amazing and ironic if the same insulin that
caused Sunny von Bulow to go into her now 20-year coma, could in smaller doses
stimulate her brain to regenerate itself and return her to consciousness?
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| In the case of concussion, IPT might help to stimulate healing in many
ways, from reduction of swelling to neuron regrowth. Before using IPT in
emergency cases like this, however, animal studies should be done first to test
and perfect the protocol. IPT itself is gentle and low in risk. But
time may be critical in cases of concussion, and normal emergency treatment
should be undertaken first.
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| In the case of traumatic spinal cord injury, I can see real potential
for IPT to help in both the acute and the chronic phases. In the acute
phase, shortly after the injury, IPT could probably be helpful in reducing
swelling and inflammation, and in keeping stressed neural cells alive.
IPT could also assist in delivering to injured tissues whatever medications are
found to help in such cases. In the chronic phase, IPT could
probably help stimulate scar reduction, stem cell differentiation, and rapid
regrowth and myelination of neurons. If one or two IPT treatments can
allow people paralyzed by stroke to walk (as reported by Dr. Paquette), then it
is not inconceivable that a series of IPT treatments could allow paraplegic and
quadriplegic people to walk as well.
Christopher Reeve may indeed walk by 2002 (and not just as a
digital special effect), with help from insulin potentiation
therapy (IPT), this amazing protocol invented by Dr. Perez Garcia 1 some 70 years ago.
I have written to him about IPT. The main focus of the research he is
involved with is embryonic stem cells. These may indeed work.
But for the majority of the world, expensive advanced treatments may be out
of reach. For them a simple therapy involving insulin
potentiation to stimulate the body's own stem cells may be more practical. |
As I have emphasized throughout this website, IPT has a very long but rather thin track
record. It looks very promising, both in its scientific backing and in its
often spectacular reported effectiveness. Any doctor can try it today,
with a little training, and in most cases with little direct risk. And
much more research is needed.
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