Breakthrough heartens local MS sufferers
Posted By CECILIA NASMITH CNASMITH@NORTHUMBERLANDTODAY.COM
Posted 2 months ago
There will likely be only one topic of discussion at Monday's MS Society Northumberland support group meeting, facilitator Marilyn Marsh predicts: the recent news about a research breakthrough as to the cause and possible treatment of MS.
Long seen as an autoimmune condition, Italian research now points to the debilitating neurological disease as being a vascular disease due to excessive iron build-up that results from a faulty vein system.
Dr. Paolo Zamboni discovered that, in more than 90% of people with multiple sclerosis (including his own wife, whose illness occasioned his research), the veins draining blood from the brain were malformed or blocked.
He got dramatic, positive results from an unclogging procedure similar to angioplasty.
Marsh has already had a number of requests to print out information from members with no computer, and has heard many hopeful comments -- many of them along the lines of, "I want to be liberated!"
They may be referring to Zamboni's procedure, which has come to be known as Liberation Treatment (because it allows the blood to flow freely).
Scientists have long recognized that MS patients have higher amounts of iron in their brain, a dangerous condition that results in brain cells being killed. Zamboni believed that the narrowed or blocked veins of MS patients cause blood to flow backwards into the vein and create the iron deposits.
"It's a different line of investigation, in terms of being a vascular problem as opposed to what has been supposed to be autoimmune," Marsh said.
"They are still saying there's likely a genetic predisposition, but this is something people want to know more about."
Researchers in Buffalo are now recruiting 1,700 American and Canadian subjects of all ages (both MS sufferers and non-sufferers), planning to use ultrasound and MRI to analyze blood flow and iron deposits.
There's even a Canadian project, Marsh added.
"A professor from McMaster is interested in looking at MRIs and vein scans, so there are a lot of avenues," she said.
Mark Haacke, a renowned expert in imaging who has developed a method of measuring iron buildup in the brain, is already urging patients to send him MRI scans of their heads and necks so he can further investigate Zamboni's theories.
"I think the exciting part is, the MS Society has just announced they will be accepting requests for proposals for investigating this, because it needs to be corroborated," Marsh said.
Though patients are encouraged, MS Societies in Canada and the U. S . are reacting with caution. For example, while further research is under way, they are advising that people continue to follow their doctors' recommendations and continue their current course of therapies.
MS Society Ontario Division President and Chief Executive Officer Yves Savoie issued a statement sharing the excitement and hope in what he called the preliminary findings.
"I also celebrate and respect the integrity of our research funding programs which will continue to ensure that the very best projects are selected and supported," he said.
Even Marsh does not expect immediate changes in accepted treatment. Although Zamboni's experimental procedure is similar to one that has long been used for heart surgeries, she said, "The first part of any kind of treatment is, is it safe? And that usually takes a few years."
The support group meeting takes place at 10 a. m. Monday, Nov. 30 at the Columbus Community Centre, located at 232 Spencer St. E., Cobourg.
