Hope for treatment on autoimmune diseases<\/p>\n
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Wiry Hendrik Kurnia was just eight years old when he first felt
\nthe pain in his Achilles tendon. The pain worsened each day until
\nhe could not walk at all.<\/p>\n
Though not paralyzed, his tiny feet could not sustain his
\nweight just to stand up. His lowest ebb was when his parents
\ndecided he could no longer go to school, because his classroom
\nwas up two flights of stairs.<\/p>\n
His parents initially thought it was \"just soreness after a
\nfall.\"<\/p>\n
Some traditional masseurs suggested that too, as did all the
\nlocal doctors that were consulted. But their worry gradually grew
\nwhen the pain did not stop after trips to hospitals and clinics
\nand, of course, tens of millions of rupiah spent.<\/p>\n
\"A priest in Bogor even 'diagnosed' Hendrik with a kidney
\nailment. It was very confusing at that time as we did not know
\nwhere to go or who to rely on.\"<\/p>\n
They finally took him to Singapore, and Hendrik was sent to a
\nSingaporean doctor who diagnosed him with rheumatic arthritis.
\n\"It was like a lightning bolt had hit us on the head, because we
\nnormally associate arthritis with elderly people. Hendrik was
\njust 14 at the time,\" Hendrik's mother, Mei said.<\/p>\n
\"From that day on I began searching for everything I could
\nfind about rheumatic arthritis in books, magazines and the
\nInternet. I was completely in the dark about the disease so I
\nwanted to find out everything I could. And we tried all means to
\nget Hendrik healed,\" the mother of four said.<\/p>\n
\"Like many parents, we wanted to see him grow up as a healthy
\nperson and lead a normal life like many boys of his age.\"<\/p>\n
From a concerned friend, Mei was introduced to rheumatologist
\nJohn Darmawan, who is based in Semarang, Central Java. The
\ncontact with Darmawan was made two years ago and Mei's family now
\nmakes frequent trips from their home in Jakarta to Semarang.<\/p>\n
\"We usually had to pay a porter at the airport to carry
\nHendrik because the Semarang airport is not wheelchair
\naccessible,\" she lamented.<\/p>\n
\"He was able to walk for the most part, a year ago. Now he's
\nonly taking six kinds of pills (far less than previous
\nprescriptions from doctors that had misdiagnosed him) and one of
\nthem is just a vitamin for his bones. Hopefully, it will work,\"
\nMei who resides in Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta explained on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Since meeting Darmawan, Mei has spent Rp 20 million for the
\ntreatment plus the medicine, an amount much smaller than what she
\npaid to other local doctors, who obviously had failed in their
\ndiagnoses of Hendrik.<\/p>\n
However, Hendrik is likely much luckier than many other
\npeople. Nobody knows for sure how many other people are suffering
\nfrom the same problems -- and being misdiagnosed by local
\ndoctors. But those who have found Darmawan or one of the other 15
\nrheumatologists throughout this vast archipelago of more than 220
\nmillion people, can count themselves fortunate.<\/p>\n
A World Health Organization expert on rheumatic diseases,
\nDarmawan has introduced his treatment method, known as Stepdown
\nBridge Protocol of Intravenous and Oral Combination of 5
\nImmunosuppressants, to his patients from many parts of the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"It began in around 1993, and by 1996 after I observing the
\nresults of several combinations of medicine on patients with
\nLupus Nephrotic syndrome, I finally decided on the current
\nmethod,\" Darmawan said.<\/p>\n
Some foreign rheumatologists have also tried this method in
\ntheir home countries. Bangladesh's Syed Atiqul Haq, Vietnam's
\nTran Thi Minh Hoa, China's Dongbao Zhao and Iran's Soosan G.
\nSoroosh have all used Darmawan's method.<\/p>\n
In the history of treatment of Lupus Nephritis and RF +
\nRheumatoid Arthritis, never before have such almost miraculous
\nresults been achieved, director of the Indonesian Rheumatic
\nCenter Remy Nasution, said.<\/p>\n
\"This is really a way to help the suffering of people in the
\nthird world where expensive medicine is still a big problem.\"<\/p>\n
Remy said in Darmawan's protocol patients get intravenous
\ninfusions for two to four months, and can live normal lives with
\nthe aid of oral medicine after some six months, and totally cured
\nafter several years.<\/p>\n
\"In autoimmune disease, we call the healing period remission
\nbecause the disease is not entirely cured as it will naturally
\ncome and strike again if there is a triggering factor. Similar to
\na flu. We cannot have the flu for the rest of our lives, although
\nwe have been recovered from one we had today,\" Darmawan
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore those who are in remission must live unstressful
\nlifestyles with healthy diets,\" Darmawan added.<\/p>\n
Although less costly -- because he uses generic drugs -- and
\nfor those who own health insurance (locally known as Askes), this
\nmethod cannot be applied to treat all Lupus-related diseases. It
\nhas been tried on patients with Lupus Nephritis.<\/p>\n
Darmawan acknowledged that some local doctors debated against
\nhis protocol, saying that there had not yet been definitive
\nclinical testing to verify the method.<\/p>\n
On this matter, a rheumatologist from the Netherlands, J.J.
\nRasker said,\"Every new treatment will be challenged by those who
\nhave not tried it on. And every new treatment needs observation.
\nNow, I believe, we're in the stage of observation.\"<\/p>\n
\"This method is promising because the drugs used are not new
\ndrugs. We all know the side effects, so this is not experimental.
\nWe just didn't know the precise combination until John (Darmawan)
\nintroduced it to us.\"<\/p>\n
The breakthrough comprises several stages of remission, which are
\nachieved in relatively short periods of time:
\n-- Remission with intravenous therapy after 2 - 4 months when 24
\nhours urine micro-albumin is normalized (less than 30 mg
\npercent). The leak of albumin through the kidney is welded by the
\nintravenous Cyclophosphamide+Methylprednisolone+Methotrexate
\n-- Remission with oral drugs after 5.5 - 7.5 months when the
\nintravenous infusion is tapered off, remission is sustained with
\noral drugs for at least two years, before tapering off within one
\nyear.
\n-- Remission without drugs after 3.5 - 4.4 years of therapy.
\n-- Long-term remission with oral drugs and remission without
\ndrugs are sustained by immediate suppression of flares by re-
\ninstitution with the Step-down Bridge Protocol of Intravenous and
\nOral Combination of 5 Immunosuppressants (SBP-5-IMNs).<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hope-for-treatment-on-autoimmune-diseases-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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