Twenty-nine patients have been or are being enrolled in the multiple sclerosis observational study announced in the fall of 2010 by the province’s Department of Health and Community Services.

The goal for the number of participants has increased from 30 to 40 with the budget for the study increasing by $80,000, and organizers of the study are in the process of recruiting more participants, Health Minister Jerome Kennedy said today in a news release.

In September, the province announced $320,000 for the observational study to help determine the impact, if any, that the experimental procedure developed by Dr. Paolo Zamboni, commonly referred to as the “liberation procedure,” has on the mental and physical status of patients who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Study participants will include those who have had the procedure and some participants who have not.

A team of local neurologists who specialize in multiple sclerosis care and research are conducting the study and examining the participants. Each participant who undergoes the treatment will have baseline and follow-up MRIs and various physical and cognitive tests completed. Ultrasound examinations will not be part of the research study.  

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2011-02-08/article-2207491/Update-provided-on-multiple-sclerosis-observational-study/1