~**~ Omentum Transposition ~**~

Dear Reader:
Most of the articles in Health & Healing are written to give you immediate advice on something you can do to improve your health. I am sometimes critical on the excessive use of surgery and prescription medicines, not because I'm against surgery and drugs, per se, but because they are often inappropriately or excessively used.
I have two distinct motives for my first article this month. First, I want to inform those who have suffered from a stroke or spinal cord injuries that there is a surgical procedure that could be helpful.

Second, and equally important, I want to shed some light on this innovative surgical procedure so it will not be lost to those who could benefit from it.
Having reviewed the effectiveness of this procedure, I feel it should have been widely adopted and utilized to help many people over a decade ago. The slowness with which the medical profession acknowledges true innovation has dramaticalley increased to the point that a substantial push is often necessary, as in this case.

Julian Whitaker, M.D.

This Innovative Surgical Procedure Can Help Brain And Spinal Cord Injuries

    When Darren Renna was 17 years old, his future was as bright as the sun. A talented Gymnast, he was on track for the 1988 Olympics. Suddenly, on December 11, 1982 tragedy struck. During a meneuver on the mat, he landed on his head, fractured his neck, and was rendered quadriplegic. A year and a half after the accident, the only movement he had from the neck down was a slight shrug of his right shoulder. He could not sit in a wheelchair without a chest strap, because if he slipped or tilted, he needed help righting himself. Doctors told him there wasn't hope of improvement.
    It was then that Darren and his parents sought out Harry Goldsmith, M.D., a surgeon who had developed a procedure to enhance spinal cord repair. Though Dr. Goldsmith had researched this procedure extensively in animals, he had never done it on a human before, nor did he have the permission to perform the surgery in this country. So he and Darren traveled to England, where Darren began a remarkable odyssey.

The Procedure Uses A Fatty Structure In The Abdominal Cavity
    This surgery, known as omental transposition, is one of the most innovative procedures of this century. The procedure involves surgically lengthening the omentum-a large, fatty apron that is attached to the stomach and transverse colon and hangs freely down over the intestines-to areas of the brain or spinal cord that have been damaged.
    The omentum is not just an apron of fat: It is virtually alive with regenerative properties. It is the remnant of the membrane the encloses you as a fetus, and thus contains angiogenic factors-which stimulate the development of blood vessels and increase blood flow-as well as neurotrophic factors, which nurture nerve tissue. Both of these mechanisms have now been demonstrated to facilitate brain and spinal cord injury repair, and to improve brain and neurologic function.

It Was First Used On Breast Cancer Patients...
    In his procedure, Dr. Goldsmith frees up the omentum within the abdominal cavity and, while maintaining it's blood supply, passes it through a subcutaneous tunnel up the chest wall and drapes it over the areas of the brain that have been affected by the stroke. In experimental animals that underwent this procedure, large numbers of blood vessels were produced in the omentum and penetrated deeply into the underlying brain. This increased blood flow to the brain, and so improved brain function.
    Dr. Goldsmith has performed this procedure on many stroke patients, and a lot of them have experienced significant improvements in motor, speech and language functions. One of Dr. Goldsmith's patients, a nun, was treated with omental transposition two and a half years after a stroke. She remarked that her inability to read after her stroke was her most significant handicap. Several weeks after her surgery, she regained this function and today, 13 years later, she reads without difficulty.

Dr. Goldsmith's Procedure Has Helped In Alzheimer's Disease
    Dr. Goldsmith has now begun to, use this procedure to treat people with Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a degenerative condition characterized by the slow, progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain. He reasoned that if live neurons were supported and nurtured by the increased blood flow and the many neurochemical substances which he had shown to be present in the omentum, then progression of the disease might at least be halted, and perhaps patients would improve.
    He first performed the surgery on a gentleman with Alzheimer's disease in his mid-seventies who, following omentum transposition to one half of his brain, showed improvement in his cognitive tests and short-term memory. When this man died two and a half years after surgery, the autopsy revealed that wherever the omentum had been in contact with the brain, senile plaques-the neurological markers of Alzheimer's disease-had noticeably decreased. Yet they were obviously present in sections of the brain that had not been in contact with the omentum.

It Also Dramatically Increases Circulation
    The omental transposition has also restored circulation in cases of last resort. One of Dr. Goldsmaith's patients-a roofer and long-term smoker-developed Buerger's disaese, a chronic, recurring inflammatory condition which restricts the blood vessels of the arms and legs. In this case, it had led to the virtual destruction of the vascular system of the right arm. After several operations to restore the blood supply, this patient's hand was cold, and caused him such excruciating pain that his only treatment option was amputation.
    He was referred to Dr. Goldsmith for omental transfer, and, just three days after surgery, his arm became warm and his pain disappeared as a result of the increased blood flow. Within weeks he was back up on roofs. That was 15 years ago, and today he's still nailing away.

There Is Hope...Even For Old Injuries
    Brian Sternberg held the pole-vaulting world record in 1963, and was the first man in the world to vault 16ft. 8in. while he was a sophomore at the University Of Washington in Seattle. It was predicted he would win the gold medal the following year in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. Just before the games, however, he broke his neck on a trampoline and was rendered quadriplegic. He recently underwent an omental transposition by Dr. Goldsmith in Germany, 33 Years after his injury. He has had a partial return of sensation in his legs. It is too early to tell how much, if any, motor function will come back. His surgery has shown that the central nervous system has the ability to regain some activity regardless of the time lapse between injury and omentum transposition.

Back To Darren's Story
    Darren Renna, the young gymnast who was cut down in his prime, has a bright future, after all. Within days of his surgery, he had movement in his right and left wrist flexors. Three months later, he was pushing his wheelchair across a carpeted floor. Over the next couple of years he went from a complete quadriplegic to a high functioning paraplegic, and although he is still in a wheelchair, he now has complete use of his upper body and extremities. This determined young man learned to write, completed high school, and attended the University Of Massachusetts. Wanting to get back into gymnastics, Darren trained to be a gymnastics judge, and is now one of the most sought-after judges for collegiate gymnastics events. He also runs a gymnastics school in Sacramento, California. He is currently working on attaining the highest Rank, and his goal is to be a gymnastics judge at a future Olympics.
    Darren Renna-the boy who submitted to an "experimental" procedure-and Dr. Goldsmith-The doctor who dared to do it-have a long-standing date in the year 2004: They will attend the Olympics together. Both are still pursuing dreams, Darren's to judge the Olympics and Dr. Goldsmith's to gain acceptance of his remarkable surgical operation so that others like Darren may be helped.

Dr. Goldsmith's Work Is Widely Used
And Accepted Overseas
    While true medical innovations meet with such resistance in this country that they are rarely adopted, other countries are quick to pick up on our contributions. In China, over 5,000 omental transpositions to the brain and spinal cord have been performed. Dr. Goldsmith has received two honorary degress for his contributions in China, and has traveled there on several occasions to assist in the development of his operation. He also has a team in Germany, where hhe regularly goes to perform the procedure, and has recently been invited to become a member of a private foundation being established in Spain to promote the omental transposition for spinal cord injuries. He has also taught his surgical technique in countries that are moving to adopt this procedure-Brazil, Venezuela, Italy, India, Cuba, Singapore and Japan.

He Has Published Over 200 Articles In The U.S.-
But Neurologists Are Unimpressed
    Dr. Goldsmith has been a professor of surgery for over 15 years, first at Boston University, then at University Of Nevada. In this country, he has published over 200 scientific articles, roughly 100 on the unique ability of the omentum to improve the vascular supply and rejuvenate the brain and spinal cord after injury or stroke. He has edited a book on the unique characteristics of the omentum, and is now editing another book with leading authors from all over the world. Yet, none of this documentation has moved U.S. neurosurgeons or neurologists to act, and his operation is being done only on a very limited basis in the U.S..
    This is tragic, for this procedure may prove to be very helpful for patients with all forms of traumatic and age-related declines in mental and motor function, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury. This is not saying omental transposition is curative, but compared to the current therapies for many of these conditions, which consist mostly of observation, the improvement potential is astounding.