Watson McGregor has primary progressive MS -the less common variant where the disease progresses rapidly after its first onset. Early research into CCSVI and MS has shown venous angioplasty to be less effective for those with primary progressive MS, but the McGregors still wanted to give the procedure a try.
Watson, 53, had his first venous angioplasties in June in Bulgaria. For six weeks afterward, his symptoms improved dramatically, Alisa said. His energy returned and he could speak clearly: “It was just like somebody snapped their fingers and he was back,” she told The StarPhoenix in August.
His condition declined, however, and they decided to go back to Bulgaria in September, where doctors inserted two stents in his veins in the hope the veins would stay open rather than re-collapsing, which is what they believed had happened.
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Updated guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology recommend plasma exchange (plasmapheresis) for the treatment of certain types of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory neurological conditions, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy). Plasma exchange involves replacing the plasma (the liquid part of a person’s blood) with plasma from a donor. Plasma exchange removes factors in the blood’s plasma thought to play a role in these disorders. The time-consuming therapy involves separating the plasma from other blood components such as blood cells, replacing the plasma, and returning the other components. Risks may include infection, allergic reaction, and blood-clotting issues. The new guidelines, which appear in the Jan. 18 issue of Neurology, were last updated in 1996. While many of the core recommendations remain the same, the new guidelines state that there is insufficient evidence to support or refute the use of plasma exchange in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, a chronic condition that causes muscles to weaken easily, and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders that result from streptococcal infection. More about Guidelines Recommend Plasma Exchange for MS
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A book that talks about managing fatigue (the most common symptom with multiple sclerosis). Instead of reaching for another cup of coffee, change your lifestyle to deal with fatigue – get the things you want to do … done.
By (author) Nancy A. Lowenstein
| List Price: |
CDN$ 25.95 CAD |
| New From: |
CDN$ 13.47 In Stock |
| Used from: |
CDN$ 29.40 In Stock |
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Elizabeth Kinder was diagnosed with MS three years ago. There is no cure for the disease, but a raft of trials provide hope for the 100,000 sufferers in the UK.
These are especially challenging times for sufferers of long-term degenerative diseases, in the face of cuts to research funding, huge changes to the way the NHS commissions services, and the biggest upheaval in the welfare system since 1945.
Trials are the best hope for sufferers, and Elizabeth was lucky to be accepted on a clinical trial at Charing Cross Hospital.
At Charing Cross she speaks to consultant neurologist Dr Richard Nicholas and Caroline D’Arcy, MS nurse at the hospital. She finds out why the unpredictability of MS makes sufferers especially vulnerable to benefits changes, and why the changes to NHS commissioning could make getting the right care more difficult.
She speaks to Jane Spink, director of policy and research at the MS Society, who reveals her concerns for MS research within the NHS.
And she talks to Alasdair Fraser about his experience of living with MS. He warns: “You just can’t afford to get ill from now on.”
Alasdair was diagnosed 16 years ago, when he was a 35-year-old advertising executive. He now uses a wheelchair, is unable to move his limbs, and his eyesight is deteriorating
More about Guardian Focus podcast: Multiple sclerosis and the cost of being ill | World news | guardian.co.uk
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Two University of Calgary researchers may have unlocked a vital clue in understanding multiple sclerosis.
Their research, published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, could be a first step to helping improve the quality of life for the estimated 55,000 to 75,000 Canadians with the condition.
By studying MS symptoms in mice, Dr. V. Wee Yong and Dr. Smriti Agrawal of U of C’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute discovered that a “molecular switch” called Emmprin allows immune cells — which help the body fight off illness and infection — to escape from enlarged blood cells and attack the protective covering wrapped around nerves in the brain or spine of MS patients.
“We find when we inhibit the activity of this new molecule Emmprin, we stop the migration of immune cells into the brain and we also result in reduced injury in the nervous system. At least in an animal model of MS, disease severity is reduced,” said Yong, a professor of clinical neurosciences who helped lead the study.
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Jan 5, 2011 — New research may help explain why multiple sclerosis rates have risen sharply in the U.S. and some other countries among women, while rates appear stable in men.
The study could also broaden understanding of how environmental influences alter genes to cause a wide range of diseases.
The causes of multiple sclerosis (MS) are not well understood, but experts have long suspected that environmental factors trigger the disease in people who are genetically susceptible.
In the newly published study, researchers found that women with MS were more likely than men with MS to have a specific genetic mutation that has been linked to the disease.
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The Alberta government says it will spend $1-million to track the results of people who have travelled overseas to have a controversial multiple sclerosis treatment not currently available in Canada.
Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky says the web-based study will help determine whether the province should proceed with a clinical trial of a procedure that opens veins in an MS sufferer’s neck.
More about Alberta to observe MS patients who went abroad for ‘liberation therapy’ – The Globe and Mail
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Aaron Thompson has loved sports since he was in high school. Then, he was a keen basketball player. As a young adult, he continued to enjoy an athletic lifestyle, working out daily even after being diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a disease of the central nervous system, when he was 23.
RRMS is characterized by clearly defined attacks followed by periods of partial or complete recovery.
“I was an energetic guy who happened to have multiple sclerosis,” Thompson says.
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“The results seem very promising but we don’t have details,” he said, noting they will be presented in early 2011. “Then, we will be much smarter.”
Teva said the laquinimod study comparing efficacy against a placebo met the primary endpoint of reducing annualized relapse rates, and treatment with the drug significantly slowed progression of disability.
More about RPT-UPDATE 2-Teva multiple sclerosis pill shines in big study | Reuters
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Eating purple-coloured fruit such as blueberries “could help ward off Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s”, The Daily Telegraph has reported. The newspaper says the foods act by soaking up harmful iron compounds.
This theory is based on a scientific paper that looked at the chemical and biological actions of iron and chemicals that bind to it. The author summarises a body of evidence that suggests that a form of iron may play a role in many different diseases, also providing a number of simple predictions of how this might occur.
Crucially, this paper only presents a theory, and we do not yet know if the theory is true. Foods that might react with iron, such as blueberries, are also only mentioned in passing in this paper. Stronger evidence is needed to see whether iron plays a role in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. If it does, this could be followed by studies looking at how food might intervene in the actions of iron.
More about News claims that purple fruits may combat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – Health News – NHS Choices
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