Rattanapan Pansri only wished to hear some good news from the second doctor about her husband who was earlier diagnosed as suffering the final stage of colon cancer. unfortunately, the second opinion turned things from bad to worse.

“The first doctor said my husband would die within four months. And at that time our three kids were still very young. I didn’t know what to do,” recalled Rattanapan. “We sought a second opinion and the situation got even worse. The second doctor told us that our primary doctor lied and that the truth was my husband would not live longer than two months.”

Rattanapan’s husband, Kampon, decided to undergo an operation to remove parts of his damaged colon while the rest of the colon, unfortunately, still did not function well. while Kampon saw no improvement in his condition after the operation and got weaker every day, Rattanapan was forced to think about preparing for a funeral.

But while conventional medicine was not able to save her husband’s life, Rattanapan finally found hope in a herbal remedy _ pak-king grass.

“I realised many years ago I used to feed pak-king grass to my father who was then suffering skin cancer and, surprisingly, his condition improved. So I thought why not try this with my husband. I started preparing pak-king grass juice for him twice a day. My husband was taking it regularly for 12 years. now it has been almost 22 years since his cancer diagnosis and now the doctor finds no trace of malignancy in his body,” said Rattanapan, a retired nurse.

Chananya Songprapa shared similar positive experiences with pak-king grass after the weed, which was thought to originate from Yunnan, China, successfully kept her psoriasis _ a chronic inflammatory skin disease _ at bay.

“The disease started with itching especially in the areas underneath the clothes. And the more I scratched, the more pus-filled and yellowish bumps developed,” recounted Chananya, a finance and budget officer. Symptoms of psoriasis involve the abnormal and rapid proliferation of skin cells which bring about thickened and red skin. The disorder is caused by an abnormal immune system.

Chananya visited a doctor and was prescribed three doses of medication both for oral and external use. Despite no improvement, she was advised by her doctor to stop taking the medicine after finishing all the doses to prevent chemical accumulation in her body. she decided to try pak-king grass as recommended by one of her friends. she bought ready-to-drink pak-king grass juice from a supermarket and drank one bottle every other day. only one month later, the pus-filled bumps dried out, the affected areas got much smaller and there was almost no more itching.

Murdannia bracteata or pak-king grass is sometimes referred to as Ya Tevada , or cure-all grass.

“I have been dependent on pak-king grass juice regularly for 10 years so far. I used to stop [drinking] it for a few months and then I started to itch again. now the skin disease is cured. My doctor was astonished,” said Chananya.

Pak-king grass or Murdannia bracteata has become more popular as an alternative cure among patients who fall victim to several diseases especially cancer. According to Supaporn Pitiporn, chief pharmacist of the Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital, even though cutting-edge medical technology to conquer cancer is now widely available, surprisingly the number of patients suffering cancer has been constantly on the rise.

“Currently the number of cancer patients in Thailand increases by 23% each year which accounts for approximately 240,000 newly diagnosed cases annually. And about 60,000 Thais die of cancer each year,” said Supaporn.

To back up the effectiveness of pak-king grass as a cancer remedy, Assoc Prof Wisuda Suwittayawat, head of the Medicinal Plant Information Centre, Mahidol University’s Faculty of Pharmacy, cited laboratory trials on mice and explained that pak-king grass contains anti-inflammatory and anti-mutation properties.

“Scientifically speaking, pak-king grass can help cut down two enzymes called cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase, which are responsible for inflammation. At the same time, chemicals called bracteanolide a and B in pak-king grass can help reduce inducible nitric oxide which also leads to inflammation,” she said.

Wisuda also added that pak-king grass is proven to be effective in preventing mutation of cells. The grass also alleviates side effects caused by conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy including nausea, drastic weight loss and burning.

“Pak-king grass also boosts the production of DT-diaphorase _ an enzyme whose function is to get rid of toxic substances that can be the cause of cancer. it also stimulates the body’s immune system and the production of enzymes which act as antioxidant agents,” noted the pharmacist, adding that there has not yet been any clinical trial on humans regarding the effectiveness of the herbal healer.

Notwithstanding the plant’s health-related benefits, Wisuda recommended that pak-king grass should be consumed in moderate quantity. Fresh pak-king grass leaves contain a high amount of calcium crystals so if consumed too much, it could bring about calcium crystallisation in the kidneys.

“So if you want to take pak-king grass regularly to keep your cancer or other diseases at bay, I would suggest you take it in the form of juice as the calcium crystals found in pak-king grass leaves would be broken down during the juice-making process,” advised Wisuda.

Those who are not diagnosed as suffering cancer, however, have no need to take pak-king grass as a preventive shield against malignancy.

“There is no way we could eat all types of herbs to prevent all diseases. If you do so, it means you put too much unnecessary workload on your liver and kidneys,” noted Wisuda. “Therefore, just like any other types of herbs, I would suggest that they are consumed properly and appropriately. otherwise, your liver and kidneys will have to work very hard to get rid of what exceeds the body’s requirement.”

“So the best defence against diseases is to consume adequate nutritional intakes each day, avoid grilled food which contains a high amount of hydrocarbon believed to potentially cause cancer, have enough rest and exercise regularly. When it comes to health, bear in mind that too much of something is not good.”

Pak-king grass

HOW TO PREPARE THE HERBAL REMEDY

RECIPE 1 Pak-king grass concentrate

This is the most popular pak-king grass preparation method. Rinse pak-king grass with water. Dip the entire grass (including leaves, trunks and roots) in saline or vinegar solution (two teaspoons of salt or vinegar per one litre of water) for 20 minutes. Pound three grass leaves using a clay or wooden mortar until it becomes a paste. Add two tablespoons of boiled water. then strain it through white thin cotton cloth. The correct dose for adults is two tablespoons of grass juice twice a day: 30 minutes before breakfast and at bedtime, while children are advised to reduce the dose to  to 1 tablespoon.

Ideally, this recipe should be prepared by using fresh pak-king grass. And the drink should not be kept overnight.

RECIPE 2 Steamed pak-king grass

Steam about 10 pak-king grass leaves until they become very soft and tender. this should take approximately eight hours. The liquid from the steaming process can be sipped all day, but it should not be kept overnight.

RECIPE 3 Pak-king grass juice

Put 6-7 pak-king grass leaves as well as half a glass of water in a juicer. Add apples or other seasonal fruits and juice them together. Drink three glasses of this pak-king juice per day.

PRECAUTIONS Possible side effects of pak-king grass concentrate, after being consumed for seven to 10 days, include sleeping difficulties and bad mood. Some people will experience dark-colour urine or faeces. these conditions are signs that the grass is taking effect and will later disappear. after taking pak-king grass concentrate for more than 20 days, if the disease does not improve, patients should stop the remedy. this reaction suggests the body does not respond to the herb.

Pak-king grass is categorised as a cold herb. those with low body temperature are therefore advised to add a few slices of ginger or Chinese wolfberries during the grass preparation process.

Contact the Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital’s Medicinal Plant Information Centre on 037-211-289 or 086-149-5656.

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When 6-year-old Angela Bushi’s organs started to fail, her family feared they would lose her – just as they had lost her 18-month-old sister Alicia to liver failure a few months earlier.

“When you see your children in this situation, and there’s nothing you can do, it is so hard,” said Angela’s mom, Valbona Bushi.  “We went through a lot.”

But today, Angela’s organs are functioning better than ever.  thanks to a team of geneticists and surgeons at Holtz Children’s Hospital and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital, her life was saved after she underwent a combined liver, pancreas, and kidney transplant – the first ever quadruple transplant of its kind performed on a child.

Initially born healthy, Angela developed type 1 diabetes when she was just a year old.  Four years later, she became even sicker, developing flu-like symptoms, which  eventually turned into fatal liver failure.

“This was kind of an unusual combination of acute liver failure and diabetes,” said Dr. Olaf Bodamer, director of the pediatric genetics program at Holtz Children’s Hospital, who eventually diagnosed Angela.  “We knew that her sister had died under similar circumstances, so we assumed that her condition was genetic.  When you go to the medical literature, the list of syndromes that came up to explain her condition was very small.”

Bodamer finally discovered the culprit – Wilcott-Rallison Syndrome (WRS), an extremely rare disease with only 60 known cases in medical literature worldwide.  Those with WRS have a multitude of health problems, including diabetes, liver and/or kidney failure, bone and growth problems, repeated infections and intellectual impairment.

And for the majority of children with WRS, the condition is typically fatal.

After finally diagnosing Angela with WRS, surgeons knew that if they were going to save her life, transplanting just one organ wasn’t going to cut it.

“The risk to her life was from three (different) organs – the liver, pancreas, and kidneys,” said Dr. Andreas Tzakis, chief of the liver/GI transplant program at UM’s Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital, and one of the transplant surgeons who operated on Angela.  “If there was to be a solution, we knew we’d have to combine these (three different types of) organs into one transplant.  We had several consultations within the team, outside the team, and the parents; and collectively, we decided the transplant was the way to go.”

Angela was placed on a transplant list, and on December 29, 2011, she received the ground-breaking quadruple transplant.  Because of Angela’s small size and the combination of the organs needed, Angela’s new liver, pancreas, and kidneys all came from a single donor.  the organs were left in a “block,” almost as if they were all one organ.  

The surgery was the first to ever be performed on a child – and the first to be used to treat WRS.  Liver transplants had previously been considered to treat the disease, but surgeons never followed through with them for fear of complications with other organs.  but because the surgeons transplanted all the organs at once, the complications were minimized as much as possible.

Initially, Angela started to reject the organs – but the doctors were prepared and treated the issue with anti-rejection meds, and she has since fully recovered. she was discharged from Holtz at the end of February.

Angela no longer needs insulin treatment, and the only evidence of her innovative surgery is a slightly protruding belly, which houses two pancreases, a new liver and four kidneys.

The surgeons hope Angela’s story will not be the only one of its kind and that more transplants like hers can be done in the future.

“The surgery itself might benefit other children who might need this combination,” Tzakis said.  “It might give hope to children with this syndrome – that there might be at least one solution that can prolong their life.  For the first time, we have a sense of enjoyment about this whole process.   Seeing the child looking well and the family being relieved, this is the first time I feel joy for having done this procedure.”

The Bushi family, who live in Jacksonville, Fla., are also joyous to have Angela back home and feeling better.  they said they look forward to seeing Angela live a long and healthy life.

“She’s a normal child again, and we can do everything like normal parents,” Valbona said.  “She even wants to be a doctor when she grows up.”

When we come down with the flu, we might think the worst is over after a week of a sore throat and body aches. But such viral infections may have lasting, unseen effects on the brain, emerging research suggests.

Viruses such as influenza and herpes may leave brain cells vulnerable to degeneration later in life, and increase the risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, research suggests. That’s because these the viruses can enter the brain and trigger an immune response — inflammation — which can damage brain cells.

Viruses and other sources of inflammation “may be initiating factors in some of the most common neurological diseases,” said Dr. Ole Isacson, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, who discussed the topic in an article published today (Feb. 15) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

It’s unlikely one bout of the flu will cause significant damage. But over a lifetime, injuries to cells accumulate, Isacson said, and along with environmental stresses, this can kill cells and the development of brain diseases. Variations in the number of infections we get may be the difference between a person developing Parkinson’s disease at age 65 or at age 95, Isacson said.

It’s possible that toning down the inflammation that occurs shortly after viral infection could reduce cell damage and the risk of subsequent brain disease, Isacson said. Isacson pointed to a 2011 study of 135,000 men and women found that those who took ibuprofen (a medication that can reduce inflammation) were 30 percent less likely to develop Parkinson’s over a six year period compared to those who did not take the medication.

Brain infection

One of the earliest pieces of evidence for the virus-brain disease link comes from the 1918 influenza pandemic, according to Isacson’s article. After that outbreak, there was a dramatic increase in cases of a disease called postencephalitic parkinsonism, which has many of the same symptoms as Parkinson’s.

In a more rigorous test of the link, a 2009 study showed that mice injected with the H5N1 flu virus developed infections in cells in a brain region known to be significantly impacted by Parkinson’s disease, Isacson said.

Research has also shown that infection with certain herpes viruses can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. and very rarely,encephalitis, or brain inflammation caused by viruses, can lead directly to an acute, but transient, form of Parkinson’s disease.

But more often, viral infections in our brain are silent, Isacson said. we don’t see the full impact of these infections until brain degeneration is substantial, he said.

Preventing disease

Several weeks after infection, inflammatory molecules known as cytokines reach a peak concentration, Isacson said. It’s this “cytokine storm” that Isacson and his colleagues suspect is responsible for the brain cell damage associated with viral infections.

If researchers could find a way to block this peak from occurring, they might reduce the risk of certain neurological diseases, Isacson said.

In addition, researchers could also try to identify viruses that cause particularly severe cytokine storms, to better understand which infections pose the greatest risk to the brain, Isacson said.

The idea that immune system inflammation may influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders is just one hypothesis out of many that are being investigated today, said Heather Snyder, senior associate director of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association. more research is needed to understand what, if any, effect the immune system has on brain diseases, Snyder said.

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Do you have a cold that just won’t go away? the aisle at your local drugstore is overflowing with different cold medicines, and choosing the right one feels like a gamble with your wallet taking the hit at every purchase.

Without a cure, the common cold is a treat-the-symptoms illness and that’s where the picture gets even more complicated. according to the Mayo Clinic, the common cold is caused by more than 100 viruses, which means signs and symptoms vary greatly.

From coughing and sneezing to body aches and nausea, the common cold is different in the estimated 62 million cases occurring each year in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. and that adds up to a lot of symptoms and cold medicine.

When you take nonprescription medicine for four to seven days and your symptoms do not improve or the symptoms get worse, it is time to go to seek medical attention, according to Sarah Braga, who is a Registered Pharmacist who holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy and serves as director of drug information and associate professor at South University’s School of Pharmacy in Columbia, S.C.

“While antibiotics are not appropriate for treating a viral infection, complications from the common cold can include bacterial infections such as sinusitis, ear infections, and pneumonia. Remember that your pharmacist is there to help you long before you have a prescription in hand.”

Pharmacists are trained to conduct assessments and to make recommendations on a wide range of nonprescription medications, including herbal remedies, vitamins, and supplements. for the common cold, remedies come in three broad categories: pain relievers, decongestant nasal sprays and cough syrups. Reading the labels and understanding dosage, especially for young children, is critical.

“Nonprescription medicine should be taken with the same care as prescription medicine, especially for those with complicating factors such as pregnancy or chronic long-term medical conditions such as diabetes or asthma,” says Dr. Braga. “And your pharmacist is there to help you make good choices for treating your cold symptoms and can help you with dosage instructions.”

Consider these factors when evaluating whether or not it is time to see the doctor. 1. do you have a fever? 2. have you been treating your symptoms for a week with no improvement or have the symptoms gotten worse? 3. Are you experiencing unusual symptoms such as dizziness, new pain, coughing blood, etc.? 4. do you have complicating factors such as diabetes, or are you pregnant?

If you can answer “yes” to two or more of the above questions, it is probably time to seek medical attention.

For most people suffering with the common cold, standing in the drugstore aisle reading the labels on nonprescription cold medicine and trying to decide which one to use is a challenge. Remember, you are not alone, and your pharmacist is there to help.

The infection set in slowly. At first, it probably felt like a cold with fever, congestion, and achy joints. but maybe a week later, the boy’s legs started to give out from under him, and his fever spiked above 100. the virus that first settled in the intestines had multiplied thousands-fold and moved on to attack its prized target — his nervous system. the infection overtook crucial nerves of his respiratory system and the boy lost his ability to breathe on his own.

National Museum of Health and Medicine

At its peak in 1952, more than 21,000 Americans contracted a paralyzing form of polio, and 3,000 died from it. once infected, there was no treatment besides time and tending to the symptoms.  

Perhaps this sounds familiar. you feel tired, so tired. just about all the time. you pump in caffeine, maybe sugar, too, to get through the day.

The doctor looks at your labs and finds nothing wrong. yet, you don’t feel right.

A little Googling or a chat with a naturopath or chiropractor may have made you curious about adrenal fatigue. yet a little more investigation shows that there’s debate about whether the condition even exists.

Dr. Pierre Brunschwig of Helios Integrated Medicine says adrenal fatigue is something he sees frequently in his practice.

As a medical doctor who embraces holistic and complementary medicine, as well, he sees patients who have not found the help they were seeking in western medicine, and also patients who have not had their needs met by complementary medicine alone.

Brunschwig defines adrenal fatigue like this: “Somebody whose stressors are such that they have overwhelmed and depleted the adrenalin gland’s ability to continue to make important stress hormones, especially cortisol.”

He adds: “They end up in a low energy well.”

Brunschwig says the stressors may by physiologic conditions such as sleep apnea or an undiagnosed chronic infection. or they may be psychological. Sometimes the two interact, intensifying the condition.

His first step is a long interview, followed by lab work and sometimes other tests, to deduce what is going on with the person.

“You have to be quite comprehensive to capture the majority of the stressors,” he says.

He says most people come in saying they’re tired.

“The first, second and third thing is fatigue,” Brunschwig says.

However, he probes to find out when they are the most tired, if it’s after meals or later in the day, for example.

“The way that they’re tired is a very important clue as to how much adrenal function they have left,” he says.

“Someone who can’t get out of bed all day obviously has a big issue. somebody who’s only tired between 3 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon, we’d expect their adrenal function to be mostly intact.”

Brunschwig has patients use a take-home saliva test to measure cortisol. rather that the typical blood test, often taken in the morning, he says the saliva test, which is taken four times in a day, gives a more complete picture.

The Hormone Foundation, a group devoted to hormone research and the clinical practice of endocrinology, says in a fact sheet that no test exists for adrenal fatigue, a condition it says it not a real medical condition.

It recognizes adrenal insufficiency, a near total failure of the adrenal glands that is a function of Addison’s Disease, but says there is no medical evidence for adrenal fatigue, which often has vague symptoms that could be caused by a variety of conditions.

Brunschwig says that most of the medical community only recognizes Addison’s, which is a complete loss of adrenal function.

“What we’re saying is that (some) people don’t lose all of their function. They’re limping along badly but manage to produce a little cortisol,” Brunschwig says. “What I’m saying is they don’t feel good and can barely function.”

Lynn Smith, a dietitian and life coach, says she sees many clients with adrenal fatigue, especially since one of her specialties is people with alcohol and drug problems.

“It’s why diet is so fundamental to feeling good in recovery,” she says. “People come in. They’re wiped out. They’re using sugar and caffeine to satisfy cravings. It keeps them in an up and down cycle.”

Smith also sees clients with the more common stressors such as demanding work, a challenging family life and not enough time in the day.

“The diet becomes a valve for all that stress,” she says.

Perhaps ironically with the complexity of life for many people, the long-term remedy for adrenal fatigue is simple, if not always easy to implement, Smith says.

“The more you stay in balance, the more adrenals don’t get called into action,” she says.

That means paying attention to the basics: eating a varied, healthful diet, getting plenty of sleep and exercising moderately.

She also suggests finding ways to calm down such as meditation or yoga.

Smith recommends taking supplements under the supervision of an alternative practitioner or doctor. She says having your cortisol levels tested is key.

Indeed, one of the warnings of the Hormone Society is that people may self-diagnose adrenal fatigue and take supplements on their own, some of which may be dangerous.

Brunschwig says diagnosing and treating underlying conditions is the first step. he then says it’s key for patients to realize that they may be in an unconscious cycle in which they create emergencies in their lives to tap into cortisol’s cousin adrenaline as a way to regain their energy.

“Helping people understand how they’ve done this and helping them to back out of this is an important step in recovering adrenal health,” he says.

Then, depending on what testing and interviews show, Brunschwig suggests supplements, some of them intravenous. Magnesium often can play a big role in recovery, he says. he uses nutrient support and adrenals to help bring back function.

However, he says, “You can’t heal the body if you have emergencies going on all day. to a certain extent, that’s part of the lesson.”

Grisalea Uwabaho does not know her daughter’s result yet, but – whatever it is – she says she will believe it.

The 30-year-old mother of five walked an hour this morning to bring her youngest child – her wailing, feverish one-year-old daughter, Mariam – to this tin-roofed, two-room clinic, which is the most advanced health facility she could hope to reach in Kyankwanzi district, an impoverished corner of central Uganda. Uwabaho fears that her baby may have malaria, and she has brought her here to find out for sure.

A nurse pricks the baby’s finger then places a drop of her blood on a tiny window inside a small strip of plastic. Fifteen minutes later, he announces the result: negative. the nurse gives Uwabaho medicine to fight off Mariam’s cough and diarrhoea.

Here in Kyankwanzi district, and across sub-Saharan Africa, that little strip of plastic – better known as a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for malaria – is revolutionising both the management and the understanding of a disease which threatens nearly half of the world’s population and that killed close to 800,000 people in 2009, 90% of them in Africa. Clinicians in far-flung African villages used to have no choice but to diagnose malaria based on symptoms alone. But, today, health workers who have access to RDTs – which now cost less than $1 (63p) apiece – can determine with relative certainty whether patients have any malaria parasites in their blood.

It is a simple feat, perhaps, but it represents a crucial step in the struggle to control this deadly, but highly treatable, disease. where they have been introduced, RDTs have helped to improve patients’ chances of recovery by ensuring more appropriate treatment for fever-causing conditions and conserving precious anti-malarial drugs. they have also helped to paint a much more accurate picture of the malaria problem the world faces today.

“As RDTs were introduced, it became clear that there was nowhere near as much malaria in many areas as people thought,” says Dr David Bell, the head of the malaria diagnostics programme at the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative new Diagnostics (Find).

“Everyone who had a fever used to be classified as having malaria, and now maybe 20% of those people have malaria, and 80% have something else,” he says. People have to start thinking differently about the importance of accurate diagnosis, he says.

Thanks to an upsurge in funding, the global struggle to control malaria has made significant progress in the past 10 years. according to the Roll back Malaria Partnership, an umbrella organisation based in Geneva, global deaths from the disease have dropped 38% since 2000. the RDT, despite only being around for a few years, is now playing a very significant part in the continuing control of malaria.

Such is the power and accuracy of the little plastic strip that, in 2010, the World Health Organisation (WHO) did away with its longstanding recommendation that malaria should be treated based on clinical symptoms alone. Now, it says that health workers everywhere – even in sub-Saharan Africa, where conditions are most challenging – should aim for parasite-based diagnosis, either with an RDT or a microscope, the traditional and much more technically demanding method of detecting malarial parasites.

When WHO changed its official recommendation, many countries followed suit; Uganda was one of them. Health officials there have set an ambitious target: by 2015, they want 85% of all suspected malaria cases to be subjected to parasite-based diagnosis. In 2007, that figure stood at just 9%; four years later, it has nearly trebled to 25%.

The recent gains have come in part thanks to the work of the Malaria Consortium, a UK-based international NGO that has been supplying RDTs and working with the Ministry of Health to teach health workers how to use them in five districts in central and western Uganda. the organisation’s work has revealed both the advantages and the challenges of the tests; their experience holds critical lessons for others looking to promote the use of RDTs.

Getting the local health workers to change their attitudes has been one of the trickiest aspects of the project, says Robin Altaras, who co-ordinates Malaria Consortium’s Comic-Relief-funded Pioneer project in Uganda.

“They’ve gone from 20 years of practising presumptive treatment of malaria to suddenly radically changing how they manage fever,” he says. “That’s a process that needs to be supported continuously over the long term, starting with training and following with supervision.”

The particular brand of test that Malaria Consortium has chosen – one of only two the Ugandan government has approved for use – has a shelf life of two years, in common with all RDTs, and a sensitivity rate of 97%, according to ongoing product evaluations by WHO and Find. this makes it one of the best of the dozens of RDTs currently available.

When used correctly, Altaras says, RDTs can serve as a powerful control on drug stocks, reducing wastage by limiting anti-malarial medicines to only those patients who truly need them. That means that clinics are less likely to run out of stock; it also means that the medicines are more likely to remain effective in the long run.

Experts say it may only be a matter of time before the highly adaptable malaria parasite evolves to outsmart the compound artemisinin, which is currently the best – and last – line of defence against the disease. Handing out fewer courses of those precious artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) – which can cure a person of malaria in just three days – means slowing down the clock on the ticking timebomb of resistance.

“ACTs should be taken only by those who have parasites, who have test results showing positive,” says Agaba Bosco, who is in charge of malaria diagnostics for Uganda’s National Malaria Control Programme. “The biggest threat now is the potential development of drug resistance,” he says, adding that such a scenario “would be a disaster” for malaria control.

A disaster in Uganda, and a disaster around the world. That is one more reason, experts say, why the global public health community should sharpen its focus on diagnostics.

Tuesday, Nov 8 2011, 8:19 am :

Want to help?

The Walk for Madison will be Nov. 12 in uptown Shelby, beginning at the Cleveland County Chamber, 200 S. Lafayette St., Shelby. Registration is at 8:30; walk at 9.

Each team walker will raise donations through sponsors. if a child is the walker, parents are expected to accompany him or her with no charge. Non-fundraisers who wish to participate in the walk may do so by either sponsoring someone for at least $17 or donating at least $17 at the event.

For more information, to walk, to donate, and to volunteer for the walk, check out the “Walk for Madison” Facebook page at: facebook.com/Walk4Madi

Madison Folk, 17, was on a mission trip to Nicaragua in April when she experienced virus-like symptoms and ulcers and sores erupted in her mouth.

“We just thought it was the stress of traveling,” said her dad, Mark Folk, who also went on the medical mission trip.

But when they returned home, Madison Folk’s symptoms continued to get worse and it would be five months and numerous hospital stays before any treatment would bring relief.

The family has some help with the medical bills through a shared health care program called Samaritan’s Ministries. The program covers doctor bills, but doesn’t pay for medicine.

To assist the family with the mounting bills, friends and family are sponsoring Walk for Madison Nov. 12 in uptown Shelby. Registration will be at the Cleveland County Chamber, 200 S. Lafayette St., at 8:30 a.m. and the one-mile walk begins at 9 a.m.

“It’s hard to believe that people are doing the walk for me,” Madison Folk said. “It’s a nice thing.”

Diagnosis and questions

Madison Folk has Crohn’s disease, a hereditary condition that causes ongoing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn’s disease may occur in any area of the digestive tract. There can be healthy patches of tissue between diseased areas. Madison’s trip out of the country was one reason it took so long to make the diagnosis. Doctors had to rule out typhoid fever, parasites and other causes.

When doctors discovered Crohn’s, Madison Folk had lost 30 pounds. she had experienced severe pain, high fevers and three visits to the emergency room. The medicine helped for a short time, but then the symptoms came back worse than before.

“It hasn’t hit me that all that happened to me,” Madison Folk said. “for the longest time, nobody could help me. It was frustrating. my dad really helped a lot. He was there every step of the way. He could relate to how it felt.”

Mark Folk stayed with his 17-year-old daughter through the week, while his wife, Sheri Folk, worked and took care of their 11-year-old daughter, Sydnee. Mark Folk, founder of New Wilderness Adventures, a Christian ministry to men, and the pastor of a house church, couldn’t help but ask God why.

“I don’t understand it. There is a mystery in following God,” he said. “I was asking God, ‘Why is my child having to suffer?’ and he said, ‘you are going to have to fight for her.’ I said, ‘It’s too hard to watch her suffer,’ and God said, ‘I had to watch my child suffer.’”

Finding relief

In September Madison Folk was put on a feeding tube and a pediatric gastroenterologist at Levine’s Children’s Hospital ordered a colonoscopy, capsule endoscopy and endoscopy. The tests showed diseased areas in her small intestine. They suggested treatment with Remicade, a strong medication that costs $10,000 per dose.

“Mark has ulcerative colitis and we prayed so hard against that because Mark has dealt with it since he was in his 20s,” Sheri Folk said. “God has other plans in store for Madison. It broke our hearts and now we have to look ahead and ask ourselves, ‘What is going to be the blessing out of this?’ she has already been a blessing to the people at Levine’s. The nurses were amazed and commented on how well she took the feeding tube through her nose.”

Since beginning the treatments with Remicade, Madison Folk is gaining weight and feeling better. A senior at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, she’s been keeping up with her school work as a homebound student. she started back to school this week and went to a football game. The family is pleased to hear her whistling around the house again.

“she was so sick for so long. We are thankful that she is better,” Mark Folk said.

“We wanted God to heal her,” Sheri Folk added. “There are a lot of prayers going up for her. God used doctors and this medicine to bring about healing.”

Reach Jackie Bridges at 704-669-3337.

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My son is suffering from gallstones. Some times he suffer in vomitting and indisation. the local docter give him some medicine then he cure. but after that again he fall in disease. Is it occure for the gallstone?

You feel like your stomach is literally on fire! You cramp, feel like you are going to throw up. Stay away from dairy, spicy and greasy foods!! I had mine taken out 12 years ago, same day surgery, felt much better after wards! Hope your son is better soon!!!

Pain lots and lots of pain.

I had my Gall Bladder removed recently. You have the symptoms of diarrhea and side pain. I wasn't sick though. I felt excellent after having the Surgery done. I was sent home the same day. I had the Surgery where my Mom works.

My nan has them.
She has found a way to cope with them – so, she can avoid surgery, by not eating rich foods, as this used to make her vomit and made life, extremely painful for herself.

at random times I get severe itchiness in my ears and throat and irritation in my eyes :S

Drugs, drugs and more drugs. God bless the people that created Reactine and Benadryl.

take allergy medicine, and when part of your body itches, e.g. eyes, than rinse it off with water. it works. trust me.

Blah! I take allegra and have my inhaler handy at all times, ac helps as well (helps me atleast).

Hey, I've sent you an email