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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: MRIs
Connie
I think each neuro may have his or her own opinion about when to do MRIs. Have you checked with your neuro about his plans to monitor your treatment ? My neuro only does them "if needed for treatment decisions" and the only MRI I've ever had was for diagnosis about 3 1/2 years ago.
Yes, they do all differ, which to me is an indication that there is no right or wrong when it comes to MRIs and this illness. I have an appointment coming up and am unsure whether to ask for an MRI if he doesn't want to do it or accept it if he does -- on the one hand it would be nice to know this stuff is actually doing something, on the other hand I'd rather not go through the stress (I am prone to panic and worry ) of having one done when I am not sure if any effect of the medication would even be apparent yet. And then there is the whole concept of MRIs being only loosely correlated with progression and/or disability.
For sure IMO you don't want to experience stress. Would it help to call the nurse and just ask when the neuro usually orders MRIs?
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the whole concept of MRIs being only loosely correlated with progression and/or disability
That's a biggie for me. While I was shocked at the onset about my neuro's position on MRIs I've personally become quite comfortable with it. But, when they routinely and consistently start measuring brain atrophy instead of lesions I may well be interested in having more MRIs at some regular interval to gauge treatment response and disease progression.
And, in case you haven’t read it yet, you might be interested in this 2004 interview with Daniel Pelletier an MS imaging scientist from the Accelerated Cure site. I found it to be informative about MRIs in general, although for sure it doesn't answer your immediate question.
I wish you the best with this minus of course the worry and stress.
Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:34 pm Post subject: Vascular connection
First, there was the General Discussion posting from Lyon on October 30, 2006, of the History of MS brochure by the NMSS which said,
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Because most MS damage occurs around blood vessels, it seemed reasonable that a toxin circulating in the bloodstream leaked out into the brain, even though no researcher could find a trace of it.
Then, I read the Paul Le Gac papers from the Wheldon site which stated,
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In point of fact, thanks to the work of Dejerine [1], we know that multiple sclerosis is a chronic, diffuse, and interstitial myelitis, in which the irritative process begins with the vascular element. The vessels are the seat of periarteritis and of endoarteritis. Their wall thickens and their lumen is constricted until, in the region of the capillaries, it is almost completely closed. Dejerine himself actually wondered whether these vascular infiltrations, which constitute the most significant manifestations of medullar involvement, might be the only histo-pathological lesions that can explain the genesis of multiple sclerosis.
Then, I read the abstract by researchers at Louisiana State University that proposed that MS is a vascular disease.
Now, in the Boston Cure interview with Daniel Pelletier that Shayk posted here I found this paragraph VERY interesting:
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Well, recently we've seen with MRI studies that there are blood perfusion abnormalities in active, acute MS plaques. Specifically, blood flow is increased in these areas. The idea that MS has something to do with the blood vessels and blood flow is new to me, and I'm not sure what it means.
I certainly hope that more researchers are looking in the direction of the blood vessels! By the way, I believe I've read that insulin thickens smooth muscles; aren't they around the blood vessels?
And just now I read bromley's posting of an abstract from the MS Society in the UK which stated:
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MS results in intense inflammation within the brain and spinal cord, and there is increasing evidence that this can directly cause conduction and neurological deficits. This PhD project explores the hypothesis that the deficits arise because the nerve fibres passing through inflammatory lesions are relatively starved of oxygen and glucose. The hypothesis is strongly supported by historical evidence, currently largely forgotten, that drugs that open blood vessels (e.g. amyl nitrite) can restore function in MS within an hour. This study proposes to explore the mechanisms underlying such phenomena using several different experimental inflammatory and/or demyelinating models, focusing on the oxygen concentration within the lesions.
Again, I found the sentence, "The hypothesis is strongly supported by historical evidence, currently largely forgotten, that drugs that open blood vessels (e. g., amyl nitrite) can restore function in MS within an hour." VERY interesting!!! Maybe this work will lead researchers to start looking in the right "box of keys."
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) of having one done when I am not sure if any effect of the medication would even be apparent yet. And then there is the whole concept of MRIs being only loosely correlated with progression and/or disability.