Nov
26
The “liberation procedure,” a controversial new surgical procedure that appears to cure multiple sclerosis, is based on circumstantial evidence and MS sufferers should not rush into getting it.
That was the message delivered by Dr. Mark Freedman, director of the MS research unit at The Ottawa Hospital, during an education session hosted by the MS Society of Ottawa on Tuesday night. For many in the audience, his words dashed much of their newfound hope.
One of a series of education events regularly presented by the society, this meeting attracted throngs of MS patients and their loved ones, all curious about the new theory proposed by Italian researcher Dr. Paolo Zamboni. A vascular surgeon by training, Zamboni believes MS is not an autoimmune condition, as widely believed, but rather a vascular disease that can be cured with surgery.
Zamboni’s theory is that MS is caused by clogged veins, a condition he calls “chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency” (CCSVI). Zamboni first performed the angioplasty-type surgery on his wife, who suffered from MS, and her symptoms disappeared. He then tested it on a group of 65 patients with remarkable results: 73 per cent had no symptoms two years after the surgery.
However, Freedman, like many neurologists, is skeptical. During his presentation, Freedman said he confronted Zamboni at a recent meeting in Lisbon.
“He was there presenting some of his data and had a hard time answering any of the questions from the MS guys,” Freedman said. Among their concerns was Zamboni’s claim that the clogged veins are present at birth, yet no studies had been done on children. Zamboni had not done animal studies, either.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you tie off a few of the blood vessels in animals and see if they develop MS?’ His answer was, ‘I’m not a mouse researcher’,” Freedman said.
read the rest via MS expert downplays Italian surgeon’s treatment.
Nov
23
Researcher’s labour of love leads to MS breakthrough
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Elena Ravalli was a seemingly healthy 37-year-old when she began to experience strange attacks of vertigo, numbness, temporary vision loss and crushing fatigue. They were classic signs of multiple sclerosis, a potentially debilitating neurological disease.
It was 1995 and her husband, Paolo Zamboni, a professor of medicine at the University of Ferrara in Italy, set out to help. He was determined to solve the mystery of MS – an illness that strikes people in the prime of their lives but whose causes are unknown and whose effective treatments are few.
What he learned in his medical detective work, scouring dusty old books and using ultra-modern imaging techniques, could well turn what we know about MS on its head: Dr. Zamboni’s research suggests that MS is not, as widely believed, an autoimmune condition, but a vascular disease.
read the rest via Researcher’s labour of love leads to MS breakthrough – The Globe and Mail.
Nov
6
How Aggressive Cells Invade The Brain: Real-time Observation Sheds New Light On Multiple Sclerosis
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 6, 2009) — In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage. For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream. This is no trivial feat, given that specialized blood vessels act as a barrier between the nervous system and the bloodstream. Until now, tissue sections provided the sole evidence that the immune cells really do manage to reach the nerve cells.
Now, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, the University Medical Center Göttingen, and other institutes, has witnessed the movements of these cells “live” under the microscope for the very first time. In the process, they discovered several new behavioural traits of the immune cells. The consolidated findings mark a significant step forward in our understanding of this complex disease. (Nature, 14 October 2009)
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