Oct 11, 2016
Cognitive decline in elderly, eyes dull, speech unclear
The fifth case was a case in 2013. I had returned to the United States in April that year. We had a banquet to celebrate my wife and my 45th wedding anniversary. We saw a lot of old friends and caught up with each other’s latest stories. The atmosphere was very warm and lively. In particular, I saw this old friend I have known for decades. He was a colleague at my company in the United States. I haven’t seen him for a while and when I saw him that night, I was shocked. He was like a totally different person. He spoke slowly, moved sluggishly, his face was expressionless and he was unresponsive. Based on my experience, I knew he was suffering from brain degeneration. I invited him to my house for a chat. I told him I hope he would return to Hong Kong for me to treat him. Later, he went to a western doctor to get an examination of the body and it was confirmed that he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and cognitive impairment. Since he had to apply for Medicaid from the Government, the original plan to return to Hong Kong for treatment in May was postponed. As soon as his Medicaid application was approved, he flew to Hong Kong on October 16. My son went to the airport to pick him up and take him to his apartment. When they arrived at the apartment, my son saw that his hand was shaking so badly that he had trouble inserting the key to open the door. His condition was pretty serious.
The patient and I knew each other for decades and he knew me very well. He believed that I have the ability to cure his disease. So returning to Hong Kong, he felt that he could rest assured that he would be healed. The treatment lasted from October 18, 2013 to September 2015 for almost two years and a total of 82 visits. Although he was not completely cured at the end of the treatment when he had to return to the States, his condition has improved 80 to 90%. He looked as if he was a normal healthy person. This case is a long case, so it is divided into part 1 and part 2.
Head injury due to car accident and prostate surgery led to brain degeneration
In the first visit of patient’s treatment, I tried to understand in more detail his health condition in the past few years. I found out that a few years ago he had a car accident and his head was hit. Since then, he started having problems with one foot when walking. Also, more than a year ago, he had undergone a prostate removal surgery, which required a general anesthesia. Based on my many years of experience treating prostatectomy patients, I found that even after rehabilitation, their physical and mental states were worse than before. They often felt tired and depressed and their memory severely declined. It was difficult for them to restore their original condition before the surgery. This happens as a result of a general anesthesia, under which the brain cells are seriously injured. This patient’s degenerated condition was a result if his head injury from the car accident, which has caused the accumulation of blood clots, and prostatectomy sequelae after surgery.
During patient’s first visit, he was not able to raise both of his hands. His right hand was trembling and was weak. He could not hold a thing and had difficulties writing. This condition has been going on for three years. His fingertips were sometimes cold and sometimes hot. When he woke up, he was not able to stretch his right hand without the help of his left hand. He often felt spasm on the back of his right thigh, therefore, his right leg was often dragging. He could not walk normally, make turns, run or lift a leg. He could not do a jumping jack. He could not squat for a long time, otherwise his back, and sometimes his knees, would hurt. When he stood up, he would see stars. When he lied down to sleep, his feet would become numb. He was not able to focus his thoughts, incoherent when he talked, his brain often felt blank and his memory was poor. His surrounding environment seemed dim to him and his eyelids drooped. He was unable to open up his eyes. His hearing was impaired and speech was unclear. His tongue was not flexible and he sounded like he had walnuts in his mouth. Based on all these symptoms and clinical tests, besides Parkinson’s disease, he was also suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a phenomenon of the degeneration of the brain.
After several consecutive diagnosis and treatment, patient brought his urine samples. The color of many bottles of urine sample were purple, indicating a lot of blood clots that had accumulated in the liver was being discharged. In addition, it also contained blood clots discharged from the heart and the brain. In the beginning of the treatment, the color of his urine samples was mostly dark orange, orange-brown and purple, indicating that the liver has been damaged and the dead part of the liver formed blood clots. The liver and the heart are closely related to each other. If the liver is damaged, the heart will be weak (as a result of accumulation of dead heart cells forming blood clots). Patient grew up in Korea and had consumed for a long time very spicy food, such as spicy kimchi, so his liver must be severely damaged. This had a direct impact on his heart and one of the main causes of brain degeneration was weak heart because if the heart is weak, it cannot supply sufficient blood to the brain.
October 30 was patient’s fourth follow-up visit. He has made great progress. His memory has improved, he talked more and his feet were more flexible and under control, he could even do a waltz and jumping jack. His coordination ability has improved and was able to stand on one leg. His eyelids were also stronger and he could open his eyes wider. He said that before the treatment, he could not balance properly even when he was standing and was afraid he might fall when waiting in line for a bus. After the treatment, he could balance himself, move faster and even jump off the bus when getting off. His writing has improved and he could hold in his right hand a can Coke and drink, which he wasn’t able to do before the treatment because his hand was shaking so badly and his fingers were weak. Only the middle finger and ring finger were still not so flexible. He didn’t even have problem using chopsticks to get his food. His brain function has improved, he could think more clearly and could remember and recall things that had happened before. His surrounding seemed brighter, indicating improved eyesight, and he could hear more clearly, indicating improved hearing.
I was pleased to see the rapid progress of patient’s condition. In his seventh follow-up visit, he was able to sleep well and sometimes he could sleep for up to ten hours. He started doing exercise when he got up every morning. He said besides having a little hard time with jumping jack, other exercise were doable. The condition on his right hand middle finger and ring finger has improved significantly. He could hold a fist, although feeling a little weak, and move each finger flexibly, one hand at a time but not both together yet. His left arm was stronger than his right arm so I told him to do more exercise to strengthen the muscles. Right hand tremor was reduced to minimal. Before the treatment, his mind felt blank but after the treatment he could remember a lot of things in the past. His facial expression was richer and he was often smiling.
Finger movement up to 100 times
The following two weeks, patient caught a cold, his body was weak and he had to take cold medicine. However, there was a new breakthrough in terms of his mobility. He could move his third and fourth fingers on his right hand separately, although, the movement would slow down when he tried to bend fingers of both hands at the same time. He continued to train his right hand every day, he often practice writing in both English and Chinese and his writing has become more neat and in straight lines.
When I checked his pulse, I realized that most of the time his hands were cold. This meant that his blood was not circulating smoothly and the brain meridian was still blocked. His cognitive ability was very weak until his ninth follow-up visit. His hands mobility has improved. He could count while moving his fingers. Before he was only able to count up to five but after the treatment, he could count up to one hundred, indicating that the brain blood clots has been dissolved and discharged. The part of the brain that controls the hand movement was free from interference and signals could be transmitted smoothly and his fingers could move smoothly accordingly. There is an interesting phenomenon, if the fingers cannot move, lower the head and keep it down for two minutes, the fingers will then move again, indicating that the main problem is cerebral ischemia.
Nevertheless, the condition of patient’s finger movement varied, better sometimes and worse other times. This is a common phenomenon. The reason is the medication helps dissolve and discharge the blood clots in the brain. As the blood clots are being discharged, they flow through different parts of the brain, suppressing the nerves, interfering signal transmission, hence affecting mobility. In the twelfth follow-up visit, patient could move and bend his third and fourth fingers separately, which he couldn’t do before. This was a significant improvement. In December, he went to Hong Kong Park with his relatives and friends. In the MTR station, he was able to run up and down the stairs. His relatives and friends were amazed. They all said he looked younger, smiled a lot more and had rich facial expression, a totally different person from before. He told me that he had dreams sometimes but would forget about them when he woke up. Dreaming was a good phenomenon, I hoped in the future he could remember his dreams. As for his memory, it has also improved. He said that before the treatment, he would forget things he was told easily. After the treatment, he could remember better. His hands were warmer also, they were only a little cold in the morning.
Can play table tennis and run back and forth
Two months after patient had returned to Hong Kong for treatment, he went back to the United States for the New Year. I was also in the United States during that period until mid-February 2014. During that period, he cooked his own medicine and was progressing very well, although there were times when his condition seemed to be regressive. This repeated phenomenon during the treatment is normal. After he came back to Hong Kong from the United States, the urine samples he brought were mostly orange-brown and light orange-brown, a few were yellow and white cholesterol deposits were found. He could do forehand and backhand playing table tennis and he began running too. He could run a few laps back and forth, do squat-and-stand-up movements and then lower the head. Things around him also seemed brighter because sufficient blood was being supplied to the brain and as a result, the eyes had adequate blood supply within the retina also.
In the eighteenth follow-up visit, patient said that on two days, he had difficulties moving his hands after he got up in the morning but after taking medicine and adequate sleep, the condition has improved. I believed that it was because he had been mixing and preparing the medicine, causing fatigue. The following few days, with good sleep, sleeping through the night, his fingers movement became flexible again and the strength on his hands and feet was also improved.
Left and right hands raised over his head
In the nineteenth follow-up visit, he was in his best condition. His right hand fingers could move more and faster. He exercised his right hand fingers twenty times, then both left hand and right hand at the same time for thirty times and then left hand alone for a hundred times. Afterwards his fingers were so tired and he could not move them anymore. When he stretched his left arm horizontally and raised, he could raise it up to the shoulder height, but if he stretched it forward and raise, he could raise it as high as his right arm. When I talked to him, he was back to his normal self, although sometimes there would be a sudden feeling of a loss, the mind went blank and he couldn’t remember things, nevertheless, his memory has improved. In the twentieth follow-up visit, he had another breakthrough. He could raise his left hand above his head, lower it and raise again above his head easily. He has not been able to do that in the past five years. Before the treatment, when he went on a plane, he would need help and rely on someone stowing the carry-on baggage in the overhead compartment for him. Now he could do it himself and he felt ecstatic. For a few days, he had walked from my clinic after his visit back to his Wan Chai apartment without any problem besides feeling tired only. He could also walk up the stairs easily up to the fourth floor, indicating his heart continued to strengthen. (The be continued next week)
By Dr. Au Sik Kee
Oct 11, 2016
Medical record number: 131018
For enquiry, email: sikkeeau@gmail.com