North America

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The microbiologist, Frank Plummer is recognized worldwide for his research in the HIV virus

Microbiology Frank Plummer has been at the forefront of the fight against some of The World 's most alarming epidemic from HIV to Ebola , But his illustrious career masked a growing dependence on alcohol. Now the researchers, the Guinea Pig in a clinical study will help to investigate whether brain implants can treat alcohol use disorder.

alcohol was always a big part of Frank Plummer 's.

at the beginning of his career in research in the early 1980s in Nairobi, he is too lean to scotch, to relax, and the stress, the disappointment and the sadness of his Work .

He and his colleagues felt the visceral urgency of your Work , as you observed, to unfold such as the African HIV crisis.

"I felt like a fireman or something, not go out But The Fire ," says Dr. Plummer, 67, told the BBC.

"kept It to just go and go and. It was this feeling That you have to Do Something , and That The World must Do Something . And I was trying to pay attention to you and the money to continue our Work . So it was a time of intense Pressure . "

Dr. Plummer's research topics, the Kenyan women, sex workers, some were found to have a natural immunity against The Virus .

It was spent in a pioneer Work , and over the 17 years, Dr. Plummer in Kenya, he and his colleagues made made ground-breaking discoveries about how HIV is spread - breakthroughs That have helped inform how we can reduce risk of transmission and increases the possibility of a vaccine against The Virus could be developed, One Day .

The University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi have been together for a long time on the HIV-related research

In these stressful times, five or six glasses of scotch a night, gave him room to breathe after the hectic days and weeks.

When he returned to Canada, he took a leading position in the Winnipeg National Microbiology laboratory, one of the few laboratories in The World with the ability to Work with highly pathogenic viruses such as Ebola .

In the laboratory, they dealt with the outbreak of Sars in 2003 and H1N1 influenza in 2009. Dr. Plummer was there and contributed to the development of the canadian Ebola vaccine.

It was vital, exciting, and stressful Work , with 12-hour days began with coffee and would scotch at the end with a few glasses. Be drinking up to 20 ounces of alcohol a night.

It didn't seem to affect his Work - until 2012, when it Caught Up with him.

"Packed up My Liver ," he says. "Before I knew I drank a lot, But I don't think I had a problem. "

The Diagnosis of chronic Liver failure, a Liver transplant followed. He had to watch, to keep his alcohol consumption, his new Liver , But he found his alcohol had a tremendous Thirst .

Frank Plummer found, he is a night,

Dr. Plummer is trying to drank several glasses of scotch-treatment - rehabilitation programs, self-help groups, counseling, medication, But the relief was only temporary. He would inevitably slip back into drink.

"It was a pretty hopeless cycle and it was very difficult for My Family and my wife, Jo, and my children and my stepchildren," he says. "I was in The Hospital a lot, I almost died several times. "

He went in search of help "a more robust clinical solution, not to be discovered, maybe even" - and has been to two neurosurgeons at the Toronto Sunnybrook hospital.

they were carried out the recruitment of patients for an experimental procedure in North America for the First Time , which will help with deep brain stimulation (DBS) to patients with treatment-resistant alcohol use disorder. The surgical study is to test how safe and effective DBS addiction is to alcohol.

DBS is disease for over 25 years to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson's. Around 200,000 DBS operations have been performed around The World , many for the Nervous System disorder.

In recent years, it has been researched as a treatment for a number of other diseases. In Sunnybrook, clinical studies to explore the progress of DBS for use in diseases such as post-traumatic stress disorder are obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, and alcohol use disorder.

What is attacked will change the part of The Brain , says Dr. Nir Lipsman , the study's lead investigator and a neurosurgeon, who performed Dr Plummer's Surgery .

Frank Plummer was awake during the Operation.

"[For] the things, such as Parkinson's disease, we target-motor circuits in The Brain , addiction, alcohol disorder, we are targeting a reward, the pleasure circuits of The Brain ," he says.

DBS treatment involves the Implantation of an electrical device to stimulate directly into a patient, The Brain circuits, where there is abnormal activity or dysfunctional "wiring", and help to reset them. DBS is often described as a kind of "pacemaker" for The Brain .

the electrodes are inserted, to be controlled in a targeted region of The Brain re-calibrate the activity in this area using electrical pulses from a pacemaker-like device under The Skin placed from the chest of the patient and to ease cravings.

Dr. Plummer was the study of The First patient and the experimental Surgery he underwent just over a year. A total of six people to finally participate - All with a history of chronic alcohol disorder as to be resistant to other types of treatment.

The DBS Surgery , performed to Frank Plummer targets The Brain , The Nucleus accumbens, or pleasure center

patients are awake for the Surgery .

Dr. Plummer says the worst part of the procedure were The Noise and vibrations when surgeons drilled into his skull for the Implantation of the electrodes.

"It was a great drill, the drill using a 25-cent piece out of your skull on both sides - That wasn't painful, But it was annoying," he says.

The Brain 's pleasure centers is specifically involved in this study - The Nucleus accumbens - That is, the mood, anxiety, and depression.

this factor may be the key, since many of the diseases of addiction, often in combination with mood disorders, the neuro-surgeon says.

The Surgeon says Dr. Plummer has a desire to improve both his and his mood.

In those who have had the Surgery , "we see some signs, some early signs That we have the impact on this behavior and these kind of measures That we want to affect," said Dr. Lipsman.

The Surgeons hope That the study of diseases, the displacement of some of the stigma around addiction. Addictions are still often seen as a weakness or a failure of the power to prevent, the people, The Treatment .

"We change the way we see it, change the way we see alcohol use disorder as a condition in the advanced Stages , in The Treatment of resistant phases, as driven by the circuits in The Brain That do not Work properly," he says.

But he also warns That the research is in the early Stages and That there is no Silver Bullet .

Frank Plummer , seen with his wife, Jo, says he has discovered, not life for of the Operation.

"It is easy in The Implant , Say Goodbye , and you're done," he says. Patients should continue to be seeking their conventional treatment for your alcohol, as a therapy or rehabilitation programs.

"It's really about, look at this as part of a larger strategy for The Treatment of what is an incredibly complex and difficult disease. "

All of the results of DBS are not suddenly - it is a modification can take weeks to feel. For Dr Plummer, after a little while, "life was just so much better, so much richer. "

"I've suddenly decided That I wanted to write a book about my experiences as a scientist and the experiences of living in Kenya," he says.

He is again Wake up early, write daily, and to HIV research with the hope That the development of a vaccine for the disease.

He drinks occasionally, But says That he does not have the same compulsion or physical dependence than before.

"life is on the table again," he says.

alcoholism, canada

Source of news: bbc.com