This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Somewhere along the way, you would of thought that doctors might make the connection between compromised blood flow with stroke paitents and MS symptoms.

http://www.tree.com/health/stroke-disability.aspx

MS symptoms wax and wane(unless you are diagnosed with progressive MS) while stroke symptoms do not. MS symptoms are eerily similar to Lyme disease so maybe doctors should make the connection between MS and ticks?

Scorpion, you are right with some, symptoms wax and wane unless you are progressive. MAYBE, just maybe, the blood flow restriction does the same with CCSVI when patients are in the Relasping Remitting stage. And when the stenosis is more severe the symptoms only continue to worsen.
With a stroke the lack of blood flow remains the same, unless the patient is given medication within a few hours. These patients recover and do not become disabled.

The difference between CCSVI/MS and Stroke are

Basically HYPOXIA VS ANOXIA


CCSVI causes Chronic INTERMITTENT HYPOXIA ( lower than normal oxygen) this " starves" the brain cells of fuels ( both oxygen/ glucose) to do their jobs. As with any chronic starvation it gets worse over time until the tissue ultimately dies. Remember that position alters the blood pathways and that the vessels involved are varied.

STROKE causes Acute ANOXIA ( No oxygen) to the tissues that are blocked by the interrupted blood flow. This can be caused by a clot or a ruptured vessel such as an aneurysm. If the brain tissue has no way to get fuel (oxygen and glucose) in adequate amounts it dies. New treatments work at restoring oxygen/ glucose rich blood to the infarcted tissue with varied success. Time being very crucial for good outcomes.

Points to ponder at that the brain uses 60-70 % of our glucose- more with complex thinking
And the brain uses 35% of our oxygen.

Many parts of the brain are quite sensitive to lowered fuels specifically the eye, the basal ganglia and hippocampus. The most resistant to lack of oxygen is the brain stem where breathing and basic body functions are controlled. The Immediate symptom relief seen post venoplasty coincides with the symptoms caused by hypoxia in other conditions.

To learn more about hypoxia google hypoxic or anoxic encephalopathy- I believe ( and many others) that CCSVI causes a very , very, very slow version of hypoxic encephalopathy compounded with a few other things, such as the effect of iron deposits and other triggers. How this dovetails with MS no one knows, but it sure sounds like a big part of the cause to me.



Restoration of normal oxygen relieves symptoms that are caused by lack of fuels within seconds if the tissue is not permanently damaged. If it is severely damaged the effect can be seen over time. This is seen post "code blue" and near drownings.

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Cat (Catherine Somerville on FB)
MegansMom
My 35 yo daughter is newly dx 8/19/10 (had 12 symptoms)
Dx with Type A CCSVI- 1 IJV & double "candy wrapper" appearance of her Azygos
Venoplasty done Sept 21, 2010
Doing extremely well-

Intermittent hypoxia vs anoxia....
a very , very, very slow version of hypoxic encephalopathy...
so much to think about! Thanks MegansMom!

MegansMom,
What a great explanation of the brain's workings....comparing hypoxia in MS to anoxia in a stroke. I can see some of my friends' eyes glaze over when I launch into my more complicated explanation of CCSVI. This could help those without MS to understand it and CCSVI better. Thanks!
Laura