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Healing treatment godsend for White
Add one more name to the growing list of celebrities and sports stars who swear by the experimental healing powers of an increasingly prominent German doctor.
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White declared himself “100 percent cured” of Meniere’s disease after one visit to Dr. Peter Wehling in Dusseldorf this month.
White was referred to Wehling’s blood-spinning treatment by Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. White said symptoms of the inner-ear disorder, which include bouts of vertigo, intermittent hearing loss, and ringing and feelings of pressure in the ear, went away within days of the procedure.
“The only way you can go there is to have a referral,” White said. “A-Rod got me in. Love you, A-Rod. Thank you. I’m a Red Sox fan, but an A-Rod fan now, trust me. Boston guys will have to deal with it. The guy saved me.”
White has said he was willing to do whatever was necessary to fight the affliction, and he underwent a perilous surgery this year that only made the symptoms worse.
Wehling’s treatment was much easier. Blood was drawn from White’s arm and a few days later, the spun and fortified blood is re-injected to speed healing.
“Dude, I am 100 percent cured. I am 100 percent a new guy, man,” he said. “I’m working out again. My life is back. I don’t know what the hell they do, I’m no scientist. But I’m a million bucks now. I couldn’t feel better.”
The procedure has been associated with athletes, including Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant, hoping to speed the healing of specific injuries. White indicated it contributes to a more general wellness that can assist in curing many ailments.
He said he has contacted boxing trainer Freddie Roach about trying the treatment in case it can be of any assistance to him in dealing with Parkinson’s.
“I haven’t felt this good in two years,” White said. “I was having attacks every day. Every single day. Some were worse than others. It’s not like I was always having attacks every day where I was down for nine hours, but I’d have to go lay down in my office for 15 minutes or something. I always felt dizzy. I never felt good.”
White said he is due to return to Dr. Wehling for one more visit in three months and then should be finished with the treatment. The procedure is not yet approved in the United States, but testing reportedly is underway.
White said he wouldn’t care even if there were side effects.
“I told them, ‘I don’t give a (expletive) if I start growing a horn out of my head. If you can stop this, I’ll file the horn down,’ ” White said. “But according to them, there are absolutely no side effects whatsoever.”
■ MORE WHITE — White has lived in Las Vegas for much of his life, but is still very proud of his Boston roots. He said the tragedy at last week’s marathon hit him hard.
“The story that really gets me is the mother that was crossing the finish line and the son, the 8-year-old that was killed and the girl that lost her legs because of a couple of (expletive) cowards,” he said.
White will travel to Boston after Saturday’s UFC 159 card in Newark, N.J. He said he’s not working with any particular group and nothing has been organized, but he just wants to see what he can do to help.
“I’m going to go to Boston and write some checks,” he said.
White, known to use profanity on occasion himself, beamed when talking about the speech David Ortiz made to the crowd at Fenway Park over weekend in which he declared, “This is our (expletive) town.”
“That was pretty cool,” White said. “Right on live TV. I loved it.”
■ TUFF-N-UFF — Las Vegas-based amateur MMA promotion Tuff-N-Uff has hosted shows in several venues around town, but will get quite creative on Friday.
The organization will put on an event on the rooftop at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the card, which features a main event bout between Mike Perez and Daniel Jimenez.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.