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Interesting news letter from the Chiropractic college;
http://app.maxmailhq.com/incoming/show. ... kMVlbWKg==

July 2011

The New Zealand College of Chiropractic exists for one single purpose: to graduate the world’s best chiropractors. This is an ambitious goal, but we’re up to the task. Read on to find out how we make sure ALL our students graduate with the confidence, knowledge and skills to succeed both professionally and personally.
How we make a market-ready chiropractor

At the New Zealand College of Chiropractic we pride ourselves on developing market-ready chiropractors. That means getting as much real-life patient contact as possible so that students are ready to start practicing as soon as they graduate.

What’s the advantage?
Our graduates are incredibly well prepared for the ‘real world’. Confident communicators, able adjustors, and ready to take the message of chiropractic wherever they go.

Did you know?
The New Zealand College of Chiropractic has the highest practice requirements of any college around the world.

Over the past four years, our students have averaged more than 700 patient visits by the time they graduate.

How do we do it?
Our students can only achieve so many patient visits thanks to our on-site Chiropractic Centre. It's here that they see patients, and it's also here that they learn vital skills in ethical practice building and running a financially secure business.
Getting ready for the next generation

As the College grows, we can only continue to meet our high requirements and to give students the patient exposure they need by expanding the Chiropractic Centre.

This will have a dramatic impact for both interns and their patients: less pressure for adjusting rooms and more opportunity to serve the community.

Over the next few months we'll be busy making the Chiropractic Centre even bigger and better ready for the new class of students in February 2012.


“The new Chiropractic Centre will be of huge benefit to the student interns and the patients that we see. We will be able to accommodate a larger intake of interns and the learning environment will be very much enhanced by the new and improved facilities. Though our current centre is great, the potential to grow our practices and our skills will be easier and less stressful for all of us in our new space.”

Emma Barham (Fourth Year)
Find out more about chiropractic (and have fun while you're at it)

'Lyceum' is the biggest chiropractic event on the New Zealand calendar. Chiropractors from all over the world come together for three days to share ideas, learn new tools, and have fun. Lyceum opens with Friday Night Live on 29 July 2011, and you are warmly invited to attend - FOR FREE.

Friday Night Live is an inspiring evening of science and debate led by some of the best chiropractic minds in the world. Arrive early for a front row seat.

Hungry for more? Then join us for the whole of Lyceum for the very special price of just $95. Hear speakers from all over the world, meet current students and NZCC graduates, and find out why we think chiropractic is the best profession on the planet.

Lyceum 2011 takes place from 29 - 31 July 2011 at the Rendezvous Hotel in Auckland. To book your place please RSVP to gemma.angus@nzchiro.co.nz.


Apply for the Bachelor of Chiropractic

The New Zealand College of Chiropractic is currently welcoming applications for our Bachelor of Chiropractic, starting in February 2012.

To apply, you need to have completed the first year of a science degree, and have a genuine desire to help people. Read more about the entry requirements on our website.

To find out more:
Email Chanelle in the Admissions Department on chanelle.kerr@nzchiro.co.nz or telephone 09 5266 780.
Check our upcoming schedule of Careers Talks to see if we're visiting a town near you.
Come to our College Open Day on 8 October 2011. Meet our staff and students and take a tour of our green and leafy campus.

Today's thought,
Does endothelial dysfunction = MS?
Could this be true?
The bottom line as a person with a vested interest is that there is information coming out that we as interested parties can help assemble in a fashion that progresses this understanding.
There is information, research, studies and the like that show that endothelial dysfunction is the area needing the most research and quickly.
Joan and Marie have moved mountains on this so far.
There is now a picture forming where diet can alter the course of 'MS'
There are outcomes that show that angio treatment is altering the course of 'MS'.
There is now links between trauma and spine alignment and 'MS'.
There is solid evidence that breaches of the BBB are involved in 'MS'.
There is mounting evidence that there are other links that alter the likely hood of people developing 'MS' although they do not cause 'MS', such as latitude, ancestry, smoking, stress and others factors that are prevalent in PwMS.

My point is that there is one common denominator that needs the most attention. A point that repeatedly is implicated in the findings so far. A point that we seem to be walking around and not seeing. Or a point that hasn't been languaged in a way that has gotten collective attention. Many people are so focused on their specialty or point of focus that it is going under the radar.

Treatments like angio and chiropractic are changing the flow, diet is changing the content of the flow, exercise is changing the pumping of the flow, DMDs/Crabs drugs are modifying the effect of leakage from the flow.

All these things come back to one area that is needing intense investigation the endothelial function and dysfunction. We are able to witness the failing of the endothelial lining, what we need is to focus on is the process and identify what is causing the outcomes we are seeing e.g de-generative diseases.
Happy pondering,
Nigel

NZer1 wrote: ... what we need is to focus on is the process and identify what is causing the outcomes we are seeing e.g de-generative diseases ... Nigel

I couldn't agree more.

Question(s) for you Dr.

*Did you have MRI's done, and have you considered having Ultrasound checks on your veins?

It would seem that you would be you're own best example and advocate of Chiropractic care if you had these tests done.
And in addition it would be interesting if you were a participant in the study that HP has told us about.
So many of the health care options for PwMS are needing longitudinal results to support claims and like so many others, Jelinek, Wahl, Swank in the diet arena and Schelling and Zamboni in the vascular arena and yourself and many in the Chiropractic arena.
No time like now to get the wheels in motion for studies and longitudinal result gathering.
Many researchers make the theory work.

Hello Nigel,

No. I don't have a brain scan but a brain or spine scan makes more sense than US in my particular case if someone wants to pay for it. It would be of no personal benefit to me at this time. More than anything, I need to update by cervical x-rays.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune inflammatory connective tissue disorder. Both my mother and grandmother died young from complications of severe rheumatoid arthritis which affected their spines. In my mother's case it caused atlantoaxial instability in the upper cervical spine due to degeneration of the transverse ligament that typically holds C2 in place. It further caused erosion and dislocation of the odontoid process with basilar invagination that resulted in a pannus formation (cyst) on C2, and subsequent compression of the cord. Interestingly, RA has been associated with normal pressure hydrocephalus.

My case is too involved to go into here. Bascially, I suspect I inherited a collagen vascular type of connective tissue disorder that is similar to fibromyalgia. Among other things, fibromyalgia has been associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and MS symptoms. I will be covering more on connective tissue disorders on my website as it grows.

That post reminds me -- on your blog you stated

"there is a significant incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

Can you please provide your reference(s) for that statement?
Thank you.

Hello all! Missed you and thought I 'd drop by to say that I am doing very good (it has been a very good month). Unfortunately, not so good for Greece. The beast called globalization is here and you should wait only to hear of some very serious complications here. We are in a very very strange kind of war.
Life is a bitch.

hi costumsnational, really glad you are doing well. i can not say that for myself at this time. but keeping my eyes open. yes, i have been watching greece's problems and thought of you. but, greece is not so far away anymore especially in the connected world we are living in. we are living in a very interesting yet scary world.

just as we are connected in the hope of cureing ms we are connected at the hip in world events going on. so the hope is soon there will be some success for the better for all.

you take care over there and stay well. as always, thank you for bringing dr. flanagan to our attention on this site.

The study on the association between EDS and MS should be easy to find. It was done in the UK.

Thanks Dr for slipping a bit more of your story. I now see things that I did not understand before, and I guess timing was, as always important.
So much to learn and so little time.
Costume pleased to hear you are well, sad to hear that Greece is showing the world that globalization is but one step in changing the world towards a greater understanding of connectivity.
Who knows where this will lead.
Countries are desperately holding out for being their differences in the world map and yet opening their boarders.
Growth has pain in order to transform.
Having a cold snap down here in NZ, the wood pile is shrinking fast,
Regards Nigel

Hello CN. Nice to have you stop by. I am saddened to read about all the troubles in Greece and the rest of Europe as well.

Hello Blossom, It's nice to hear from you as well. I was thinking about you. I am sorry to hear you aren't doing well.

uprightdoc wrote:The study on the association between EDS and MS should be easy to find. It was done in the UK.

I'm referring to your statement about there being more MS in the EDS population (not a casual relationship between the two conditions).
I can't find any reference in the research to date.

I would appreciate it if you would provide it, as the only mention of there being more MS in the EDS population I'm aware of was something I discussed with you in confidence, as the study is not yet complete.

A reference would be helpful and reassure me that you are indeed trustworthy with confidential information.

Thank you.

That's the only study I know about regarding EDS and MS but EDS is only peripheral to my research. The only thing I remember you discussing was looking into vascular beading as a sign of poor drainage in the eye. Otherwise I don't recall you mentioning a particular study. EDS, however, has been associated with atlantoaxial instability, pannus formation, cranial settling and Chiari malformations which have been associated with MS and are at the core of my research.

Below are the initial commments you made on my wordpressblog when you first contacted me. They are not confidential. Anyone can go back and read them. They are still there.

Submitted on 2010/11/18 at 4:59 pm

My son and I have Ehlers-Danlos (which means lousy vessels!), and developed orthostatic intolerance, autonomic dysfunction, occipital headaches radiating down the shoulders, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and mental issues that I can only liken to bipolar disorder.
We developed pain that was clearly high intracranial pressure, and I went on Diamox. The headache (for both of us) stopped in 12 hours. Most interestingly, our urine was the most striking orange/brown color! I thought about iron or hemoglobin being released.
Could Diamox help diagnose those with iron on the brain, and would CCSVI help us, in your best judgment? We continue to take the Diamox religiously, and I have more brain atrophy than what one typically sees at my age. Thank you!
Diana

Submitted on 2010/11/27 at 9:54 pm

Brilliant information as always, Dr. Flanagan.
The only thing I would add is on the practical level. I would encourage all patients of MS, AD, Chiari, PD (and EDS), to request that their imaging be done in a vertical position — the position of most symptoms. Certainly with EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), we are seeing amazing differences in such imaging.
Thank you so much for your information that is consistently informative and cutting edge.

Submitted on 2010/12/12 at 4:18 pm

Dr. Flanagan,
Another excellent post — encouraging us to think outside the box (or ball!). Your points are excellent. I never fully believed that sun exposure was the only factor in regional variations in the incidence of M.S. Racial differences in our skulls are huge, and when thinking about Chiari, even a mm is significant.
In your book, when you describe poor CSF drainage filling the cisterns and putting pressure on the brainstem (and thus imitating symptoms and signs of Chiari), I think you are onto something HUGE. I know so many people disabled by signs and symptoms of Chiari and anterior brainstem damage, but whose imaging shows basically nothing.
Please keep in mind one of my particular favorites – Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) with autonomic dysfunction. With EDS, of course, we see mid-face hypoplasia and narrow, high palates, downward slanting eyes and there is some evidence to suggest that the eustachian tubes may be abnormally short, or slanted. EDS and M.S. overlap a great degree. I’ll be interested in your thoughts as to these abnormal skull formations in patients who are usually, not just Caucasian — but “pasty white” Caucasians!
Thank you, Dr. Flanagan for your thoughts and your dedication.


on 2010/12/29 at 1:17 am

Another brilliant post, Dr. Flanagan!
Differences in our skulls, based on our race, are impossible to ignore. I extrapolate some of your thoughts to similar differences in skeletal variations within families (I am from a family of small heads and short posterior fossas, for example) and other skeletal anomalies that may not be readily apparent (a Marfan phenotype, for instance).
I believe that what you are describing is going to open the door for an incredible number of patients who have had illnesses and disabilities that no one has yet been able to quite put their finger on…
I eagerly await your next post, as the CSF volume in the cisterns will likely answer numerous questions for doctors and patients alike.
Thank you, again, for generously sharing your thoughts and advise.


After intial contact on my wordpress blog you asked if you could correspond with me directly by email so as not to take up everyone else's time on the blog. In the first email you sent me you stated that you have a "plethora of EDS / MS folks who email me for help, and am always coming across more."

Is that what you are referring to?

uprightdoc wrote:That's the only study I know about regarding EDS and MS but EDS is only peripheral to my research.

Hi Doc,
THIS is the study you keep referring to, but no reference to any study like this has been quoted. What is the reference to the study?

I'm glad you posted some of our emails, though likely not necessary. The emails do show how I brought my ideas of EDS to you, yet you take them as your own.

It is not only customary, but ethical, to give credit where credit is due, to quote references, and to time-stamp your posts. Not doing any of these things casts doubt to all of your information. With no references to your statements, you may as well be writing a novel, as we as readers and patients have no idea as to the authenticity of what you say.

You state that email between two doctors is not "private". Most professionals I deal with agree that anything said , either over the phone or through email or in person, is considered confidential, even without a confidentiality agreement. I am more than disappointed that this is not the case with you.

My caveat for everyone here is obvious. You may have some great ideas, and you may have some bad ideas. The readers and patients will not have any guidance as to which are your thoughts, which are the thoughts of others, what is based on science (and therefore referenced), and what is based on fantasy. And if your method of handling communication means that nothing is private, I caution all of your well-meaning patients that contrary to how most doctors handle communication (private and confidential unless otherwise stated), anything said to you may end up in the public arena.

The reason this is on this post is because you did not answer my emails. I would have preferred this be handled "behind the scenes".

This is not an email. It is not confidential. It is a comment you made on my wordpress blog the same as the comments above and it is likewise time stamped.

Submitted on 2011/02/07 at 3:11 am

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us all, Dr. Flanagan. Bev is right. It is brilliant. CSF flow is incredibly complicated, and as I try to wrap my brain around it (pun intended) I learn more from one of your posts than I do from hours of research on numerous other sites.
As you likely know, many patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (faulty connective tissue; also called EDS) tend to develop M.S., and I wonder how many M.S. patients also have EDS (I know quite a few). I believe that EDS patients may benefit from your knowledge also, as the majority develop autonomic dysfunction and numerous symptoms of M.S. without the classic brain lesions.
May I ask you if poor drainage could ultimately result in left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, possibly because of the inability of the heart to continue to try to push out arterial blood into a loop that is already stagnant (due to poor veinous drainage)? Many of us are developing this condition and we are trying hard to figure out why, and what to do about it.
Thank you so much, Dr. Flanagan. You are a blessing to us all.
Fondly,
Dr. Diana