Contact:
Mary Hartwig
262.369.4414 (office) 414.254.4854 (cell)
mary.hartwig@wisms.org
(MADISON, WI) – University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Aaron Field, M.D., Ph.D., has been awarded a $593,261 grant by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to study the role of CCSVI (chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency) in multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. Field’s study is one of seven research projects recently funded by The National MS Society and the MS Society of Canada, totaling more than $2.3 million, which focus on CCSVI and how it relates to MS.
CCSVI refers to a condition where blood flow from the brain and spinal cord are restricted. Recent research is exploring the impact CCSVI may have on the progression of MS.
The seven new studies, part of an expedited Request for Applications extended to investigators worldwide at the close of 2009, were chosen by an international panel of experts for having the greatest potential to quickly and comprehensively determine the significance of CCSVI in the MS disease process.
Dr. Field will be focusing on using magnetic resonance (MRI) scans to generate detailed images of the head and neck veins in people with early and later MS, healthy volunteers and controls with other neurological conditions. His team will also use the ultrasound techniques originally used by Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who reported abnormalities in the veins draining the brain and spinal cord in people with MS. If they obtain similar results as those published by Dr. Zamboni, it would represent a powerful confirmation of the CCSVI hypothesis and help lead the way toward trials of appropriate treatment.
Since its founding in 1946, the National MS Society has funded more than $550 million in research. The Society is recognized as the largest nonprofit funder of MS research in the world. This ground-breaking research has resulted in the development of six disease-modifying drugs and myriad new medical treatments to reinvigorate, empower and improve the quality of life for those living with MS. The National MS Society presently invests nearly $6 million to support seven research projects in Wisconsin – six at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one at Marquette University.
MS interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. It is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50 and MS is two to three times more common in women than men. One in 500 Wisconsin residents lives with MS, giving our state one of the highest incidence rates in the country. While the progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, advances in research and treatment are giving hope to those affected by the disease.
Multiple sclerosis stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. Through ground-breaking research initiatives, programs designed to address the challenges of living with MS, and advocating for improved public policy, the Society is dedicated to a world free of MS.
For more information visit wisMS.org or call 262.369.4400 or 800.242.3358 (toll free in Wisconsin).
