Last Updated on: 27th July 2023, 04:20 pm
Imagine the feeling of slowly losing your balance, feeling weakness in your muscles and increased levels of fatigue. Imagine being told by the doctor that you will be unable to do every day tasks that could be completed so easily. For Juliet Govender, a resident of South Africa, this was a reality.
It was 2010 when Juliet first experienced these symptoms. She noticed that she had difficulties with balance, gait, speech and drooping eyelids. After a misdiagnosis, Juliet’s health deteriorated to the point that she was incapable of climbing stairs and walking without assistance by the end of 2013. She consulted a different neurologist who diagnosed her with Type 1 Spinocerebellar Ataxia.
Spinocerebellar ataxia is a genetic disease that is both degenerative and progressive with multiple types. It arises due to a recessive or dominant gene. A neurologist can carry out a diagnosis through a physical examination, spinal tap, family history and MRI scanning of the brain and spine. Typical symptoms include progressively unsteady gait, the inability to coordinate movements and unclear speech. The patient generally loses physical control over a period of time but not mental control.
Fuelled by a burning desire to be independent again and refusal to believe that there was no treatment for ataxia, Juliet and her husband found Beike Biotechnology. In Juliet’s own words, “for the first time, there was hope.”
She underwent treatment in July at Better Being Hospital, as was able to see a difference almost immediately. Juliet “arrived on Friday… by Sunday (she) was able to walk down the passage”. She and her husband are delighted with the progress that they have seen so far and they have kept their family informed throughout, who were “amazed with the change”. It has given them a newfound sense of hope, which they never had before. Juliet believes that stem cell therapy is the “best decision you would make for yourself. The best gift that you could give to yourself.”
VIDEO: Juliet Govender | Testimonial
At Beike Biotechnology, we believe in providing our patients at Better Being Hospital with a functional medicine approach. This involves nutrition, occupational and physical therapy paired with stem cell therapy in order to achieve the best results.