Successful Treatment of Corticobasal Syndrome: Case Study

Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is an uncommon neurodegenerative syndrome, with a prevalence of only a few thousand patients in the U.S. Symptoms include alien hand syndrome, rigidity, myoclonus, weakness (often asymmetric), dysarthria, aphasia, dementia, and dysphagia, among others. There is no known cause or effective treatment for CBS. The underlying neuropathology associated with CBS includes corticobasal degeneration (CBD), Alzheimer’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vascular disease, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Here we report a patient with CBS who had had exposure to burn pits, was found to harbor high levels of multiple toxins, and responded to a personalized, precision medicine protocol that included detoxification, hormone optimization, brain training, hyperbaric oxygen, and diet and lifestyle enhancement. Her symptoms abated, her MoCA score increased from 21/30 to 28/30, her electrophysiological studies normalized with marked improvement in quantitative EEG, and her MRI volumetrics improved. This case study suggests the possibility that more extensive toxin evaluations in patients with CBS may be revealing, and that personalized treatment directed at identified potential drivers such as organic toxins may offer the potential for symptom improvement in a disease for which no treatment has previously shown efficacy. The results also suggest the need for a proof-of-concept clinical trial for patients with CBS.