On December 18, 2007, I was given the news that I shared more in common with Michael J. Fox than just being born in Canada.  I first noticed very minor symptoms such as a mild hand tremor as early as 2001.  At that time the medical consensus was that I had Benign Essential Tremors, like it was thought my maternal grandfather had.  In January 2008, I came across a product called Stem Enhance (manufactured by Stem Tech Inc.) and started taking four grams (eight capsules) of the product daily in doses of two capsules every four hours.

As a scientist, I wanted to monitor the effect of Stem Enhance on my body in a more quantitative fashion than just saying yes I feel better or no I don’t.  To establish a measurement scale, I listed the symptoms that a neurologist observed in December 2007, and established a semi-objective numerical scale for each.  The total symptom was then the sum of the individual ratings, monitored on a daily basis. I estimated a maximum and minimum perceived level every few days for each symptom, then took the average of the daily totals of minimum and maximum to arrive at a mean daily rating.

This rating system is shown in Table 1. A zero rating indicates no symptom whatsoever.  A rating of three is the maximum disability level I was willing to contemplate.  I did not feel that I could reliably break the rating into smaller levels based on a subjective impression for each symptom. I was also experiencing “restless leg syndrome” and poor sleeping patterns.  I had these symptoms prior to 2001 however so have ignored them in this analysis.

Table 1.  Rating  System

Symptom Level	0	1	2	3
left hand tremor level	none	<1/2 inch	1/2 – 1 inch	>1 inch
left hand mobility	excellent	poor typing	tough for playing music	disabled
left hand lock-up/pain	none	slight	moderate	immobile
head tremors	none	slight	moderate	severe
shuffling	none	slight	moderate	severe
depression	none	impatience/sadness	anger/frustration	despair
clarity of thought	perfect	slight	poor reasoning	very foggy

Graph 1  Symptom Level Improvement

Graph 1 illustrates the total mean symptom level starting in 2004 and progressing to April 2009.  An average perceived symptom level of nine was experienced in mid 2006.  At that time I was diagnosed with stress induced depression and “burn-out” and had to leave work.  A slight improvement in the total symptom level as a result of a reduced stress level was observed.  I was prescribed L-Dopa to raise my dopamine levels in mid-2007 in an effort to lower the level of hand tremors.  The effects of this drug on had tremors was noticeable, but below the level of monitoring based on the measurement scale shown in Table 1.

I began taking Stem Enhance on the ninth of January 2008.  In less that a week, the  symptom level dropped from eight to about four and has slowly dropped to a level of about one-half to one over a period of about two years. A minor increase in symptom level was experienced at the end of January 2007.  I was running short of Stem Enhance and reduced my daily consumption to four capsules.  The effect showed up on the second day of the reduced product level.  Another minor increase was noted in mid-February when I was experiencing a few particularly stressful days.

I visited the Neurologist in June 0f 2008 and he saw a definite improvement in me.  At that time, all of the symptoms had either been reduced or disappeared.  I had earlier (in April) gone off anti-depressants, on the advise of a doctor, after taking them for fourteen years.  The symptoms that remained at that time were, left hand tremors, head tremors, left shoulder stiffness, and left hand lack of coordination

I started taking Stem Flo in October 2008.  The intent of this product is to clean the capillaries in the body allowing a better transport of adult stem cells into the surrounding tissue. At the same time I started taking GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) on the advise of a doctor of naturopathic medicine. It is a natural neurotransmitter and is thought to reduce the amount of dopamine required for proper nerve functioning.   The effects were to decrease the overall symptom level to about 0.5.  The only symptom remaining today is a slight hand tremor that happens about a third to half of my waking time, particular when I am stressed, tired, or hungry.  Relaxation, rest, exercise, and food selection and quality seems usually to reduce this to nearly zero.

May 16, 2009

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 2:38 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.