CURE OR CONTROL: CONGENITAL, DEVELOPMENTAL, AGING, SKELETAL OR TOXIC MS.
An article in Daily Kos dated August 25, 2010 – “There was good
medical news yesterday, so now what?” By Joel
Spinhirne - changed my life by introducing the idea that MS is a blood
circulation disorder from the brain/spinal cord. Of course! I asked
my husband to massage my neck forcing the blood down towards the heart to
stop an incipient “relapse”. A month later I used a TENS self acupressure
treatment one evening as all the symptoms of an MS attack overwhelmed me. No
great reaction at the moment, but by the next morning all symptoms had
disappeared. Stopped short! If I had known this 20 years ago I wouldn’t need
a cane to walk today.
The main problem now is political, that is to say the power of the
big Pharma and Neurology lobby to block CCSVI
research and other treatments for MS patients. Maybe Angioplasty (once
called Liberation Therapy) isn’t the answer for someone who needs
spinal/dental adjustments or someone who needs to remove toxins from his
body or simply requires proper nourishment. My purpose here
will be to help people think things through and to suggest alternative
therapies which I’ve found effective. And to encourage people to get
angioplasty if they really need it. (Sorry, Doctor, non medical therapists–
naturopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors, kinesiologists - may provide the best healing options for many MS patients.)
You can’t cure something if you don’t know what it is.
Dr. Zamboni has discovered the problem – venous blood reflux or CCSVI – but not the
sole solution. Detoxification and nutritional therapy coupled with
circulation therapies and/or skeletal adjustments may suffice without taking
the risk of angioplasty. MS is a blood circulation disorder (or perhaps
cerebrospinal fluid circulation disorder in general) and only secondarily an
auto-immune problem.
MS can be cured outright in some cases. For most it is a question of control - stopping or diminishing the progression. There
isn’t a magic bullet, one-size–fits-all solution.
I've concluded there are 5 basic MS types, all of which lead to a reflux of venous blood into the Central Nervous System. 1) CONGENITAL vein malformations. 2)
DEVELOPMENTAL vein malformations. 3) AGING vein malformations 4) SKELETAL –
Cerebrospinal fluid pressure. 5) TOXIC MS.
As for the current categories of Relapse/Remit and the various Progressive MS's, I don't believe these properly describe the problem and certainly don't point to a solution. The various immunosuppressive drugs developed since 1990 are used only for the Relapse/Remit phase with some success though reports are contradictory and they often cause serious side effects, including death. And once you've hit the
Progressive stage, you might as well listen to alternative ideas.
CONGENITAL: This idea is favoured by Phlebologists
and Dr. Sclafani. However, it doesn’t account for the epidemiological variations
in geography, culture or gender. It certainly can’t explain the dramatic
increase in Japanese MS cases over the past 30 years. However, obviously it can
be one factor.
DEVELOPMENTAL: My beginning hypothesis was that stress (of
many potential origins) damages the veins in the child's developing body so that
once adult the veins can no longer accommodate the blood flow. Defects in the
circulatory system impede if not outright block blood flow leading from the
brain and spinal cord leading to MS "attacks" and subsequent paralysis. It is
for this reason that MS first generally manifests during or after adolescence.
Dr. Zamboni himself observed deformities in the veins in the back and neck of MS
patients. These areas correspond to Acupuncture meridians which control
blood/fluid circulation.
AGING MS: The third type develops with age. There
is no reason why veins shouldn't harden and malfunction as a part of the aging
process. When the valves in veins draining the central nervous system
malfunction, blood backs up to injure the myelin sheath.
THE ANGIOPLASTY CURE has been suggested for these types of MS (Congenital,
Developmental, Aging) characterized by varied vein malformations - stenosed
(narrowed), twisted, exhibiting stuck or deformed valves, or just plain missing.
The Italian phlebologist Dr. Zamboni launched the theory he named CCSVI. The
treatment consists of threading a catheter through the affected vein and opening
it with a “balloon” . Initially the Internal Jugular Veins, the Vertebral Veins
and the Chest Azygos vein were treated. Other veins leading from the spinal cord
are now treated as well. Development of the Intravenous Ultrasound has allowed
Interventional Radiologists to see what is going on inside the vein, determine
the appropriate size of the balloon to open the stenosed vein without scarring,
and avoid various complications. Stents have been inserted into veins which
collapsed after being opened. (Dr. Sclafani believes the early 50% failure rate
in the Jugular vein angioplasty occurred because the balloons were too small to
open the veins sufficiently.) However, if the balloon is too large it risks
scarring the vein lining tissue (endothelium) which might lead to thrombosis –
the vein being closed off entirely. There have been cases where, after the
initial “liberation”, the vein closes off again and each subsequent intervention
leads to more scarring and tissue damage. Some have experienced little if any
improvement. (Not all the veins leading from the spinal cord are treated.) Some
have found themselves in a worse condition after the angioplasty than before.
(One woman reported that her veins shriveled up into useless dried out
structures through which no blood could flow.) Risks include brain hemorrhage,
blood clots, and stent migration into the heart. Presumably with experience and
the development of new techniques and material the few early tragedies which
have occurred can be avoided. (Already use of the IntravenousUltrasound has
decreased the risk factor dramatically.)
Some have reported dramatic
recoveries, often with stents inserted, at least 2 years after Angioplasty. They
have been CURED. (I don’t know the longest post operative success story.
Treatments began sometime in 2009.) The lives of some have been so transformed
that they now wonder if they should declare themselves free of MS and therefore
ineligible for disability benefits.
Nonetheless, while some have been apparently cured, the risks of angioplasty are real. Before rushing into the operating theater, consider first treatment of Types 4) SKELETAL and 5) TOXIC MS.
SKELETAL MS: A misaligned skeletal, bone or dental structure can
actually restrict the free flow of cerebrospinal fluid which in turn can
compress or impede venous blood circulation. Structural problems can be either
congenital or developmental in origin (e.g. accidents.) Recent scientific
studies have focused on the interdependent dynamic of brain "fluids", the blood
and the cerebrospinal fluid (CBF) which bathes the Central Nervous System.
Excess cerebrospinal fluid can actually "compress" or limit blood circulation,
hence the interest of Chiropractors in adjusting the Atlas bone to assure proper
CBF circulation. If the problem is SKELETAL, angioplasty would not be
appropriate. In this case it is not a problem INSIDE the vein but OUTSIDE.
Chiropractic, Osteopathic or Dental adjustment may suffice to release the brain
fluids flow leading to CURE or CONTROL.
FINALLY THERE IS TOXIC MS.
I include in this category not only known toxins such as mercury in dental
amalgams, aspartame, glutens and various food intolerances, but myriad
microbes/viruses such as mononucleosis, epstein barr, chlamydia, lyme as well as
various metabolic disorders such as toxic "gut" and diabetes. OK that's a big
category. One might say I am being simplistic. BUT MAYBE IT IS JUST THAT SIMPLE.
Whatever stresses the body in those individuals with a compromised vascular
system may trigger the blood reflux into the CNS. Illness in childhood may
damage the vascular system, stress including toxic stress may trigger the
reflux. Toxicity itself may damage the veins. All these factors may stress the
vascular system leading to a venous blood reflux. Detoxification, intestinal
cleansing, and appropriate nutrition will reduce pressure on the vascular
system as well as nurture the brain and heal nerve
damage. (If a bacteria such as chlamydia pneumoniae persists in the endothelium
or wall of the veins, that alone may account for poor blood flow and damaged
valves. Should one really perform angioplasty on "infected" tissue without
having first tried to diminish or heal the infection/inflammation? May premature
intervention lead to thrombosis and scarring? Shouldn't every effort be made to
strengthen the body's healing powers before intervention?)
CURE: Some MS patients recover through diet cleansing and nutritional therapy alone. Some may have a "temporary" stress reaction to a toxic substance such as aspartame (or mercury in dental almagam fillings.) The reaction is "temporary" in the
sense that once the toxin is removed, the MS symptoms disappear. I have even
heard that removing glutens from the diet is sufficient to heal.
CONTROL:
Dr. Terry Wahls (see You Tube Minding Your Mitochondria) presents another excellent example. She began her treatment by de-toxifying from the MS drugs which were poisoning her and then optimized her nutrition. Her recovery implies that her
veins were not actually blocked, but tensed up enough to cause a reflux. Also,
she stimulated her blood circulation by electrical stimulation of the bands of
muscles on her back, in other words, the bladder meridian. Optimal
Diet/Supplements serve three purposes. 1) to prevent stress on the vascular
system which might lead to blood reflux, 2) heal damaged tissue in the veins and
3) heal damaged central nervous system tissue.
In addition to nutritional therapy, most MS patients probably will require treatment to enhance blood circulation to prevent blood refluxes – massage, ayervedic massage, acupuncture, self acupressure, osteopathy, chiropractic, swimming.
Any double blind study will have to sort out these various MS types before
proceeding. If one has either Skeletal MS or certain forms of Toxic MS,
angioplasty would be inappropriate. Opponents to the CCSVI theory
find it too easy to denounce it as“unproven”. For me that is no reason
to freeze up like a hedgehog and wait for Science to give me permission to take care of myself.
Again, to make a long story short, Dr. Zamboni has discovered the problem – venous blood reflux or CCSVI – but not the sole solution. Detoxification and nutritional therapy coupled with circulation therapies and/or skeletal adjustments may suffice
without taking the risk of angioplasty.
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