The autoimmune theory of MS; Doctors ask, "Have we got it horribly wrong?"

June 28, 2011 at 9:37am

Have we got it horribly wrong? 

 The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

Bertrand Russell*

"The Pathogenesis of MS revisted."  

The Full paper is available here (this is one to print out and share.)

http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/journal/issue/journal_32_4/3_pathogenesis_of_MS.pdf                        

Here is a review of this critical paper in an issue of the New Scientist from 2002

New Scientist vol 176 issue 2369 - 16 November 2002, page 12 

It's not surprising there's no cure for multiple sclerosis. Researchers have been studying the wrong disease for over a century, argue a few rebels.  

THE century-old assumption that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease is under attack. Treatments based on the autoimmune theory have failed so miserably, say a group of doctors, that it is time to look for other explanations.

In a lengthy review to be published next week in The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the three neurologists dispute the received wisdom that the disease wreaks its havoc when immune cells attack and destroy myelin protein, which insulates nerves and helps them conduct signals. Instead, they back an emerging theory that MS is caused when support cells called astrocytes malfunction, perhaps as a result of genetic and environmental triggers.

 (NOTE:  One well-documented environmental cause of astrocyte malfunctioning is hypoxia, or low oxygen in the brain)

Many mainstream MS researchers contacted by New Scientist have poured scorn on the review. But a few agree it's time for a rethink.

Peter Behan and Abhijit Chaudhuri at the University of Glasgow and Bart Roep of the Leiden University Medical Centre pull no punches in their attempts to demolish the prevailing theory. They begin by attacking the animal experiments that have underpinned the autoimmune theory since the late 19th century.

Phlebology

June 26, 2011 at 3:08pm

Let's face it.  Phlebology, the diagnosis and treatment of venous disease, is just not as appealing as Neurology.  The word phlebology is hard to spell, hard to pronounce.  Reminiscent of phelgm, phlegmatic, other unsexy words that start with phl. 

The root of this word, phleb, is from the Latin fluere, meaning "to flow"

Truth is, phlebology is turning out to be a very, very important medical practice.  Veins, once thought to be uninvolved in disease, are turning out to be equally important as their brother arteries.  Maybe more so.

Veins take deoxygenated blood back to the heart.  If they are blocked, blood flow and hemodynamics are altered.  The influx of blood from the heart via the arteries is changed.   In the liver, in the kidneys, in the brain.  Any organ can be affected.  We think of varicose veins when we hear venous disease...again,  not sexy.  But veins run throughout the body, and if they are malformed, it can ruin our organs.

I got to meet and listen to a premiere phlebologist in Bologna in 2009.  Dr. Byung B. Lee was at the first symposium organized by Dr. Zamboni.  Dr. Lee talked about his introduction to venous disease as a liver transplant surgeon.    

Here are my notes from the conference.  Dr. Lee on venous malformations, in his own words.

Byung B. Lee- Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington-Embryology of the venous system and origin of truncular venous malformations

Dr. Lee began as a transplant surgeon and admitted that his first liver transplant was a disaster. He learned the hard way that the vena cava is not just a single trunk, and a venous malformation was a most fearful thing, and a nightmare to a transplant surgeon. 

"We doctors have a tendency to specialize in our narrow fields, but I want to appeal to all of us to take a bird’s eye view. We need to look at the whole picture. We now understand the lower venous system, but it has taken us much too long to bring this knowledge all the way up to the neck and all the way to the junction of the superior vena cava.

Dr. Philip James on CCSVI

June 23, 2011 at 9:20am

Dr. Philip James has been studying MS for the past 30 years in Dundee, Scotland.  He has long been speaking out about the vascular connection to MS, and the importance of oxygenation of the central nervous system.  Here is a recent quote on his interpretation of where MS research "went wrong."

 "The recent publicity given to the work of Professor Paolo Zamboni has highlighted a growing disaffection with the concept of ‘auto’ immunity which has dominated MS research and treatment for more than half a century. Zamboni trained as a vascular surgeon specializing on problems of leg veins, which often leak as we age, allowing red blood cells into the surrounding tissues. When the red cells break down they liberate iron which causes damage to the walls of veins and the surrounding cells. Similar damage was found in the veins in the centre of the typical ‘plaques’ of multiple sclerosis as long ago as 1863.

However, the use of an animal model for MS research after WW2 led to the concept of auto immunity where, it is claimed, the immune system attacks normal tissue. Despite sixty years of research there is no evidence of this and it remains just a theory. What is certain is the damage in MS involves veins and inflammation and Professor Zamboni has focused on these proven observations. He noticed, when using ultrasound scanning of the neck in a Multiple Sclerosis patient, that blood flowed the wrong way in a vein and also that the vein appeared to be constricted.

After more investigations he has used the same procedure used to stretch arteries in the heart to relieve the vein constrictions. Several patients have found the procedure beneficial, greatly reducing their symptoms although stretching the veins will not affect existing scarring. There has been no indication of why the veins constrict, although increased ‘reactivity’ of blood vessels has been reported before in MS patients.

Professor Zamboni’s work has highlighted the importance of the blood-brain barrier. Oxygen is responsible for the genetic control of inflammation and lack of oxygen has been shown in affected areas in MS patients by brain imaging. Neurologists are likely to remain sceptical of vein stretching until a ‘controlled’ study is done in which a sham procedure is used and compared to a group of matched patients who have the real procedure undertaken."

- Philip B James MB ChB DIH PhD FFOM

Emeritus Professor of Medicine University of Dundee

Honorary Medical Adviser MS Therapy Centres.