TORONTO – A new study says patients who underwent the so-called liberation treatment for multiple sclerosis experienced no measurable benefit from the procedure.
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador, which funded the study, announced the findings today in St. John’s.
The government says based on the findings, the province will not be covering the cost of liberation treatment going forward.
The study was small, with 30 participants who got the procedure and 10 who did not. The researchers did not know which were which as they assessed the patients.
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Participants were subjected to a series of physical and cognitive tests at the start of the study and then at one, three, six and 12 months after receiving the treatment.
The researchers saw no measurable benefits, though patients themselves reported feeling better.
The controversial liberation treatment is based on a theory that MS is a disease caused by blocked veins, not a neurodegenerative disease as is currently thought.
The theory, advanced by Italian Dr. Paulo Zamboni, is that in MS patients, veins in the neck and upper chest develop blockage which restrict blood flow from the brain.
According to the theory, the blockages lead to a pooling of iron-rich blood in the brain which triggers the damage seen in MS.
“When my colleagues and I first undertook this observational study, we were excited at the prospects of learning more about this theory and contributing to the international data and research on this subject,” says Dr. William Pryse-Phillips, the study’s principle investigator.
“Although we had really hoped our conclusions would support the use of this procedure as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, the findings argue against the validity of the hypothesis that multiple sclerosis is associated with occlusion, or decreased flow, in the cerebral draining veins.”
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador provided the $400,000 it cost to run the study.
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