An Interesting Inside Take on Medicine

 

Below is the beginning of a very interesting article on vaccines and autism.  You might wonder why someone with MS is putting up articles about autism. Several reasons actually. Like MS, autism is considered autoimmune. Like MS, autism is still looking for a cause. Like MS, autism is looking for a cure. Like MS, patients are at the beck and call of neurologists who only know how to sell drugs that don't help, often hinder and are expensive.It may be about autism but it says a lot about the way medicine is practiced these days. So the opinions and comments made by a neuro who is not a pusher for the chemical inventions of big pharma are interesting and perhaps have a clue to something that can help us with our MS. I have highlighted the paragraph that caught my eye and kept me reading.

Vaccines, Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders


The Danger of Excessive Vaccination During Brain Development: The Case for a Link to Autism Spectrum Disorders


Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.

In 1976, children received 10 vaccines before attending school. Today they will receive over 36 injections. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control assured parents that it was safe to not only give these vaccines, but that they could be given at one time with complete safety. Is this true? Or are we being lied to on a grand scale?

The medical establishment has created a set of terms, which they use constantly to boost their egos and firm up their authority as the unique holders of medical wisdom–the mantra is “evidence-based medicine”, as if everything outside their anointing touch is bogus and suspect. A careful examination of many of the accepted treatments reveals that most have little or no scientific “evidence-based” data to support it. One often repeated study found that almost 80% of medical practice had no scientific backing.

This is not to say that medical practice should be purely based on pure and applied science, as understood in the fields of physics and chemistry. Medicine, as pointed out by many of the great men of medicine, is an art. For a discussion on the proper role of medicine I refer the reader to my paper titled –Regimentation in Medicine and the Death of Creativity – on my website (www.russellblaylockmd.com).

To read the balance of this article, click on the link below.
http://web.mac.com/rblaylock/Russell_Blaylock_M.D./Articles/Entries/2008/3/12_Vaccines%2C_Neurodevelopment_and_Autism_Spectrum_Disorders.html

Poster #3

Attention:

MS Neuros and Politicians

Go ahead and pull this rope!

Killing me by hanging is way more humane than your present method –

drug cocktails and neglect

Poster #2

BLOOD FLOW!

Can’t leave home without it!

    

My Poster for the Rally on the Hill

My Poster for the Rally on the Hill

The Death Sentence is not

allowed in Canada

unless

You have M.S.

The Death Penalty Doesn't Exist In Canada! Bull Shit!! It's Alive and Well on Parliament Hill

The Death Penalty Doesn't Exist In Canada! Bull Shit!! It's Alive and Well on Parliament Hill

If anyone tells you that Canada does not have a death penalty - DO NOT BELIEVE THEM! Because we most certainly do. Right now there are at least 75,000 people with MS on Death Row, Oh, it's true, we are not behind barbed wire and bars all day. And there is no specific date for us to leave this earth but we are on a death watch nonetheless.

Our shackles are not made of steel. They are formed in our brains, a result of bad blood if you will. Blood that should flow through the body and be cleansed but isn't. All the crud it has picked up on it's trip to the brain, finds it's way to the bottom like silt in flowing water and leaves itself piling up in the brain. Like any other biologically active,  chemically active deposits, it damages the spot where it land. In people the damage is referred to as lesions on the brain and the damage is to the most vulnerable thing it hits - the nerves and nerve endings. We get symptoms such as loss of balance, loss of cognitive abilities, loss of energy, and inability to see properly, an inability to breathe properly, an inability to swallow properly. In short, we end up like human vegetables unable to control anything until we die. If that is not a death sentence, then nothing is.

And it is absolutely counter to any rule put forth by the United Nations or The Human Rights Commission. I would guess that the Human Rights Commission would call knowingly allowing this to happen to be Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Whether they just have not heard that this is happening in Canada or whether this is just one of those things that is found to be totally unbelievable about Canada is anyone's guess. I mean, Isn't Canada the country that gave us Peace Keepers to help save lives? Isn't Canada the country that gave us Insulin and saved untold diabetic lives all these many decades? Is it possible that Canada has sunk this low??

Well yes! It is! Still Canada, with the blessings of the Conservative Government, has done just that. Leona Aglukkaq, the Federal Minister of Health, did what she obviously thought was right. She went to the MS Society and it's neurologists, because she knows absolutely nothing about MS. And there she stopped. Big mistake! Had she done even a wee bit of research herself, she would have wondered what was being done with all that donated money. She'd have found out pretty quickly that it was not going towards anything useful, not even the few bucks, relatively speaking, that was ear-marked for MS research. Being that this is an issue that affects a lot of people, you would at least think she would get a second opinion from a totally different group. But she didn't or if she did, she chose to ignore it. Reminds me of Texas. The Thin Blue Line. And tunnel vision of those in power to play with a man's life for nothing more than corruption of the system. http://www.veoh.com/watch/v18681566sr4JJmmq A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas. The question is, "Who is going to argue our case of being wrongfully given a death sentence?"

It isn't our Conservative Government. Apparently the drug companies, bragging about their huge stock incomes have the corporate-thinking heads of government all wrapped up. Between the Oda Affair, the In and Out Affair, the Discrimination Against MSers Affair, The Harper Government Letterhead Affair and on and on, the Conservatives have destroyed all and any hope for a democratic Canada under them. They have totally destroyed any trust I had in them. The Liberals - well no new major scandals as they are not in any position of power but what the hell have they done to earn my trust. Well one exception - Kisty Duncan.The N.D.P.? Same questions. Answer - Nothing. So that is one out of three hundred and five I think it is,and she is not in my riding.

That lack of trust, by the way, is not a Conservative Party thing - it is an all encompassing thing. If it was not, the various parties would be talking about what they would do for us - Canadians. Some how being able to make a citizen's arrest does not seem all that important to me. In 65 years I have never even wanted or needed to. What good is it to me now? I have MS. The fatigue is so bad, I do not get out of the apartment. A citizen's arrest by a lame MSer is going to put a crook breaking in here on the floor in gales of laughter but not much else. Having rifles? What the Sam hell do most of us need rifles for? Surely some small changes in the law will keep the law but make it more useful to those few who need to have a rifle. I do have to say, that I grew up on a farm and there never was a need there just because we were farmers. The N.D.P. have come out with something useful - better Medicare but they were careful not to step on any corporate toes by adding, in a manner of speaking, not for MSers. The Green Party? Well so far she has my consideration. Perhaps it is the way journalists are covering the election but I have seen no hate literature from that corner. She has a platform ... well sort of. And it is vague enough to  keep my interest but not not strong enough to guarantee my vote.


Well that lays waste to hoping for help from Federal politics. Who is next?  The Big "Charitable" Organizations like the MS Society. Well gee whiz! They are not in the business of charity after all. They are in bed with the corporate drug companies. So write them off the list. Lord knows, anything we write gets taken off their sites post haste and not just in Canada. They like to do that in the USA and Great Britain too. Go figure! A Multiple Sclerosis Society that doesn't want to hear from people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Maybe the Provincial Governments?  Don't hold your breath! Most of them look to the Feds and big corporations for income.

Looks like I am in trouble with a bunch of people. I said in a blog, that I think the Conservatives have given me a death penalty and I would not vote for them. And I won't. One lady took offense. She  declared that MS bogs were for talking about MS and politics should not enter into it. Really! If it were not for politics, we would all be treated and treated on our Medicare. Then she told me she would have me banned. Again, Really! It is not her site for starters and it is such a bully tactic. So bloody Conservative. Then another lady came on and told me I was entitled to my opinion, Canada being a free country and all, but she was voting Conservative.She was on my friends list so I was a bit taken aback. She took offense also to my calling the Conservatives the people who had given me a death sentence. And I should not say that. Now let's see. She does not have MS. Her son does. So she is only guessing what it is like. She took him out of the country for treatment so she could afford it and boy did she win the jackpot. I'll bet her son is not as much work as he used to be.  How nice for her but she is still going to approve my death warrant and thousands of others death warrants by putting her X beside a Conservative name on her ballot.Trouble with all of this, is that I find it hard to believe she is a selfish, hate filled person. Right or wrong,I am writing it off to political  naivety. So if you are reading this and you are getting angry because you are planning to vote Conservative, Tough! You put your X there and you are just as guilty as the jerks on the Hill making these decisions. They think they are making them with your blessing. Think before you leap into bed with them. Your X beside their name is your blessing for everything they do, including leaving 75,000 Canadians to die in misery.

I used to be a pretty good typist - back in the days when my fingers hit the keys I told them to hit. This little rant took 2 days to type up. So I am off to bed. God willing, I'll die before morning. I do not want to put in any more days like these past few weeks. If you can afford the treatment, go and get it! Do not delay. You do not want to get where I am right now. Please do not write me. I am an atheist so the God stuff doesn't fizz on me. Don't tell me life is sweet cause it isn't and don't assume that because I wish I were dead that I have the courage or strength to act on it. That would make an
ASS of U and ME. But do write your MP, your MPP, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the newspapers, the TV stations. Write everyone. :o)

Canadian Medical Association

The letter below was sent to Dr. Jeff  Turnbull of the Canadian Medical Association by the people who signed it  - people who have already been treated for CCSVI or about to undergo it. I am in the process of sending it to every newspaper in Ontario (as I write this I have sent to about 50% of the newspapers who offer emails). For those paper readers who were sent here to read the entire letter, (some can only print highlights due to space allowances)  welcome. Feel free to check out any pages herein. We hope you do not suffer from MS or CCSVI and just came here for information. If you do suffer from MS or CCSVI, know there is hope for us and please join us in fighting to realize that hope.

Karen Copeland
MSDragonSlayer


To: The Editor

The letter below was sent out to Mr. Turnbull . It is self explanatory. It is also something people with MS in your area should know about and people who do not have MS but may face it one day should know about. If you could find a spot in your newspaper to print it, we would be grateful.


Sincerely,

Karen Copeland



22 March 2011



Dr. Jeff Turnbull

President

Canadian Medical Association

1867 Alta Vista Drive

Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 5W8



Dear Dr. Turnbull,



We are writing to you about multiple sclerosis (MS).  While thirteen names of MS sufferers, or family members of MS suffers, are attached to this letter, each one of us represents hundreds of MS sufferers and families across Canada.



The MS world was turned upside down in November 2009 when the work of Dr. Paolo Zamboni was brought to the attention of the public in Canada and around the world in a W5 documentary.  W5 reported that Dr. Zamboni found that blood is refluxing into the brains and spinal columns of MS sufferers due to malformations of the vascular system, primarily the jugular veins, the azygous vein and, in some people, the iliac vein.  Dr. Zamboni did not invent the vascular component of MS; that component has been studied and observed by scientists since 1839.  The International Union of Phlebology, whose members are venous experts, confirmed in December 2009 that the venous malformations Dr. Zamboni described as Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency or CCSVI are, in their opinion, congenital and preceding MS lesions.



Treatment for CCSVI is balloon angioplasty. It is a well-known, low risk procedure developed by Dr. Andreas R. Guentzig in the 1970s that quickly became a standard of care without any double-blinded, randomized, controlled clinical trials.  Treating patients led to knowledge that led to the protocols followed today.



Thousands of MS sufferers in Canada felt a surge of hope.  Until November 2009, those MS sufferers with relapsing-remitting MS could take expensive disease modifying drugs that recent studies have shown to be ineffective in slowing progression of the disease or in reducing relapses (see Appendix to this letter).  In some cases, MS sufferers were made worse by the drugs; in other cases MS sufferers lost their lives to them and others are still struggling.  Tysabri, as of 4 March 2011, has been linked to 21 deaths and permanent brain infection in 102 people.  The numbers increase monthly as Biogen reports new cases of PML as required by law.  The newest entry in the drug market is Gilenya.  It has its own side effects that include, but are not limited to, permanently slowed heart rate, liver damage, macular edema, eczema, increased hypertension, and reduced white blood cell count.  But the MS neurologists who are front-line marketers of the new drug assure MS sufferers that the side effects do not manifest immediately.  It may be fortunate for MS sufferers with other, more aggressive types of MS that no drug treatment is available for them.


In the past 16 months, Canadian MS sufferers have been subjected to unprecedented levels of discrimination.  They are denied access to a simple procedure that is available to any other Canadian requiring venoplasty for other medical conditions and who has not been labeled “MS”.  They are forced to fight for their lives and the lives of their families and are forced to leave Canada on a quest for an improved quality of life to seek treatment in countries that, from their point of view, appear far more progressive and inviting than Canada.


 Why are Canadian MS sufferers denied treatment in their own country?  Dr. Zamboni’s work has been attacked by MS neurologists, especially research neurologists backed by pharmaceutical companies with enormous MS drug markets, who may be suffering from the Semmelweiss Reflex.  The Semmelweiss Reflex is a metaphor for the reflex-like rejection of new knowledge because it contradicts entrenched norms, beliefs or paradigms.


MS sufferers are well aware that MS is a multi-billion dollar a year industry and that the only groups that benefit from this industry are MS neurologists and pharmaceutical companies.  MS sufferers are also aware that neurologists may be experiencing Gatekeeper Syndrome in addition to Semmelweiss Reflex; Gatekeeper Syndrome is described as a lack of interest in anything, no matter how important to your work, that does not involve you being a gatekeeper.  MS sufferers know that MS neurologists are furious that a vascular surgeon has illustrated so well that the unproven autoimmune theory for MS that the MS neurologists have chased for over 60 years is, in fact, wrong and has achieved very little for MS sufferers.  Two international conferences held this month, one in Poland and one in Italy, were highlighted by studies that will soon be published that confirm Dr. Zamboni’s work and the improvement in the quality of life for MS sufferers who have been treated for CCSVI (see www.isnvdannualmeeting.org/press-area.html, International Society for Neurovascular Disease).



However, MS is a lucrative Industry that supports the MS neurologists and the pharmaceutical companies and perhaps that fact is the reason for the fury of the MS neurologists – the money they receive from pharmaceutical companies in research funding, consultancy fees and speaking honoraria is threatened by CCSVI which represents a paradigm shift in the understanding of MS.  One prominent MS neurologist has stated that CCSVI will ultimately be proven to be a hoax and has labeled those people who think there is merit to CCSVI “cultists”.  However, 60 years and billions of dollars of research and the same MS neurologists have not proven viral or autoimmune theories as the cause of MS.  Not one MS Society or pharmaceutical company world-wide can state with absolute certainty that MS is strictly an autoimmune condition nor can they explain what causes MS.



MS sufferers are also aware that the MS Society of Canada has behaved badly regarding CCSVI and has failed to live up to its mandate.  It operates in a paternalistic manner and as more of a marketing arm for the pharmaceutical industry than as an advocate for MS sufferers.  That is not surprising since the MS Society here in Canada is run by the angry, disgruntled MS neurologists.



Unfortunately, and sadly for MS sufferers and their families, government officials listen to the MS Society of Canada and the neurologists who run it.  We have seen an alliance between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the MS Society which resulted in a secret meeting in August 2010 with a panel of non-experts considering the merits of CCSVI.   Many of the panel members have severe conflicts of interests and the panel included some of the angriest neurologists who have been vitriolic in their condemnation of Dr. Zamboni and CCSVI.  The outcome of that meeting was never in doubt since the Chairman, Dr. Alain Beaudet, admitted that CCSVI experts such as Dr. Sandy McDonald were deliberately excluded.  We have seen the Society launch unnecessary studies geared to obtaining information that we already have.  The studies are being conducted by neurologists.  The outcome of these studies is not in doubt.



Because of a small group of angry, disgruntled MS neurologists, Canadian MS sufferers, at great expense and hardship, are forced to travel to the United States, Mexico, Poland, Bulgaria, Malta, Egypt, Costa Rica and India to receive a treatment for a vascular condition that is readily available in Canada – except for MS sufferers.  The exact number of MS sufferers who have been treated worldwide for CCSVI is not known but estimates range from 12,000 to 15,000.  Those who have been treated report results that range from spectacular to moderate to minimal.



Because of a small group of angry, disgruntled MS neurologists, Canadian MS sufferers are denied adequate follow-up care in Canada after treatment.  Once again, the well-being of MS sufferers is compromised because they sought treatment for a vascular condition outside Canada when they are supposedly guaranteed the right to the treatment in Canada by the Canada Health Act.



Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss was hounded from his profession and eventually committed to an asylum; he tried to introduce hand washing to doctors to prevent women dying in childbirth from puerperal fever.  In the 1980s Dr. Barry Marshall was vilified by the medical community when he suggested that bacteria cause stomach ulcers; he had to give himself a stomach ulcer to prove his point.  He won a Nobel Prize for medicine.



There is nothing unethical, dangerous or controversial about balloon angioplasty.  What is dangerous and unethical is prescribing drugs to patients knowing that the drugs are ineffective and unsafe.  What is dangerous and unethical is working to deny people a treatment that is available in Canada and that is a right guaranteed to them.  What is dangerous and unethical is the wedge that has been driven between thousands of Canadians and the medical community in Canada.

We are aware, Dr. Turnbull, of your interest in re-vamping healthcare in Canada.  We would suggest to you that re-vamping the ethics of the doctors who deliver healthcare in this country should be your top priority.  The medical community is failing Canadians and it seems, as

Dr. Louis Francescutti (President, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) mused in a recent interview, that too many doctors are more interested in protecting their vested interests than in taking care of their patients.  It is a sad state for Canadians.  It is a sad state for medicine in Canada.



We would like to know if CMA will publicly support MS sufferers acquiring access to testing and treatment for CCSVI in Canada.  We would also like to know if CMA will publicly urge doctors to provide follow-up care in Canada for MS sufferers who are treated for CCSVI outside Canada.



Sincerely,



Christopher Alkenbrack, (Nova Scotia), treated 2010 Poland

Francine Deshaies, (Quebec), treated 2010 and 2011 Poland

Judy Filipkowski, (Ontario), treated 2010 Albany, New York

Steve Garvie, (Ontario) treated 2010, Barrie, Ontario,

Chrystal Gomes, (Ontario), not treated

Myles Higgins, (Newfoundland and Labrador), brother-in-law of MS Sufferer

Val Hoenecke, (Saskatchewan), treated 2010 Poland

Linda Hume-Sastre, (Ontario), waiting list, Albany, New York

Watson McGregor, (Saskatchewan), treated twice 2010 Bulgaria

Carol Prest, (Alberta), sister of MS sufferer

Amy Preston, (Ontario), treated 2010 Albany, New York

Laurel Radley, (British Columbia) treated 2010 Australia

Michelle Walsh, (Saskatchewan), treated 2010 Bulgaria, 2011 California



APPENDIX

STUDIES ON DISEASE MODIFYING DRUGS

Boggild M, Palace J, Barton P, Ben-Shlomo Y, Bregenzer T, Dobson C, Gray R.,

Multiple sclerosis risk sharing scheme: two year results of clinical cohort study with

historical comparator. BMJ. 2009, 9 pages.



Ebers, G, Traboulsee A, Li D, et al., Analysis of clinical outcomes according to

original treatment groups 16 years after the pivotal IFNB-1b trial. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, in press, 6 pages.



Veugelers PJ, Fisk JD, Brown MG, Stadnyk K, Sketris IS, Murray TJ, Bhan V.,

Disease progression among multiple sclerosis patients before and during a

disease-modifying drug program: a longitudinal population-based evaluation. Mult Scler. 2009 Nov;15(11):1286-94.

Places to learn more
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_145432328854156&ref=notif&notif_t=group_activity#!/ccsvi.ms.toronto.canada 

and
http://ccsvi-ms.ning.com/
and 

http://msliberation.ca/MS_Liberation_Group/Welcome.html

"It's premature to do that."

Today the IFPress.com ran an interview with Deb Matthews. http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/03/21/17696581.html#/news/london/2011/03/21/pf-17696576.html 

Below is my response to Ms. Matthews


On the subject of MS, that is the big story in alternative care. Why isn't the province doing clinical testing to see if the procedure can be done safely and in Ontario?

"It's premature to do that."

If we die prematurely,from not getting 'premature' but required medical help, are you going to plead guilty to manslaughter?  I feel my life going down the tubes daily because you will not act like a responsible and thinking Minister of Health. Think about that. And if you think you will walk away unscathed, think about your counterpart in Nova Scotia who is being called a murderer all over the internet. And she is a murderer in my opinion. She could have seen that Mr. Peart got the medical attention he needed instead of listening to a bunch of pill pushers in white coats. You politicians did not put this stupid spin on heart transplants when was experimental. Why are you doing this to us?

Venoplasty is not even a new procedure. It is done every day in Canada for kidney patients.There is only one explanation that makes sense - The drug companies are influencing your thinking. Whether that means you don't think because you take drugs or because you are being paid off is all we have to find out. And we will find out.

Your "expert" team of doctors are expert at nothing - if they were, they'd have figured this out years ago - the research on this is over a hundred years old. What they, your team of "experts", figured out years ago was how to scam people with the government's help - I do believe that is call complicity in a court of law. If I were the only angry person, you could probably trash this and forget about it. But I am just one of a growing group who are not so willing to become sacrifices to the greed of a bunch of thieves.

If you want real experts, why not talk to MSers. We are the only 'experts' on MS. Your "experts" do not know what causes MS and they have been batting zero when it comes to a cure or a viable treatment. They do not feel confident in treating us but there are a lot of doctors with venoplasty experience who are more than willing to learn and are only held back by you and your threats against their medical licenses. It has nothing to do with lack of confidence in the hands of the correct doctors. They don't even get the diagnosis right - many MSers have found out on their own nickle that the do not have MS at all but Lyme Disease. There is a viable treatment for Lyme and there is a viable treatment for CCSVI which is, if not the cause, it certainly is a symptom, of MS.

People do not die from cataracts or hip or knee surgery. People do die from MS. "We have very high quality standards here in Canada"  Maybe for people with cataracts but definitely not for people who have MS. We have quacks and pill pushers ($4,000.00 per treatment for gilenya - is it laced with gold dust?) leading the government around by the nose. Are you going to wait until people start calling you a killer or are you going to stop sitting on your hands and start saving our lives and your reputation?

You can fool all of the people some of the time; you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you are fooling less and less people on the subject of MS so stop trying. I guarantee you, it will come back and bite you.

I am guessing a real response from you is not going to happen being as you are a politician first and a woman and human being last. But I do live in hope.

Sincerely

Karen Copeland