Posted on Thu, Dec. 30, 2004
By Craig Webb
Beacon Journal staff writer

MEDINA, OHIO - The Medina man who traveled to China in search of relief from the crippling effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- Lou Gehrig's disease -- believes he has regained some strength in his legs and muscle tone in his hands since undergoing the procedure.

John Winchester left for Beijing on Dec. 19 to try the experimental treatment offered by a Chinese neurosurgeon who injects ALS patients and paraplegics with nerve cells harvested from the brains of aborted fetuses.

He underwent the procedure last Thursday -- a procedure that involves using a long needle to insert olfactory ensheathing cells to treat neurological damage.

Winchester's wife, Megan, who accompanied him on the trip, sent an e-mail Tuesday noting that her husband is already showing ``good'' signs, including an increase in strength in his legs and improvements in the muscles in his hands.

She said he is starting his postsurgery work under the direction of Dr. Huang Hongyun; it includes acupuncture, massage and physical and speech therapy.

The couple hope to return to Medina by late January to be reunited with their two elementary-school-age children, who are being cared for by their grandparents.

Huang, who was educated at Rutgers University in New Jersey, has become something of a lightning rod in the medical community for using nerve cells harvested from aborted fetuses to reverse ALS symptoms or paralysis among accident victims.

Doctors in the United States and elsewhere are also investigating these cells and their potential ability to regrow damaged nerve tissue, but Huang is the only one injecting them into human patients.

The doctor's clinic, which operates out of a hospital in a Beijing suburb, has attracted a lot of attention among paraplegics and ALS patients. Hundreds are willing to pay $20,000 and travel to China for the treatment. A waiting list for appointments has 1,200 patients.

In an e-mail sent the day before his procedure, the 36-year-old Winchester, who was diagnosed with ALS in April 2001, expressed optimism that the treatment might help with his mobility; he now has to rely on a motorized wheelchair to get around.

"We are very excited,'' he wrote. ``There have been many remarkable improvements on other patients after the surgery.''