Are You a Part of the Solution?

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

 

 

As you may be aware, there has recently been a hopeful, possible breakthrough for those of us with M.S. It is called CCSVI. There is a lot of info on the Internet about it. Just type CCSVI into your search engine or you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_cerebrospinal_venous_insufficiency . It's good for general info but if you are looking for something more technical and scientific, do the search. (Targetting one over another could be misconstrued, hence the generic wiki.)

But I digress!  CCSVI is what a great many MS sufferers are looking at to give them relief, hopefully complete relief but I know that I for one, would be happy with any relief. In spite of some of the head butting we are doing with some of the medical 'experts' and politicians, there are some places who appear willing to  move forward.


St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, in collaboration with McMaster University, is doing research on the correlation between CCSVI and M.S. And they need some volunteers. Below is a copy of an email I received earlier today. As I have MS, I do not fall within the required parameters. Here's the email:

As you know, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, in collaboration with McMaster University, is doing research on the correlation between CCSVI and M.S. 

They need healthy volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 65 to have an MRI and Doppler Ultrasound. It will take approximately 4 hours of your time.  Parking and travel with be reimbursed up to $50.00.

Healthy volunteers must not have M.S. or be genetically related to anyone with M.S. However, they can be a spouse of someone with M.S. At the present time, females are preferred since the incidence of M.S. is greater in women than men, but men are still needed.

If you are interested in helping advance the science and understanding of CCSVI and M.S. please send an e-mail to:

Andrea Mazzetti
Research Assistant
M.S. CCSVI Study
Email - amazzett@stjoes.ca

 Now you may be generally  healthy but the MRI cannot be done if you have certain metals in your body. People with metal implants  may not be able to have a MRI performed. The reason is that the MRI is done using a very strong magnetic field to create the images. Some metal implants could cause problems if subjected to these incredibly high magnetic forces. I have no first hand knowledge about implants but I do know it can turn a hairpin into a lethal weapon. Fortunately, there was no one between me and the machine when it was ripped from my hair and sped faster than a bullet into the magnetic field. So Be sure to check with your doctor to ensure that your implant is safe for MRIs. 

I am not claustrophobic but if you are, perhaps this is one volunteer job you should by-pass too. I

So, in short, for this Volunteer job

1. You will not have MS yourself.

2. You will not be genetically related to someone with MS.

3  You will not have any metal implants.

4. You will not be morbidly claustrophobic.

5. You will live in Hamilton, ON or nearby.

Again, the person you want to get it touch with to volunteer is

Andrea Mazzetti
Research Assistant
M.S. CCSVI Study
Email - amazzett@stjoes.ca