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October 3, 2005 – Breakthrough for Lou Gherig’s Disease
CLEVELAND (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Each day, about 15 people in the United States will be diagnosed with a deadly disease called ALS. It was made famous by the late baseball player Lou Gehrig. There is no effective treatment for these patients, and they often need a mechanical ventilator to survive. Now a breakthrough procedure is helping some patients breathe and live longer without a ventilator.
Lonnie and Susan Larson know life can change in an instant. Theirs did when Susan was diagnosed with a fatal disease known as ALS three years ago. Each day, her health got a little worse.
"We just go for little walks, you know you're kind of walking with you know a walker, push walker, and then a strolling walker and then you have a wheelchair around for awhile," Lonnie says. "I do the makeup, do the hair, dress, bathe." Susan can no longer walk, talk or swallow.
ALS, or Lou Gehrig's, attacks the body's nerves and muscles. Patients lose their ability to breathe and need a mechanical ventilator to survive. But, that can be risky.
"Just being on that ventilator changes your life expectancy because of the risk of pneumonia," laparoscopic surgeon Raymond Onders, M.D., of University Hospitals of Cleveland, tells Ivanhoe.
Susan was the first ALS patient in the country to undergo the same procedure that Dr. Onders performed on Christopher Reeve. With special instruments, two electrodes are placed on each diaphragm. An electronic device stimulates the muscles and nerves, allowing muscles to contract and air to enter the lungs.
Dr. Onders says, "What we're trying to do is help the patients with one of the major issues that they face, how to breathe, how to breathe with their own muscle."
The device has done more than that. Susan's lung capacity has actually improved. She hopes to make it to her son's wedding next year.
"She's a real fighter," Lonnie says, "and giving her best to try to make, make something positive out of this situation we're in." Doctors say the device has already extended Susan's life by nine months, precious time for a woman who has so much to live for.
This is the first device that improves lung capacity in patients with ALS. Patients may be candidates for the surgery if their lung capacity is above 45 percent. Since Susan's surgery, the device has been tested on two other patients. A mechanical ventilator can cost up to $150,000 a year, but the outpatient surgery and device only cost about $15,000.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert