On June 15th CNN reported that popular talk show host, motivational speaker and healthy life advocate Montel Williams has been diagnosed with CerebroSpinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) a condition that as we all know i is highly correlated to Multiple Scelrosis (MS) and, when treated, relieves (and stops further development of) many of the symptoms of that disease.
Williams, who is an Emmy Award winner, was diagnosed with MS in 1999, and has led a public battle against the autoimmune disease, which attacks the brain and wreaks neurological havoc on its victims which cut across all demographic cohorts but particularly among Canadians and women.
Examining Why Canadian Women Have Higher Incidence of MS
When Experimental Doesn’t Mean “Unproven”
CCSVI intervention is considered an experimental treatment, so most MS patients seeking the simple procedure (an angioplasty performed in the jugular and azygous veins, or venoplasty) are denied coverage by their insurance providers.
The biggest insurance provider of them all – the Canadian government – has declined to cover the procedure for its citizen sufferers of MS, which has drawn both ire and fire across the MS spectrum, driving the creation of social networking sites such as CCSVI Locator and the Facebook Cause page CCSVI in Multiple Sclerosis with nearly 20,000 “likes” among MS patients, most of them discussing the hows, whats and wheres of getting CCSVI treatment abroad.
There is far from 100% agreement on the matter of CCSVI efficacy. Some consider the evidence to be robust enough, including Dr. Bruce Weir, who published “Multiple Sclerosis: A Vascular Etiology?” in the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.
Dr. Weir is not just any doctor – he is the former Chief of Neurosurgery and Director of the Brain Research Institute of the Pritzker School of Medicine and Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta and Vice-President of Medical Affairs at the University of Calgary.
His conclusion regarding CCSVI after a detailed content analysis supports MS patients continued seeking of the so-called
Liberation procedure (the name given the procedure by Italian Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Paolo Zamboni):
“The possibility that venous reflux, reversal of flow, and venous hypertensionare the primary inciting causes of at least some forms of MS is currently a defensible hypothesis”
Dr. Bruce Weir, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences
It is easy to see why Montel is moving forward with CCSVI intervention when you glance through the highlights from a CCSVI treatment tracking site (
www.ccsvi-tracking.com). The site is administered by and for MS patients having the CCSVI procedure and provides strong anecdotal evidence of the efficacy of the CCSVI treatment, with 81 % of participants have seen an overall improvement of average symptoms and 72 % of participants reporting improvements in fatigue. Here’s hoping the treatment is equally effective for Montel!