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"An OAP at 18": The Future
What does the future have in store for us? A question that we all ask ourselves at some point in life. But for me and many others like me the question is: Will there be a cure in my lifetime?
On the day that I was told I had an incurable disease, a disease that would gradually spread through my body making me dependant on others for my daily needs, I shrugged my shoulders and told myself that one day, a cure may be found. I was still young and somewhere out there must be a very clever doctor who holds the key to the discovery of a cure in my lifetime. Now, it looks as though my prayers may have been answered.
Over the last two years, there has been considerable research done mainly in Mexico and Sweden. Doctors have found what appears to be a major breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. The first consists of two operations performed at the same time. One operation involves taking the adrenal gland away from one of the patient's own kidneys, and transplanting some of the tissue from the gland into the patient's own brain in a second operation. The results of this type of surgery were recently documented on the television programme 'Horizon': one patient took seventeen months to improve, allowing for the tissue to grow and establish itself, and, although there was a noticeable improvement there were still signs of Parkinson's Disease in his walking. Before the surgery he had been virtually wheelchair-bound and after seventeen months he was back working his own farm.
The second breakthrough also involves transplanting tissue taken from the brain of an aborted foetus. Doctors consider that the best time to use this tissue is from an eight to ten week old foetus. The tissue from the foetus is more favourable as it is young tissue and will take less time to attach itself. The 'Horizon' programme could not show any humans after this surgery for ethical reasons, but they did show a monkey before and after, and the result after only three weeks was amazing.
It was announced in April 1988 that a doctor in Birmingham had performed two operations using foetal cells. Today the two patients, one male and one female are said to be doing very well. In fact one takes very little medication and the other manages without any medication at all.
On conclusion of this book, a little over a year after the first operations, a total of seventeen operations have been performed. Although information is limited, the reports that have been issued show that results are very promising.
Of course there would be a lot of ethical problems with this type of tissue transplant, and a lot of aggro from anti-abortionists. During all the media coverage of these operations, I was contacted by Scottish Television. They invited one hundred women to debate the issues of foetal cell transplant. The Edinburgh branch of the society were approached and asked if they could suggest ten female sufferers who might be willing to participate. Only three of us and the wife of a sufferer agreed. The other ninety-six were a crosssection of women, some were housewives, working mums, some were single, a couple of doctors and nurses and a lawyer.
The presenter of the programme 'Votes For Women', opened the debate with a brief run down on the foetal cell transplants recently performed by the surgeon in Birmingham. It had been hoped that this surgeon would be there to open the debate but unfortunately he could not make it. The presenter then went on to explain the latest attempts to change the Abortion Act, brought about by a Member of Parliament and the objections that have arisen since the announcement of these two operations. Then just before the presenter handed over to us, we were asked to vote on how we felt about the use of cells taken from an aborted foetus. The result was 71 FOR, 25 AGAINST and 4 DON'T KNOW. Now it was our turn.
The first speaker said she thought it might be all right if it was a naturally aborted foetus:- a miscarriage, but otherwise it was not all right. She was interrupted by a GP who said it would not be wise to do this as a miscarriage normally means there is something wrong with the mother or the baby. One woman thought this kind of surgery was absolutely diabolical, she saw it as a form of Nazism, trying to make a world of perfect people and although she felt sorry for people in this situation, she could not justify any surgery of this kind. A few women then brought up the question of who should give permission for the foetus to be used. It seemed that the majority of those for it, thought that it should he consulted, after all she didn't want it. A lawyer was then brought in and after telling us that permission is sought for any organ transplant, then it could be decided that this must happen in this case. But, she said, it could be left up to the hospital administration to decide, as the foetus's are destroyed, that once the foetus is removed from the womb it becomes the property of the hospital concerned. She pointed out that all these issues will, of course, have to be decided by the BMA.
The presenter then asked a sufferer, to explain what Parkinson's Disease is. "It's like hell on earth", was her reply. She then went on to explain about the disease. When asked if she would consider surgery she said that she would be a guinea-pig, even if there was only a fifty-fifty chance. The presenter pointed out that it is generally known to afflict the elderly, but nowadays more younger people are afflicted. At this point I was brought into the debate. I was asked how old I was and how long I had had Parkinson's Disease. I said that I was only thirty-three and that I had had the disease for sixteen years. I was then asked what I knew about this possible cure. As luck would have it, when it came to my turn to speak, I had a lot of involuntary movements, which made people more aware of what goes on with Parkinson's Disease and the drugs. I told them what exactly was happening to me at the time with the side effects and also that I was very excited at the prospects of a cure. Also I mentioned the newsletter that I have been getting from American which tells of the experiments with the foetal cells and of the adrenal gland. And that the doctors say that the foetal cell transplant is having better results than transplanting adrenal tissue.
Then the presenter spoke to other women, some of whom did not believe in abortion but who thoroughly agreed with us that the foetus should be used. After all it was no different taking cells from a dead foetus than from taking organs from a dead person. There were one or two who objected on religious grounds and some who only saw the foetus as a living child, and could not justify abortion at all.
One lady in particular disagreed with transplants of any kind and said that her daughter was studying genetics and that she did not like her choice of career. I raised my hand so as to put a question to her but the presenter asked her the very same point. If she herself, her daughter or any other member of family was ill and a transplant was the only answer, what would her feelings be then. Her answer was categorically 'no' she would not change her mind. But she would let her have a blood transfusion. What is a blood transfusion if it is not a transplant?
The debate lasted forty-five minutes, thirty of which was televised. Listening to some of these women it became very clear that some of them thought that whole brains were being transplanted and talked of changes in the personality, while others thought that abortions were being carried out just so doctors could experiment. One thing that puzzled me was a neuro-surgeon who was totally against any surgery with foetus's and that if necessary she would try and persuade any other doctors to use an alternative method.
I was given the privilege of having the last word. I said that I was very excited at the prospect of a cure becoming possible, and if the doctors thought that the foetal cell transplant was THE cure, then the foetal cell transplant I would have, given the chance. I went on to say that doctors are not aborting babies just so they can use the cells, that the babies have already been aborted, and that the foetus is just going to be destroyed. All they are doing is removing a few cells before the foetus is burnt. These words were met with a round of applause.
After the recording was over I thought that it might have been a good idea to have a vote at the end of the debate to see if any women had changed their minds.
Shortly after this programme the British Medical Association announced their guidelines which are:
- 1. That tissue can only be used from a dead foetus after an abortion, and that consent must be obtained from the mother, but only after the abortion has been agreed upon by both doctor and mother.
2. That no woman can have an abortion simply because a relative needs a transplant.
3. No woman can receive any money to have an abortion, and that there be no link between either party.
4. And finally, the BMA have said, that, at no time, now or in the future, will whole brain transplants ever be considered.
These results mean that surgeons have been given the all-clear to continue, but they seem to be holding back a while to examine the long term effects of the two who have already had a transplant.
Although I am very excited at the prospect of having this operation in the near future, thus enabling me to be rid of this terrible torment known as Parkinson's Disease, I have begun to have a few worrying thoughts. Thoughts such as; Will my memory return to the way it was before? Will the problems I have with my kidneys and my bladder disappear? There is even the thought that these cells taken from an aborted foetus could, when I am old, cease to produce dopamine which would mean I would once again have Parkinson's Disease. I have mentioned this to my doctor who says that it would be virtually impossible for this to happen. There are many, many more questions which need to be answered and time alone will provide the answers.
Meanwhile, I, like many other sufferers must wait patiently hoping that there may soon be a light at the end of the tunnel.
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