OT:
Bass, I watched the video segments.
Here are my thoughts:
It certainly warrants further study, esp. by those not affiliated with Dr. Zamboni; and the suggestion by the other doc of tacking on the vein analysis for MS patients as part of the routine radiological exam sounds perfect for the near term.
Other thoughts... the bit about the iron buildup being a possible trigger rung a bell for me. I did some googling and found what I was looking for. A few years ago, somebody found a correlation between regular blood donations and 30% reduced heart disease risk. The theory is that with a whole blood donation, there's a hit to the iron reserves in the body, sort of a flush, and the body then builds the iron reserves back up.
I find this very interesting, because Dr. Z has seen iron buildup in the brain in MS patients. Medically, something bad for one thing is often bad for some other things.
Another thought. Exercise has been correlated with reduced risk of a lot of things, including heart disease, Parkinson's, dementia, and MS. And recently, within the past 8 or so years, the MS treatment regimen was changed from one where one conserved activity as much as possible to the exact opposite, a regiment involving as much physical activity as possible.
As a layperson and and somebody who works out frequently, I'd put two and two together on this and suggest that the aerobic physical activity (heart pumping 125-140 beats per minute) causes vascular expansion in the brain, and combined with greater blood flow, helps effect greater flushing of iron than with sedentary people. Sort of like a power flush for your radiator.
In the interview, Dr. Z talking about those with mild constriction (and consequent mild attacks) and those with major constrictions. I would toss out the hypothesis that it is these people with mild constrictions who can mitigate or eliminate the onset of MS via rigorous and frequent exercise.
And his is clear that when the damage is done, it is done. The medical procedure he has performed arrested the decline but did not reverse it. Still, that is a huge step, because it is a progressive disease.
With a small sample size, it's possible that the procedure will not turn out to be a panacea when an attempt is made to generalize (both diagnosis and application). However, his own studies have such a strong correlation that, if independently corroborated, would imply a likely success.
So, further study, absolutely.
I also wonder if a person is first suspected of MS if they should donate blood every 8 weeks for a while... that could be interesting. |
