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So, Stephen Hawking has a new TV show called "Brave New World" all about some of the more recent advances in technology and medicine. Watching the first episode (or more accurately, the ad for the future episode with the quote, "This makes surgery obsolete"), I came up with a question:

Assuming that someone could give Stephen Hawking something that would cure him, keeping in mind that he's been paralyzed for over 30 years now, how well could his heart cope with the sudden extra load of him running around. Or for that matter, how much strength do bones retain after not being used for that long? I'd assume that his muscles have atrophied a lot — do they get to some minimum size that's big enough to support their body's weight and stop, or do they waste away until they're pretty much just holding tendons in place?

Stephen Hawking is a chronic ventilator user. He has been ventilator dependent for so long now that it is unlikely he would ever be able to breathe on his own, so the rest of it is academic.

Dave2 wrote:So, Stephen Hawking has a new TV show called "Brave New World" all about some of the more recent advances in technology and medicine. Watching the first episode (or more accurately, the ad for the future episode with the quote, "This makes surgery obsolete"), I came up with a question:

Assuming that someone could give Stephen Hawking something that would cure him, keeping in mind that he's been paralyzed for over 30 years now, how well could his heart cope with the sudden extra load of him running around. Or for that matter, how much strength do bones retain after not being used for that long? I'd assume that his muscles have atrophied a lot — do they get to some minimum size that's big enough to support their body's weight and stop, or do they waste away until they're pretty much just holding tendons in place?

It's impossible to assume something like a "cure." There is no cure. Mr. Hawking's muscles are so wasted and atrophied that they are no longer any use to him. His heart need not worry about any sudden workload overload because it's simply not happening. His muscles are not nearly able to support his weight, any such suggestion is ridiculous. His muscles will continue to function at the very low level where they are right now, and he will continue to be able to share his wisdom and knowledge with us for some time, as long as his physique and the machines hold up.

I had a close friend who died of ALS. He was first diagnosed--after lengthy tests--because his speech had become slurred, as if he were drunk. In less than two years, he was dead.

ALS progresses quite differently depending upon the individual. Dr. Hawking is actually the exception in that he has survived so long.

But, no, there is no cure for ALS. And no known--or foreseeable--options for surgical intervention.

Skiprr wrote:I had a close friend who died of ALS. He was first diagnosed--after lengthy tests--because his speech had become slurred, as if he were drunk. In less than two years, he was dead.

ALS progresses quite differently depending upon the individual. Dr. Hawking is actually the exception in that he has survived so long.

But, no, there is no cure for ALS. And no known--or foreseeable--options for surgical intervention.

Dr. Hawking is the very rare exception to the exception. It's remarkable that he is still alive, and even more so that he is able to share his insights with the rest of the world. By all accounts, he should have been dead long ago. And lucky for us that he isn't.

Skiprr wrote:I had a close friend who died of ALS. He was first diagnosed--after lengthy tests--because his speech had become slurred, as if he were drunk. In less than two years, he was dead.

ALS progresses quite differently depending upon the individual. Dr. Hawking is actually the exception in that he has survived so long.

But, no, there is no cure for ALS. And no known--or foreseeable--options for surgical intervention.

I'm sorry for your loss.

As far as I can tell the show isn't suggestinthant different. It just got me thinking about medical stuff is all.

matriculated wrote:

Dave2 wrote:So, Stephen Hawking has a new TV show called "Brave New World" all about some of the more recent advances in technology and medicine. Watching the first episode (or more accurately, the ad for the future episode with the quote, "This makes surgery obsolete"), I came up with a question:

Assuming that someone could give Stephen Hawking something that would cure him, keeping in mind that he's been paralyzed for over 30 years now, how well could his heart cope with the sudden extra load of him running around. Or for that matter, how much strength do bones retain after not being used for that long? I'd assume that his muscles have atrophied a lot — do they get to some minimum size that's big enough to support their body's weight and stop, or do they waste away until they're pretty much just holding tendons in place?

It's impossible to assume something like a "cure." There is no cure. Mr. Hawking's muscles are so wasted and atrophied that they are no longer any use to him. His heart need not worry about any sudden workload overload because it's simply not happening. His muscles are not nearly able to support his weight, any such suggestion is ridiculous. His muscles will continue to function at the very low level where they are right now, and he will continue to be able to share his wisdom and knowledge with us for some time, as long as his physique and the machines hold up./quote]

SH is actually losing his ability to communicate due to the deteriorating muscles in his face.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... inute.html

"Professor Stephen Hawking’s ability to communicate has slowed to one word a minute, aides have revealed."..."the Cambridge University academic is concerned he could lose the electronic voice he has had for a quarter of a century."
"Personal assistant Judith Croasdell said: ‘His speech has got slower and slower and on a bad day he can only manage about one word a minute.
We think it may be because of the deterioration in his cheek muscle.'"

jmra wrote:

matriculated wrote:

Dave2 wrote:So, Stephen Hawking has a new TV show called "Brave New World" all about some of the more recent advances in technology and medicine. Watching the first episode (or more accurately, the ad for the future episode with the quote, "This makes surgery obsolete"), I came up with a question:

Assuming that someone could give Stephen Hawking something that would cure him, keeping in mind that he's been paralyzed for over 30 years now, how well could his heart cope with the sudden extra load of him running around. Or for that matter, how much strength do bones retain after not being used for that long? I'd assume that his muscles have atrophied a lot — do they get to some minimum size that's big enough to support their body's weight and stop, or do they waste away until they're pretty much just holding tendons in place?

It's impossible to assume something like a "cure." There is no cure. Mr. Hawking's muscles are so wasted and atrophied that they are no longer any use to him. His heart need not worry about any sudden workload overload because it's simply not happening. His muscles are not nearly able to support his weight, any such suggestion is ridiculous. His muscles will continue to function at the very low level where they are right now, and he will continue to be able to share his wisdom and knowledge with us for some time, as long as his physique and the machines hold up./quote]

SH is actually losing his ability to communicate due to the deteriorating muscles in his face.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... inute.html

"Professor Stephen Hawking’s ability to communicate has slowed to one word a minute, aides have revealed."..."the Cambridge University academic is concerned he could lose the electronic voice he has had for a quarter of a century."
"Personal assistant Judith Croasdell said: ‘His speech has got slower and slower and on a bad day he can only manage about one word a minute.
We think it may be because of the deterioration in his cheek muscle.'"

This is very sad news. We are losing the Albert Einstein of our era.

I am not a doctor but I would think that if Dr. Hawking were suddenly cured of ALS (say at the age of 25) then over a period of years with rehab he could improve at least somewhat. He is 70 years old so it is now a moot point.

I have seen some unbelievable neuromuscular rehabilitation.

I liked his cameo on The Big Bang Theory.