Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   strength of research in these areas. You have all heard, no doubt, of the very exciting new pathway for discovery and new therapy in MS, now very well known as CCSVI, which speaks to the obstruction of veins that drain the blood from the brain. It is important to underline

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Thank you. I have multiple sclerosis and so does my sister--and so do, probably, 75,000 Canadians. I'm not here to talk about multiple sclerosis; I'm here to talk about a condition called CCSVI, or chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. I'm here to make sure this committee

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   of yours who are physicians and researchers, they will tell you the evidence available for CCSVI, including the protocols for imaging, is in the early stages. That is why a number of medical associations, provincial bodies, and the Alberta Health Services Board have made the decision

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   come out from the expert panel representing 47 countries, which recognizes venous malformations and how to diagnose and treat them? That includes CCSVI.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Thank you, Mr. Malo. That is a very important question. The funding is for research on CCSVI, obviously in relation to multiple sclerosis. The reason why are making this request is because this is urgent. Urgent action is required. The Quebec College of Physicians is one

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   of folks coming together on the Hill. There is certainly a grassroots campaign happening about CCSVI, but is there a coming together as one group? Is there an organization forming that can be a conduit for us in talking about these issues, or is it still mostly individuals coming

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Before you do, I want to acknowledge the work of the MS Society and of Mr. Savoie. While health care is provincial, the federal government has some responsibility involving aboriginal health and the armed forces, and I think the discussion of CCSVI is relevant to the entire

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   this very difficult disease. We have a doctor in Barrie, Sandy McDonald, who is one of the top vascular surgeons, who has been working directly on the CCSVI possibility. I know he's very excited about the possibilities there as well. To follow up on a point that Megan Leslie mentioned

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  This is the date on which we will announce the results of our CCSVI research competition, which was launched early in the new year. On June 14, after the review by a panel of experts--vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, MRI specialists, and neurologists--we

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Absolutely. Ms. Radley is correct that there has not been a vascular surgeon on our medical advisory committee. The recommendations for funding of research applications come through panels that are assembled for various competitions. In the context of the CCSVI competition

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  To look at the requests from both the American and Canadian research competitions in MS. Sorry, it's CCSVI.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Madam Chair, Madam Vice-Chair, honourable members, we are here today to speak on CCSVI, chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, a serious vascular problem. I am a vascular surgeon. Thank you for the opportunity to address this subcommittee on a matter of great importance

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   CCSVI, it is important that it be treated respectfully and be assessed like all the other hypotheses, of which there are many at the present time. What we have asked for is that there be an accepted, standardized approach to answering the questions, and most of the clinicians

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   disease is both progressive and aggressive. Studies are currently under way at St. Joesph's and McMaster for CCSVI. As important as these studies are, many with MS, like my sister, don't have time to wait for the results. I'm here to ask the committee to take whatever steps, whatever

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee   at a therapeutic process, one has to have some sort of justification. Sometimes the justification can come from clinical observation and sometimes it can come from experimental observation on animal and tissue culture models. For instance, we all know—and this has some analogies to CCSVI