There was such a strong public outcry to test this method of beating M.S. that I can't help fear that it is not good science. My type of m.s. probably makes me the ideal candidate for the operation(s.p.m.s.) but the people in my area of B.C. who have undergone the operation have seen mixed results...
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A long-awaited national trial of a controversial experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis has been given the go-ahead and will soon begin recruiting patients in B.C. and Quebec.
The $6-million trial of “liberation therapy,” a type of balloon angioplasty that widens the jugular and azygous veins, has received ethical approval to proceed, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Friday.
( I'm guessing 'ethical approval' means do no harm.)
About 100 people in B.C. and Quebec are expected to take part in the trial, which is a collaboration between the federal government, British Columbia, Quebec and the MS Society of Canada.
Patients will be selected for the trial on Nov. 1.
In a news release Friday, Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic, said the controlled study will let health officials monitor MS patients over two years and obtain scientific evidence on the safety and usefulness of the chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) procedure.
The procedure for treating CCSVI in MS patients is not available in publicly funded health institutions in Canada.
But with several deaths and complications attributed to the surgery, and studies on CCSVI around the world showing mixed results at best, an expert medical panel advised Ottawa to first mount a clinical trial to test the theory.
Many other medical experts dispute Zamboni’s theory, and a small Canadian study, reported in June, found no health improvements for MS patients from the procedure.
German and Swedish research published in the journal Annals of Neurology in 2010 found little connection between narrow blood vessels and MS.
“Our results challenge the hypothesis that cerebral venous congestion plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of MS,” said an abstract of the study published online.
Code doesn’t dispute that blocked or twisted veins are not the cause of MS. But he says liberation therapy can relieve the worst of its symptoms.
The $6-million trial of “liberation therapy,” a type of balloon angioplasty that widens the jugular and azygous veins, has received ethical approval to proceed, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Friday.
( I'm guessing 'ethical approval' means do no harm.)
About 100 people in B.C. and Quebec are expected to take part in the trial, which is a collaboration between the federal government, British Columbia, Quebec and the MS Society of Canada.
Patients will be selected for the trial on Nov. 1.
In a news release Friday, Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic, said the controlled study will let health officials monitor MS patients over two years and obtain scientific evidence on the safety and usefulness of the chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) procedure.
The procedure for treating CCSVI in MS patients is not available in publicly funded health institutions in Canada.
But with several deaths and complications attributed to the surgery, and studies on CCSVI around the world showing mixed results at best, an expert medical panel advised Ottawa to first mount a clinical trial to test the theory.
Many other medical experts dispute Zamboni’s theory, and a small Canadian study, reported in June, found no health improvements for MS patients from the procedure.
German and Swedish research published in the journal Annals of Neurology in 2010 found little connection between narrow blood vessels and MS.
“Our results challenge the hypothesis that cerebral venous congestion plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of MS,” said an abstract of the study published online.
Code doesn’t dispute that blocked or twisted veins are not the cause of MS. But he says liberation therapy can relieve the worst of its symptoms.
ticrawford@vancouversun.com
With files from The Canadian Press
Link: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Controversial+treatment+receives+ethical+approval+clinical+tests/7315056/story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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