Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. PPMS is a difficult disease both on the patient and the people trying to treat it.
That said, CCSVI treatment for people with PPMS generally does not result in dramatic improvements. Of course, there are some exceptions, but, as the writer of the popular MS blog wheelchair kamikaze, I'm in touch with many patients and most PPMS patients who have undergone CCSVI treatment report only minor benefits, if any. The CCSVI treatment procedure is a work in progress, and much still needs to be learned.
As for HSCT, most legitimate programs only accept patients with active CNS inflammation, and PPMS is noted for its lack of active inflammation. I believe the progressive patients that have shown benefits are secondary progressive patients still experiencing relapses. I myself was rejected for such treatment because of my lack of CNS inflammation, and I know of others who have had the same experience. Active inflammation is evidenced by the presence of enhancing lesions on MRI images.
Sorry, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but as of now PPMS is a difficult animal to tame. There is some thought that PPMS may even be a completely different disease then the other forms of MS. It strikes men and women in equal numbers, generally appears later in life, and, as noted above, does not exhibit the high levels of inflammation in the CNS that is seen in the other forms of MS. In addition, patients usually have less lesions but more disability, and there is a much higher prevalence of spinal lesions In PPMS than in the relapsing forms of MS. The idea that it is a different disease is not a universally held believe, and is a topic of much debate in the medical circles.
The progressive forms of MS are finally getting the attention of researchers, after largely being ignored for many decades. I'm hopeful that effective treatments will be developed in the future, however, for now, unfortunately modern medicine has little to offer those of us with progressive MS. You might be interested in a blog entry I wrote a little while ago, about a treatment that has shown some efficacy for progressive MS patients, intrathecal methotrexate. Here's the link:
http://www.wheelchairkamikaze.com/2013/ ... t-for.htmlThis treatment is also controversial, but the few studies done (not blinded, placebo controlled studies, though) have demonstrated efficacy in treating progressive MS. Full disclosure: my Neurologist is the primary researcher behind the research on intrathecal methotrexate. The treatment did not work for me, but I am a very bad patients to use as an example, because my disease is very atypical. So atypical, in fact, that it might not even being MS.
You might want to check out the blog "enjoying the ride", written by PPMS patient who has experienced a stabilization of his progression after undergoing intrathecal methotrexate therapy…
http://www.enjoyingtheride.com/2012/12/ ... rking.html
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