Holy crap!

I'm no saying that this is a cure or anything, but it's definately another peice to the puzzle. And it's therefore awesome to the power of ten.

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopict-7374.html

"1. What is CCSVI?

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency... it’s a chronic (ongoing) problem where blood from the brain and spine has trouble getting back to the heart. It’s caused by stenosis (a narrowing) in the veins that drain the spine and brain. Blood takes longer to get back to the heart, and it can reflux back into the brain and spine or cause edema and leakage of red blood cells and fluids into the delicate tissue of the brain and spine. Blood that stays in the brain too long creates “slowed perfusion”...a delay in deoxyginated blood leaving the head. This can cause a lack of oxygen (hypoxia) in the brain. Plasma and iron from blood deposited in the brain tissue are also very damaging.

2.How is it related to MS?

Every MS patient tested so far has it. Over 500 MS patients in Italy have it. They were tested by Dr. Paolo Zamboni. Forty five MS patients in the US have it. They were tested by Dr. Michael Dake. Six clinically defined MS patients and 3 probable MS patients have it in Poland. They were tested by Dr. Marian Simka. 1700 patients and controls are being tested for it by Jacobs Neurological Institute at SUNY Buffalo.

None of the normal patients (controls) tested have it. None of the patients with other neurological diseases have it. Only people with MS.
...
7. My neurologist says that MS is autoimmune, and he can prove it! I have oligoclonal bands in my spinal fluid, and that shows my immune system is going after my myelin.

Remind your neurologist that oligoclonal bands in spinal fluid also appear in people with neurovascular disease- like stroke and dementia. It's a well known fact that the immune system is activated to clean up after axonal death and tissue damage in the brain. That doesn't mean a stroke is an autoimmune disease! CCSVI causes damage to the brain and axonal death....of course the immune system will be involved. But the immune system did not cause CCSVI. CCSVI comes first.

8. Yikes! If I have CCSVI, what can be done about it??

The good news is that Dr. Zamboni has been testing a procedure (the Liberation procedure) in his Italian patients for two years. He goes into the femoral vein endovascularly (thru a small incision at the groin) and goes up into the blocked vein and opens it with a small balloon. He's done this to hundreds of patients, and many have greatly reduced symptoms and healing. He's also done this procedure on 18 MS patients who were in the hospital in the midst of bad relapses. The relapse symptoms stopped and were reversed in 4 hours to 4 days from having the balloon procedure...without steroids! Dr. Michael Dake at Stanford University has been using stents (metal tubes) to keep the veins open if the ballooning does not keep the veins open. He also goes in endovascularly. Patients have had reduction in fatigue, heat intolerance, spasms and some have had improved vision and mobility. Dr. Dake has been performing these procedures at Stanford since May. Dr. Marian Simka is overseeing these stenting and ballooning procedures in Poland. Stay tuned! We'll have more to report in the months ahead!"


Seriously, this is such good news I cried when I read it. It's not a cure, but it's one of the definitive links to ms that happens in all of the patients.