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Could part of the puzzle be simply the thickness of our blood. So with CCSVI and thin blood - Milder MS than with CCSVI and Thicker or poorer flowing blood.

Blood viscosity is a measure of the resistance of blood to flow, which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress.

Blood is a liquid consists of plasma and particles, such as the red blood cells. The viscosity of blood thus depends on the viscosity of the plasma, in combination with the hematocrit. The viscosity of normal blood is about three times as great as the viscosity of water. When the hematocrit rises to 60 or 70, which it often does in polycythemia,[1] the blood viscosity can become as great as 10 times that of water, and its flow through blood vessels is greatly retarded because of increased resistance to flow.[2] This will lead to decreased oxygen delivery.[3]In pascal-seconds (Pa·s), the viscosity of blood at 37°C is normally 3*10-3 to 4*10-3.[4]

Plasma viscosity is determined by water-content and macromolecular components, so these factors that affect blood viscosity are the plasma protein concentration and types of proteins in the plasma, but these effects are so much less than the effect of hematocrit that they are not significant,[5] and elevation of plasma viscosity correlates to the progression of coronary and peripheral vascular diseases.[5][1] Anemia can lead to decrease blood viscosity, which may lead to heart failure.

Other factors influencing blood viscosity include temperature, where an increase in temperature results in a decrease in viscosity. This is particularly important in hypothermia, where an increase in blood viscosity will cause problems with blood circulation.

gordon, this sure has a lot of us thinking. hopefully someone comes up with more answers. you are sure like a little hound dog we got the scent now we gotta track down that critter causeing all this mess.

everyone i'm sure has heard this before: you know how you catch a unique animal? well, unique up on him!

so, who knows what you or one of the others might come up with that will help figure this out. we're not dr.'s or scientists but we do understand suffering and searching for answers can only be a good thing. "even if it can get you feeling a little crazy at times".. so keep wracking your brain hopefully you or someone will catch and cure this unique disease ms when you unique up on it.