Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: Andrew K Fletcher on 03/11/2005 10:04:15
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Study aiming for significant Reversal of Spinal Cord Injuries using Gravity (Inclined Bed Study)
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Link to study:
http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=53673
Gravity Study aiming to show Significant Reversal of Spinal Cord Injuries.
Need People with spinal cord injury to Participate in this online Diary Study, in order to prove that simply altering sleeping position can have a significant positive affect on the nervous system.
Contact Details: Andrew K Fletcher
Summer Haze, 26 Berry Drive,
Paignton,
Devon,
TQ3 3QW
U.K.
Tel: +441803 524117 U.K: 01803524117
Email. thinklateral@hotmail.(remove)com Also M.S.N.
In order to convince the Medical Profession, that Gravity is of paramount importance to human physiology, we need to repeat an earlier pilot study, which has already shown to be highly productive in reversing a substantial amount of neurological damage in spinal cord injuries.
8 inches (20 cm's) 4inches (10 cm's)
If you have a motorised adjustable bed which does not afford your legs to be lowered, this can be addressed by placing a strong plywood board under your mattress, so that when the head end is raised the whole mattress tilts.
Start at a six inch incline until you are comfortable with the changes, then go for the full 8 inch incline.
I have been researching the effects of gravity on spinal cord injuries since 1994 and have already proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that even complete spinal cord injuries dating back as much as 18 years can be reversed to some degree by simply tilting a bed and altering the posture while seated!
I want to share this important information with people suffering from spinal cord injuries in the hope that some of you may want to help me with my research, by assisting me with this very important study.
The intervention is non-invasive, does not involved drugs, and has already been shown to work! It now needs to be tested on a larger scale.
My discovery is in how gravity drives the cerebrospinal fluid, in a simple flow and return system, inducing some nerve regeneration, and also appears to facilitate effective guidance to regenerating nerves, much the same as how gravity induces and guides direction to seedlings This is achieved by altering posture to make use of gravity and can repair a significant amount of the damage in complete / incomplete spinal cord injuries. However, this does not solely relate to spinal function and a vast amount of other benefits have been reported, namely restored bowel and bladder function, increased metabolism, reductions in infections, visual improvements and in particular addresses the problem of urinary infections by assisting the renal function, muscular atrophy, and osteoporosis have responded well to this intervention. A general decrease in pain has been noted by some people that have already taken part in the pilot study. However, during nerve regeneration / redirection, people have reported a temporary increase in pain. Spasm and general muscle tension is improved significantly also. One of the first things you should notice is an improvement in body temperature. Instead of cold hands and feet, you will find that you have nice warm hands and warm feet.
Goose bumps occur, finger / toe nails and hair grows more profusely. Toe nails, when they are in poor condition, have been reported to shed and a new nail grows which is stronger and smoother than the old nails that have been lost in two cases.
This therapy is also of benefit to many other medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and Parkinson's Disease. Much of my initial work was with people suffering from illnesses. Moving on to spinal cord injuries brings a logical conclusion to this theory, and perhaps the most challenging test to the theory, which is why I want to present this therapy to everyone who is not resigned to accepting that there is nothing that can be done to recover from a spinal cord injury.
Two years ago, I tried to introduce this concept to the Carecure forum, only to find that a few people became hellbent on destroying my offer of help. The reasons for which they did this are still unknown to myself. After receiving a substantial amount of abusive and personal attacks, I decided to turn my back on the forum, and did so for two years, Mainly because my father was dying of cancer, and became the subject of one persons unprovoked outbursts on this particular forum. This was the final straw for me at the time!
I have now had a long time to consider the fact that I may also have behaved extremely selfishly by turning my back on the majority of the people on this forum, and hope they will forgive my somewhat shallow actions, in allowing the abuse to deter us from completing the study.
What should happen when I tilt my bed?
Instantly, your circulation will increase, your metabolism will also increase, generating additional heat. Heart rate will drop by 10-12 beats per minute, and respiration by 4-5 breaths per minute. You should feel more relaxed and notice that your spine is in gentle traction during the night the following weeks you should begin to feel able to breathe more easily, more relaxed, and have more energy within the first 4 weeks. Urine density, clarity and odour will also change within a few weeks, and body temperature significantly warmer.
How long does it take before I begin to notice significant neurological improvements?
This appears to be related to how long you have had your injury, and how severe your injury is. Obviously, one would expect a relatively new injury to respond far quicker than an injury dating back 10-20 or more years. I simply do not have enough data to predict how long this will take to work in each case and hope you can accept that we need more data in order to establish the limitations of this therapy. It is well documented that horizontal bedrest brings about many serious medical conditions, including neurological damage. Perhaps there might be something wrong with the way that the majority of us sleep? NASA has conducted a huge amount of research into bed rest, in order to induce the medical problems associated with micro-gravity conditions during short term and long term space travel. Some people have noticed improvements within 4 weeks, others in four months.
What about oedema? (fluid retention)
The current interpretation of oedema is that it is caused by fluids moving out of the main circulatory vessels into the surrounding tissue, predominantly in the lower limbs. And that raising the feet and legs provides temporary relief from the swelling that develops.
My interpretation based on the case histories I have, is that renal function is compromised by poor posture, and is effectively improved in the inclined position. This aids the circulatory vessels to remove more toxins and solutes from the blood and surrounding tissue so that it can be excreted in the urine more effectively. This allows the oedema to be pulled back into the circulation from the surrounding tissue and into the urine, which would also explain why the density of urine significantly increases on an inclined bed as opposed to a flat bed.
When My Father was in Hospital, they refused to elevate his bed. This resulted in an immediate increase in his leg oedema, which we had resolved for many years after his bed was initially tilted back in 1995. His severely ulcerated legs, which had troubled him since he was 29 years old, had also healed, but consequently deteriorated rapidly during his stay in hospital. I had a real battle on my hands with the staff of the hospital, and living 200 miles away it was difficult to keep a close watch on what they did and did not do for him. On returning back to see my Father I noticed his legs were so swollen, his bed clothes had to be cut away from him. I could not lift one of his legs it was so huge and badly swollen.
Finally, I lost the plot and began shouting instructions at them and threatening them with legal action. Finally, they accepted my advice to tilt his bed and within a few days all of the swelling had vanished, but alas, the damage to his ulcers had been extensive, and possibly led to his septicemia and ultimately his death.
There have been many more people that have reported oedema improvements by raising the head of the bed instead of raising the legs. However, if you already have a substantial problem with oedema, then you may get an initial shift of fluids down to your legs ankles and feet, before your kidneys can deal with the problem. This should be short term, and can be resolved by alternating the legs from horizontal to tilting them down in order to minimize the initial shift in fluids.
You will also notice that the inclined bed will alter the amount of urine you are producing, particularly if you have a lot of excess fluids to excrete.
What about thrombosis?
Thromboembolisms have been observed to diminish due to the substantial improvements in circulation, even vanishing without a trace over several months, providing further proof that the circulation responds to the correct alignment with gravity.
What about a collapsed vein?
This is a very serious problem, and has been noted by a lady with a spinal cord injury who participated in the pilot study. The veins in her leg had collapsed due to her spending many years in a wheelchair. Her circulation was compromised in her foot due to the decrease in venous pressure caused by tilting the bed. Normally, this does not affect the vein, and indeed the veins are designed to accommodate negative pressure/tension, whereas the arteries are designed to accommodate a positive pressure. On this occasion however, the veins became too constricted due to their poor condition and caused her foot to change colour. This was addressed by placing a cushion under the affected leg, while sleeping inclined and the problem improved.
However, this same altering of internal venous pressure by tilting the bed has been shown to provide amazing relief from varicose veins, whereby the veins are visibly pulled in and this happens in a very short timescale, from 4 weeks of inclined bedrest, my wife's varicose vein went flat. It had been bulging for 16 years, following the birth of our eldest son.
What about Balance?
Balance is greatly improved over the weeks using the inclined bed. Not long ago, I was at a garden centre with my wife, and noticed a very narrow rail used to pull the plant trolley along in the huge greenhouse. I decided to see if I could walk along the entire length of track, which measured around half an inch wide. I was amazed to find that I had full control over my balance and did not fall off the track. Although I got a few strange looks from people shopping there.
Introduction: Please download the P.D.F. File from the page below as it contains the pilot study results and the multiple sclerosis resource centres independent report.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/08/07/life_and_gravity_sleeping_in_a_horizontal_position _may_be_bad_for_you.htm
(http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2005/08/07/life_and_gravity_sleeping_in_a_horizontal_position _may_be_bad_for_you.htm)
How do I participate?
Make a note of how you are prior to taking part, so that you have a benchmark to begin with. Note down the levels of sensitivity, what you can and can't do, giving as much detail as you feel comfortable with sharing with everyone. ( You may already have a comprehensive understanding of your physiological situation) But people using this forum would like to know where you are coming from when you post a diary thread).
Start a thread of your own in this forum, as Kerr Douglass has done in the private members forum. http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39238
Several people have already began to sleep inclined, and I hope they will publish their diary in the European thread so that others can follow their example.
Once you have started your online diary in the European Forum, all you need to do is to add a diary entry as and when you or someone around you notices a change, recording things like unusual pains, changes in spasm, changes in skin tone and muscle tone, finger nails, (half moons may develop or become larger on nails)
Be patient as this therapy can take several months before it begins to show significant improvements.
Raise your seat by using an extra cushion in order to lift your seat higher than your knees. Obviously, this may not be possible when outside the home, due to safety issues using a wheelchair. But it has been shown to help to speed things along. Also, using a standing frame where possible.
Take Care:
Take care transferring into and off an inclined bed, as this may require assistance, given the mattress is sloping.
I would also suggest the use of a memory foam type mattress cover to prevent slipping and having to be pulled up the bed.
The idea is that your feet do not touch the foot board of the bed. This can cause the spine to compress rather than the traction effect of sleeping inclined. Also, you may develop a pressure sore on your feet if in constant contact with the foot board.
Consult your G.P. prior to taking part. This will at least alert him / her to what you are doing and may also generate some additional interest in our study.
Good luck, and thank you for your interest in my work.
Sincerely
Andrew K Fletcher
Discussion about the Gravity Theory and how it relates to trees and plants.
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/fo...?TOPIC_ID=1982
<font color="brown"><font size="1">"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"</font id="size1"></font id="brown">
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HI Andrew, this study sounds very interesting, has it produced any results?
Well, yes Andrew it has just received some interesting updates from two people that have posted!
Do you have a link Andrew?
Certainly, there you go Andrew.
http://carecure.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43
"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"
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Click On the link below to download and watch John Cann Walking on Carlton Television News, after almost 11 years of paralysis below his injury site.
The file is 32.6 MB (34,200,035 bytes) zipped MPEG.
http://rapidshare.de/files/13376429/InsightSci_135-6649.rar.html
Select the FREE option at the bottom of the first page, then you will have to wait for a ticket to download with the free version, this takes only a few seconds.
scroll down and select to download the file from either of the mirrors. on the second page.
RapidShare offers two different download-networks for you. Either choose network "Alpha" or network "Omega". Just use the one, which is faster for you.
You should se this:
Download InsightSci_135-6649.rar from Net-Mirror "Alpha": dl12CG.rapidshare.de (7199 of 10000 MBit/s in use)
Download InsightSci_135-6649.rar from Net-Mirror "Omega": dl12L3.rapidshare.de (6905 of 10000 MBit/s in use) Then Enter the letters you see in the colour coded window, into the box and download.
When the file has downloaded open it from the screen and select where you would like to save it after you have viewed it.
If you can't find it on your hard drive, do a search using InsightSci_135-6649.rar as the search term.
The Video relates to this article:
Spinal Cord Injury
On Saturday April 15th 2000, John obtained the timber for parallel bars to be erected at his home in Cornwall, On Sunday I went to John's home and completed the job, for tomorrow was to be a momentous occasion indeed.
John was left paralysed, in 1990, when surgery to his spine went wrong. He was told that after two years any chance of further recovery would be highly unlikely and for the next six years he experienced little if any change in his condition.
Monday morning I am on my way to John's home in Cornwall, to meet with Tim Iredale, who is a news reporter for Carlton Television Southwest. We intended to witness something truly magical. But could not have imagined what was in store for us.
John was about walk in front of a television camera and crew for the first time in close to ten years. John had told me that he had regained the ability to move his legs, but I had grossly underestimated how much function John had regained.
During the interview, John was asked to show how he manages to get out of bed now and he transferred with ease both in and out of bed, leaning back and lifting his legs. He was then asked to raise his legs while lying on the bed and he obliged with ease. When asked if he could feel when touched on his legs, he replied my legs feel like normal legs instead of heavy weights. John then went on to explain how much of the swelling in his legs had gone-and that this flies in the face of the current act of elevating the legs above the heart. Advise from the medical profession, which John duly ignored in favour of sleeping with his legs down.
Fortunately for John this meant that he could now wear ankle braces and special shoes, which would, provided support for his substantially weakened and as yet unresponsive ankles.
John approached the parallel bars in his wheel chair and applied the brakes when he was in position. He grasped the two ends of the parallel bars and using his legs he pushed himself into a vertical position. Towering some six feet four inches, John moved one leg in front of the other, bending the knees as he lifted each leg to walk 12 feet to the end of the bars. I turned and looked at Tim and saw disbelief and astonishment flash across his face, I bet my face was a sight to behold too. John then turned his powerful 19 stone body around and walked, yes walked back to his chair. Struggling and somewhat weakened by the experience, he lowered his body into the chair and his face had the expression of a boxer who had just knocked down his opponent. He said casually: 'Was that alright'? John had indeed delivered a powerful blow to his opponent.
Fortunately heavy rain prevented us from doing a retake and the rest of the interview took place in John's bedroom.
When the story was finished and everyone was ready to leave, I turned and thanked the camera man and Tim Iredale, who turned and said that this is one of those days that you will always remember, one of those days when you know exactly what you were doing.
The cameraman said while shaking my hand that: ' it has been a privilege to work with me and witness the results from such a simple application'.
I drove home the richest man alive that day and will remember it for the rest of my days.
On Monday the 17th April 2000 I waited for the local news on Carlton TV and saw the opening news which pictured me looking down my Naturesway Sleep System, a simple bed designed for to take us into the new millennium. After the interlude the fun really started. John was walking for everyone in the South West of England to see, at least. The news stayed focused on the remarkable effects of two eight-inch blocks tucked under the head end of John's bed. No $billion research, no waiting for the next ten years to see if it works and no room for any refutation of the results, which were plain for everyone to see on Carlton Television, News, Language Science Park, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon, UK. But John is not the only person with a spinal cord injury, who is benefiting from the effects of gravity, in fact there are two more people in the Torbay Area of Devon who are making steady progress.
Sunday Independent April 16th,2000 page 4 Burrington Way, Plymouth PL5 3LN UK
"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"