Helping on MRI scans results

[gmac353]

Hi All,

I'm new here, just found out about the forum on Google and was amazed with the amount of information you post here!
I'm 29 and I'm from Brazil but live in Ireland. At the moment I'm getting into a diagnosis of MS, although I personally have no doubt that it's my "issue" from my history of symptoms etc.

Anyway getting into the point, end of last year I went to a doctor here in Ireland to check my eyes and he couldn't find anything wrong on the tests, so he suspected it could be optical neuritis and requested me a test. The test result confirmed the neuritis and after googling it I found out that most likely it would be related to MS.
After reading about MS I was sure that I was suffering from it as I had a couple of other episodes that are also common symptoms of MS.
I went back home (Brazil) for Christmas and decided to visit a neurologist there as I personally don't like the health system in Ireland. Between the time I got the confirmation about neuritis and my flight to Brazil I found out about a doctor and researcher that is applying a treatment with high doses of Vitamin D on his patients with excellent results... so I read a lot about this, watched videos and the results were really amazing.. no side effects and the most amazing thing is no further MS symptoms further down the treatment road.
I was very lucky and managed to get an appointment with a doctor from his team and after almost 3 hours consultation the doctor was pretty sure that I have MS, however he couldn't confirm without the MRI scans. He also asked for blood and urine tests which I managed to do in Brazil.

Due to the short time in Brazil I had to have the MRIs done here in Ireland, luckly everything worked fine with that and I recently got the result... however it's hard enough to get an appointment with a neurologist over here, even for private (which costs 270 euro). Therefore I would like to hear your opinion as more experienced people... please find the result below:

"
MRI brain:
On the axial FLAIR sequences several linear periventricular deep white matter high signal lesions are identified consistent with focal demyelinating plaques.
None of these demyelinating plaques show significant enhancement postgadolinium.
The gray matter is normal.
No focal infarction or space occupying lesion identified.
The posterior fossa structures are well preserved.

MRI cervical spine:
On the sagittal T2-weighted sequences there is a high signal lesion in the superior cervical spinal cord at the level of the odontoid peg. A further high signal lesion is also seen posterior to the intervertebral disc space of T2 and T3.
These lesions are consistent with focal areas of spinal cord demyelination.
The lesions do not show enhancements postgadolinium.
No evidence of cervical spinal stenosis identified.
"
I really appreciate if someone could provide me with your opinion about my results.
For the ones interested to know about the treatment with high doses of Vitamin D I recommend to google for "Dr. Cicero Galli Coimbra", you'll find loads of information. There's also a facebook groud of his patients following his treatment and they share their results, etc...

Many thanks in advance.

[twopack]

"I think it was a good moment to have the MRIs as the lesions were still active!"

Just to clarify, you told us the MRI reported there was no "significant enhancement post gadolinium."  This indicates the lesions visualized weren't active (or new) because lesions only enhance for about 40 days after they first appear.

Most neuros these days seem to believe in the power of vitamin D to help in MS treatment.  For sure, go ahead and try the treatment once you're diagnosed but I'd ask you to consider pursuing more traditional treatments at the same time.  They may not be able to boast of results like your doc in Brazil but they are proven therapies as tested by strict guidelines of the US FDA - far from perfect but not useless either.  

As for that report out of the UK, I personally find it hard not to question the findings of countries that are responsible for paying the high treatment costs of all their diagnosed citizens.  (Ever wonder why people in those same countries find it harder to be diagnosed in the first place?) Just my opinion.

[essdipity]

Hopkins' MS center believes MS patients should maintain higher D levels than generally acceptable (which is 20 and above), and would like to see readings in the 50s, or so my NP recently said. I asked why, once someone already has MS, and she said that D has anit-imflammatory properties and is believed to benefit the immune system.

Here is what Science Daily had to say, about a year ago

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120223103920.htm

With that said, though, there is no scientific evidence that bombarding anyone with Vitamin D will achieve great results in treating MS. I would never ever take 60,000 units a day. 2000, plus what's in my multivitamin, plus what's in my morning milk on cereal, is plenty to keep me in the good range for MS.

ess

[HVAC]

My MS Specialist at a leading University used to say Vitamin D was a waste of time. Now he has all his patients on high doses. He said it won't fix MS but there is something to it.

Alex

[gmac353]

more information related to Vitamin D and MS for the ones who are interested..

http://www.vitamindandms.org/

[gmac353]

You are free to believe on whatever you want, obviously! So am I!
Have you seens someone avoiding weelchair by using interferons? I have never... and I did see it happening with patients following Dr Cicero's protocol with high doses of vitamin D.

"Think about it, if Vit E could do these things, the National MS society would be screaming it from the rooftops! "

Believe me, the interferons generate billion dollars profit for this industry every year. Most of the researches around MS are sponsored by these labs... they just don't want to lose their money.
Again, it requires a 20+ years research with a wide (thousands) audience in order to be announced globally... what is not fair as Vitamin D is not a medicine.. if you prefer to wait and see that's your call!
I rather start it now as I can see the results happening by talking to the patients...

The Vitamin D levels are discussed differently, countries say that a different value is considered right, t's not properly defined yet... so your doctor saying your level of vitamin D is OK is not enough to think you don't need it.

And again, the treatment is not about getting your level of vitamin D to the standar level, but having it higher... that's the point where the studies identified that your boddy starts to react to the decease.

Thanks and all the best,

[gmac353]

Hi again,

Just commenting about your second comment.
You are write, I didn't read carefully the link that was on the video, but the word "cure" used there is misleading.
Dr Cicero himself never uses this word... he clearly states that it's not the cure and the patient need to follow the treatment for life in order to keep MS under control.

Again the part that says it cleared 100% of lesions is not correct.
This can be explained by the first bit of the video I posted, where you can hear Dr Cicero explaining how the MRI scans CAN look like after a while on the treatment... but it's not guaranteed as depends of many facts.
I keep in touch with many of his patients on the facebook group as I said before and I know that for many of them the lesions did disappeared and the recovered skills that they had lost already. For example, people that were in the weelchair and are not anymore, people that were blind from 1 eye and can now see again, etc..
These people post their MRI Scans and pictures of themselves to show their results as they are very excited with that.
But as mentioned, it depends on many things in order to get different level of results with the treatment and a main one would be stage of the decease. A patient that has MS for 20 years is less likely that will recover as well as a patient recently diagnosed and younger.

And again, Vitamin D doesn't cure the autoimmune deceases... but from using it according to Dr Cicero's protocol it will stop the progress of it as it regulates your immune system avoiding it to attack your own body. There are many publications around that and you can found it easily on internet too.

Again there are many studies that show the myelyn being reconstructed.. our body can indeed to reconstruct the myelyn previously attacked by MS. This is not achieve only by using Vitamin D but also different vitamins, minerals and omega 3 (DHA) in the right doses as stated before too...

Regards,