Multiple Sclerosis.

I am not one to typically watch W5. I barely have time to catch a few minutes of the news here and there. However, on the weekend while catching my few minutes they briefly talked about a doctor in Italy that has found out new information about MS. They mentioned that W5 would follow with the full story.

My dad has MS. He was diagnosed the year before I was born which means he has been suffering for 27 years now. He has been on disability for more than 10 years and suffers from a lot of pain and demobilization. Granted there are people with MS far worse off than my dad it still pains me to see him live this way.

A close family friend also suffers from MS. Bonnie was one of my dad's friends growing up and ended up being the best female role model in my life. I spent many of my teenage years with her and am a better person for it. Bonnie has been in a wheelchair since before I met her 15 years ago. When I first met her she could walk at night, cook, clean, dress herself. Now all she can do is move a couple fingers on her right hand. She lives in a home and cannot take care of herself at all. She is a wonderful loving, outgoing, intelligent person who cannot do anything but lay in bed unless someone helps her.

Any new information about MS is interesting to me as it may mean a better life for my dad and Bonnie. I tried to watch as much of the show as I could. This proved to be hard as it was bath time and getting ready for bed time. During this time of the day with Rawley it is hard to sit down for more than 10 minutes at a time. I did see enough to know that this sounds promising. I was also able to read up on it here: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091120/W5_liberation_091121/20091121?s_name=W5
and here:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091123/ms_folo_091123/20091123?s_name=W5

Turns out MS could actually be a vascular disease that can be treated with simple surgical procedures to open up blocked veins. This procedure is called the 'Liberation Treatment'. Dr. Zamboni has conducted research and found that most MS patients have narrowing, twisting or complete blockage of the veins that drain blood from the brain.

The vain disorder that he calls 'Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) is what sets in motion the neurological symptoms of MS. The blood of MS patients is flowing back upwards to the brain, which Dr. Zamboni says sets off a number of reactions, including MS symptoms. The blood that is forced to stay in the brain is high in Iron which can eventually kill brain cells.

After watching the show I called my dad (who also watched it) to talk about what they have found. He thinks it makes a lot of sense. One symptom of MS that doctors have not been able to give reason for is immense pressure in the brain. My dad as well as a few of his close childhood friend have MS and they have the same complaint. They say that there is so much pressure in their brain some days that they don't want to go on. Doctor have never been able to tell my dad why this happens. He says that knowing that the blood is not properly draining from his head make sense.

With the Liberation Treatment they insert a tiny balloon into these blocked veins to open them up and allow the blood to flow out of the brain. A small study was done where 65 patients had the Liberation procedure.

50% of those patients were relapse-free for 18 months
while only 27% of those who did not have the surgery went relapse-free

Only 12% of those who had the surgery had brain lesions (sign of active disease)
but 50% of those who did not had brain lesions.

This to me is something we should be looking into.

There are already 6 approved drug therapies in Canada that help reduce the burden of MS symptoms. This is great but imagine having a simple surgery once in your life and be cured. The thing that scares me is that the drug companies have so much power. I feel they would rather have sick people on drugs than people that are healthy. It means money to them. I hope that Canada will use their funds wisely to do research on this and hopefully someday my dad, Bonnie and all the other MS sufferers will be cured or at least more comfortable.