Etanercept (brand name: Enbrel)
 

just read an article posted by a member in the forum: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...c-brain-injury

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like it's FDA approved since the article was written. has anyone tried this or knows more about this?

Tryinge to find more about this procedure. 1 poster I don't know if it was you said that the cost had gone from 5000 to 10,000 which is disgusting but what can yoju do. I searched google and haven't seen many updates in the past few years. I had a vision test that indicated damage to the cerebellum brain stem and thalamus. I dont know if the injection would help my particular problems but I would love to find out.

I thought the cost would go down since the FDA approval!!!! that is outrageous. Also trying to find more about it. let's please keep each other posted on this thread.

I am going to do my research and will let you know either by sending you a private message or putting it in the brain injury room. I have also read of disappointments where a woman with alzheimerrs spent a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on treatments that didn't work. But there seem to be reputable studies done that show it helps very much. if I had 10,000 laying around I would get it done. I might call and find out if it helps with my specific problems and if it does I will start saving for my disability check for it. I don't understand how this procedure affects so many different head problems. I thought the problems stemmed from damaged cells so I'm not sure why getting rid of inlammation would instantly heal people but I'm willing to find out. there was a very damaging article in a publication called science based medicine that you might want to read

I did not see anywhere where it said it is FDA approved. FDA approval would usually come through the manufacturer. There is no reason the manufacturer would spend the millions needed to get approval for this protocol. The market is just too small. The protocol is 25 mgs once, maybe twice.

The primary use of etanercept is for autoimmune diseases at 50 mgs per week at a cost of $16,000 per year. That is $153 per 25 mg dose.

I doubt insurance companies will ever pay for it. It is too experimental. The cost benefit ratio is too high. If it came down to below $1000, they may change their position.

A few lawsuits against the manufacturer for bad side effects could end the program and send it off-shore.

i saw those lawsuits online mark. I think you are right. also the clinical studies that were done were performed on rats right after their brain injury not up to 10 years plus. I have read many times that the effect of a brain injury last for decades and a lot of that is inflammation and free radicals. I guess stopping that would help and maybe without the inflammation the brain could heal better. there must be a cheaper way to stop the inflammation process.

Part of the damage from a brain injury is lost brain cells. Brain cells do not regenerate quickly if they do at all, nor do they quickly re-establish pathways that originally took years to establish the first time.

mark you are absolutely right and I don't see how even getting rid of inflammation instantly can make people get up and walk or regenerate lost brain cells or get rid of tau in alzheimers patients

The protocol is only helpful with a select group of people. I believe many diagnosed with Alzheimer's actually have other forms of dementia. My father was told he had Alzheimer's but his dementia started 30 years prior to his death. I believe he had ischemic dementia from decades of Central Sleep Apnea.

I know others with AD diagnoses who have a history of concussions. They say that people with a history of multiple concussion have an 18 fold increased risk of AD. I think they have an increased likelihood of a misdiagnosis of AD.

So, the few who improved likely did not have AD but rather a different malady.

It looks like the drug company was interested in seeing the effects of etanercept on Alzheimer's. A study was just completed, but the results have not been published:

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01068353

In the study that was reported in the Sun-Sentinel, only 12 out of 629 patients had TBI. Motor impairment and spasticity in the TBI patients were improved; there was no indication that cognition was improved. I do not have access to the full paper, but you can read the abstract here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23100196

I would love to read the full paper.