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Tuesday, November 2, 2010 8:17 PM
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Ken Torbert
SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego doctor is offering a treatment that some are calling a miracle cure for a debilitating disease.Danielle Rhéaume and Tarah Virgil both have multiple sclerosis, or MS."Because of the migraines, the intense all kinds of pain... I can't walk very far," said Virgil.
Both women are from Seattle and came
to San Diego after finding hope on the Internet about relief from the
horrific symptoms of MS."I'm fortunate," said Rhéaume. "I have a
shot at a better life... It's a chance, more than those who were told
there was no cure at all."Rhéaume said she has endured dozens of
surgeries and that her severe pain and dizziness were misdiagnosed for
years. Now, she said she's found relief."Bee sting venom [and]
hyperbaric chambers all claimed to be cures in the past [so] because
they disappointed doesn't mean this can't be the right thing," she said.The
Seattle women said they found the right treatment at the office of Dr.
David Hubbard in Scripps Ranch. Hubbard said he has the answer for MS
patients."A lot of them get better. Not everyone gets better, but a lot of them get better," said Hubbard.The
treatment, called venoplasty, is a procedure that opens up veins that
carry blood out of the brain and costs about $11,000. Hubbard said 58
out of the 60 patients he has treated told him their symptoms improved
or vanished."I could be accused of excessive hope," said Hubbard. "That would be fair."Hubbard is not alone and other doctors and clinics are also advocating similar procedures."My
big concern is a lot of private doctors [and] clinics are doing this
work at great expense to the patient," said Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom, the
director of neurosciences at UC San Diego.Along with colleagues
at the National MS Society, Corey-Bloom said she is challenging the
claims that the treatment has a proven benefit. The treatment is
currently undergoing clinical trials."The verdict is still out," she said.A day after her surgery, Rhéaume told 10News she had hand tremors but that her dizzy spells were not as bad."I
haven't had those problems at all... [and] that's nice," she said.
Rhéaume said two months after the procedure, her hand tremors have
almost stopped.10News Reporter Mitch Blacher asked, "Is it
responsible medicine to administer something that has not been studied
and not been vetted to the full effect?Hubbard responded, "Yeah, that's certainly something I have to face."Corey-Bloom said there is no proven connection between multiple sclerosis and blood drainage from the brain."Our
neuro-radiologists have sat down, they've looked at the data and they,
along with many other universities, have agreed it's probably not good
to rush into this until we have some reaffirmation of the findings," she
said.Hubbard says his results are part of a scientific study,
but the study only collects data. The study doesn't prove conclusively
that Hubbard's treatment is the reason patients symptoms get better. So
far, there is no cure for MS.Hubbard said reducing the suffering
of MS patients is why he continues to perform the procedure and refuses
to use a placebo, though it is a standard practice in many studies."Isn't [the placebo] the key though?" asked 10News investigative reporter Mitch Blacher."Well,
maybe it's the key, but I'm not going to say to my son or to any of
these patients that we're going to give you a fake one [and] we're going
to do a sham on you," Hubbard said."But isn't that how the scientific community makes sure that what they're doing actually works?" asked Blacher."Yes," answered Hubbard.Corey-Bloom
said, "Patients with MS are so eager for a cure, so eager to get rid of
this disease that they are willing to try anything.""I am out
there," Hubbard told us. "I have made the decision that this is the
right thing to do even though... in medicine you wait for extensive
trials for the research to get done."
http://www.10news.com/news/25585848/detail.html
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