This news is old as things go for this page but, it’s new to a lot of people and VERY exciting in my world:
Neurologists at the University at Buffalo are beginning a research study that could overturn the prevailing wisdom on the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS).
The researchers will test the possibility that the symptoms of MS result from narrowing of the primary veins outside the skull, a condition called “chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency,” or CCSVI.
CCSVI is a complex vascular condition discovered and described by Paolo Zamboni, M.D., from Italy’s University of Ferrara. In the original Italian patients, CCSVI was found to be strongly associated with MS, increasing the risk of developing MS by 43 fold.
This narrowing restricts the normal outflow of blood from the brain, causing alterations in the blood flow patterns within the brain that eventually causes injury to brain tissue and degeneration of neurons.
The preliminary findings were based on a pilot study at the BNAC headed by Zivadinov, and at the Universities of Ferrara and Bologna, Italy, directed by Zamboni and Fabrizio Salvi, M.D, respectively. The study showed that several abnormalities affecting the predominant pathways that return venous blood from the brain to the heart occurred more frequently in MS patients than in controls.
This research, supported by the Hilarescere Foundation of Italy and the BNAC, was conducted to replicate the findings of the Italian investigators.
“Results of this preliminary study, which involved 16 relapsing-remitting MS patients and eight age-and-sex-matched healthy controls, showed that all the MS patients, but none of the controls, had chronic insufficient blood flow out of the brain,” said Zivadinov.
I’ve been following this story closely (since before the Buffalo study was announced.) A good site to find more information is the This Is MS Form where they have a whole section dedicated to CCSVI news. Among other things, they are tracking the progress of MS patients who have gone to Standford University to have stents inserted in their collapsed veins.
If you are interested in health news, the site, Many Years Young run by our friend, Carolyn Kay (Make them Accountable) is updated daily with an impressive array of stories:
Wearing a pedometer can be a big step in the weight-loss battle
“What we found was, on average, that wearing a pedometer increased people’s physical activity by about 2,000 steps per day,” Bravata said. “That’s equivalent to about a mile.”
High-fat, high-sugar diet alters bacteria in the gut, making it easier to gain weight
A high-fat, high-sugar diet does more than just pump calories into your body. It also alters the composition of bacteria in your intestines, increasing the proportion of the little buggers that make it easier for you gain weight and harder to lose it, research in mice suggests. And the changeover can happen in as little as 24 hours, much faster than researchers had suspected, according to a report today in the new journal Science Translational Medicine.
Hasan’s supervising doctors questioned his fitness for service
The Pentagon official, who is familiar with Hasan’s record as a medical resident, said his behavior was discussed during monthly meetings of top training officials at Walter Reed and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the review sessions, said Hasan’s name often came up because of his sometimes aggressive and argumentative behavior.
More disillusionment? Regarding this story from The Hill, David Sirota says:
Obama helping lobbyists weaken offshore tax crackdown Dems passed in 2002 over GOP opposition
What this is all about is corporate lobbying against provisions that both use taxpayer money to reward domestic companies that pay their fair share of taxes and disincentivize companies from trying to rip off the public through offshore “inversions.” And it’s one of the first examples we’ve seen of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress potentially doing something even worse than the Bush administration and the Republican Congress.
Bayh, Conrad, Feinstein, Lieberman and Warner form national suicide pact
Currently, these five Democrats are demanding that Speaker Pelosi hand over all relevant Congressional power to an independent commission that will be allowed to slash and partially privatize Social Security and Medicare, or else they will allow the United States to default on its debt.
Lou Dobbs Abruptly Quits CNN
Months ago the president of CNN/U.S., Jonathan Klein, offered a choice to Lou Dobbs, the channel’s most outspoken anchor. Mr. Dobbs could vent his opinions on radio and anchor an objective newscast on television, or he could leave CNN.
Relentless Pressure from Progressive Groups Pushes Hatemonger Lou Dobbs Out of CNN
Dobbs’ abrupt departure from the network is a major victory for the Latino advocacy groups demanding his resignation. For years, the talk show host has stirred up xenophobic, anti-immigrant hysteria and promoted an array of right-wing talking points, giving lie to CNN’s reputation for impartiality as well as comically belying his own claims of “independence.”
Since when did taking orders from the Vatican become a good political strategy? Or the right thing to do?
How Catholic Bishops Threw the Health Care Debate into Turmoil with Anti-Abortion Maneuver
Members from heavily Catholic districts wouldn’t sign on until the bishops gave their blessing on the language, Republicans wouldn’t vote for the rule until the National Right to Life Committee signed off. Pelosi assessed her risk, apparently calculating that the Stupak language would be stripped out of the bill that is eventually sent to the president’s desk.
Dementia ‘chemical cosh’ warning
Nearly 150,000 dementia patients each year are given anti-psychotic drugs unnecessarily, an official review says.
The figure represents four in five of all the people who are being prescribed the drugs in care homes, hospitals and their own homes to manage aggression.
The use of the drugs – dubbed a chemical cosh – is linked to 1,800 deaths as well as leaving people struggling after strokes and falls.
CDC now says 4,000 swine flu deaths in US
Federal health officials now say that 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from swine flu — about four times the estimate they’ve been using.
Mo. cops hunt for child abuse clues hidden in jars
An excavation was scheduled to resume Thursday at a rural western Missouri property where authorities believe they may find bodies and buried glass jars with notes written by children who may have documented sexual abuse.
The property, about 30 miles east of Kansas City, was once owned by two of five family members arrested Tuesday.
“There has been an indication that there are body or bodies in numerous locations,” said Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh, although he would not say whose bodies they might be.
I can’t quite figure out why this is the top headline today. . . .
Official: Obama rejects all Afghan war options
President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
Laugh of the day:
Perry: Obama ‘hell-bent’ on socialism
Speaking at a luncheon for a Midland County Republican Women’s group, Perry said that “this is an administration hell-bent toward taking American towards a socialist country. And we all don’t need to be afraid to say that because that’s what it is.”
Obama stares down Patriot Act criticism
The Justice Department recently reiterated its request for Congress to extend with few changes key provisions of the Patriot Act: sections that allow roving wiretaps on multiple phones, seizing of business records and a never-used authority to spy on non-Americans suspected of being terrorists even though they have no connection to a recognized terrorist group.
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The Confluence 