In my previous post I introduced the theory of a researcher named Doctor Zamboni who believes that the Multiple Sclerosis is not primarily an autoimmune disease but a vascular one.  The theory that Multiple Sclerosis has a vascular cause is called Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency which is abbreviated to CCSVI.  Basically the theory is that the neurological damage one sees with Multiple Sclerosis is really caused by blockages in the veins of MS patients. 

You might want to read my introductory post on this topic and review the links to get a better understanding of this theory and the research it is based upon.

As promised, today I am going to be posting my interviews with two of the people who have undergone this endovascular surgery in the hopes that it would help relieve their MS symptoms. 

Please meet Mark Miller.  Here is an image he has graciously supplied for this interview showing the stents in his jugular vein.

How did you first find out about CCSVI? 

 From a totally unrelated message board posting, I clicked on the study, it looked interesting, I clicked further, then somehow found the message boards, which I read from front to back, practically every post, just because it was so new and fascinating and not what I had expected.

What scientific proof is there that MS could be considered a vascular disease as opposed to an autoimmune disease? 

Well, that's kind of a loaded question, being that it presents the disease as an either/or proposition. I proffer it's both, to varying degrees, for varying reasons, none of which we truly have any sort of grasp on. Do I consider MS ONLY an autoimmune (we abbreviate AI) disease? After what I've seen in the evidence, NO.

After what I've experienced following the stenting of my occlusions, well that's another story.

What type of MS do you have and how long have you had it?

I have the typical RRMS disease course (for now). In 2004 I awoke to this weird double vision thing. Just like that! People that knew me, well you could see it on their faces, normal Mark suddenly had one eye turned in, "can't be a good thing!".

At that time they were still in the "we need a 2nd clinically definite relapse to categorize and offer the CRABS drugs". Not so anymore of course.

So in about 4 months my eye stabilized to normal and that was that. But I've felt it creeping in ever so slightly in the time since, suddenly heat seemed to be my worst enemy, when I never had a problem working or playing in it before. Where did these 100 lb weights come from that my arms are lugging around every day? Why am I sleeping so much then feeling half dead most of the day? Where did my energy go? What are those weird flashes of light that come and go? Why can't I even remember what I was saying in midsentence? I'm 40 not 95! Why do seemingly normal chores take on such a monumental feel?  My most recent optic neuritis flare up was a few months ago btw. No problems with that yet, even in the heat. (WOW!)