How am I doing ? Not so great. For the first time in a long time I fear my MS is progressing. The decline may have stopped, but I’m not sure I can recover what I’ve recently lost.
January 2018, that is to say, 18 months ago, I carelessly fell off a kitchen chair to land on my derrière. My San Francisco Kinesiologist, given the symptoms and healing time, thinks I broke a bone in my back or at least suffered a hairline fracture. My back was SO painful, and weak I was all bent over while walking. But I could still walk better at that time then I can now. I began at once Osteopathic treatments. They helped, I very gradually recovered though, for a long time the pain was so excruciating upon rising from bed I would nearly faint, and my legs were weak.
When I resumed swimming late May last year I could see that my back was injured, I had lost flexibility. As before the exercise brought oxygen to my head with increased blood circulation, but the relief was shortlived. Once I began walking the cervicals seemed to restrict blood flow from my head, I felt dizzy and unbalanced. May 31 I nearly fell when fluid rushed onto one side of my head. I feared a stroke and called the neighbors who helped me upstairs to bed. I recovered after a good night’s sleep. It happened mildly once again, but now I think this event was a consequence of the January fall, that my cervicals were blocking blood, CSF circulation which may have been released in a sudden flood. Even so, my Kinesiologist warned me that with symptoms like that I shouldn’t even think of undertaking a trans-Atlantic flight to the US, so I canceled my August trip. Very disappointing. (Let's keep in mind I am now 71 years old and slowing down in general.)
In June I decided to return to an Osteopath in a nearby city who had treated me in the past, pending finding a Chiropractor who perhaps could diagnose the problem. I would have been so happy to undergo the benefit of a FONAR MRI to really SEE how the blood and CSF were circulating, but none exist in France. Fortunately Mr B, who is expert in treating the musculature and skeletal structures of high level sportsmen, was able to analyse my back problem. Having treated me before, he found a change, an area where the vertebrae seeemed fused together. We agreed that if I came every 2 weeks, he could work to release the blockage. If that didn’t work, I would visit an AO (Atlas Orthogonal) Chiropractor nearby.
Well, it worked. My back regained its flexibility and my head cleared up, I was no longer dizzy by year’s end and I could walk (with a cane) as before.
Then I made another mistake. January of this year, my husband and I decided to travel to Marbella, Spain – by car. That means over one thousand miles going South, and one thousand three hundred miles on the trip north with a detour to visit the Commanderie in Tomar, Portugal. Traveling north we stopped over several days in Sevilla, several days in Tomar, overnight in Burgos and another day in Cognac France. But all that time seated in the car seemed to crush my back and I wasn’t well afterwards. Also I dragged about over a month in the Spring with what appeared to be a low grade virus.
My TENS acupressure treatment has been less effective in opening the blood flow from the head, I no longer enjoy the relief I had written about in my first posts in 2012. So I could see that some people would dismiss what I wrote as being ineffective if they too suffer skeletal obstruction of blood/CSF circulation.
This suggests Progression. I explained my theory about MS Progression to Mr B as follows : Initially under the RRMS phase blood back jets into the Central Nervous System, the ensuing injury manifesting as plaques on the myelin. This injury causes the nervous system to misfire, the muscles to become stiff, rigid, spasmsodic, and/or weaken which in turn compromises the integrity of the body structure. The base of the skull and spine are distorted which impacts the autonomic nervous system running through the spine – excretory functions for example – and obstructs free circulation of the CSF. Direct pressure on the spine may injure the nervous system. We now have what I call the MS FEEDBACK LOOP, the greater the nerve damage, the more the body structure is compromised which in turn obstructs more blood/CSF fluid flows to injure even more the skull/brain/neck/spine. (See Blog Post RRMS PROGRESSES TO SPMS Jan 1, 2015)
On saying this, Mr B seemed to have a « eureka » moment. « It’s true » he said « your upper back and base of the skull are so rigid I find it difficult to get a release of fluids descending from the brain. » Also, he said that the obstruction of the cerebrospinal fluid could impact the entire spinal cord including the autonomic nervous system’s bladder function. And just now, sitting here typing on the computer aggravates the lower back tension.
I plan to resume bi-monthly Osteopathic treatments once Mr B returns from vacation August 1. I am discouraged nonetheless because I am walking VERY slowly and don’t know if I can recover the movement I enjoyed a year ago. Also, I can’t lift my legs as high as last year. I’ve lost some independence. While I can treat myself through diet or TENS Acupressure or a Shiatsu massage device, I can’t manipulate my spine and body, I am dependent on a therapist. I may in the end need to see an AO (Atlas Orthogonal) chiropractor.
In short, I need help. Why do I have to figure this out by myself ? Why aren't Neurologists thinking things through, ordering appropriate diagnostic examinations ? WHY AREN’T THEY DOING THEIR JOB ?
Answer : Because they don’t know what MS is nor how to treat it. That doesn’t prevent their throwing DMVs at the hapless patient and being generally obnoxious in dismissing the vascular connection to MS.
In my last post I mentioned Dr. Schelling’s history of the Vascular Connection in MS. On page 33 of his paper MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS : The Image and its Message. The Meaning of the Classic Lesion Form
Dr. F. Alfons Schelling, MD writes
« Since no really distinctive pathological traits have ever been posited for multiple sclerosis, the speculations as to the lesion’s cause(s) have always been mainly conformable to the dominant research interests of their time. » … « From toxin to virus, Modern Dogma : If not a viral agent, then an auto-immune process. »
So here we have the real problem with MS research and potential treatment – MODERN DOGMA which we all know favors the bio-chemical, that is to say DRUG, solution.
Just as I finished my previous blog post, I consulted Joan Beal’s excellent site The Vascular Connection. Long absent, I was happy to read her post on Jan 2, 2019, all the more so that she discussed research confirming Dr Schelling’s observation that current research is based on dogma more than science.
The following research focuses on Multiple Sclerosis which is an entirely appropriate example because a high status specialty – Neurology – monopolizes research, diagnosis and treatment.even though the vascular connection to MS has been observed for at least 150 years.
I am going to quote directly from Joan Beal’s January 2, 2019 post from ccsviinms.blogspot.com/
Joan Beal writes :« I wanted to write this post to share a very important paper I first read several years ago. It was written in 1988--over 30 years ago! I believe it can help us answer the question as to what happened to CCSVI?
The entire paper is here: Malcom Nicolson and Cathleen McLaughlin :Social constructionism and medical sociology: a study of the vascular theory of multiple sclerosis
The authors are responding to a critique of their work which stated that societal hierarchies really didn't influence medical research and needn't be considered. The writers disagreed with this critique and in this paper they show how medical research and treatment are developed with a societal bias. This bias depends on who claims ownership of a particular disease and what their specialty is. A researcher's area of knowledge and expertise decide how a disease is viewed and treated.
From the paper:
« Scientists cannot therefore devise scientific theories solely in the light of their direct immediate experience of phenomena. They base new knowledge upon the relevant data and upon their pre- existing beliefs and theories. We understand the unknown in the light of what we already know - which, of course, in tum has its roots in training and in prior socialisation. Different observers, therefore, produce radically different cognitive worlds because modes of observation, and the points from which observation takes place, differ. »
And the authors use multiple sclerosis as their empirical case study---by outlining how the neuron-centric neurologists had ignored and even deliberately buried the evidence of the vascular system's impact on brain health, in order to focus on their own immunological view of the disease and their pharmaceutical immune modulating treatments.
This is from the abstract:
« A recent debate surrounding the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis is analysed in terms of the skills, interests and backgrounds of the medical personnel involved. It is noted that the proponents of the vascular theory possess developed expertises in interpreting disease in structural, vascular terms, whereas their opponents' skills lie in immunology or neurology. Different observers have produced different conceptions of the disease because modes of observation, and the points from which observation takes place, differ. It is also jjnoted that the debate over the causation and treatment of MS has occurred between a large and powerful social group and a weak and marginal one. The effects of this power inequality on the production and assessment of knowledge about MS are investigated.
The vascular links to MS have long been known, since Rindfleisch first saw the central vein sign through a microscope in 1863. CCSVI was not the first vascular treatment to be "debunked" by neurologists using badly designed and obviously biased studies.
As the paper states many times, vascular specialists are not as powerful as neurologists, and rarely are able to respond to these dismissals or badly replicated stabs at their research. They are paid less, receive less funding for their research, are less respected. We've seen them disparaged as "plumbers." Neurologists comment that this is because blood vessels are not as complex as the brain. And yet, ironically, it is a lowly central vein sign which is 100% accurate in diagnosing MS lesions.
The Central Vein Sign »
Joan then gives a brief history of research debunked and dismissed by the neurology profession – eg Dr Tracy Putnam, Dr Roy Swank, Dr Franz Schelling, Dr Philip James and lately Dr Zamboni.
« What is most important to take away from all of this is that each of these older "debunked" treatments----HBOT, diet, exercise, blood thinners (such as aspirin) are now scientifically recognized as helpful to people with MS, because of their affect on cerebral blood flow…
I had hoped people would recognize that venoplasty was not being called a "cure" for MS. It was simply another treatment--like exercise, diet, lifestyle, meditation, sleep, etc-- which could potentially improve cerebral blood flow, heal the endothelial layer of blood vessels, maintain gray matter and slow MS disease progression. No surprise, neurologists went ahead with ill-conceived and flawed studies, in order to debunk Dr. Zamboni and shut it all down. Better to kill the theory and debunk the messenger, than attempt to understand the connection.. » END OF JOAN'S QUOTE
Back to me MSCureEnigmas
So there it is, undue respect for social hierarchy overrides the reputed « objectivity » of medical science research. I agree with Joan that the Neurology profession uses their superior social status and power to monopolize Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and treatment.
But they are not the only « fraternity » guilty of imposing superior rank in the pecking order to discredit alternative ideas. The family GP Dr Owiesy’s work on treating spasms in the vein’s smooth muscle layer to facilitate blood circulation has been more or less dismissed by the Interventional Radiologists of the ISNVD. Even lower in the pecking order we find Chiropractors and non MD Osteopaths who don’t count officially precisely because they aren’t MDs. Allopaths disdain Homeopaths, Kinesiologists, and Acupuncturists while massage therapists hardly rate at all even if they may be able to release CNS (Central Nervous System) fluid flows. « Internet University » bloggers like me are subjected to scathing scorn.
I believe Multiple Sclerosis should become a distinct specialty. One might begin with this one scientific study.
*Cerebral Circulation Time is Prolonged and Not Correlated with EDSS in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Study Using Digital Subtracted Angiography
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0116681&representation=PDF
« Discussion : The present study reported a significant CCT (Cerebral Circulation Time) increase in MS patients compared to control sub- jects, indicating a consistent condition of cerebral hypoperfusion. »
Let's start there : Where, why is the blood flow obstructed ? And fluid flows impacting the central nervous system ? Once determined, I believe one can begin to be of real help to the MS patient.
P.S. I now feel much better than I did two weeks ago when I began working on this post. And this brings me happiness. About a week ago my dream signaled healing. I saw white ceramic square structures lying on rich brown earth, within each square vibrant green leaves with red flowers growing in their heart. Plants imply life, hope. It occurs to me that the red flowers inside the green leaves may symbolize the « central vein sign », a subject of this post. But the fresh young shoots of this dream implies healing, not pathology. Also, what do the ceramic square structures symbolize ? Anyway, the dream heartened and encouraged me. By summer’s end I hope to be much stronger, walk better. Above all, I must avoid falling and long road trips.
TAGS : Status, Osteopathy, FONAR MRI, TENS Acupressure, MS Progression, RRMS, SPMS, MS Feedback Loop, AO Chiropractor, Vascular Connection, Dr Schelling, CCSVI, Central Vein Sign, Dr. Owiesy, ISNVD
January 2018, that is to say, 18 months ago, I carelessly fell off a kitchen chair to land on my derrière. My San Francisco Kinesiologist, given the symptoms and healing time, thinks I broke a bone in my back or at least suffered a hairline fracture. My back was SO painful, and weak I was all bent over while walking. But I could still walk better at that time then I can now. I began at once Osteopathic treatments. They helped, I very gradually recovered though, for a long time the pain was so excruciating upon rising from bed I would nearly faint, and my legs were weak.
When I resumed swimming late May last year I could see that my back was injured, I had lost flexibility. As before the exercise brought oxygen to my head with increased blood circulation, but the relief was shortlived. Once I began walking the cervicals seemed to restrict blood flow from my head, I felt dizzy and unbalanced. May 31 I nearly fell when fluid rushed onto one side of my head. I feared a stroke and called the neighbors who helped me upstairs to bed. I recovered after a good night’s sleep. It happened mildly once again, but now I think this event was a consequence of the January fall, that my cervicals were blocking blood, CSF circulation which may have been released in a sudden flood. Even so, my Kinesiologist warned me that with symptoms like that I shouldn’t even think of undertaking a trans-Atlantic flight to the US, so I canceled my August trip. Very disappointing. (Let's keep in mind I am now 71 years old and slowing down in general.)
In June I decided to return to an Osteopath in a nearby city who had treated me in the past, pending finding a Chiropractor who perhaps could diagnose the problem. I would have been so happy to undergo the benefit of a FONAR MRI to really SEE how the blood and CSF were circulating, but none exist in France. Fortunately Mr B, who is expert in treating the musculature and skeletal structures of high level sportsmen, was able to analyse my back problem. Having treated me before, he found a change, an area where the vertebrae seeemed fused together. We agreed that if I came every 2 weeks, he could work to release the blockage. If that didn’t work, I would visit an AO (Atlas Orthogonal) Chiropractor nearby.
Well, it worked. My back regained its flexibility and my head cleared up, I was no longer dizzy by year’s end and I could walk (with a cane) as before.
Then I made another mistake. January of this year, my husband and I decided to travel to Marbella, Spain – by car. That means over one thousand miles going South, and one thousand three hundred miles on the trip north with a detour to visit the Commanderie in Tomar, Portugal. Traveling north we stopped over several days in Sevilla, several days in Tomar, overnight in Burgos and another day in Cognac France. But all that time seated in the car seemed to crush my back and I wasn’t well afterwards. Also I dragged about over a month in the Spring with what appeared to be a low grade virus.
My TENS acupressure treatment has been less effective in opening the blood flow from the head, I no longer enjoy the relief I had written about in my first posts in 2012. So I could see that some people would dismiss what I wrote as being ineffective if they too suffer skeletal obstruction of blood/CSF circulation.
This suggests Progression. I explained my theory about MS Progression to Mr B as follows : Initially under the RRMS phase blood back jets into the Central Nervous System, the ensuing injury manifesting as plaques on the myelin. This injury causes the nervous system to misfire, the muscles to become stiff, rigid, spasmsodic, and/or weaken which in turn compromises the integrity of the body structure. The base of the skull and spine are distorted which impacts the autonomic nervous system running through the spine – excretory functions for example – and obstructs free circulation of the CSF. Direct pressure on the spine may injure the nervous system. We now have what I call the MS FEEDBACK LOOP, the greater the nerve damage, the more the body structure is compromised which in turn obstructs more blood/CSF fluid flows to injure even more the skull/brain/neck/spine. (See Blog Post RRMS PROGRESSES TO SPMS Jan 1, 2015)
On saying this, Mr B seemed to have a « eureka » moment. « It’s true » he said « your upper back and base of the skull are so rigid I find it difficult to get a release of fluids descending from the brain. » Also, he said that the obstruction of the cerebrospinal fluid could impact the entire spinal cord including the autonomic nervous system’s bladder function. And just now, sitting here typing on the computer aggravates the lower back tension.
I plan to resume bi-monthly Osteopathic treatments once Mr B returns from vacation August 1. I am discouraged nonetheless because I am walking VERY slowly and don’t know if I can recover the movement I enjoyed a year ago. Also, I can’t lift my legs as high as last year. I’ve lost some independence. While I can treat myself through diet or TENS Acupressure or a Shiatsu massage device, I can’t manipulate my spine and body, I am dependent on a therapist. I may in the end need to see an AO (Atlas Orthogonal) chiropractor.
In short, I need help. Why do I have to figure this out by myself ? Why aren't Neurologists thinking things through, ordering appropriate diagnostic examinations ? WHY AREN’T THEY DOING THEIR JOB ?
Answer : Because they don’t know what MS is nor how to treat it. That doesn’t prevent their throwing DMVs at the hapless patient and being generally obnoxious in dismissing the vascular connection to MS.
In my last post I mentioned Dr. Schelling’s history of the Vascular Connection in MS. On page 33 of his paper MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS : The Image and its Message. The Meaning of the Classic Lesion Form
Dr. F. Alfons Schelling, MD writes
« Since no really distinctive pathological traits have ever been posited for multiple sclerosis, the speculations as to the lesion’s cause(s) have always been mainly conformable to the dominant research interests of their time. » … « From toxin to virus, Modern Dogma : If not a viral agent, then an auto-immune process. »
So here we have the real problem with MS research and potential treatment – MODERN DOGMA which we all know favors the bio-chemical, that is to say DRUG, solution.
Just as I finished my previous blog post, I consulted Joan Beal’s excellent site The Vascular Connection. Long absent, I was happy to read her post on Jan 2, 2019, all the more so that she discussed research confirming Dr Schelling’s observation that current research is based on dogma more than science.
The following research focuses on Multiple Sclerosis which is an entirely appropriate example because a high status specialty – Neurology – monopolizes research, diagnosis and treatment.even though the vascular connection to MS has been observed for at least 150 years.
I am going to quote directly from Joan Beal’s January 2, 2019 post from ccsviinms.blogspot.com/
Joan Beal writes :« I wanted to write this post to share a very important paper I first read several years ago. It was written in 1988--over 30 years ago! I believe it can help us answer the question as to what happened to CCSVI?
The entire paper is here: Malcom Nicolson and Cathleen McLaughlin :Social constructionism and medical sociology: a study of the vascular theory of multiple sclerosis
The authors are responding to a critique of their work which stated that societal hierarchies really didn't influence medical research and needn't be considered. The writers disagreed with this critique and in this paper they show how medical research and treatment are developed with a societal bias. This bias depends on who claims ownership of a particular disease and what their specialty is. A researcher's area of knowledge and expertise decide how a disease is viewed and treated.
From the paper:
« Scientists cannot therefore devise scientific theories solely in the light of their direct immediate experience of phenomena. They base new knowledge upon the relevant data and upon their pre- existing beliefs and theories. We understand the unknown in the light of what we already know - which, of course, in tum has its roots in training and in prior socialisation. Different observers, therefore, produce radically different cognitive worlds because modes of observation, and the points from which observation takes place, differ. »
And the authors use multiple sclerosis as their empirical case study---by outlining how the neuron-centric neurologists had ignored and even deliberately buried the evidence of the vascular system's impact on brain health, in order to focus on their own immunological view of the disease and their pharmaceutical immune modulating treatments.
This is from the abstract:
« A recent debate surrounding the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis is analysed in terms of the skills, interests and backgrounds of the medical personnel involved. It is noted that the proponents of the vascular theory possess developed expertises in interpreting disease in structural, vascular terms, whereas their opponents' skills lie in immunology or neurology. Different observers have produced different conceptions of the disease because modes of observation, and the points from which observation takes place, differ. It is also jjnoted that the debate over the causation and treatment of MS has occurred between a large and powerful social group and a weak and marginal one. The effects of this power inequality on the production and assessment of knowledge about MS are investigated.
The vascular links to MS have long been known, since Rindfleisch first saw the central vein sign through a microscope in 1863. CCSVI was not the first vascular treatment to be "debunked" by neurologists using badly designed and obviously biased studies.
As the paper states many times, vascular specialists are not as powerful as neurologists, and rarely are able to respond to these dismissals or badly replicated stabs at their research. They are paid less, receive less funding for their research, are less respected. We've seen them disparaged as "plumbers." Neurologists comment that this is because blood vessels are not as complex as the brain. And yet, ironically, it is a lowly central vein sign which is 100% accurate in diagnosing MS lesions.
The Central Vein Sign »
Joan then gives a brief history of research debunked and dismissed by the neurology profession – eg Dr Tracy Putnam, Dr Roy Swank, Dr Franz Schelling, Dr Philip James and lately Dr Zamboni.
« What is most important to take away from all of this is that each of these older "debunked" treatments----HBOT, diet, exercise, blood thinners (such as aspirin) are now scientifically recognized as helpful to people with MS, because of their affect on cerebral blood flow…
I had hoped people would recognize that venoplasty was not being called a "cure" for MS. It was simply another treatment--like exercise, diet, lifestyle, meditation, sleep, etc-- which could potentially improve cerebral blood flow, heal the endothelial layer of blood vessels, maintain gray matter and slow MS disease progression. No surprise, neurologists went ahead with ill-conceived and flawed studies, in order to debunk Dr. Zamboni and shut it all down. Better to kill the theory and debunk the messenger, than attempt to understand the connection.. » END OF JOAN'S QUOTE
Back to me MSCureEnigmas
So there it is, undue respect for social hierarchy overrides the reputed « objectivity » of medical science research. I agree with Joan that the Neurology profession uses their superior social status and power to monopolize Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and treatment.
But they are not the only « fraternity » guilty of imposing superior rank in the pecking order to discredit alternative ideas. The family GP Dr Owiesy’s work on treating spasms in the vein’s smooth muscle layer to facilitate blood circulation has been more or less dismissed by the Interventional Radiologists of the ISNVD. Even lower in the pecking order we find Chiropractors and non MD Osteopaths who don’t count officially precisely because they aren’t MDs. Allopaths disdain Homeopaths, Kinesiologists, and Acupuncturists while massage therapists hardly rate at all even if they may be able to release CNS (Central Nervous System) fluid flows. « Internet University » bloggers like me are subjected to scathing scorn.
I believe Multiple Sclerosis should become a distinct specialty. One might begin with this one scientific study.
*Cerebral Circulation Time is Prolonged and Not Correlated with EDSS in Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Study Using Digital Subtracted Angiography
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0116681&representation=PDF
« Discussion : The present study reported a significant CCT (Cerebral Circulation Time) increase in MS patients compared to control sub- jects, indicating a consistent condition of cerebral hypoperfusion. »
Let's start there : Where, why is the blood flow obstructed ? And fluid flows impacting the central nervous system ? Once determined, I believe one can begin to be of real help to the MS patient.
P.S. I now feel much better than I did two weeks ago when I began working on this post. And this brings me happiness. About a week ago my dream signaled healing. I saw white ceramic square structures lying on rich brown earth, within each square vibrant green leaves with red flowers growing in their heart. Plants imply life, hope. It occurs to me that the red flowers inside the green leaves may symbolize the « central vein sign », a subject of this post. But the fresh young shoots of this dream implies healing, not pathology. Also, what do the ceramic square structures symbolize ? Anyway, the dream heartened and encouraged me. By summer’s end I hope to be much stronger, walk better. Above all, I must avoid falling and long road trips.
TAGS : Status, Osteopathy, FONAR MRI, TENS Acupressure, MS Progression, RRMS, SPMS, MS Feedback Loop, AO Chiropractor, Vascular Connection, Dr Schelling, CCSVI, Central Vein Sign, Dr. Owiesy, ISNVD
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