Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION By: Staff Writer 28/09/2012 12:16 PM | Comments: 0 ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Enlarge Image Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq A national clinical trial to test a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis has received the necessary medical and ethical approvals to proceed, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced today. Recruitment for participants will begin Nov. 1 in Vancouver and Montreal. Participants will also be sought in Winnipeg and Quebec City, once ethics approval is granted for these centres to join. That could occur later in November. Altogether, 100 MS patients will take part in the first phase of the clinical trials. Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic, and his collaborators received ethics approvals from institutions in British Columbia and Qubec to undertake the clinical trial for Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). CCSVI is a term used to describe the problem with blood flow in neck veins. Some doctors believe it plays a role in causing MS. Here is the original post: National trials for CCSVI treatment for MS patients to begin in November … Continue reading →

TORONTO Multiple sclerosis patients in B.C. will be part of a federal government trial of a controversial experimental treatment. Researchers will begin recruiting patients Nov. 1 to study the treatment for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Friday. That treatment involves unblocking neck veins that Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni has suggested could be a cause of MS. About 100 patients are expected to take part in the trial to be conducted in B.C. and Quebec. Vancouver MS researcher Dr. Anthony Traboulsee will head the $6-million study being funded by Ottawa, the MS Society of Canada and the provinces where the trial will take place. Traboulsee said researchers will monitor MS patients over a two-year period in order to obtain scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of the CCSVI procedure. Copyright (c) Go here to read the rest: MS patients in B.C. part of trial on experimental treatment … Continue reading →

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Friday, Sep. 28, 2012 10:51AM EDT Last Updated Saturday, Sep. 29, 2012 10:14AM EDT A Canadian study that will test the so-called liberation treatment on people with multiple sclerosis has received the necessary medical and ethical approvals to go ahead. Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic, and his team received ethics approvals from institutions in British Columbia and Qubec and will now begin the process to begin a clinical trial into the procedure. The main objective of the study will be to determine the safety of conducting angioplasty to open neck and chest veins, and to monitor how the procedure affects MS patients. This pan Canadian controlled study will allow us to monitor MS patients over a two-year period and obtain scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of the CCSVI procedure in the long term, Dr. Traboulsee said in a statement Friday. Patient recruitment for the study will begin on Nov. 1, 2012. Approximately 100 patients are expected to participate in the trial, to be conducted in British Columbia and Qubec. The study is a collaborative effort of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the MS Society of Canada and … Continue reading →

A long-awaited Canadian trial of a controversial experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis has been given the go-ahead and will soon begin recruiting patients, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Friday. Ms. Aglukkaq, in Halifax for a meeting with provincial and territorial health ministers, said about 100 MS patients will be enrolled in the trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the procedure to unblock narrowed neck veins. The condition dubbed chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI has been proposed as a possible cause of MS by Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni. More than three years ago, Dr. Zamboni hypothesized that narrowed and twisted veins in the neck and chest prevent blood from draining properly from the brain, resulting in iron deposits that could cause the brain lesions typical of MS. The disease causes the destruction of myelin, the protective sheath around nerves throughout the body, leading to progressive physical and cognitive disability. Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of the UBC Hospital MS Clinic, will lead the $6-million study, which will be conducted initially in Vancouver and Montreal. Medical and ethical approval is also being sought for parts of the trial to be conducted in Quebec City and Winnipeg, Dr. Traboulsee … Continue reading →

WINNIPEG There will be no Manitoba-sponsored clinical trials into a new treatment for multiple sclerosis, but Health Minister Theresa Oswald says MS sufferers should not despair. The province is close to negotiating an arrangement with a Canadian group that would include Manitobans in a national study into the efficacy of the liberation treatment for MS, Oswald said Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Manitoba Health Research Council revealed that it had received only one application to conduct clinical trials for the new procedure and had found it wanting. A review committee examined the proposal and, based on the criteria that had been established, had just deemed that it was not good enough to go forward, said MHRC executive director Christina Weise. The research council recommended that Manitoba partner instead with MS clinical trials being organized by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Oswald said discussions with that group are already well underway. Im extremely optimistic that were going to be able to find a way for Manitobans to become part of the clinical study here in Canada, Oswald said from Halifax, where she was attending a meeting of provincial and territorial health ministers. Eighteen months ago, after considerable pressure from … Continue reading →