This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I just came across this in the NYTimes:


Effective against MS? Maybe at least for some people.

Here's a link to the complete article:

Bill Haast, a man charmed by snakes, dies at 100

Any members still around who found benefit from this treatment? Perhaps any who are still using it?

Perhaps snake venom increases blood flow to/from the brain?

Not that I'm considering...

--Tracy

_________________
CCSVI Procedure 9/16/2009 at Stanford
Stent in left and right IJVs
SPMS
Copaxone and Ampyra user

Lol, of course the FDA cracked down on them. . .and then continued in research. They want the patent, so they can make a killing (no pun intended) off of it while keeping any generic brands off the market.

_________________


*profile pic drawn by my wife, Mira Arntzen*

Bee venom, snake venom, jellyfish, scorpion venom - have all been claimed to be effective against MS. I believe it is because venom may inhibit or destroy the many varieties of herpes virus which have a strong association with MS.

Following experiments with rats, cobra venom is thought to be the only substance in the world that can actually kill herpes.

Nobody knows why, but during MS attacks herpes virus antibodies increase 500 fold in the spinal fluid. These antibodies are only found in the spinal fluid of those with MS. I believe the mere presence of herpes virus at the base of nerve ganglia periodically "scares" the immune system into attacking healthy tissue.

I like this, but how does this play out in relation to stenosis of the internal jugular veins, breakdown of the blood brain barrier, the chlamydia virus, CCSVI, etc?

It occurs to me that looking for a single cause of MS is a task similar to looking for the Grand Theory of Everything in particle physics (TOE).


And, MS is one of the still unsolved problems in medicine. Maybe someday.

--Tracy

_________________
CCSVI Procedure 9/16/2009 at Stanford
Stent in left and right IJVs
SPMS
Copaxone and Ampyra user

Hi Tracy,

Improving circulation by fixing veins seems to help many with MS, and good luck to anyone having treatment - but since the repeated finding that CCSVI also occurs frequently in healthy people (approx 22-25%) it means that having CCSVI is more common in human beings than being left handed! Seeing as only 0.001% of the world's population actually develop MS, it seems unlikely therefore that CCSVI could cause the disease.

I also believe the breaching of the BBB is most likely caused by MS rather than the other way round. After all, BBB disruption is sometimes found in other neurolgical diseases, such as CIDP.

I've noticed that the common denominator linking MS and herpes is stress. For my money stress is a big, underestimated factor in MS genesis. It is completely unknown why stress so often precipitates MS attacks. Stress is also notorious for bringing on all manner of herpes attacks - again scientists have absolutely no idea why. In fact stress is just about the only factor of any kind known to consistently precede both herpes and MS attacks alike.

Maybe stress somehow stimulates the immune system into action in order to protect myelin and other nerve tissue from possible herpes attack, (that would explain why the herpes antibodies appear in the spinal fluid) but ironically, the virus does not appear to attack myelin. However, the immune system attacks the myelin regardless of this. Remember, herpes is weird stuff - every decade we seem to double our knowledge of it.

Bring on the venom I say!


gainsbourg

The number of controls testing positive for CCSVI is still to be determined. The 22-25% figure that you cited is unlikely to be the final word on this topic. For example, in the preliminary results from Kuwait, only 7% of 100 healthy controls had impaired venous flow via Doppler analysis. In contrast, 87% of 100 MS patients were positive.

http://www.ccsvikuwait.com/Details.aspx?d=4




NHE

That's interesting about the Kuwait figure as I was unaware it was so much lower - but even if its as low as 7%, these studies keep on finding CCSVI in healthy controls.

About 10% of the world are left handed - so having CCSVI is almost as common as being left handed. By this reckoning CCSVI cannot cause MS or considerably more than 0.001% of the world's population would have the disease.

I have no wish to dampen the hopes of the many who've had or wish to have treatment for CCSVI. I've no doubt that MS puts a strain on the vasculature and if personal testimony is anything to go by, fixing veins sometimes helps with MS symptoms.

Returning to the venom findings, from what I have read the FDA had no justification for stepping in and ending those trials. I am convinced that venom works because it kills off or inhibits herpes varicella and other forms of herpes which have an association with MS.