Carly Weeks has had a week-long series of articles on CCSVI CONTROVERSY 2011!!! published in the Globe. These articles have been laden with provocative commentary and hyperbole. I realize that these controversial articles boost readership and give the paper extra eyeballs, which equates more advertising dollars. But sadly, this type of journalism is a discredit to the profession. And it is confusing the science and public....more so than any Facebook page. We link to medical papers on this page. Carly, not so much. We haven't linked to her articles this week, because there was nothing new or note-worthy (or in many instances, factual) about them.
But I had to comment on the feast du jour de Carly----
1. The debate between those who accept Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni’s controversial take on what causes multiple sclerosis and those who don’t is escalating rapidly, with neither side willing to back down. So what happens next?
1. Dr. Zamboni has never said that CCSVI causes MS, he has stated that there is a very strong corrolation between CCSVI and MS, and this deserves further research. "Our side"is asking for treatment trials and money to be given to run these trials...the other side gives an emphatic NO and blocks all funding for treatment trials. They do outrageous things like call CCSVI a hoax (Dr. Mark Freedman) and try to block research and treatment (the CIHR) This is what creates the debate and the divide. Not the people suffering with MS and their caretakers, who are simply looking for answers. It is the gate-keepers of MS research, who refuse to back away from their precious EAE model....at the expense of human lives.
2 As researchers race to determine whether MS really can be kept at bay by clearing constricted veins in the neck to improve blood flow from the brain, supporters of Dr. Zamboni grow ever more insistent that Canada approve the treatment even before the verdict comes down.
Aside from being a horribly constructed sentence---(a bit heavy on the prepositional phrases, when read aloud, it has the ring of a middle school English essay) --it actually makes no sense. But it's a fine collection of words and stuff.
I'm not sure what she means by "MS being kept at bay" or "clearing constricted veins". These are certainly not medical references. First of all, Dr. Zamboni's studies showed that while stenosed veins were opened via angioplasty and optimal bloodflow was restored, there were no relapses and no new lesions in his patients. The reason Canadians are insistant is that THERE ARE NO CLINICAL TRIALS allowed in your country for angioplasty to relieve CCSVI.
3. But many in the medical community advocate extreme caution, particularly now that a growing body of evidence has called Dr. Zamboni’s conclusions into question. Some go even further and declare them nothing more than junk science.
“We’ve been there a hundred times before,” said Steven Novella, assistant neurology professor at Yale University, who compares the situation to the popularity radioactive tonics once enjoyed: “At no point, did people realize, ‘Hey, these are actually killing us.’”
3. Goodness! Could we be more inflammatory? I find it most ironic that Dr. Novella mentions "radioactive tonics" as killing people....since most MS specialists are DOING JUST THAT by recommending Tysabri and Novantrone and a host of other toxic infusions--which are ACTUALLY KILLING PEOPLE, and there is NO CONCRETE PROOF that MS is an autoimmune disease, and that these infusions help. That, to me, is junk science.
4.Meanwhile, medical professionals who stand behind the theory have become increasingly mobilized, their efforts fuelled by a growing number of conferences, meetings and speaking engagements involving Dr. Zamboni and his allies.
The International Society for Neurovascular Disease, a group he created, recently held its inaugural conference in Bologna, and will reconvene next February in Florida. This weekend, the society’s treasurer, San Diego neurologist David Hubbard, is sponsoring a conference of his own.
By raising the profile of Dr. Zamboni and his work, his supporters risk further alienating his detractors and creating an even deeper schism with patients trapped in the middle.
4. Dude. Who has trapped the patients in the middle? Not the doctors that want to help them. Did it ever occur to you that the reason medical professionals are mobilized is because they are FINDING VENOUS MALFORMATIONS in pwMS, and they are excited to be able to share this knowledge with their colleagues? That's what Dr. Michael Dake is doing in San Diego this weekend...not because he needs to defend anyone, but BECAUSE HE HAS SEEN CCSVI, HAS CORRECTED CCSVI and understands the implications to the brain and spine. My husband is living testament to the reality of CCSVI. I don't do this to protect Dr. Zamboni's reputation....I DO THIS TO HELP OTHERS. These doctors didn't need another conference to attend, they are excited to be at the front of a new medical paradigm. I think that is obvious to anyone who actually hears them speak.
Carly Weeks has been a journalist with The Globe and Mail since 2007. She got her first reporting job at age 15, working as a writer for the Sault Star, her hometown newspaper. She has reported on everything from federal politics to the high levels of sodium in the Canadian diet.
'nuff said. OK. I'm done. Can we get some more real, live medical reporters on this story? Please?
rant over,
Joan