GUELPH — An informal fraternity is emerging among people seeking or who have already received a scientifically untested, but promising, foreign treatment for multiple sclerosis, a progressively debilitating brain and spinal cord disease.

Guelph’s Mel Roumeliotis had liberation therapy performed in July in India and concludes he’s made a marked improvement. He went with a group of 10 Canadians and one American. Upon his return, he has fielded calls and emails from as far away as Vancouver.

He said he feels a fraternity building that he’s thrilled to help in the face of a hesitant medical community and limited public knowledge about the treatment.

That sense of togetherness was evident in India.

“We’re a big family now,” Roumeliotis said.

He said he values the interconnections of those in the group and a broader number of people with MS contacting him by telephone and email, feeling an affiliation forming around liberation therapy out of which a more formal association may emerge.

“Right now, it’s word of mouth between people. It’s getting around,” Roumeliotis said.

MS is a complex disease in which the immune system malfunctions for reasons that remain unknown, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada reports. The body attacks its own tissue, notably the protective sheath around nerves.

Liberation therapy was developed by Italian surgeon and researcher Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who theorized MS is caused by blocked neck and chest veins impairing blood flow to the body from the brain. It’s further suggested by some proponents of the new treatment that this blockage causes a buildup of debilitating iron in the brain.

With outcomes unknown, the procedure to unblock veins and keep them open with stents isn’t available in Canada, though the Saskatchewan government recently announced it will study its benefits. And Newfoundland and Labrador has said it will pay for a study of multiple sclerosis patients who have chosen to undergo the new procedure.

The Ontario government stated more scientific evidence is needed but wouldn’t fund that research. The medical community is taking a cautious approach until more is known.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and its American counterpart, however, are initiating seven studies costing $2.4 million to determine if there’s a connection between MS and constricted veins.

While researching the new therapy, Guelph sisters Laura and Andrea Meatte contacted support groups around the world and on the internet.