turns out that the they were right to be skeptical of his ideas and deny funding as they turned out to be completely wrong
I have watched a lot of nonsense posts on the forums lately but cannot let this one go. The debate on the causes of MS grew out of the variant CJD scare we had here in the UK 18 years ago. A scientific committee was set up to advise the government and its advice was that the disease may be the result of the uncontrolled replication of 'prions' (bits of protein) and which was possibly being spread by eating beef. Many beef products were banned from sale and we were advised that in the coming years there could be an epidemic, many deaths, resulting from this horrible disease. None of the predictions came to pass. The scientists who advocated the prion theory got virtually all the available research money and those like Ebringer who suggested alternative lines of research got peanuts (Ebringer argues that the causes of MS, CJD and vCJD are essentially the same). In spite of the committee backed theory getting the money and conducting a multitude of experiments they have produced no experimental evidence whatsoever to support their hypothesis and if there is resentment it is directed against its advocates. The advisory committee has been disbanded and those involved are very quiet indeed. And vCJD remains what it always was, an incredibly rare sporadic illness.
With regard to Ebringer's advocacy of diet as a therapy for AS it was the result
of research carried out with the help of patients such as myself. The practice and treatments offered at his research clinic were overseen by a peer review panel. When his research indicated a role for klebsiella he suggested the use of antibiotics but the panel would not agree because of the concern about developing antbiotic resistance. But they did not object to the subsequent use of diet. It is scurrilous to suggest that Ebringer is some kind of oddball outside the correct practice of both medicine and science.
Last edited by bilko; 04/12/12 12:11 PM.
