DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Do you have any information on a recent experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis? The treatment isn’t available in Canada. Canadians and Americans are paying thousands of dollars to go overseas for their MS treatment. I am interested in your opinion. — V.S.

ANSWER: Multiple sclerosis is an attack by the immune system on the fatty insulation wrapped around nerves — myelin. Myelin allows nerve signals to be transmitted to and from the brain at extraordinary speed, so muscles and bones react instantly. When myelin breaks apart, nerve signals are short-circuited. Weakness, pain, loss of balance and vision troubles result. At present, there is no MS cure. However, the number of medicines now used for control is large, with new ones appearing almost yearly.

When there is no cure for a chronic illness, people become desperate, and that’s understandable. They are willing to try anything that offers the chance of returning to a normal life. Experimental treatments, however, are experiments — tests to determine the safety and effectiveness of a new therapy. Even when glowing reports come from a small number of trials, safety and effectiveness haven’t been proven. The new therapy could make a person’s situation worse. People who volunteer for trials have to bear that in mind. Trials are limited to only a few patients.

Stem cells obtained from the patient’s own bone marrow are a new MS treatment. They’re injected into the spinal canal. Trials are still in progress for this treatment.

I believe you refer to a treatment devised by the Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni. His idea is to open veins draining blood from the brain in a way similar to opening clogged heart arteries through angioplasty. The procedure is called liberation treatment. Dr. Zamboni believes that the obstruction of blood flow in brain veins leads to an accumulation of iron in the brain. Re-establishing normal flow through those veins rids the brain of iron and rids the patient of MS symptoms.

In many places throughout the world, clinics have opened to carry out this procedure. Some of these clinics have little supervision. In Canada, the province of Saskatchewan plans to sponsor and supervise trials in early 2011. I would undergo this treatment only in places that have obtained official permission to perform it. The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America provides detailed information on MS and its treatment. You can reach it at www.msassociation.org or at 800-532-7667.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have written to you three times and have not gotten an answer. I have a problem. My body absorbs soap, deodorant and cologne within five minutes of putting them on. I have no protection or good smell when I get to work. What can I do? — R.O.

ANSWER: I haven’t answered because I don’t have an answer.

I have never encountered this problem, and I can’t find any doctor who has. I have struck out. If readers can provide a solution, I will put it in the paper — if it’s reasonable.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 53-year-old female who has had prolonged menstrual bleeding for a month. I am taking medroxyprogesterone. What are its side effects? My doctor said there are none because I am taking it for only two weeks. — C.I.

ANSWER: Medroxyprogesterone is one of the progestin female hormones. Progestins, along with estrogen, prepare the uterus for the implantation of a fertilized egg. You are taking it to stop the growth of the uterine lining and to promote its shedding.

Progestin hormones can cause clots, fluid retention and rashes. As your doctor says, you’re taking it only for two weeks; you should not run into any trouble from it.

Your response to the drug helps the doctor determine the cause of your bleeding, something that has to be determined.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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