Cathy Jordan

[CTBengalsFan]

There's more but it's about her activism and it gets kinda boring. I'll sum it up: "She tells her story to politicians, they do nothing."

From her YouTube profile:
[quote]I used to be a hairdresser from New Castle, DE, but now I'm a medical marijuana patient & activist, living near Tampa, FL.
I was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or "Lou Gehrig's Disease) in 1986 (I was 36), was told by my doctor not to smoke anything, standard advise for a new ALS patient, suffered typical deteriation of my body over the next two years and prepared for my death - ALS is a terminal illness and I probably had only another year or two.
Then, in 1989, standing on a beach in Sarasota, FL, I was passed a "joint" and said "Why not?". After just a few puffs, I had a wonderful feeling - that my disease had stopped!
I've been smoking ever since - for twenty-one years now, and I think I'm aging quite well, thank you.
Cannabis (the scientific name for marijuana) works for me by drying up my saliva (ALS patients often drown in their own fluids), helping me cough and stimulating my lungs through it's broncial-dialation action.
Science now shows that Cannabis is actually a neuroprotectant,treating auto-immune conditions like ALS and MS by supressing "excito-toxicity" and the over-production of glutomate. Also, Cannabis has long been known to have an anti-inflammatory effect and inflammation is now believed to play an important role in ALS. (see Dr. Mechoulam's video)[/quote]


Her account of all her interactions with doctors:
[url="http://alsandcannabis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=11"]http://alsandcannabis.com/index.php?option...4&Itemid=11[/url]

She's still alive as far as I know. She noticed her first symptoms in January 1986. There's an interview with her on [url="http://audio.norml.org/audio_stash/NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-02-16.mp3"]NORML's[/url] website from 2/16/2009.

There's also this commercial she posted on YouTube from 1/7/2009:



I'd like to see what LoyalFanInGA aka St. Jude has to say about this.

[CTBengalsFan]

Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

Prognosis according to Wikipedia:
[quote]Regardless of the part of the body first affected by the disease, it is usual for muscle weakness and atrophy to spread to other parts of the body as the disease progresses. It is important to remember that some patients with ALS have an arrested course with no progression beyond a certain point despite extensive follow-up. Such a pattern is particularly true for young males with predominant upper limb weakness especially on one side (so-called monomelic or Hirayama type motor neuron disease). Eventually people with ALS will not be able to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, or use their hands and arms. In later stages of the disease, individuals have difficulty breathing as the muscles of the respiratory system weaken. Although ventilation support can ease problems with breathing and prolong survival, it does not affect the progression of ALS. [b]Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. However, about 10 percent of those individuals with ALS survive for 10 or more years.[/b][/quote]

From [url="http://www.alsa.org/als/facts.cfm?CFID=3046109&CFTOKEN=568cdc0df0d2b8a0-B3254D0C-188B-2E62-805477506DA7F03C"]ALSA.org[/url]:
[quote]About twenty percent of people with ALS live five years or more and up to ten percent will survive more than ten years and five percent will live 20 years. There are people in whom ALS has stopped progressing and a small number of people in whom the symptoms of ALS reversed.[/quote]

[BengalBacker]

[quote name='CTBengalsFan' post='764591' date='Apr 17 2009, 04:17 AM']Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)

Prognosis according to Wikipedia:


From [url="http://www.alsa.org/als/facts.cfm?CFID=3046109&CFTOKEN=568cdc0df0d2b8a0-B3254D0C-188B-2E62-805477506DA7F03C"]ALSA.org[/url]:[/quote]



That's because they all smoked weed, they just didn't tell the doctors.