I find it odd that you guys are so easily impressed by annecdotes.
The history of medicine is riddled with treatments purported to have beneficial effects which have later been refuted by more dedicated scrutiny
For instance, take a look at the interesting history of blood letting:
http://www.history.com/news/a-brief-his ... oodletting
"Respected physicians and surgeons extolled the practice, generously prescribing it to their most esteemed patients. Marie-Antoinette, for instance, seemed to benefit from a healthy dose of bloodletting while giving birth to her first child"
I'm sure physicians who practiced blood letting had great confidence in their intervention and could tell us many stories of impressive recoveries.
Unfortunately, these treatments aren't always successful. Take a look at what poor Charles II had to endure after suffering what was retrospectively a cerebrovascular event followed by focal epilepsy:
http://www.aintnowaytogo.com/charlesII.htm
Don't underestimate the powerful placebo effect
"The physician's belief in the treatment and the patient's faith in the physician exert a mutually reinforcing effect; the result is a powerful remedy that is almost guaranteed to produce an improvement and sometimes a cure." -- Petr Skrabanek and James McCormick
While I'm sure Alkenbrack is a great guy, and I admire his dedication to helping others, his story simply isn't good quality evidence for the efficacy of liberation. He went to Italy with great hopes and with significant emotional and financial investments in the success of the procedure.
You guys underestimate the effect of confidence, hope, mood, and energy on disability.
You guys also underestimate the "regression to the mean" phenomenon. Improvement in multiple sclerosis without treatment is not uncommon, and symptoms can fluctuate significantly, especially in relapsing disease but also in progressive disease.
The point I'm trying to make is that we should judge efficacy of treatments of MS based on well designed trials, not based on anecdotes. All new treatments will show promise at some point, but 95% of them will turn out to be duds.
For pharmaceuticals, it's all a side-show until you have two positive phase III trials. The same should be true for liberation. Show me the money. If the procedure works, it will work when patients/investigators are blinded and EDSS/MRI outcomes are quantified and compared to placebo.