Anne Kingston on how the criticism levelled at Kirsty Duncan over a controversial MS treatment is surprisingly unscientific
BY ANNE KINGSTON
November 15, 2015
Here's an excerpt from the above article in MacLeans Magazine:
Read the full article here:What is striking about the criticism levelled at Duncan by scientists this week is how unscientific it is. Facts are cherry-picked. In referring to “good science,” Murray, a former head of Dalhousie University’s MS unit, author of an MS textbook, and adviser to the MS Society, appears to be referring to the research published in neurological journals or by MS societies that have discredited Zamboni’s theory, and lead to scores of editorials and headlines that it has been “debunked.” But that’s not the complete picture, as this summary of CCSVI-related research papers makes clear. Research has often been conflicting. Scanning studies have also been all over the map. None has duplicated Zamboni’s original small study.
The National Post asserted “rigorous, independent studies have arguably disproven Zamboni’s hypothesis and his vein-widening “liberation therapy” for treating MS.” But these studies have also raised questions. A 2013 UBC study published in The Lancet that found no connection between CCSVI and MS, and was proclaimed the “death knell” for CCSVI in a Lancet editorial, didn’t follow Zamboni’s protocol, which makes the result like comparing apples and oranges: Instead of using the widely accepted measurement of venous diameter found in textboks, the UBC team employed a different criterion for measuring vein stenosis, one apparently not seen in published literature, as Zamboni notes here; The Lancet refused to publish his letter to the editor. The UBC study, led by neurologist Anthony Traboulsee, who is heading the ongoing CCSVI clinical trial announced by the Harper government, also deviated from Zamboni’s work in focusing on venous architecture, not blood flow. Another much-publicized and -heralded 20-person study out of the University of Buffalo that found no benefit to CCSVI treatment didn’t meet its stated endpoint to improve venous flow, proving its conclusions moot; its size also renders it statistically insignificant, a criticism levelled at Zamboni’s first CCSVI trial.
http://www.macleans.ca/?dpsfa_article=w ... e-minister