Summary: Join us to bring light to the plight of Canadians who have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and their families and the dire circumstances in which they find themselves.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS)

RALLY FOR RIGHTS

On behalf of MS Liberation, a grass roots organization located in Ottawa, we are announcing our Multiple Sclerosis Rally for Rights to be held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 on Parliament Hill from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. 

This rally is organized by and for Canadians with MS who are fighting for their lives and the lives of their families. The rally is intended to focus the attention of policy makers and the public on the discrimination to which people with MS are subjected in Canada.

Canadians with MS are denied access to testing and treatment for a vascular condition (Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency or CCSVI) that exists in the majority of people who have a diagnosis of MS. The treatment is low-risk balloon angioplasty that is performed daily in Canada and around the world to correct a host of venous abnormalities. CCSVI refers to jugular, azygous and other veins that drain the blood from the brain. In people with MS, these veins are restricted and the blood flow back to the heart is slowed, if not stopped, and possibly refluxes back into the brain. The iron from the blood then leeches into the tissues in the brain and spinal cord (in the form of plaques that are detectable via MRI). Iron is toxic and may be instrumental in initiating the immune system attacks that are associated with MS.

Multiple sclerosis has both a vascular component and an autoimmune component. The vascular component was first recognized in 1839.  MS neurologists maintain that MS is strictly an autoimmune disease.  To date, the autoimmune theory remains unproven; there is no definitive test to diagnose MS; and there is no drug treatment that relieves symptoms or that slows the progression of MS.

Over 12,000 MS sufferers have been treated worldwide for CCSVI.  As you might imagine, the CCSVI theory and the low risk balloon angioplasty treatment is an extraordinary development - it is unconscionable that Canadians with MS are denied this simple and safe treatment.

For further information, please visit www.rallyonthehill.ca or contact Wendy Ireland at 613.429.0094 or wireland99@gmail.com

http://ottawastart.com/story/13522.php