More hearsay confirmation, but closer to home, is this TiMS posting from a newbie in Barrie Ontario:
The technologist said that every patient she has seen with MS (around 40 people), had blocked veins. I just called my family doc and their office has called - Dr. Sandy McDonald (resident vascular surgeon), wants to see me. The next step, if he orders it, will be a CAT scan Venograpy at the hospital here. After that all bets are off, regarding the surgery. But I won't wait around here forever. If I have to go to California I will.
In a reply in that discussion I suggested to him:
Hi Shiraz,
I'm happy for you and to hear what is happening in Barrie, but I think that it is REALLY important to get some quoted statistics from the radiology department regarding how many MS patients they have tested for CCSVI and how many have been found with it. "Up until January 3rd, 2010, thirty-eight MS patients have been tested for CCSVI by Doppler ultrasound in the XXXX hospital radiology department and 36 have been found the condition" is much stronger than "A radiology technician told me that about 40 MS patients have been tested and all were found to have occlusions" because the latter sounds more like hearsay that can be easily dismissed.
I think that this is important for all MSers (we could take this to doctors, neuros, media), but perhaps especially for our friends in the US who seem to be battling a semi-hostile MS society and a disinterested media. A few hard facts would be harder to refute and easier to build stories around.
Now I just wish that more Canadian doctors and radiology departments would hear about this and begin taking CCSVI and MS seriously. With such overwhelming evidence (if it is accurate), they would realize that waiting for double-blind testing is not really necessary - or ethical.
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