SCHYZOPHRENIA

On September 12, 2007, the first surgery on a human patient took place at the Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador at 15:00 hours PST. It was the first B.E.A.M. procedure in the world. When Drs. Mackliff and Sanchez came out of the operating room, the world of medicine had changed forever; no one in the world had ever dared to enter the suprarenal gland with an electrical surgical knife to treat mental illness.

The patient now lives with her family, who previously feared her. Is working and has a boyfriend. The case of a woman with chronic schizophrenia for 20 years; the full recovery lasted about a year and a half. In cases with acute schizophrenia, the results are almost immediate and the full recovery can be expected in a period of 6-8 months. During this period of recovery and adjustment of a person to the real world -from a world of delusions- family is an important element for the recovery of the patient. It is here where we learn how necessary the support system and the "environment" in which we are brought up, do influence the actual evolution of the recovery, aside from genetic factors - that were actually defied by electro-coagulating the adrenal marrow.

Immediately as the patient wakes up from surgery, he/she is alert, and in a matter of hours starts to "realize" what is going on around them with acute clarity. This is what strikes the most to the family and relatives of a patient. Comments like: "my son is now talking to the Drs. and the nurses", "he is friendly and smiling"; things that seem normal to any of us, mean a world of difference to the parents and relatives of an schizophrenic, who are used to having their son look at the floor for weeks, as in a catatonic state. Or having a daughter that responds aggressively to normal questions, and in some cases will go as far as threaten the life of her relatives in a fit of rage.

Control medication is customary up until the first 4 - 6 months. The body of the patient has been accustomed to having medication in their "system"; for this reason, medication cannot be eliminated abruptly after surgery. Patients with addictions to certain medication would take longer to recover, up to a 1.5 year minimum. It is important to note that after the surgery we are dealing with a normal person again, who has been "outside" of the world and has now come back, and therefore, needs to "process-in" everything- some take longer than others. They usually have good memory up to when they became ill. They usually comment during interviews that they know they were ill before, but now they are all right. They do remember their delusions, and even talk about them as a thing of the past. Most of the patients are later able to start working. Before taking on a patient, it is very important for the diagnose to be correct (post-stress psychosis vs. actual schizophrenia). Drug addictions on top of mental illness will not allow the surgery to work well since the addiction is not eliminated. Hebephrenias are also not recommended for surgery.

As mentioned before, the environment is of utmost importance in the process of recovery after this unique surgery. Patients do need a loving family, or at least a parent, in order to make sure that his/her treatment will continue; especially in chronic cases. Parents are always advised to reinforce cognitive reasoning, when having conversations. Activity is necessary to be encouraged, weather it is a routine task or simple jobs to work on their focus and concentration little by little; thus preventing them to "re-live" previous altered-states moments. Studying is not encouraged at early stages of recovery since this high-level of brain activity can eat up most of the glucose that the brain is needing to first "re-accommodate" to the new situation and reality. Families should try to avoid a stressful environment, therefore, it is necessary for families to be present and close to their recovering patient. Cases where the care of a family cannot be guaranteed, are usually not taken to undergo surgery. Cases with schizoid parents, require family therapy, since they can endanger the new "healthy thinking" of their B.E.A.M operated offspring. Parents' actions can psychotize their kids in addition to the genetic "trigger" inherent to them.

With B.E.A,M, the symptoms in schizophrenia disappear. The lesser the time of the illness, the more quickly the patient will recover. It is the environment that needs to be adjusted, and parents and family need to comply with that. Medication dosage will be reduced until it is no longer necessary.
After B.E.A.M., the biochemical and electrical stimuli of neurons that work with Dopamine, stimulate "new receptors" in the post-synapsis; generates "new responses", changes the synaptic plasticity, regulates the Glutamate and GABA receptors as well as frontal connections. We can now attest to these changes, due to the fact that chronic patients display immediate improvements post B.E.A.M; in their apathy – lack of motivation – and sphincter control. Changes that are actually controlled by the Hypothalamus. For these changes to occur, there are some changes take should take place in the brain's limbic zone (the zone of schizophrenia):

THE CASE OF SERGIO (APRIL 2012)

RETURN TO PARKINSON RESULTS