Q: There are some really negative things written about this treatment in Wikipedia – are they true?
A: Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information as it can easily be changed by any person at any time and for any motive. You are best to look for information in published scientific journals and read what the scientists have found about this treatment. If you don’t have scientific training they can be hard to understand but if you read the Abstract at the start of each scientific paper and the Conclusion or Discussion at the end- you will get a good idea of what they found.
Q: Where do I find these scientific publications?
A: You can do a “Google Scholar” search to find them – if you search for “Perispinal Etanercept” or “TNF and Brain Injury”, “TNF and Stroke” you will find many of these publications.
Q: Do I have to pay to download the scientific papers?
A: For some of them you do – it depends on the Journal they are published in. Many of the ones published about TNF and Brain Injury and Perispinal Etanercept treatment are in “Open Access Journals” which means they are freely available.
Q: Where else are they available?
A: Most of the relevant scientific papers are also available to freely download from the INR website: http://www.strokebreakthrough.com/downloads/
Q: What does “Off-Label” use mean?
A: Each country has its own government legislation about which medications are approved for which conditions. In Australia the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) decides this. “Off-Label” means that the medication is approved for treatment of some specific conditions as “On-Label” but not yet approved for others “Off-Label”. http://www.tga.gov.au/auspar/auspar-etanercept-rch
“Off-label” prescribing is not illegal and may sometimes be clinically appropriate. This is expanded upon in: Gazarian, M., Kelly, M., McPhee, J. R., Graudins, L. V., Ward, R. L., & Campbell, T. J. (2006). Off-label use of medicines: consensus recommendations for evaluating appropriateness. Medical Journal of Australia,185(10), 544
Q: Where is this treatment available?
A: It is available at the Institute of Neurological Recovery http://www.nrimed.com/ in both Los Angeles in California and in Boca Raton in Florida, in the United States of America.
Q: Why is this treatment not available in Australia or New Zealand?
A: Etanercept is actually available in both Australian and New Zealand and used to treat other inflammatory conditions in the body. It is injected under the skin and is considered “On Label” use. http://www.tga.gov.au/auspar/auspar-etanercept-rch
Q: Why doesn’t Etanercept work for brain tissue injuries if it is injected under the skin like it is for these other conditions like arthritis?
A: The size of the Etanercept molecule is too large to cross the Blood Brain Barrier.
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