A recent surprise decision by the federal government to go ahead with clinical trials for the so-called “liberation therapy” for multiple sclerosis patients has been welcomed by interest groups.
The controversial chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) treatment caused a sensation when it first hit the headlines in 2009 and immediately had MS sufferers clamouring for the breakthrough treatment. Many travelled overseas to get it.
It is controversial because it flies in the face of all previous thinking on the subject of MS. Developed by Dr Paulo Zamboni in Italy, it works on the theory that MS is a vascular condition and not an auto-immune condition as traditionally thought. It claims narrowed or blocked neck veins and high levels of iron in the brain are the causes of the condition and treatment to widen the veins, using stents, together with a reduction in iron levels can dramatically reduce the symptoms of MS and even offer a complete cure.
Just last year, the Canadian Institute for Health Resources (CIHR) advised against funding clinical trials until clearer evidence emerged about the possible link between MS and blocked veins.
However, the CIHR set up an expert
review panel to investigate venous anatomy in MS patients and, at the same time, seven studies, sponsored by the MS Society, were set up in the United States and Canada. It is information from these studies, which are still on-going, together with other evidence from around the world that has prompted the
expert panel to recommend pushing ahead with clinical trials now.
MS sufferers and their advocates have been highly critical of the government to date for failing to fund this treatment in Canada. But news of the recent decision has been welcomed by the MS Society of Canada.
“We are very pleased to see that MS has been kept at the top of the agenda,” says Stewart Wong, spokesperson for the MS
Society of Canada. “CCSVI is a very important topic for the MS community and we need definitive answers. This will bring us closer.”
CIHR will be working with the expert
panel over the fall to develop terms of reference for the clinical trials and the group will continue to monitor the results of the U.S. and Canadian studies.
No date has yet been set for when the first patients will take part in the trials.

http://www.yorkregion.com/community/health/article/1230677--feds-approve-clinical-trials-for-controversial-ms-treatment