REVISION MAY 4, 2013
In Multiple Sclerosis blood vessels "deformed" by childhood
stress cannot accommodate the blood flow. I believe the
auto-immune activity is secondary to the true cause of MS, blood refluxes which
injure the brain and spinal cord. The origin of the refluxes may be structural
1) CCSVI vein stenosis (as proposed by Professor Zamboni) and/or cerebrospinal
fluid pressure or 2) it may be a stress reaction to toxicity.
Let's re-think first causes. And then move on to real solutions.
Epidemiological studies on MS show that
those who grow up close to the equator have less chance to develop MS than those
living in latitudes closer to the poles. It is the latitude where one lives
before age 15 that counts, not where one lives subsequently. It is therefore
thought that the lack of sunlight –hence Vit D – is a factor in susceptibility
to MS. Vit D is recommended for M.S. patients.
But perhaps a better explanation of the geographical factor is Winter Cold.
The shoulders and neck typically tense up under stress thus restricting circulation to and from
the brain. Cold weather stiffens the muscles. Winters bring the body aches of
colds and flus. Illness itself (e.g. Clamydia Pneumoniae, Mononucleosis, Lyme
disease, Guillaume Barré) may damage the cell walls and valves of the vascular
system.
It is also said that MS patients tend to be high powered,
ambitious people. Tensed up in other words. MS cases cluster in northern Europe
and North America.Let’s say growing up in a culturally demanding family environment
(or in any case stressful) while subject to Cold weather and frequent colds and
flus actually compresses and deforms the circulatory system in the child’s
developing body.By the time he/she reaches age 15, the stunted blood vessels
can no longer accommodate the blood flow. MS first appears in adolescents, seldom in children. Let’s compare the deformity to
ancient Chinese footbinding where the tiny child’s foot cannot support the adult woman.
Food intolerances, especially to wheat and dairy products, can further compound the
stress. The Neolithic agricultural revolution dates back not much more than
10,000 years, a blink of the eye in terms of biological evolution. Bowel
problems are a sure sign of food “stress”.The significant increase in MS cases
in Japan over the past 30 years points to food toxicity as root cause.
And the disadvantage of being female. Between puberty and menopause at least two-thirds
of MS patients are women. This implies that gynecological problems (including
menstrual cramps and birth control pills) both stress and require "poisoning"
treatment which impact negatively the vascular system. Perhaps monthly menstrual
cramps in a growing girl actually "stunt" the circulatory system. Perhaps female
hormones affect the vascular system negatively. Factors of Stress.
Maybe the real story behind MS is the damage to the blood vessels caused by growing up female in a
1) driven, ambitious or otherwise stressful family
environment compounded by 2) a climate of Cold winters which contribute to 3)
frequent viral illnesses compounded by 4) an intolerance to the wheat and
lactose of a Neolithic diet.
In any case, I believe the Italian
Angiologue Professor Zamboni is right, it is a blood reflux which injures the
brain in M.S. After having successfully overseen angioplasty treatment for his wife in 2006 (who had
developed MS in 1995) he began research on his theory that MS is essentially a
vascular disorder leading to neurological injuries. He theorized that reflux of
veinous blood into the brain and spinal cord injures the tissue. He believes as
well that it may be the iron in the blood which causes the much remarked
demyelinating inflammation. This would seem to explain the lesions clustered
around the veinous blood vessels in autopsies of MS victims observed by the
great French Neurologist Dr. Jean Martin Charcot who first identified MS in
1868.
Professor Zamboni published his work on the internet
December 5, 2008. I first read about it the summer of 2010 on Daily Kos (thanks
to my San Francisco Kinesiologist Carolyn Parker - see August 25, 2010 "There
was good medical news yesterday. So now what?" by Joel Spinhirne.) In his paper
“CCSVI – A New paradigm and therapy for multiple sclerosis” posted on Sunday
July 25, 2010, Salvatore J.A. Sclafani, MD refers to Dr. Zamboni’s work by
writing “Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a hemodynamic
condition in which cerebrospinal drainage is altered and inhibited. Outflow
obstructions of the internal jugular veins (IJVs), vertebral veins, and/or
azygos vein( AZV) and their tributaries result in stasis or reflux of these
outflow veins and redirection of flow through vicarious circuits…The
majority of patients with CCSVI appear to have multiple sclerosis (MS) and the
majority of patients with MS have CCSVI.” (my emphasis).
Dr. Zamboni’s "liberation procedure" involves
expanding the veins exhibiting stenosis through angioplasty. While results have
been promising, questions persist. Not all people exhibiting stenosis of the
veins have MS, not all MS patients have stenosis (or CCSVI). The rate of
Jugular vein collapse after angioplasty is 50% (not great) and Dr Zamboni warns
against the use of stents. Some patients enjoy spectacular recoveries after
angioplasty, others see little or no improvement. These varied results seem to
cast doubt on his theory. However, I believe his idea is substantially correct.
MS cases are as varied as the veins involved, the areas of the
brain or spinal cord drained by these veins, their structural condition and the
general metabolism of the patient.
Another well-known MS therapy long
popular in alternative medicine circles imposes a strict gluten free diet.Under the care of a San Francisco
nutritionist-kinesiologist as of February 1984, I recovered “permanent” nerve
damage, my recovery being so impressive that my Neurologist declared I could not
possibly have had MS. All was well until 1987 when I decided to leave my
husband. The stress triggered a sore throat followed by an MS attack. What
happened? The answer is straightforward. The stress was so intense that it
overwhelmed the positive effect of the diet.
These 2 approaches -angioplasty and diet/energy therapy - would
seem to be unrelated, but they converge.
I believe some MS patients have structural deformities in their veins that, once
corrected, can effectively cure the disease. Others (perhaps
myself) do not have such a structural deformity, but are sensitive to foods or allergies to such an
extent that under stress the veins compress forcing the veinous blood to
back-up. Or perhaps my veins are somewhat "stunted" so that I am excessively
sensitive to stress of any kind. The former patient may be more severely
handicapped until intervention brings the cure. In my case the handicap has been
less severe, but the solution requires more personal discipline.
In any case Dr. Zamboni’s insight has allowed me to understand my symptoms,
the history of my disease, and the direction I need to take to heal.
This insight poses two distinct problems. First, the reflux of
veinous blood into the central nervous system must be halted (at best) or
minimized. Second, the injured tissue must be healed.
“Scientists Find ‘Cure’ for MS By Turning Common Skin Cells into
Working Brain Cells” is the title
of an article in Nature Biotechnology by Christine Hsu describing research at
Case Western Research School of Medicine. Reconstitution of the myelin sheath
damaged by MS attacks has long been the goal of scientists. Current stem cell
therapy hopes to do the same by extracting bone marrow from an MS patient,
growing his cells in a culture and then injecting these cells into the patient.
I don’t know how successful this procedure has been (and am not inclined to try
it.) However, repairing the Myelin
sheath is only half the battle. One must stop (or minimize) the blood reflux
into the CNS. Otherwise the repair will be under constant assault and perhaps
progressively less effective.
Preventing the blood reflux is therefore the key to any “Cure” for MS.
Summer 2010 I too felt
liberated when I read about the Dr. Zamboni’s theory, now dubbed “Liberation
Therapy”. Eureka! Of course! I now understood why an acute MS symptom could
disappear after only an hour’s acupuncture treatment since it must open the
blood flow and stop the reflux. This also explains why a severely handicapped
Frenchwoman I spoke with experienced a miraculous recovery after an Ayurvedic
massage in India. This made no sense to me. But now I can see that the massage
must have relaxed the veins to open up her blood circulation.
If I had heard about Dr. Zamboni’s
theory 20 years ago I am convinced I wouldn’t need a cane to walk today. I
remember when I began to limp. May 1993 I was on vacation in Morocco with a
companion who was particularly rude, I was very upset and began to cry. I can
see now that the blood must have been surging up into
my brain and/or spinal cord. In San Francisco I would have rushed
immediately to get an acupuncture treatment to put a stop to it. I now realize I
didn’t even need to do that, all I needed was an upper back neck
massage. It seems incredible that a
gesture so simple and ordinary could stop a process so devastating as an MS
attack leading to paralysis. But at least for me, that’s the truth.
Now at first sign of MS symptoms I
ask someone to massage my upper back and neck visualizing bringing the blood
down towards the heart. And it works, the next day I’m fine, no traces of an MS
relapse. Recently upset and crying, I could feel my body freeze up, my nervous
system began to burn and falter, I had difficulty emptying my bladder, I could
imagine all the “plumbing” freeze up (urine, blood flow, who knows what else.)
Again I asked for a massage which brought the process under control.
If I am alone I can use
electrical stimulation pads on acupressure points to the same effect. On
learning of Professor Zamboni’s “blood reflux” theory I began to use Gall
Bladder 34 points outside the knees and the Spleen 6 points inside the ankle, my
reasoning being that the Yang Gall Bladder meridian is indicated in MS treatment
(according to Dr. Lai, my San Francisco Acupuncture Doctor) and Spleen 6 can
serve as a good Yin complement. However, I recently discovered that the upper
back points just below and slightly outside the neck (GB21) are sufficient by
themselves to stop the blood reflux and subsequently learned that these points
are also on the Gall Bladder meridian - the same meridian indicated to treat the
migraine/tension headaches I had known before developing MS. Every morning now,
after waking up groggy and depressed (blood stasis leading from the brain?) I
use electrical stimulation pads on these points to “clear up” my head, as
though the brain lacked oxygen.
As for the question of
angioplasty, until recently the only available treatment in France was
experimental. October 2010 I did succeed in obtaining an Echodoppler of the neck
to find that my Interior Jugular Veins (IJV) and Vertabral Veins are normal. The
following January I received a confirming diagnosis . I was told by another
Angiologue that if the Jugular veins are normal the Azygos vein will likely be
normal as well. Being then unavailable in France, I made inquiries from a clinic
in Brussels which diagnoses and treats CCSVI. I delayed further inquiry and
treatment which was probably just as well because treatment has evolved since
then. (Prior to 2010 angioplasty without the use of Intra Venous Ultra Sound
(IVUS) sometimes resulted in injury to the veins and even blockage. Its use now
has drastically reduced incidence of thrombosis.) I have learned that treatment
is now available in France from a Professor in Bordeaux. I remain ambivalent. A
recent review of my medical records and personal journals suggest my first major
attack struck the upper spinal cord, and a shiatsu massage inadvertently stopped
it. (See Pallis/Shiatsu Blog entry) The fact that an upper back and neck massage
appears to open blood flow from the head or spine implies that veins in my neck
are narrowed or collapsing even if the Echodoppler exam found them normal.
Perhaps the valves malfunction. Perhaps I am someone whose veins constrict
without stenosis or that they are simply too narrow to accommodate normal blood
flow. Perhaps the venous blood
which “attacked” the spinal cord in 1980 cannot be treated with angioplasty. I’m
glad I didn’t act precipitously.
And recent observations about cranial fluid dynamics, the
possibility that cerebrospinal fluid build-up can "pressure" venous blood
circulation leading to a blood reflux, implies that attention should be paid to
all aspects of brain physiology. In fact, before considering angioplasty, I
believe one should consult specialists in skeletal adjustment (chiropractors,
osteopaths, Dentists) whose manipulations might release blocked blood/fluid
circulation from the head and spinal cord.
What does all this have to do with
nutrition? First diagnosed with M.S.
in 1980 while living in San Francisco, I turned almost immediately to
acupuncture treatments which stopped or minimized the “attacks”. However, after
going slowly downhill for 3 plus years, my real healing breakthrough came only
in 1984 through diet modification and “energy balancing” therapy prescribed by a
pioneering San Francisco Kinesiologist, Jimmy Scott, PhD. Now a generally
recognized treatment for MS in alternative medicine circles, I’ll call it the
“cave man diet”. No glutens such as wheat and no lactose. ( Dr. Scott believes
that up to 80% of humans have a wheat intolerance.) My personally prescribed
diet included vegetables ( lots of greens), fruit, no meat, some poultry, raw
fish, eggs, papaya once a week, nuts and seeds, grains (rice, buckwheat, millet
and corn are O.K. for me) and 12 cups a week of raw vegetable juice. Forbidden
items include glutens (such as wheat), lactose, alcohol and chemical food
additives. He also prescribed a full round of dietary supplements which I
continue to take to this day. Coupled with Dr. Scott’s monthly “energy”
treatments derived from Chinese acupuncture theory, it took a full year to
detoxify my poisoned metabolism, to regulate my intestines and to heal
“permanent” nerve damage. As noted above, I suffered a MS relapse in 1987 when
under severe emotional stress, but my legs were not affected and I could still
walk miles in 1988.
I believe proper diet serves 3 purposes;
1) to heal and reinforce the vascular system at the cellular level – particularly
critical for Diabetic MS 2) to prevent stress on the vascular system (i.e. the
blood reflux) and 3) to nourish the brain cells, especially important if there has been some brain damage – the
current natural Myelin reconstitution “Cure”.
Analysing my own
situation, while I am able to control an outright M.S.“attack”, any nerve
symptoms which manifest imply that blood reflux is injuring the brain/spinal
cord. Mornings I have the impression blood is stagnating in my brain which again
implies some injury. Any anxiety triggers“burning” in my legs. I can’t always
avoid stressful situations, or viral illnesses which cause the body to “seize”
up. Therefore I need to use
nutritional therapy to both prevent stress on the vascular system while healing
a nervous system under constant assault . (Once a viable Myelin reconstitution
treatment becomes available, I would go for it. But I fear that won’t be
available soon enough for me.)
I stopped following “the cave man” diet upon
arriving in France in 1992. I was unhappy, isolated, and without a healing
“partner”. It took me several
years before I could find a good acupuncture Doctor and by then I had begun to
limp. In 1997 I started using a cane. Late 2011 a friend referred me to a
YouTube video by
Dr. Terry Wahls (TEDxIowaCity –Minding Your
Mitochondria) who described her
healing from MS through diet modification. After 7 years of decline while taking
prescribed drugs, towards 2007 the Doctor turned to the Internet to research a
very successful self treatment program through nutrition. For me this was an
excellent reminder of the program I had abandoned 20 years earlier. January
2012 I could see I was going downhill, with symptoms weakening my “good” left
leg, so I needed to buck up and get serious. Also, I had been increasingly
depressed which is really a sign of metabolic imbalance or a health problem.
Somewhat reluctantly mid January
2012 I stopped eating glutens while enriching my overall diet. Of particular
importance I resumed extracting 12 cups of vegetable juice a week. (Using a
base of carrots, I add the essential greens. Rather than munch through plates
of vegetables, one can concentrate and drink them in juice. ) Within 6 weeks I
began to feel much better. But in contrast to Dr. Wahls, I don’t believe diet
alone can prevent a stress induced blood reflex (and in fact she electrically
stimulates her back muscles which enhances blood circulation in the
head.)
(I never took drugs for MS. I was
lucky to find in the early 1980’s alternative therapies which worked.)
I describe My Personal Treatment on this site under the Cure or Control section..
Also Paleo-Macro Diet section. Known
MS dietary therapies include the Swank diet, the Roger Macdougall Paleo diet,
the Kousmine diet as well as the more recent Terry Wahls diet.
For further information check out the site ThisisMs.com, under the CCSVI thread the
following - for Skeletal issues 1) CCSVI and CCSVBP upright doc (Dr. Michael
Flanagan) 2) When CCSVI fails,
try AO and/or the Dentist by Rosegirl. For Angioplasty same site/thread “Dr.
Sclafani answers some questions” which is particularly informative since he
presents full reports of angioplasty he has performed complete with photos.
CCSVI Locator is also of interest. (I am suggesting these sites for information
only– a starting point in your own research.) Consider Dr.
Zamboni, Liberation Therapy and CCSVI entries.
Check out as well (at the least) the Blog Posts on this site titled "Cure or Control
Review" as well as "After Diagnosis".
Even though Dr. Zamboni’s insight has come a bit late for me, it has given me a new
lease on life. I used to live in constant fear of a debilitating relapse. Now I
know what to do to head off a breakdown. Having embarked once again on my diet,
I feel better and hopeful of improvement in the future. I know that
anything which improves blood/brain fluid circulation – put another way REDUCES
BODY TENSION --(swimming, acupuncture, massage, kinesiology, osteopathic,
chiropractic, any energy therapy) will make me feel better and prevent a relapse.
I hope other MS patients will reflect on their own history and that these ideas will be of use
in their healing.
Anna Macy
February 15, 2012. Revised March 14, 2012 Updated October 5, 2012, January 20, 2013. May 4, 2013
Anna Macy is an American writer living in Paris. She can be reached
at [email protected]
ici pour modifier.
In Multiple Sclerosis blood vessels "deformed" by childhood
stress cannot accommodate the blood flow. I believe the
auto-immune activity is secondary to the true cause of MS, blood refluxes which
injure the brain and spinal cord. The origin of the refluxes may be structural
1) CCSVI vein stenosis (as proposed by Professor Zamboni) and/or cerebrospinal
fluid pressure or 2) it may be a stress reaction to toxicity.
Let's re-think first causes. And then move on to real solutions.
Epidemiological studies on MS show that
those who grow up close to the equator have less chance to develop MS than those
living in latitudes closer to the poles. It is the latitude where one lives
before age 15 that counts, not where one lives subsequently. It is therefore
thought that the lack of sunlight –hence Vit D – is a factor in susceptibility
to MS. Vit D is recommended for M.S. patients.
But perhaps a better explanation of the geographical factor is Winter Cold.
The shoulders and neck typically tense up under stress thus restricting circulation to and from
the brain. Cold weather stiffens the muscles. Winters bring the body aches of
colds and flus. Illness itself (e.g. Clamydia Pneumoniae, Mononucleosis, Lyme
disease, Guillaume Barré) may damage the cell walls and valves of the vascular
system.
It is also said that MS patients tend to be high powered,
ambitious people. Tensed up in other words. MS cases cluster in northern Europe
and North America.Let’s say growing up in a culturally demanding family environment
(or in any case stressful) while subject to Cold weather and frequent colds and
flus actually compresses and deforms the circulatory system in the child’s
developing body.By the time he/she reaches age 15, the stunted blood vessels
can no longer accommodate the blood flow. MS first appears in adolescents, seldom in children. Let’s compare the deformity to
ancient Chinese footbinding where the tiny child’s foot cannot support the adult woman.
Food intolerances, especially to wheat and dairy products, can further compound the
stress. The Neolithic agricultural revolution dates back not much more than
10,000 years, a blink of the eye in terms of biological evolution. Bowel
problems are a sure sign of food “stress”.The significant increase in MS cases
in Japan over the past 30 years points to food toxicity as root cause.
And the disadvantage of being female. Between puberty and menopause at least two-thirds
of MS patients are women. This implies that gynecological problems (including
menstrual cramps and birth control pills) both stress and require "poisoning"
treatment which impact negatively the vascular system. Perhaps monthly menstrual
cramps in a growing girl actually "stunt" the circulatory system. Perhaps female
hormones affect the vascular system negatively. Factors of Stress.
Maybe the real story behind MS is the damage to the blood vessels caused by growing up female in a
1) driven, ambitious or otherwise stressful family
environment compounded by 2) a climate of Cold winters which contribute to 3)
frequent viral illnesses compounded by 4) an intolerance to the wheat and
lactose of a Neolithic diet.
In any case, I believe the Italian
Angiologue Professor Zamboni is right, it is a blood reflux which injures the
brain in M.S. After having successfully overseen angioplasty treatment for his wife in 2006 (who had
developed MS in 1995) he began research on his theory that MS is essentially a
vascular disorder leading to neurological injuries. He theorized that reflux of
veinous blood into the brain and spinal cord injures the tissue. He believes as
well that it may be the iron in the blood which causes the much remarked
demyelinating inflammation. This would seem to explain the lesions clustered
around the veinous blood vessels in autopsies of MS victims observed by the
great French Neurologist Dr. Jean Martin Charcot who first identified MS in
1868.
Professor Zamboni published his work on the internet
December 5, 2008. I first read about it the summer of 2010 on Daily Kos (thanks
to my San Francisco Kinesiologist Carolyn Parker - see August 25, 2010 "There
was good medical news yesterday. So now what?" by Joel Spinhirne.) In his paper
“CCSVI – A New paradigm and therapy for multiple sclerosis” posted on Sunday
July 25, 2010, Salvatore J.A. Sclafani, MD refers to Dr. Zamboni’s work by
writing “Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a hemodynamic
condition in which cerebrospinal drainage is altered and inhibited. Outflow
obstructions of the internal jugular veins (IJVs), vertebral veins, and/or
azygos vein( AZV) and their tributaries result in stasis or reflux of these
outflow veins and redirection of flow through vicarious circuits…The
majority of patients with CCSVI appear to have multiple sclerosis (MS) and the
majority of patients with MS have CCSVI.” (my emphasis).
Dr. Zamboni’s "liberation procedure" involves
expanding the veins exhibiting stenosis through angioplasty. While results have
been promising, questions persist. Not all people exhibiting stenosis of the
veins have MS, not all MS patients have stenosis (or CCSVI). The rate of
Jugular vein collapse after angioplasty is 50% (not great) and Dr Zamboni warns
against the use of stents. Some patients enjoy spectacular recoveries after
angioplasty, others see little or no improvement. These varied results seem to
cast doubt on his theory. However, I believe his idea is substantially correct.
MS cases are as varied as the veins involved, the areas of the
brain or spinal cord drained by these veins, their structural condition and the
general metabolism of the patient.
Another well-known MS therapy long
popular in alternative medicine circles imposes a strict gluten free diet.Under the care of a San Francisco
nutritionist-kinesiologist as of February 1984, I recovered “permanent” nerve
damage, my recovery being so impressive that my Neurologist declared I could not
possibly have had MS. All was well until 1987 when I decided to leave my
husband. The stress triggered a sore throat followed by an MS attack. What
happened? The answer is straightforward. The stress was so intense that it
overwhelmed the positive effect of the diet.
These 2 approaches -angioplasty and diet/energy therapy - would
seem to be unrelated, but they converge.
I believe some MS patients have structural deformities in their veins that, once
corrected, can effectively cure the disease. Others (perhaps
myself) do not have such a structural deformity, but are sensitive to foods or allergies to such an
extent that under stress the veins compress forcing the veinous blood to
back-up. Or perhaps my veins are somewhat "stunted" so that I am excessively
sensitive to stress of any kind. The former patient may be more severely
handicapped until intervention brings the cure. In my case the handicap has been
less severe, but the solution requires more personal discipline.
In any case Dr. Zamboni’s insight has allowed me to understand my symptoms,
the history of my disease, and the direction I need to take to heal.
This insight poses two distinct problems. First, the reflux of
veinous blood into the central nervous system must be halted (at best) or
minimized. Second, the injured tissue must be healed.
“Scientists Find ‘Cure’ for MS By Turning Common Skin Cells into
Working Brain Cells” is the title
of an article in Nature Biotechnology by Christine Hsu describing research at
Case Western Research School of Medicine. Reconstitution of the myelin sheath
damaged by MS attacks has long been the goal of scientists. Current stem cell
therapy hopes to do the same by extracting bone marrow from an MS patient,
growing his cells in a culture and then injecting these cells into the patient.
I don’t know how successful this procedure has been (and am not inclined to try
it.) However, repairing the Myelin
sheath is only half the battle. One must stop (or minimize) the blood reflux
into the CNS. Otherwise the repair will be under constant assault and perhaps
progressively less effective.
Preventing the blood reflux is therefore the key to any “Cure” for MS.
Summer 2010 I too felt
liberated when I read about the Dr. Zamboni’s theory, now dubbed “Liberation
Therapy”. Eureka! Of course! I now understood why an acute MS symptom could
disappear after only an hour’s acupuncture treatment since it must open the
blood flow and stop the reflux. This also explains why a severely handicapped
Frenchwoman I spoke with experienced a miraculous recovery after an Ayurvedic
massage in India. This made no sense to me. But now I can see that the massage
must have relaxed the veins to open up her blood circulation.
If I had heard about Dr. Zamboni’s
theory 20 years ago I am convinced I wouldn’t need a cane to walk today. I
remember when I began to limp. May 1993 I was on vacation in Morocco with a
companion who was particularly rude, I was very upset and began to cry. I can
see now that the blood must have been surging up into
my brain and/or spinal cord. In San Francisco I would have rushed
immediately to get an acupuncture treatment to put a stop to it. I now realize I
didn’t even need to do that, all I needed was an upper back neck
massage. It seems incredible that a
gesture so simple and ordinary could stop a process so devastating as an MS
attack leading to paralysis. But at least for me, that’s the truth.
Now at first sign of MS symptoms I
ask someone to massage my upper back and neck visualizing bringing the blood
down towards the heart. And it works, the next day I’m fine, no traces of an MS
relapse. Recently upset and crying, I could feel my body freeze up, my nervous
system began to burn and falter, I had difficulty emptying my bladder, I could
imagine all the “plumbing” freeze up (urine, blood flow, who knows what else.)
Again I asked for a massage which brought the process under control.
If I am alone I can use
electrical stimulation pads on acupressure points to the same effect. On
learning of Professor Zamboni’s “blood reflux” theory I began to use Gall
Bladder 34 points outside the knees and the Spleen 6 points inside the ankle, my
reasoning being that the Yang Gall Bladder meridian is indicated in MS treatment
(according to Dr. Lai, my San Francisco Acupuncture Doctor) and Spleen 6 can
serve as a good Yin complement. However, I recently discovered that the upper
back points just below and slightly outside the neck (GB21) are sufficient by
themselves to stop the blood reflux and subsequently learned that these points
are also on the Gall Bladder meridian - the same meridian indicated to treat the
migraine/tension headaches I had known before developing MS. Every morning now,
after waking up groggy and depressed (blood stasis leading from the brain?) I
use electrical stimulation pads on these points to “clear up” my head, as
though the brain lacked oxygen.
As for the question of
angioplasty, until recently the only available treatment in France was
experimental. October 2010 I did succeed in obtaining an Echodoppler of the neck
to find that my Interior Jugular Veins (IJV) and Vertabral Veins are normal. The
following January I received a confirming diagnosis . I was told by another
Angiologue that if the Jugular veins are normal the Azygos vein will likely be
normal as well. Being then unavailable in France, I made inquiries from a clinic
in Brussels which diagnoses and treats CCSVI. I delayed further inquiry and
treatment which was probably just as well because treatment has evolved since
then. (Prior to 2010 angioplasty without the use of Intra Venous Ultra Sound
(IVUS) sometimes resulted in injury to the veins and even blockage. Its use now
has drastically reduced incidence of thrombosis.) I have learned that treatment
is now available in France from a Professor in Bordeaux. I remain ambivalent. A
recent review of my medical records and personal journals suggest my first major
attack struck the upper spinal cord, and a shiatsu massage inadvertently stopped
it. (See Pallis/Shiatsu Blog entry) The fact that an upper back and neck massage
appears to open blood flow from the head or spine implies that veins in my neck
are narrowed or collapsing even if the Echodoppler exam found them normal.
Perhaps the valves malfunction. Perhaps I am someone whose veins constrict
without stenosis or that they are simply too narrow to accommodate normal blood
flow. Perhaps the venous blood
which “attacked” the spinal cord in 1980 cannot be treated with angioplasty. I’m
glad I didn’t act precipitously.
And recent observations about cranial fluid dynamics, the
possibility that cerebrospinal fluid build-up can "pressure" venous blood
circulation leading to a blood reflux, implies that attention should be paid to
all aspects of brain physiology. In fact, before considering angioplasty, I
believe one should consult specialists in skeletal adjustment (chiropractors,
osteopaths, Dentists) whose manipulations might release blocked blood/fluid
circulation from the head and spinal cord.
What does all this have to do with
nutrition? First diagnosed with M.S.
in 1980 while living in San Francisco, I turned almost immediately to
acupuncture treatments which stopped or minimized the “attacks”. However, after
going slowly downhill for 3 plus years, my real healing breakthrough came only
in 1984 through diet modification and “energy balancing” therapy prescribed by a
pioneering San Francisco Kinesiologist, Jimmy Scott, PhD. Now a generally
recognized treatment for MS in alternative medicine circles, I’ll call it the
“cave man diet”. No glutens such as wheat and no lactose. ( Dr. Scott believes
that up to 80% of humans have a wheat intolerance.) My personally prescribed
diet included vegetables ( lots of greens), fruit, no meat, some poultry, raw
fish, eggs, papaya once a week, nuts and seeds, grains (rice, buckwheat, millet
and corn are O.K. for me) and 12 cups a week of raw vegetable juice. Forbidden
items include glutens (such as wheat), lactose, alcohol and chemical food
additives. He also prescribed a full round of dietary supplements which I
continue to take to this day. Coupled with Dr. Scott’s monthly “energy”
treatments derived from Chinese acupuncture theory, it took a full year to
detoxify my poisoned metabolism, to regulate my intestines and to heal
“permanent” nerve damage. As noted above, I suffered a MS relapse in 1987 when
under severe emotional stress, but my legs were not affected and I could still
walk miles in 1988.
I believe proper diet serves 3 purposes;
1) to heal and reinforce the vascular system at the cellular level – particularly
critical for Diabetic MS 2) to prevent stress on the vascular system (i.e. the
blood reflux) and 3) to nourish the brain cells, especially important if there has been some brain damage – the
current natural Myelin reconstitution “Cure”.
Analysing my own
situation, while I am able to control an outright M.S.“attack”, any nerve
symptoms which manifest imply that blood reflux is injuring the brain/spinal
cord. Mornings I have the impression blood is stagnating in my brain which again
implies some injury. Any anxiety triggers“burning” in my legs. I can’t always
avoid stressful situations, or viral illnesses which cause the body to “seize”
up. Therefore I need to use
nutritional therapy to both prevent stress on the vascular system while healing
a nervous system under constant assault . (Once a viable Myelin reconstitution
treatment becomes available, I would go for it. But I fear that won’t be
available soon enough for me.)
I stopped following “the cave man” diet upon
arriving in France in 1992. I was unhappy, isolated, and without a healing
“partner”. It took me several
years before I could find a good acupuncture Doctor and by then I had begun to
limp. In 1997 I started using a cane. Late 2011 a friend referred me to a
YouTube video by
Dr. Terry Wahls (TEDxIowaCity –Minding Your
Mitochondria) who described her
healing from MS through diet modification. After 7 years of decline while taking
prescribed drugs, towards 2007 the Doctor turned to the Internet to research a
very successful self treatment program through nutrition. For me this was an
excellent reminder of the program I had abandoned 20 years earlier. January
2012 I could see I was going downhill, with symptoms weakening my “good” left
leg, so I needed to buck up and get serious. Also, I had been increasingly
depressed which is really a sign of metabolic imbalance or a health problem.
Somewhat reluctantly mid January
2012 I stopped eating glutens while enriching my overall diet. Of particular
importance I resumed extracting 12 cups of vegetable juice a week. (Using a
base of carrots, I add the essential greens. Rather than munch through plates
of vegetables, one can concentrate and drink them in juice. ) Within 6 weeks I
began to feel much better. But in contrast to Dr. Wahls, I don’t believe diet
alone can prevent a stress induced blood reflex (and in fact she electrically
stimulates her back muscles which enhances blood circulation in the
head.)
(I never took drugs for MS. I was
lucky to find in the early 1980’s alternative therapies which worked.)
I describe My Personal Treatment on this site under the Cure or Control section..
Also Paleo-Macro Diet section. Known
MS dietary therapies include the Swank diet, the Roger Macdougall Paleo diet,
the Kousmine diet as well as the more recent Terry Wahls diet.
For further information check out the site ThisisMs.com, under the CCSVI thread the
following - for Skeletal issues 1) CCSVI and CCSVBP upright doc (Dr. Michael
Flanagan) 2) When CCSVI fails,
try AO and/or the Dentist by Rosegirl. For Angioplasty same site/thread “Dr.
Sclafani answers some questions” which is particularly informative since he
presents full reports of angioplasty he has performed complete with photos.
CCSVI Locator is also of interest. (I am suggesting these sites for information
only– a starting point in your own research.) Consider Dr.
Zamboni, Liberation Therapy and CCSVI entries.
Check out as well (at the least) the Blog Posts on this site titled "Cure or Control
Review" as well as "After Diagnosis".
Even though Dr. Zamboni’s insight has come a bit late for me, it has given me a new
lease on life. I used to live in constant fear of a debilitating relapse. Now I
know what to do to head off a breakdown. Having embarked once again on my diet,
I feel better and hopeful of improvement in the future. I know that
anything which improves blood/brain fluid circulation – put another way REDUCES
BODY TENSION --(swimming, acupuncture, massage, kinesiology, osteopathic,
chiropractic, any energy therapy) will make me feel better and prevent a relapse.
I hope other MS patients will reflect on their own history and that these ideas will be of use
in their healing.
Anna Macy
February 15, 2012. Revised March 14, 2012 Updated October 5, 2012, January 20, 2013. May 4, 2013
Anna Macy is an American writer living in Paris. She can be reached
at [email protected]
ici pour modifier.