Famous people with RSD.
 

I had read somewhere that if Howard Hughes were alive today, he would be diagnosed with RSD. We know Paula Abdul is suppose to have it.

I watched a movie with Montgomery Clift and before the movie started they talked of how he was injured in a car accident before the movie was finished and he never was the same physically nor mentally. He suffered from pain for the last 10 years of his life dying at 45. I read up on it and I do believe he had RSD and most likey wasn't diagnosed with it. In his time, it was most likely really hard to get diagnosed with it. Raintree Valley was the name of the movie and his face was so changed because of the accident that they didn't think the movie would be a hit.

Another one I thought of was James Arness. He was wounded in the war and never lived without pain in his leg again.

I wonder how many others there are that we don't know of.

Ada

I just do not understand why Paula Abdul will not step up and put a name to her condition. She has been labeled a goofball, drunk and pill popper at times. Why wouldn't you own up to it and set the record straight? Everyone is entitled to their privacy but she could do some much good by coming forth and by hiding it, it does not seem to help her.

Interesting idea and yes there are probably many people famous and otherwise that have or have had this monster. As for Paula, you just struck my last nerve!!!!!!! I want the kind of RSD that she has!!!!!!!
In my opinion she has done more harm than good for this disease. Yes she treats it her way as you stated drugs , alcohol etc. I wish she would have never said that she has RSD.
She has done NOTHING to spread awareness,or for research etc. I will stop now.Carol

Hi,
 

I totally agree with you on Paula. I have read many articles on her and have seen her on tv and I have never once heard her say she has RSD. She has talked about her injuries she sustained in the airplane wreck and from dancing but never heard her say RSD.

She is not creditable to be a spokesperson for it. If she went to Washington they would think she was there to talk about drug and alcohol abuse.

There has to be another actor out there due to the stunts they do on their own. Injuries come with a lot of the stunts. I wonder though, if we just had a person that could go to Washington, even if they weren't an actor could do some good. Not all fighters for causes are famous to start with.

Like you, Carol, I will stop now.

Ada

Through the years I've often heard what a drug addict Howard Hughes was, Lost his mind because of drug abuse etc. It dawned on me sometime ago exactly what this guy went through. He was in 4 separate plane crashes, the last, I believe, was a crash doctors to this day can't figure out how he survived. I truly believe this man suffered physically for decades.

jerry lewis
 

This article is a few years old, but thought it fit.....

Jerry Lewis entertained doctors, nurses, firefighters and other people at a seminar at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. Between jokes and video clips, Lewis told of the agony his estimated 1,900 career pratfalls caused him. One physical gag in 1965 – a flip off a piano – landed him spine-first on a steel cable. The accident left him paralyzed overnight and then caused overwhelming pain for the next 37 years, Lewis, now 78, said.

Four failed back surgeries, steroids and narcotic pain pills did nothing to relieve the pain, Lewis said. He became a workaholic to try to take his mind off the agony he felt. But the pain never went away. He was minutes away from shooting himself when his daughter, now 12, caught him holding a handgun, he said.

The entertainer now uses “a pain pacemaker” – an implanted device called a spinal cord stimulator. The device, made by Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis, consists of a palm-size battery encased in plastic, which is placed under the skin in the abdomen or buttocks. Coated wires run from the stimulator to the spine. Tiny electrodes at the end of the wires lay on top of the spinal cord and produce an electric current. Patients experience the current as a tingling. The tingling blocks pain signals to the brain. Patients control the intensity and duration of the current with a remote control.

For Lewis, the pain relief was instantaneous and complete. But his “Jewish guilt” doesn’t allow him to fully enjoy his pain relief knowing that others are in similar boats, he said.

“We have 75 million people suffering with chronic pain in this country. It is an epidemic,” Lewis said.

For 2 1/2 years, Lewis has toured as Medtronic’s spokesman, touting the benefits of spinal cord stimulation for people with chronic pain.

Lewis intends to start a Chronic Pain Association similar to the Muscular Dystrophy Association he began nearly half a century ago. His telethons have raised nearly $2 billion for muscular dystrophy over the past 48 years, and children with the disease often are referred to as “Jerry’s kids.”

The most common reason for getting a spinal stimulator is chronic pain after back surgery, said Dr. Gregory H. Smith, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Pain Management Services in Des Peres. About 400,000 people in the United States undergo back surgeries each year. Up to 15 percent of them may develop chronic pain, Smith said.

Doctors are not sure how the stimulator blocks pain. Some researchers think the electrical currents may stimulate the body to release endorphins, a natural type of painkiller akin to morphine. Another theory is that it swamps out pain signals to the brain by overwhelming those messages with more pleasurable tingling sensations.

“It’s like having a phone line that’s busy. Now these pain fibers can’t call in the pain message to the spinal cord and the brain,” Smith said.

The device is usually a last resort, said Dr. Robert Swarm, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Washington University Pain Center.

Only about two dozen of the 1,500 new patients Swarm sees each year get the stimulators, he said.

Medtronic and several other manufacturers make the devices. The stimulator may cost $15,000 to $35,000, depending on the size of the battery and the number of electrodes. But the device is not necessarily more expensive than pain pills, Swarm said.

Even though the stimulators don’t work for all patients and may only partially relieve pain for others, patients often report functioning better in daily life, pain doctors say.

“It may make the difference between having normal relations with the family and being a recluse moaning in their room all the time,” Swarm said.
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Now I dont endorse Medtronics or spinal cord stimulators, I had a trial with one and it just wasnt for me ( that and it caused more pain) although everyone is different and that may/maynot be the case for you.

Mr. Lewis has done so much good in his life, a real hero in my eyes.

be well,
Dee

Hi Dee,
 

I thought of Jerry Lewis also. I had heard his story. It would be good if he started an Assoc for cronic pain. Again RSD is not mentioned. There is a difference between CPS and RSD. I don't know how much the Assoc. would help RSD unless it was mentioned separately.

Ada

I too have a medtronic SCS-Am doing well with it. But just to set the Paula record straight-From my research , she developed RSD (supposedly) in her arm/ arm as a teenage cheerleader. This is all i have ever heard of her injuries. Carol

Yes, Jim, Howard Hughes did have RSD after his plane crash and NEVER found relief. My husband and I stayed at the Fairmont Princess Resort in Acapulco, the last hotel that he stayed at out of the country be for he died. I started doing research about him after that and found that he was in terrible pain for years..I didn't know what RSD was at the time, but when I got it, it all made perfect sense to me. Paula Abdul, on the other hand, danced on Drop Dead Diva and if she says that she has RSD, I don't know how she could dance like that....I know that as a former dancer and dance corps participant, there is no way that I can even dance a little bit..I try at weddings and such, but my body won't move the way I want it to.

Just my 2 cents worth
 

Since RSD was first diagnosed during the Civil War (back then it was called Causalgia) there stands a great chance that there has been a good number of "Celebrities" that have been diagnosed with RSD.

As far as Paula Abdul goes... Here is the link to the article that was in USA Today on April 20, 2005 where Paula does admit to having RSD.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/...la-abdul_x.htm


After seeing the movie Aviator, I became very interested in Howard Hughes... such a brilliant man who fell into a dark world due to mental illness and severe intractable pain. Was it RSD? If he were diagnosed today it is quite possible that he would have been diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy...his symptoms certainly fit.. Here is a great article that I found online about this... http://intractablepaindisease.com/HowardHughes.pdf

I believe that Hughes' mental illness prevented him from seeking physical medical treatment therefore, we will never truly know what great things could have come out of knowing whether or not this great man had RSD.

As for as today's "stars".... I can see where it would be hard for them to say "I have RSD..." Athletes stand the chance of seeing there playing time dwindled to sitting the bench to prevent further injury...

If someone finds out an Actor has RSD.... Directors and Producers may not hire as Actors often spend 12+ hours a day on set...RSD may prevent them from fully being available to do their jobs as needed.

It seems to me that any Neurological Disorder is becoming a Taboo thing to admit to having in the entertainment world.... whether it's RSD, Parkinson's, MS, etc.

Thank you for letting me share my two cents worth...
Abbie