Here is an online interview with an Italian patient of Dr. Zamboni's. Gabriele Fuschini was part of Dr. Zamboni's first CCSVI trial as an MS patient representative of the Italian MS Society, the AISM. The group that is now, ironically, stating CCSVI does not exist . Fuschini was treated in 2007, as the first man receiving a stent in his azygos vein. He was Dr. Zamboni's third patient.
Important points to note while reading:
Gabriele Fuschini has had MS since 1995, and has had a difficult time with the disease, eventually losing the ability to walk unaided.
He had a congenital venous malformation in his azygous vein. It was repaired with a stent.
He does not consider himself cured, although he has had no MS progression, new lesions or relapses since 2007. He is now able to walk, work full days doing complex mathmatical work on the computer. His double vision is gone.
He believes the controversy over Dr. Zamboni's discovery is due to the fact that there is so much money invested in current MS treatments.
His story sounds a lot like my husband's---and many others.
Joan
This interview is from the online version of the Corriere di Gela and written by Nello Lombardo
http://www.corrieredigela.it/leggi.asp?idn=CDG191852&idc=1
What's new in the treatment of multiple sclerosis
There is no correlation between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and multiple sclerosis (MS). So says the "COSMO" study promoted and financed by the Italian Multiple Sclerosis (AISM) and presented at the 28th European Congress (ECTRIMS) on the treatment of this disease. This study rejects the thesis of doctor Paolo Zamboni of Ferrara, father of the controversial theory that connects CCSVI with MS. The treatment method, in practice, consists of the intervention of some veins of the neck and chest (the two jugular veins and the azygous vein).
CCSVI consists of a narrowing of certain veins which carry blood from the brain, creating a slowed drainage of blood, which in turn, according to the theory of Zamboni, causes abnormal accumulations of iron encountered in multiple sclerosis. Using venous angioplasty, occluded or malformed veins are dilated and the blood is "liberated". This is a minimally invasive endovascular intervention lasting approximately one hour. A probe is inserted into the femoral vein which ascends to the jugular for unblocking. The Zamboni method is very controversial and not all agree, especially the AISM, through multiple center studies which came to the opposite conclusions to those of Zamboni.
A few years ago there was an attempt to assist with the research and testing of CCSVI with the AISM and prof. Zamboni, but this was short-lived. Currently, there are many clinics that use the protocol of Zamboni. There are also in Sicily and require payment (1500-3000 euro).
The results, according to the patients who have undergone surgery, are varied and contradictory. Some people think they feel better with the absence of symptoms and there are those, who after a short period of improvement, claim to be returned to the state prior to surgery.
Gabriele Fuschini, 52, a native of Portomaggiore province in Ferrara, is the first man in the world who had a stent in the azygos vein, but the third patient in the world to have undergone the care of Dr. Zamboni.
Since 2007, the year of his "liberation", he has returned to life, has had no relapses. This does not mean that all those who undergo surgery will achieve the same result as Fuschini. Everyone is a unique subject, and scientifically it can not be said that the Zamboni treatment heals.
To learn how Fuschini faced this intervention and what have been his results, I wanted to contact him for an interview. We first met during a training course for volunteers organized in Rome in 2004 for the AISM. This was for the project "Qualis," aimed to detect the benefit of services offered by the Italian clinical centers for people with multiple sclerosis. To learn more on his "healing" I asked him a few questions to which he gladly answered.
- How are you Gabriele? "I feel healed, but not cured. I know that I have the lesions, but they are the old scars. I suffer no more, I no longer have MS symptoms, although the disease remains. I recovered a lot. Since 2007, I no longer struggle. Before I did not know which way to turn. I've tried a thousand cures to no avail, also risking cancer. " - What does the intervention of prof. Zamboni consist?"When Paolo Zamboni told me that I had a congenital malformation in the azygos vein and that it was necessary to intervene with a venous stent, which is a metal screen, I immediately said yes and gave my consent. In this way the blood would have a normal flow. Now I can say that I have reduced symptoms of multiple sclerosis. After surgery within an hour I returned to walk independently. Now I work and I do a challenging job dealing with computers and numbers. " - What has changed in your life after the intervention of prof. Zamboni? "Everything. I recovered very slowly. But over time I realized that I was doing things that before I was not able to do. Now I go for long walks without getting tired. Working with numbers where it requires a lot of memory and time to my great joy I do my job with ease. What I could not do before prof. Zamboni treated me. To remember before I needed maximum concentration and only after a quarter of an hour I was able to remember. I do not get tired, I no longer see double. So I went back to live another life. " - When did you discover that you have multiple sclerosis? "The diagnosis came in '95 after five to six very difficult years." - How and when did you meet prof. Zamboni? "I had a friend in Ferrara, who was first an intern, and then became the assistant of Zamboni. And she was asking me if I wanted to go for the Doppler ultrasound. They called me in Ferrara, but also many other people volunteered. " - You have had no hesitation, no doubt? "Absolutely not. I went alone and alone I came home with my legs. " - The operation is expensive? You have been given the assurance that you would be healed? The certainty that I would be healed was not given to me. I have not spent anything. I was the representative of Ferrara patients for the AISM. I was part of the other 64 volunteers who underwent surgery. But we are talking about a cost of intervention of 3000 € and more. - Two weeks ago in Milan you attended the presentation of the AISM Cosmo study. What are your thoughts? "There were many people there suffering from multiple sclerosis. I was there, speaking that I have been "liberated", but there were many members of AISM and the CCSVI association which I joined a few years ago. On that occasion, the professors have said all sorts of things. They even questioned the existence of CCSVI. " - Why do you believe is the Zamboni method is not taken into consideration by AISM? "I think there is an underlying question of money. Let me explain. It clear that there are pharmaceutical companies that want to earn money. And if people are not healed, they buy more drugs and the patients lose. I made my choice not to use drugs which might cause me more harm rather than benefit. I tried immunosuppressants that are known to cause cancer. After six years, I know I can die happy to have made this recovery with Dr. Zamboni. " - What does the future hold in terms of multiple sclerosis and CCSVI? "I think the studies will continue and I hope that in the future there will be more collaboration in scientific research."
