Common Symptoms of Neurological Diseases

Dr. Edward Tobinick is the founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery. Over the course of his career, Edward Tobinick, MD, has come into contact with a number of neurological diseases, and his work has been published in the Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics and Current Alzheimer Research, among other professional journals.

There are a number of neurological disorders that can affect the body and mind, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s. While these disorders manifest in different ways, particularly as they progress, there are a number of similarities such disorders share in their early stages.

A change in speech pattern, including slurring or slow-talk, may be indicative of an early neurological issue. Individuals may also experience rigidness throughout the body, including the jaw, and experience difficulty swallowing. Weakness, unexplained memory loss, body tremors, and numbness in a single arm or leg are all common symptoms associated with a myriad of neurological disorders. During the early stages of many of these, individuals may have difficulty performing previously involuntary or natural acts, such as blinking or swinging the arms while walking. As disorders intensify, common issues can range from seizures to full-body pain.

The Benefits of Off-Label Drug Prescription and Use

Dr. Edward Tobinick, founder of the Institute for Neurological Research, conducted the initial clinical work that found etanercept to be an effective treatment for sciatica and other forms of intervertebral disc-related neuropathic pain. Edward Tobinick has published multiple articles in the medical literature and reviewed research findings as an ad hoc reviewer in leading medical journals, including Brain Research and Experimental Neurology, among others.

When a doctor prescribes a medication for a purpose other than those specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is known as off-label drug use. This practice is very common among medical practitioners; 20 percent of outpatient prescriptions in the U.S. are off-label.

Some drugs have multiple beneficial uses. For example, oncologists often prescribe certain off-label drugs to treat different types of cancers. Off-label use is also common in the treatment of heart disease: beta-blockers are FDA approved to combat high blood pressure, but cardiologists often use them to treat heart failure.

Off-label use enables doctors to apply their deep knowledge of the various uses and methods of action of prescription drugs, in some cases resulting in more effective care for patients. Off-label use also allows for clinical innovation and the possibility of important medical discoveries.

Venice Family Clinic Sponsors Annual Art Walk & Auctions

As the founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery, Dr. Edward Tobinick conducts groundbreaking research to offer alternative treatment options for patients with neurological disorders. Additionally, Dr. Edward Tobinick is a benefactor of the Venice Family Clinic, an organization that provides quality health care to underserved communities in Los Angeles County.

A nonprofit organization, the Venice Family Clinic relies on the support of partner medical centers, physicians, and community members to provide health services to more than 24,000 patients each year. Venice Art Walk & Auctions, the clinic’s largest fundraising event, was established in 1979 by local artists and volunteers. It has become a significant resource for the organization, drawing more than $600,000 in donations in recent years, while also serving as a showcase for the creative community of Venice, California.

In 2014, Venice Family Clinic held its annual fundraising event at the Google headquarters in Venice, celebrating more than 40 years of community health service. The event was open to the public and featured more than 300 original pieces in a silent art auction, in addition to live entertainment and gourmet food trucks. For the first time, the clinic also shared with supporters exactly how their contributions would benefit the community. Bid sheets for the silent auction specified the type of care or equipment, such as infant car seats or diabetes treatment, that could be provided with each bid increment.

Innovative Drug Therapy Offers Hope after Brain Injuries

Dr. Edward Tobinick, founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery, is the lead author of an observational study in the journal CNS Drugs that provides clinical data supporting the effectiveness of etanercept for improving neurological function following a traumatic brain injury or stroke. The researchers examined 629 individuals treated over a 24 month period. Of the study’s participants, 617 received treatment an average of 42 months after they suffered a stroke and 12 received treatment an average of nearly 10 years following brain injury. The length of time between the event that caused the original injury and the administration of the drug therapy meant the researchers could largely discount spontaneous recovery.

The study focuses on an innovative drug called etanercept, which works by binding to and neutralizing a specific inflammatory molecule called TNF. The drug was delivered to patients using a novel method designed by Dr. Edward Tobinick. The researchers observed many positive effects following the administration of etanercept, including statistically significant improvement in cognition and motor impairment in both the stroke and traumatic brain injury groups.

The findings appear under the title Selective TNF Inhibition for Chronic Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury—An Observational Study Involving 629 Consecutive Patients Treated with Perispinal Etanercept.

Training Program and Research at INR

Dr. Edward Tobinick holds a medical degree from the University of California, San Diego Medical School, and completed residencies in internal medicine and dermatology at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2001, Dr. Edward Tobinick founded the Institute of Neurological Recovery (INR). Over the course of a decade Dr. Tobinick and his colleagues have conducted research exploring new methods of treatment for neurological dysfunction.

Much of Dr. Tobinick’s work has involved the off-label use of etanercept, a biotechnology therapeutic that binds and inactivates the cytokine TNF. Dr. Tobinick has shared his findings at medical conferences in the United States and internationally. These include the 3rd International Restauracion Neurologica Conference in Havana, Cuba, and the 7th Annual Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Conference in New York.

In addition to facilitating the aforementioned research on etanercept, the INR conducts a physician training program. For more than four years, the INR physician training program has instructed doctors from the U.S. and abroad on INR’s off-label anti-TNF methods of treatment. Training sessions are held at INR’s Los Angeles, California, and Boca Raton, Florida, locations, and typically last one to two days. The program may be offered in languages other than English, by special arrangement, to facilitate understanding for all participants. Physicians are instructed in injection methods, clinical evaluation and response, dosing schedules, and relevant physiology and anatomy.

For further information, please see the Sun Sentinel newpaper article at the following link:

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-12-08/health/fl-stroke-brain-injury-treatment-20121206_1_stroke-patients-boca-doctor-traumatic-brain-injury

and the following published, peer-reviewed article:

http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/5/1/2 

Understanding TNF

A researcher and founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery, Edward Tobinick, MD, focuses on the role of TNF, an immune signaling molecule, in the development of several different illnesses. According to modern scientific papers, high levels of TNF in the brain may inhibit proper neurological function. Interestingly, it is not TNF at normal physiological levels that causes problems, but rather excessive levels of TNF that seem to contribute to chronic brain dysfunction.

Only when TNF levels rise beyond the norm does the brain begin to have trouble operating. Experts began noticing TNF’s role in brain dysfunction first in people with malaria and then later in patients impacted by Alzheimer’s disease. In terms of the latter, a study discovered that individuals with Alzheimer’s had 25 times more TNF than normal in their cerebrospinal fluid. Follow-up research suggests that TNF may be a primary factor in brain dysfunction resulting from a variety of disorders.

For more information about Dr. Edward Tobinick, his research into TNF, and his development of a drug to treat people with high TNF levels, visit Tobinick.com.

A Study on the Impact of Etanercept on Neurological Dysfunction

A graduate of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Edward Tobinick has three decades of medical experience. He is the founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery (INR), a center that has pioneered new approaches for a number of neurological disorders. In 2012, Dr. Edward Tobinick and INR broke new ground with the publication of a study exploring a new potential treatment option for patients with chronic neurological dysfunction after a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Spanning two years, the observational study reported the clinical results of etanercept utilized for 629 patients, 617 of whom were treated a mean of about three and a half years after experiencing a stroke. The remaining 12 patients had suffered other brain injuries a mean of nearly ten years prior to treatment. In a method developed by Dr. Tobinick, the treatment was administered by delivery into the perispinal area drained by Batson’s Plexus, the maze of veins surrounding the spine. The patients were then tilted head-down to increase the gravitational pressure in the blood column. When examined after treatment, patients showed statistically significant improvement in a variety of areas, including spasticity and motor impairment.

Etanercept binds to and inactivates excess levels of a protein called Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF). Etanercept is typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, other forms of arthritis, and psoriasis, all disorders associated with excess TNF. This observational study suggests that brain inflammation, mediated by the cytokine TNF, plays a significant role in the chronic neurological dysfunction that may follow stroke or traumatic brain injury.

For further information, please see:

1. The full-text of the observational study, available at this link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23100196
2. The Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) cover story regarding several patients treated at the Institute of Neurological Recovery in Boca Raton, Florida with perispinal etanercept following stroke, by Nicole Brochu, entitled “Boca doctor gives stroke survivors new shot at mobility, independence”, available at the following link:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-12-08/health/fl-stroke-brain-injury-treatment-20121206_1_stroke-patients-boca-doctor-traumatic-brain-injury

What Role Do Cytokines Play in the Body?

As the founder of the Institute of Neurological Recovery, Dr. Edward Tobinick continues a nearly 40-year-long career in medicine. Cytokines account for one of Dr. Edward Tobinick’s top areas of interest, and he has written numerous articles on the subject.

Cytokines are cell-signaling molecules that assist in a body’s healing by allowing cells to communicate with one another. They bolster the immune system by directing cells to areas of infection, trauma, and inflammation. Considered regulators of the innate and adaptive immune response, cytokines also perform as switches that can activate or deactivate immune cells. One type of cytokine promotes the creation of T cells, which makes it a potential treatment for a number of immunological diseases.

Found in peptides, proteins, and glycoproteins, the cytokine family includes interleukins, interferons, and other molecules. However, the lack of a standard classification system has led to overlaps between agents that could be marked as cytokines or hormones. A major difference between hormones and cytokines is their point of origin. While hormones tend to come from a single gland, cytokines can be formed at numerous locations. Some types can be produced from practically every cell possessing a nucleus. Additionally, a cytokine’s effectiveness may be greater than a hormone’s because it can alter individual cells as well as the entire body.

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