Collection search - MS Wars: Hope, Science and the Internet

Record information – Brief

1

MS Wars: Hope, Science and the Internet

Item number (ISN):

564805

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

2011

Item number (ISN):

564805

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

CANADIAN TELEVISION FUND

Accession:

2015-0028

Media:

Video

Part:

1of1

Production date:

2011

Production company:

Big Emma Films Inc.
Zoot Pictures Inc.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Production credit:

director/scenario, Leif Kaldor ; producer/scenario, Lesea Mair ; photography, Ian Rogers ; Layton Burton ; editing, Jackie Dzuba ; music, Jack Semple ; narrator, David Suzuki

Country of production:

cn

Description:

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A documentary that looks at multiple sclerosis (MS) and a 2009 research paper breakthrough that caused a large number of those suffering from MS to question and eventually protest the Canadian Institute of Health Research for not allowing them to undergo this treatment. Dr. Paolo Zamboni released a paper in 2009 purposing a theory that a reoccuring problem he found in MS patients was a blockage of veins in the neck leading to the brain which he called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). Dr. Zamboni's results were positive with patients who underwent angioplasty to clear the blockage, allowing for greater mobility, though he never claimed this was a cure to MS. Doctors around the world were skeptical with the lack of evidence due to the very small number of patients Dr. Zamboni had treated. However, these patients were making videos of themselves before and after the treatment which showed huge improvements in mobility that quickly spread across due to the internet. This spread of information generated a huge buzz among MS patients who began asking Canadian doctors for this treatment. Some Canadian doctors began doing the procedure with favourable results and was considered a low risk procedure. The British Columbia health board was the first to ban MS patients from undergoing the procedure, soon other provincial health boards banned the procedure, claiming further research was needed. In 2010 approval was given by the Canadian Institute of Health Research to study CCSVI but still doctors were not allowed to give the procedure. The slow pass in which the Canadian Institute of Health Research was moving with this study began to annoy those with MS who began going outside the country, against the advice of their neurologists, to places like Costa Rica that would provide the treatment at a price. Some of the patients shown in this documentary see positive results from the treatment while others do not. The documentary makes a point of addressing that MS internet groups helped spread the positive results while at the same time were quick to shut down the not positive results of the CCSVI treatment. In late 2010 MS patients began protesting and asking the government to step in to help provide the treatment despite the lack of evidence the Canadian Institute of Health Research found on their study. In 2011, the Canadian Institute of Health Research reversed its stance and began clinical trials. Doctors in this documentary remain skeptical of the benifits of the treatment and claim that this viral sensation took time and money away from valuable research into cures that might comes from stem cells. The patients who underwent this low risk procedure that saw positive results claim that the treatment helped them even if was a little improvement and that the government should have moved quicker to allow them this option. <44mn 47s>

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. Produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF). ~2. Produced with the financial assistance of the Canadian Film Employment Tax Credit. ~3. Produced with the participation of the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

941997

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

45104AV

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SOF

Duration:

44:47

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1131969

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

564805.MXF

Number of items:

1

Made from:

45104AV

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1131971

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

564805.MP4

Number of items:

1

Made from:

45104AV

Status:

REF
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Copyright status:

Under Copyright.

Copyright owner:

Big Emma Films Inc.

Reproduction access:

With written permission of copyright owner. No donor restrictions.

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