Posted by Bob P (129.65.46.87) on May 21, 2001 at 09:39:20:
In Reply to: Perhaps you will be kind enough to enlighten us posted by Donna on May 21, 2001 at 07:49:23:
Bob and all at OUCH HQ
Thanks for taking the time to read my submission and thanks for your
considered comments
Except the ones about us not having performed arterial surgery for
clusterheads - who is that? Ueli? Ted? An official OUCH reply is hardly the
place for message board trash.
I'll try to answer the rest to the best of my ability
To summarize your reply the questions posed were as follows:-
1) Are any of the procedures you perform experimental? If so which ones? If
yes then what exactly is meant by experimental?
2) What are the safety risks for each procedure that you perform?
3) Have any of the procedures that you perform been written up by your
organization? If not have they been written up by someone else?
4) What exactly are you asking from OUCH?
In the order of the questions above:
1) Everything we do we do is experimental? If its isn't we're not
progressing.
2) Broadly procedures can be broken down into vascular surgery and the use
of a patented intra oral appliance.
The risks of cutting subcutaneous arteries in the head is small- consult
your resident surgeon on this for clarification. The most invasive of these
is ligation of the internal maxillary artery which requires a carotid
angiogram - consult your resident radiologist for the level of risk and
experimental nature of carotid angiograms. To summarize these procedures may
be experimental in the treatment of headaches but they are neither new nor
undocumented nor risky.
The risk of putting a bite plate in some ones mouth is that they swallow it
and have to have it removed (it contains radio opaque glitter just in case),
or their dog swallows it and has to have it removed. In nine years we've had
three cases of patients swallowing our PMA's (posture modifying appliance)
but none of patients having to have it removed as it is very small - Dogs
love them, however we've never heard of anyone trying to get it back after
the dog has eaten it.
3) Dr Shevel has published three articles in refereed journals
"The migraine tension headache continuum" Incidentally we are now sure,
since the Dennis Robertson case, that this continuum includes cluster
headache
"Headaches - The Dental Connection" He is a dentist, a medical doctor, and a
Maxillo-Facial Surgeon
"Three case studies of Vascular Surgery for the prevention of chronic
headache"
Publications on ligation of the subcutaneous arteries in the scalp as a
method of relieving headache pain date back to Roman times and are found
also in native scriptures of American Indians, natives of Tahiti, and also
sub-Saharan dessert people know as the Bushmen. More refereed sources
include
Cook N, Cryosurgery of migraine. Headache 1973; Jan: 143 - 150
There is another one by Wolf in the 30's the reference of which I'll find
and forward to you
And now Dr shevel's article
That's three - what do regulations say about the number of articles that
have to be published, what's the cutoff?
The number of articles published in both 'Headache' and 'Cephalalgia on
these arteries involvement in headache pain are many and varied and easily
accessible.
There are even more article published on the use of intra oral appliance in
headache - so what's the difference between our intra oral appliance (enter
the Dennis Robertson procedure) and others that are used? - ours is just
different and better, that's why its patented in SA and in the US.
4) I understand more about the nature of the sensitivities that OUCH has to
deal with since your reply and would hate to jeopardize OUCH's integrity in
any way whatsoever. Thank you. I understand for myself that although we're
ligit, you can't endorse a patient coming out to try 'new stuff' cause then
you'd have to endorse the new stuff that wasn't legit too. I retract my
plea, we do not ask anything of OUCH and thank all of you for taking the
time to respond to us.
Any questions, don't hesitate to write, any personal theories (and there
must be few considered ones out there) don't hesitate to run them by us - we
don't steal proprietary knowledge and expect the same, any patients you want
to send out in your personal capacities don't hesitate to let me know and
we'll put them up. Unfortunately we can not continue to provide free
treatment ad infinitum but our offer to one more chronic sufferer for free
treatment stands no matter who sends them.
All the best for the future - I'll stay in touch
Daniel Shevel
Director of Business Development
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THE HEADACHE CLINIC
JOHANNESBURG
YOUR HEADACHES CAN BE CURED