This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hi, for those of you wanting to write letters to your local newspapers, here is the one I sent into the Chapel Hill News that was published on 12/09. Please feel free to copy this, change some words. put in the names of the research hospitals/university in your area and send it on in. It's easy and the MDs and researchers wanting to do this research/procedure for us, will feel supported:

New hope for people with MS

An article in the December issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, (Volume 50, Number 6) offers hope to patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The findings, published by Paolo Zamboni et al., conclude that endovascular treatment of chronic cerebrospinal vascular insufficiency (CCSVI), a condition found in all test subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS), significantly improved MS clinical outcome measures, particularly in the relapsing-remitting group. Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a syndrome in which the venous system is not able to remove oxygen-poor blood from the central nervous system (CNS). CCSVI is mostly due to venous stenosis, an abnormal narrowing, of the internal jugular veins( IJV) and azygos vein (AZY), or problems in the veins’ valves. By correcting this condition using balloons to open the veins, and in some cases venous stents, Zamboni’s team saw favorable neurological outcome in associated MS. This was particularly evident in the relapsing- remitting group .
Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system affecting 400,000 individuals in the US and 2.5 million worldwide. To date it has no cure and the immunomodulating drugs available to MS patients are often poorly tolerated with multiple side effects. Given that approximately 50% of people with relapsing-remitting MS develop secondary progressive MS within 10 years of the onset of disease, triangle area research facilities such as the Duke University School of Medicine, the University of North Carolina’s Multiple Sclerosis Center, and Stroke and Neurovascular Center, as well as area neurologists, vascular surgeons, congress people, researchers and research funders, should team together to immediately further test Dr. Zamboni’s hypothesis of CCSVI and it’s implications for people with multiple sclerosis.

Judith Chatowsky, Carrboro, NC