Last Updated on: 27th July 2023, 04:21 pm
Shortly after being born, a young child from Malawi named Zidane started showing signs that were not good. He arched his head backwards to the point where it would be touching his back, his limbs were very spastic, he was unable to sit up on his own, and he held his fingers in a tightly clenched fist.
Not just that, Zidane used to cry non-stop day and night, and would sleep from 4 to 6 hours a day. During all this time his parents took excellent care of him and did all that they could with the little information they has received from local doctors.
Zidane’s parents decided to travel from their hometown in Malawi all the way to South Africa in order to visit a specialist that might shed some light on this case. Within 15 minutes after Zidane’s MRI, the doctor assured them that Zidane suffered from Cerebral Palsy (CP) and that there was nothing they could do to help him. This is sadly a story we hear all too often.
Despite the devastating news, Zidane’s parents decided to take matters into their own hands and find a solution for their son. Not being one prone to defeat, Zidane’s father researched Cerebral Palsy and any chance for help on the internet. After looking at the published reports and various information from other patient’s regarding Beike’s advanced stem cell treatments, they decided to visit Better Being Hospital in order to undergo the therapy.
Shortly after arriving in Thailand, Dr. Torsak disagreed with the original diagnosis of CP and decided to study Zidane’s case in further detail in order to shed new light on the issue. Little Zidane went through intensive studies, EMG, new MRIs, genetic tests, and even his stomach to determine what the root cause of Zidane’s symptoms; this is the Functional Medicine approach of Better Being Hospital.
Once all the tests were analyzed, the doctors in Thailand had arrived at a different conclusion than their South African counterparts, believing that Zidane was suffering from a Neurodegenerative disease and not CP after all. While similar, neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinsons disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, require a different focus and treatment plan. With this new knowledge, they decided to act accordingly and carry on with the stem cell treatment based on a new protocol for Zidane’s situation.
After 6 weeks in Bangkok Zidane is already seeing results. The first major improvement is that there is 50% less spasticity in his limbs. He doesn’t cry in the painful and unexplainable way like before, and he doesn’t push back nor arch his neck; his head control is more stable. His fists are now open and not clenched like before. He had a problem with reflux that is no longer there. He sleeps a lot better now as well. He now goes to sleep when he is tired. His quality of life has improved drastically and his parents couldn’t be happier.
On top if this he is also much more responsive. Each time his father clicks his fingers, he looks straight to the source of the sound. Not only that, every time his dad plays with him, Zidane follows his movements. He is calmer, and his appetite has increased. Moreover, Zidane’s sleep is a lot deeper. So far, it has been little over a month after their last stem cell injection and the results have been staggering. At the moment, Zidane’s entirely family is hoping for even more improvements. As his father says, “a full recovery seems much more realistic now.”
Because of these results Zidane’s physiotherapy (PT) is much better than it was at the beginning, and he is more responsive to the PT. A few days ago he even started twitching his toes, increased the movement in his legs and arms more than before his therapy began.
At Better Being Hospital, cases like Zidane’s occur regularly. Many patients are looking for an answer where conventional medicine has said there is none. Functional medicine and stem cell therapy are science-based treatments that are helping people the world over, and we are very grateful to see Zidane and his parents finding a quality of life they didn’t know before.