After being diagnosed with MS, local waitress Terri Walls told her physician she wanted to treat the disease using exclusively natural treatments. “I don’t want to put chemicals in my body,” said Walls, “especially ones that aren’t natural.” To honor her request, local neurologist Dr. Claude Pons suggested a treatment derived from a metabolite of the fungus Isaria sinclairii.
“Initially I was thrilled,” she said, “especially when I discovered that species related to Isaria sinclairii, such as Yartsa gunbu Ophiocordyceps sinensis, have been used in traditional Tibetan medicine and in traditional Chinese medical tonics, which some refer to as an elixir of eternal youth.”
Walls ultimately rejected the treatment, however, when she discovered the treatment had been patented by the drug company Novartis and marketed as Gilena ®. After that, said Walls, “the treatment was no longer natural.” At press time, Walls was hoping to treat her disease with supplements and vitamins which she described as “free of chemicals.”
