Monthly Archives: May 2012

24 May 2012 Last updated at 20:02 ET Researchers are carrying out clinical trials to find out if women with a range of autoimmune diseases could be helped by hormones found in pregnancy. Women with a range of conditions, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease report dramatic improvements in their symptoms during pregnancy. However many say their conditions return, or worsen, after childbirth. Two clinical trials are being held in France and California. Researchers want to find out whether increasing levels of progesterone or oestrogen could protect women from relapses after childbirth. The MS Society has welcomed the study but urged some caution. Chief executive Simon Gillespie said: "This is encouraging. Some of the research going on, particularly the research in France at the moment, gives a potential clue and a potential way forward on treatments but long-term use of hormones is problematic. It does cause risks. "So therefore the research needs to be done properly to identify what the benefits are and what the risks are before there can be any genuine therapeutic use." The results from the French study are due in October. Read the rest here: MS symptoms 'eased' by pregnancy … Continue reading →

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OTTAWA A member of an expert group advising the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) about the effectiveness of a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis has likened it to faith healing. Dr. Barry Rubin, medical director of the Toronto General Hospital's cardiac centre, and three American co-authors draw the parallel in an article entitled "The 'Liberation Procedure' for Multiple Sclerosis: Sacrificing Science at the Altar of Consumer Demand," in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Rubin sits on the CIHR's Scientific Expert Working Group, a 23-member international panel created by CIHR in 2010 to monitor and analyse research into the link between MS and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), a term coined by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni to describe blockages in the veins of the neck and spine. Zamboni's so-called "liberation treatment" involves opening the blocked veins by inserting a balloon, a procedure known as venous angioplasty. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced last month a team of researchers has been selected to conduct a clinical trial into CCSVI in about 100 MS patients. But the article by Rubin and his three co-authors says funding trials of a procedure "that has minimal basis in rational, … Continue reading →