This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Dear Dr. Murray-

I am not a doctor, I am merely the loving wife of someone with MS. I have read many of your papers, and several chapters of your book on the history of MS. I am very thankful for your continued interest in MS, and your willingness to consider many factors in finding its cause. This is why I write to you today...

I would like to refer you to Dr. Paulo Zamboni's (University of Ferrara, Italy) ground-breaking work on venous insufficiency in MS. This study is the first to use doppler ultrasound to follow the blood circulation in the jugular and azygous veins in MS patients. All of the 65 MS patients studied had chronic venous reflux due to stenoses in their outflowing veins. None of the 230 controls had these stenoses. I believe the endMS campaign launching in Canada might benefit from trying to replicate Zamboni's findings.

Here is Dr. Zamboni's paper, published this month-

http://jnnp.bmj.com/cgi/rapidpdf/jnnp.2008.157164v1

Thank you for your consideration. I am hoping some of the Canadian endMS research money might be allocated to venous insufficiency. I wish you a blessed New Year. May 2009 be the year we endMS!

Joan Beal