MS: a new dramatic treatment

**Katie** · 11-21-2009, 07:17 PM

This was just on the National news. "The Liberation Procedure"

A surgeon from Italy, a Dr. Zamboni, has discovered that MS symptoms seem to be caused by a narrowing of the major veins in the neck going into the brain. This causes an overabundance of Iron in the brain, because the blood cannot drain properly. An overload of Iron has been recognized as a cause of MS symptoms. Every single MS patient had this narrowing.

He did a number of surgeries on MS patients, opening these narrow areas with a balloon, and every patient improved dramatically. So instead of it being an autoimmune disorder, it seems that it is a physical problem with the blood vessels.

The surgeon has brought his theory to the US and a major hospital (sorry, I missed the city) is now investigating and also opening up the veins of present patients.

I'm sorry I'm missing some important details, but if you Google CTV News, it should have a full article about it. It is being broadcast right now, and was just touched on in the late news last night.

**Terry Newton** · 11-21-2009, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by Katie

This was just on the National news. "The Liberation Procedure"

A surgeon from Italy, a Dr. Zamboni, has discovered that MS symptoms seem to be caused by a narrowing of the major veins in the neck going into the brain. This causes an overabundance of Iron in the brain, because the blood cannot drain properly. An overload of Iron has been recognized as a cause of MS symptoms. Every single MS patient had this narrowing.

He did a number of surgeries on MS patients, opening these narrow areas with a balloon, and every patient improved dramatically. So instead of it being an autoimmune disorder, it seems that it is a physical problem with the blood vessels.

The surgeon has brought his theory to the US and a major hospital (sorry, I missed the city) is now investigating and also opening up the veins of present patients.

I'm sorry I'm missing some important details, but if you Google CTV News, it should have a full article about it. It is being broadcast right now, and was just touched on in the late news last night.

WoW Katie! This is exciting news for the many who suffer from this disorder. My next door neighbor's best friend from early school days has MS. He comes up every year for a visit around the 4th of July holiday. It's sad to see him struggling so for being such a young man. This sounds quite promising. Thank-you for posting this.

**Katie** · 11-22-2009, 11:58 AM

I don't know if, after the procedure, the brain 'flushes' itself of the excess Iron. But the broadcast did say that the patients return to near normal afterwards. I'll have to go back to the broadcast myself to get more details.

I really hope that the medical community takes this seriously. It did mention that the surgeon had trouble convincing his colleagues of this, that they were stuck in the 'autoimmune system' theory and wouldn't branch out.

That just hit home. Almost no surgeon here in Canada believes in ADR surgery, that it is too risky and experimental still. I commented to my husband about the chances of success here with the MS discovery, whether the same old boys' mentality would prevail. I certainly hope not.

**Katie** · 11-22-2009, 12:02 PM

I forgot to add that my hubby was very excited about this as well, but I think in vain. One of the main neurologists I have seen was seriously investigating whether I had MS, because many of my symptoms were crossing over between that and the spine compression problems.

He did a brain scan in August and apparently that ruled out any sign of MS, so I don't think I will pursue that. Just curious...has anyone else had their surgeon mention the same thing with them, with cervical compression?

**Katie** · 11-22-2009, 03:13 PM

I just caught this again on a news program here, W5. You can go to the website for more information.

Terry, I sincerely hope that your neighbour's friend can make use of this as soon as possible.

The contact in the US for this treatment is Wayne State University in Detroit. I didn't get the surgeon's name there, but it turns out that the Italian surgeon's wife was the catalyst for this research as she had MS for almost ten years. He did the procedure of opening up her veins three years ago, and she has been symptom free ever since.

Both he and the Wayne State U. doctor urged MS patients to be aggressive in contacting them about treatment. Research showed that the sooner one received treatment after the onset of symptoms, the better the outcome.

I sincerely hope that this is a solid ground-breaking discovery, that it will put an end to thousands of suffering patients out there. And what a relatively simple treatment. Bless this man.

But playing devil's advocate here, how will the Insurance companies deal with this new development?

**KBear** · 11-22-2009, 10:43 PM

That is amazing and I also hope that they are right and this is fixable! Wouldn't that be amazing, after all the research, people suffering their whole lives and such, that there would be a 'cure', so to speak. Awesome!

**Justin** · 11-22-2009, 11:36 PM

Katie, thanks for posting this. I will have to do some more digging tomorrow and look into this. I hope you are doing well.

**Katie** · 11-23-2009, 12:09 AM

Justin, I'm glad we have a spot to share this type of information. While it doesn't apply to us specifically, there are few here that don't know someone affected by MS.

Kathy, it is amazing how quickly it can turn around, how after years of research in a completely different direction it seems to have such a relatively simple reason behind it.

Justin, how long have they believed that an excess of Iron was linked to MS? I haven't tried to find the link which I spoke of, but if you need help, I can check tomorrow.

**Cindylou** · 11-24-2009, 10:24 AM

Boy, thanks for posting this Katie. I will definitely look into this and offer this information to my next door neighbor, who was diagnosed several years ago with MS.

He is the head coach at our local high school, and has brought them to state championship for at least 7 years in a row. When the MS started to kick in, it was difficult to see him at the games, yelling from a chair, instead of running up and down the sidelines. But he quickly remedied that by securing his 80 year old Dad (a former head basketball coach at the same high school!) back out on the gym floor, to take his place. It just made you cry to see this from the sidelines. Sad for Kenny, but then happy tears for Kenny Sr., to see him vibrantly doing such a great job, in honor of his son.

I will definitely pass on this information.

Thanks!

**Katie** · 11-24-2009, 11:45 AM

There was more on the news last night, saying that the response from both patients and the medical community has been overwhelming. The Canadian MS Society has agreed to pay for the training for any surgeons interested in learning the technique. Apparently Dr. Zamboni has had problems getting funding in his home country of Italy and joked that he may sign up for the offer

It is a bit ironic that MS patients have similar symptoms as many of us, especially those with compression in the cervical area. If only it was so easy as to have our veins opened up! And I wish the enthusiasm for ADR surgery was as great in the medical world. Having said that, I am thrilled with the possibilities. Can you imagine the surge of hope for these patients, for their families? And it came from such a different direction. Here the researchers have been, looking at all sorts of autoimmune issues, to have it (possibly) be as simple as narrowing of the veins

I'd be very interested to hear of the follow-up with your friends and relatives, to see if the success rate holds as the patient numbers go up.