Do No Harm
Stroke accounts for almost 10% of deaths worldwide, claiming more lives than HIV/AIDS. The residual impairment after a stroke can be a devastating reduction in function and capability, and seriously affects many people’s abilities to live and work independently. For people whose lives have been changed by stroke, the Internet can be a valuable tool. It can be a source of information and support, an essential link with the outside world. But it can also be home to dishonest business or provide false hopes and therapies to desperate people with promises of wonder cures. Some web sites offer products and procedures that are not approved by the Federal Drug Administration. (FDA). Desperate for hope and cures, some of the 6 million U.S. stroke survivors are reaching for unproven and sometimes unsafe treatments. With few options available at home in America, some are searching the Internet for experimental treatments and often land on web sites promoting treatments overseas at a price tag between $25,000 and $35,000. Western doctors warn that patients are serving as guinea pigs in countries that are not doing the rigorous lab and human test that are needed to prove some treatments are safe and effective.
Desperate for hope and cures, some of the 6 million U.S. stroke survivors are reaching for unproven and sometimes unsafe treatments. With few options available at home in America, some are searching the internet for experimental treatments and often land on web sites promoting treatments overseas at a price tag between $25,000 and $35,000.
Western doctors warn that patients are serving as guinea pigs in countries that are not doing the rigorous lab and human test that are needed to prove some treatments are safe and effective.
