The recent MS news, that was released about the discovery that Dr. Paolo Zamboni found with his MS patients, involves restricted blood flow to and/or from the brain. After the restrictions were penned up, these MS patients found relief to their MS symptoms.

How does any of this recent MS news apply to us, who also have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis?

In the USA, there are more people, who have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, that are searching for being evaluated to see if they have restricted blood flow to and from the brain.

Since the brain is the master controller of the entire body, including the whole nervous system, this idea seems to be reasonable to me, especially if a more extreme case of Multiple Sclerosis is present, but does this idea apply to all MS patients?

This idea is uncertain.  It may be that many of the people that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis have some type of restricted blood flow to or from the brain, but that doesn't mean that this applies to all MS patients, since further studies need to be conducted still to determine how wide spread the implications of the recent MS news may be.

I think that if you have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and you have circulation problems to the carotid arteries on the sides of the neck or restrictions in the blood vessels of the upper chest, that lead to and from the brain, that it is worth being evaluated by both a vascular doctor and a heart doctor.

If you are experiencing problems with passing out, fainting or losing consciousness, it is also a good idea to find doctors that will work with you to run further tests to see if you may be having a problem with circulation in the legs, partial blockages or other restricted blood flow to the veins and arteries in the neck and upper chest regions.

I originally thought that a vascular doctor or vascular surgeon was the type of doctor that would be needed to evaluate me to see if I have restricted blood flow to the neck and/or upper chest regions, but this is not the case.

A vascular doctor will run tests on the arteries in the neck and to check for circulation problems in the legs, but for getting testing for the veins in the upper chest region, you will need to go to a cardiologist for these tests.

A cardiologist can also test for the possible blockages to the arteries in the neck, as well as the veins in the upper chest.

Dr. Zamboni developed a treatment, inserting a catheter to inflate a small balloon in the vein or artery to open up blood flow to the restricted arteries and veins.

If the blockages of restricted blood flow to the neck and the upper chest are found to be present in your case of Multiple Sclerosis, but not all vascular doctors are willing to do this procedure, as of yet, since this is a more recent breakthrough for those of us with Multiple Sclerosis.

In spite of this being a recent release of the
MS news, there are reported some vascular surgeons in the USA that will perform the balloon procedure to open up restricted blood flow, if needed.

There are always risks, when it comes to any surgery, that we all need to consider for each of our own cases of Multiple Sclerosis, to see if we each feel that the risk is worth it to us.  There is always the risk of complications, with any surgical procedure, but the catheter and balloon procedure or angioplasty has been performed more successfully for several years, so the risk isn't as extreme as it could be, if the procedure had never been done before.

What ever you decide is best for you, it may at least be worth considering with many of the cases of Multiple Sclerosis around the world, but further studies need to be performed to see if this procedure applies for more people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis around the world.