More testing has to be done to confirm the approach but early results seem amazing.
If someone in your family suffers from MS, you might want to read this article. It seems that an Italian medical professor has come up with a new approach to addressing the disease that seems very promising.
That's very interesting. Thanks for the link.
You might want to also check this out:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/141010.php
Which apparently also works for other auto-immune disorders such as gluten intolerance or asthma.
Thanks for sharing - it sounds really interesting.
Anyone seen the research around hookworm infections being used to cure immune system disorders? Apparently hookworms excrete chemicals to regulate the immune system. There is a theory that the hookworm co-evolved with humans to be a beneficial parasite.
Thats the link that DoctorDad posted above.
My Brother-in-law works in the same research department that is doing the hookworm research and looking at Coeliac disease - the results are pretty interesting...
I find this fascinating. My wife is gluten intolerant, and we know someone else with a skin related auto-immune disorder.
I also wonder why in the article about Zamboni they say his findings are contrary to MS being an auto-immune disease. His data seem to suggest that blockages occur in veins coming from the brain, that when cleared alleviate symptoms. They even draw a parallel with arteriosclerosis in the heart and the angioplasty used as treatment. This seems to me to be treatment of the symptoms, and does not really say how the blockage gets there in the first place.
Is it not possible that the blockages are caused by an auto-immune response?
The following is from the article. This is why it is so interesting in the MS fight. A very different view that might hold the true cause. As always with disease - what is the cause and what is the result of the problem.
"What he learned in his medical detective work, scouring dusty old books and using ultra-modern imaging techniques, could well turn what we know about MS on its head: Dr. Zamboni's research suggests that MS is not, as widely believed, an autoimmune condition, but a vascular disease ."
"He found repeated references, dating back a century, to excess iron as a possible cause of MS. The heavy metal can cause inflammation and cell death, hallmarks of the disease. The vascular surgeon was intrigued – coincidentally, he had been researching how iron buildup damages blood vessels in the legs, and wondered if there could be a similar problem in the blood vessels of the brain."
Two 4 minute videos by a Canadian network on the developments of the Italian doctor.
Videos follow one after the other. Ten second commercial to start.
As an MS patient...this is indeed positive news! Thanks for sharing...
Jack
The full documentary is available now, link in the article. It's exciting stuff and I really hope that neurologists worldwide sit up and take notice.
Having a friend with MS, I know that any potential cure is always looked at as the Holy Grail.
It is important not to get one's hopes up too much. These are early days in the trials, but hopefully it will lead somewhere positive
I hope that other medical experts treat it seriously and undertake more research, whilst still pursuing their other avenues.
This nice thing about this hypothesis is that he is simply saying "MS patient = blocked arteries from the brain. Normal person = no blockage of arteries. Blocked arteries increase iron around/in the brain. Iron is a problem for the brain. Iron may be one of the contributing factors of MS"
How to check for blocked arteries (see video) either an MRI or a "quick and dirty" ultrasound done in a doctor's office. If you have blocked arteries, you UNBLOCK them. What can be easier. Simple angioplasty (balloon procedure). Check every once and a while to see if they are still all open. Watch if MS symptoms improve.
Downside to opening up blocked arteries? None that I know of.
Looks to me that the starting point for any MS patient is to check if his/her arteries are blocked.
...let me know when you hear of a cure for Arthritis!
It seemed they were working on something, but no results so far...
Well summarised Verbier, in fact I'm going to copy your post and email it directly to my friend who has MS. Dr Zamboni stressed that it is important to treat people with relapsing remitting MS as soon as possible as it is not always possible to treat the progressive form in this way. The problem will be getting neurologists to accept a totally radical new theory and to start scanning for blocked veins. If enough sufferers start requesting neck scans, they will have to be offered eventually. The problem will be funding, drug companies will not want to invest in research of this kind as it will eradicate the need for drugs and therefore not profitable.
If you are talking about rheumatoid arthritis, then yes, the hookworm treatment mentioned above (not from Zamboni) is applicable. As mentioned before, the theory is that worms emit something that slightly suppresses the immune system (so that they don't get killed). Some people report that this suppression also suppresses their auto-immune disorder. Clinical trials are going on in Nottingham for MS, and sweetpea reported earlier that the same department is also looking into gluten intolerance, maybe rheumatoid arthritis and asthma as well, I don't know.
They are not quite as icky as they sound. Apparently the eggs have to leave the body and infect you through the skin, so it is not like they can breed out of control inside you. In fact I believe you have to keep reinfecting yourself from time to time.
It sounds very very exciting...I guess this new approach can cure also other diseases resourced by rheumatoid arthrities. Two years ago, one of my closest friends suddenly suffered "mixed-connected tissue disorder".
Actually, they have still not able to get used to live with this disase as you can imagine. The doctor of the patience prescribed some medicines such as adalat and plaquenil, which had been used of the Maleria diease'curing, according to the doctor's saying and also can damage a person's eyes, who uses it in long term.
Now, I wonder ıf "mixed-connected tissue disorder" is the same or similiar with the "MS".?
And If with this new approach is taken a definite and proven result, in that case, is not it possible to cure the diseases of the mixed-connected tissue disorder with the same way?
Any one who has useful information about this issue to share with me?
Thanks in advance
Trova
Any surgical procedure carries an element of risk. I am no medical expert, but I am sure that operating close to the brain must have some specific risks. Surgery has advanced so much in recent years that it is easy to overlook the possible downsides.
Some updated information on this important new development in the treatment of ms patients - including information on new trials set to begin in the US and Canada - can be found at the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre For those who can read German, the Swiss MS Society has set-up a special web site just for this treatment procedure and includes a forum for discussing the issues...
Jack