I partially severed my spinal cord in 1989.
Welcome to the world of wheelchairs, crutches, muscle pain, stiffness and antibiotics due to bladder infections. Regarding the muscle pain and stiffness, I’ve started with dry needling that has helped enormously. The physio just shoves acupuncture needles in areas where it hurts, and you can see the muscle jump with a twang as the knots that tighten the cords come undone. Followed with stretching exercises, the situation has improved 80%.
Unfortunately, infections have posed a greater challenge because bacteria are becoming resistant. Just think MRSA and pseudomonas, the last of which I recently suffered from. In fact, years ago, I suffered from a pseudomonas infection in my urinary tract. The solution. There was a drug, administered by injection deep into my muscle a few times a week that finally did the trick, but to this day I suffer from tinnitus, a continuous ringing of the ears. The cost was high.
Resistant bacteria kill roughly 40 000 people in Europe every year. The strange thing is – there is a solution. Think of the Soviet Union in the 1900s. There wasn’t much money for antibiotics, so patients, especially in Georgia, were treated using viruses that killed the infectious bacteria. These viruses are known as bacteriophages, and every bacteria can be matched with a phage that can kill it, and only it, without damaging, say, other good bacteria in the body.
The Eliava Institute in Georgia still treats patients using this low tech method, and with much success. People from all over the world with resistant infections go there for treatment. Needless to say, I hope their medical insurances pay!
I can’t afford to go there, but things are looking up. At last, the western world is waking up to the importance of bacteriophages to help fight resistant bacteria. In Belgium, the Queen Astrid Military Hospital treats mainly burn patients with phages, as do some hospitals in France and Switzerland. An elderly Dutchman, unconscious with a pseudomonas infection, was treated at the Queen Astrid hospital and woke up shortly afterwards. When interviewed, he seemed quite sprightly.
The Queen Astrid hospital offered to treat my bladder infection, but were at pains to explain that they hadn’t performed the procedure before, although they would use a tried and tested method used in Georgia. They would have to call the procedure “experimantal”, as laid out in the Helsinki Accords regarding experimentation. Apparently, I would have to drink a phage solution and have my bladder flushed twice a day. So, living in Holland, I drove to Brussels and met the doctor. He took a urine sample that, for some strange reason, was void of pseudomonas but had developed another infection that was treatable by antibiotics. Apparently, this can happen - I mean, a bacteria being taken over by another. Oh well, a damp squib regarding phage therapy for my infection, but at least I know where I can go if I’m in trouble in the future.
So why should 40 000 people in Europe die every year from resistant infections, when a solution in bacteriophages exists? Apparently, the advent of antibiotics rendered it unnecessary to pursue another cure. The pharmaceutical companies have made a fortune on antibiotics, but I doubt they would appreciate common phage therapy that would render their antibiotics useless.
But now – we’re in big trouble. This resistance poses a risk to humanity and could take on epidemic proportions.
So guys, if you’re in Western Europe, a possible cure using phages exists in the neighbourhood where none existed before. If you have MRSA or any other delightful bug, phages can more than likely fight it. There is hope.
Please bear in mind that I am not a medical person, so I suggest you do your own research on the topic.
This by the way is my first post :-) I'm curious to see what upvotes will do.