Hope

So they re-myelinated the brain of a shiverer mouse (original abstract here) and I cried.

I believe that stem cells are "the thing" that will cure and then "fix" MS. Ideally, I'd like someone to figure out how to "reboot" my immune system and fix all the neurological damage this disease has done, and what this study above does is give me home that at least *part* of that dream is possible.

I've never let myself believe that MS will be cured in my lifetime, but if this science is actually a working model, MS might be fixed by the time I'm in my 50s. If I can keep from progressing now, that would give me 30-40 years of life worth living.

Until now, I've never let myself have that hope. I cried because it now seems possible.

Stem cells are where it's at. Mark my words.

Not So Liberating

This study was also conducted by someone who really wanted it to work, Dr. William Pryse-Phillips, a professor emeritus of neurology at Newfoundland’s Memorial University.

Patients who underwent the so-called liberation treatment for multiple sclerosis experienced no measurable benefit from the procedure, a study commissioned by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador found.

They couldn't find one person who benefited from "Liberation" one year after the procedure out of 30 participants. Not even in the self-reports of the patients themselves. That hardly appears to be a procedure that every person with MS should be undergoing at the provinces' expense.

And the outcome of this study, as limited as it is, leaves me wondering if there isn't a placebo effect - especially when the self-report benefits seem to tail off 3 months after the procedure - and why the people who didn't have a recurrence of clots or blockages did just as well as those who did. Like the doctor asks at the end of the article

"...under Zamboni’s theory, those who experienced the closures should have had poorer results than those who didn’t."

The more investigation that is done on this procedure the more I am convinced that MS will not be cured by a single drug, procedure or therapy. It's just too complex, it's origins so vague, that it's not going to be a magic silver bullet that solves the riddle.

My money is still on stem cells. I'm hoping that one day I can just trade in my whole immune system for a new one, and then use gene therapy to get rid of the damage.

CCSVI and MS

I'm afraid that a whole lot of people are going to be disappointed. There is absolutely no evidence, even Dr. Zamboni's research, that this procedure works for everyone.

Dr. Zamboni says that it works for people who's narrowing of the veins doesn't come back but what wasn't on the show was that 80% of the people who have had this surgery in California have the narrowing come back. Their symptoms may be less severe, but they're not "cured".

There's also a side effect of neck and shoulder problems for some people that should also be investigated before we start handing out this surgery for everyone and their brother with MS.

There's also no evidence that the procedure does anything to help with damage to the brain or undoing scar tissue. This answer also doesn't solve the mystery of MS's geographic and gender biases, the genetic factors, the connection to Guillain–Barré or Epstein-Barr, or even gluten, egg or dairy allergies or sensitivities. This very simple answer doesn't even begin to unravel the web of possibilities with MS.

Please, for the love of Pete, don't pin your hopes on this being "THE ANSWER". It is probably more like "one of a few answers".

End MS

CTV News program W5 investigates intriguing new theory about MS

For now, MS Societies in Canada and the U.S. have reacted cautiously to the research,, saying there is "insufficient evidence to suggest this phenomenon is the cause of MS" and discouraging patients from getting tested or seeking treatment.

But the researchers testing Zamboni's theory believe they're on to something that could change the future for MS patients around the world.

The report will be up on the CTV - W5 website after the show airs Saturday, November 21, 2009.