Val Hoenecke said she was virtually bedridden with MS earlier this year, but now she feels great after having an operation to open her neck veins. (CBC)
A Rosetown, Sask., woman says she feels "150 per cent better" after receiving a much publicized, but controversial, treatment for her multiple sclerosis.
"I'm a different person today than I was four weeks ago," said Val Hoenecke, a math teacher from the town southwest of Saskatoon who went to Poland last month for an operation to have veins in her neck unblocked.
Val Hoenecke說：去波蘭靜脈擴張之後，人生截然不同。以前幾乎是臥床不起的。
"I have nothing but energy, when all I could do [before] was stay in bed."
Hoenecke was one of about 20 people who met in Regina Tuesday night to talk about a treatment pioneered by Italian surgeon Paolo Zamboni for a condition he calls chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency or CCSVI.
As she flitted around from table to table talking to people at the event, Hoenecke showed no outward sign she has MS, a disease of the nervous system that can cause severe physical impairment and affects some 3,000 people in Saskatchewan.
在連結的右上角的影片當中顯示：Hoenecke能夠較自如的在桌子和桌子間移動，沒有很明顯的Ms人的症狀
For years, many scientists have described MS as an autoimmune disease, with drug therapy the standard treatment.
However, Zamboni believes MS is caused by blocked veins in the neck and has pioneered a novel treatment where angioplasty is used to open up the veins to help blood flow more easily.
MS patients around Canada have been clamouring for the treatment, but in most cases, neither the ultrasound used to diagnose the condition or the procedure itself are covered by provincial health insurance.
Some doctors say Zamboni's theories haven't been properly tested, and they're worried MS patients are moving too fast to get the operation.
People like Hoenecke have been traveling out of country and spending their savings to get the operation, which can cost $10,000 or more.
Hoenecke said she has no regrets after receiving her treatment on April 28.
"I have no pain now," she said. "I feel 150 per cent, and I can't even give you proper words to tell you how I feel."
Hoenecke說： 我現在感覺不到任合痛苦了，我一點也不後悔做了這個手術(4/28)，我覺得我感到150%的好！！
Lori Lumax, who has MS, writes about the procedure online and planned the event for patients Tuesday night, said it's been a long time since people have had this much hope.
"Since I've started this — we'll call it this chase — I've discovered that the people are very smart, very educated and very active," she said, "considering that many of them can hardly do the things they normally would do."
Lumax said she wants to continue pushing the message and rallying support for the procedure, so people searching for information know they're not alone.
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好消息的确让人振奋。但是如果这个手术这么好，为什么许多国家（尤其发达国家）还是疑虑重重呢？问题是并非所有病人都有这样好的效果。目前缺乏精确统计，我的感觉是，大约1/3有很好效果，1/3有中等效果，1/3效果不大。而且手术的长期效果更是无法预期。
回覆刪除正如目前80%的說法，這是具有爭議性的治療方式，但我認為不管CCSVI是否是導致MS的主要原因，但是靜脈窄化是事實，而靜脈窄化的影響一定會使身體變差，甚至中風。與其讓自己的身體更加的惡化，不如抓住可能的機會維持住身體較佳的狀態，繼續等待100%確認的治療方式。不是嗎？
回覆刪除而且，若統計數據均有效果（若 1/3有很好效果，1/3有中等效果，1/3效果不大; 就表示均有效果 ^^），那就是一個很棒的消息了。效果如何端視病人的身體狀況和神經受損的情形而定。若是神經軸突被破壞，也無法回復...
人生本來就是未知數，既然已經走到這個田地，倒不如好好的賭一把，畢竟也沒有任何損失（均有效果），不是嗎？^^
"你永遠不知道人生下個巧克力的滋味如何" Forest Gump
但我願意去吃 :)
我同意，無論如何，考慮到各方面情況，應該說手術治療還是目前所有治療方法中最好的選擇。盡管還不完美，還有待進一步發展。
回覆刪除