Health news

New MS test comes to the UK

8th April 2010 -- Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a hot topic for people with MS at the moment. The new theory is that multiple sclerosis can be caused by blockages in veins draining blood from the brain: Clear the blockages - and MS symptoms may be reduced.

The idea was put forward by an Italian scientist, Dr Paolo Zamboni.

Up until now anyone from the UK wanting to be tested or treated for the condition has had to travel to clinics in Italy or Poland.

Now a Glasgow clinic has started to take bookings for diagnostic tests this summer and plans to offer treatment to patients who are found to have CCSVI.

About MS

Multiple sclerosis is the most common neurological condition among young adults in the UK, affecting approximately 85,000 people.

CCSVI: The theory

Zamboni investigated links between MS and iron deposits in blood vessels.

He used ultrasound on the blood vessels leading in and out of the brain and found that in a majority of people with MS, including his wife, the veins taking blood away from the brain were blocked or damaged. This was not the case in people without MS.

He further suggested that iron was damaging the blood vessels and allowing the heavy metal, along with other unwelcome cells, to cross the crucial blood-brain barrier, a process he termed Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency.

Putting CCSVI to the test

MS is a condition which has attracted more than its fair share of miracle cures and scams. However supporters of the blocked vein theory remain optimistic after the first randomised clinical study in the US.

More than 55% of 500 MS patients participating in the initial phase of a study at the University of Buffalo exhibited narrowing of the extracranial veins, causing restriction of normal outflow of blood from the brain.

The study findings will be presented to the American Academy of Neurology meeting later this month.

Testing comes to the UK

The Essential Health Clinic in Glasgow has a large private practice for MS. Dr Tom Gilhooly sees patients from all over the UK and abroad for treatments like low dose naltrexone (LDN).

At first he thought the CCSVI concept was “whacky” but his patients kept asking about it. He read the scientific papers about it and tells us “I thought there is a biological plausibility here. You could see why venous drainage could impact on the immune system and therefore on the central nervous system and MS.”

The new approach, he says, is “potentially revolutionary”.

Gilhooly then set about planning for a screening service with a vascular stenographer and is setting up training for his staff at Zamboni’s clinic and at a centre in Poland.

Demand is such that he’s also expanding to set up a London clinic to offer the service.

“Interest has been intense. We’ve almost been blown away by it. The organisation has struggled to cope with the number of phone calls”.

More than 2,000 people have registered an interest in the screening at his clinic.