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Citation Details Title: B cells and MS: research points to new treatments for MS.(I want you to know) Author: John Richert Pub
Many people depend on multiple sclerosis research to manage the symptoms of this disease. MS attacks the central nervous system, and patients suffer from pain and fatigue, vision and hearing impairment, and problems with coordination.
However, thanks to MS research, medications and therapies have been developed to help control these symptoms. Many believe it’s only a matter of time until scientists find a cure for multiple sclerosis. In this article, we’ll discuss the latest developments in research.
In multiple sclerosis research, major gains have been made in identifying the role of the immune system in the development of MS lesions. This discovery is significant because it allows scientists the ability to devise ways to alter the response of the immune system.
Such work is expected to yield a variety of new potential therapies that may treat MS without harmful side effects. Immune system-related genetic factors that predispose an individual to the development of MS have been identified, and may lead to new ways to treat or prevent the disease.
MRI multiple sclerosis monitoring is proving to be invaluable. Scientists are now able to see and follow the development of MS lesions in the brain and spinal cord. This is a tremendous aid in the assessment of new therapies and can speed up the process of evaluating new treatments.
There are a number of treatments under investigation that may curtail attacks or improve the function of damaged nerve fibers. Over a dozen clinical trials testing potential therapies are underway, and additional new treatments are being devised and tested in animal models.
In multiple sclerosis news, the bio pharmaceutical company MediciNova Inc. has announced data from a double-blind analysis of the first year of treatment from its two-year Phase II clinical trial of MN-166 in multiple sclerosis. The second year of the Phase II clinical trial is on-going with results expected in April 2008.
The analysis showed that MN-166 decreased the formation of brain lesions that are believed to indicate the death of nerves in the brain on MRI in MS patients. Treatment with a 30 mg/day dosing regimen of MN-166 showed a trend toward reduced risk of new lesion evolution to persistent black holes when compared to a placebo. This means that when diagnosed early, patients can stave off the symptoms of MS.
While great strides in MS research have been made, there is still a long way to go. If you have MS and want to support multiple sclerosis research, then The Human Brain and Spinal Fluid Resource Center in Los Angeles requires tissue from patients with neurological and other disorders to do their studies.
Tissue from individuals with MS is needed to enable scientists to study this disorder more intensely. For people who don’t have MS, the best way to help is with financial donations. With this combined effort, perhaps we will one day have a world without MS.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS) – that’s the brain and spinal cord. Predominantly, it is a disease of the “white matter” tissue. The white matter is made up of nerve fibres which are responsible for transmitting communication signals both internally within the CNS and between the CNS and the nerves supplying rest of the body. In people affected by MS, patches of damage called plaques or lesions appear in seemingly random areas of the CNS white matter. At the site of a lesion, a nerve insulating material, called myelin, is lost. I shall explain this process in more detail later. Clinically, MS is a hard condition to characterise because it is very unpredictable and variable. Depending on which areas of the CNS are affected and how badly they are damaged, the type and severity of symptoms can vary greatly. No two people get MS in exactly the same way and the expression of each individual’s disease is as unique as their fingerprints. However, the different courses of the disease, both within an individual and within the whole population, principally differ in their timing, location and severity. Underneath similar processes (including demyelination and sometimes other forms of nerve degeneration) are going on. Although recent research indicates that the biochemical make-up of lesions may vary between different forms of the disease, this is not the reason why people with MS (PwMS) have such widely differing symptoms …
MS Learn Online is the National MS Society’s online educational webcast series. In this video, Jack Burks, MD, discusses multiple sclerosis, including diagnosis, symptoms and research.
Professor Alan Thompson, from the Institute of Neurology in London, talks about rehabilitation for people with multiple sclerosis, and how this practice is developing.
www.HermanMack.com What’s So Great About [Multiple Sclerosis]? Every video that I’ve seen about MS so far only shows what’s so bad about MS. I want to share whats good about [Multiple Sclerosis] ** Sorry this video was up about a year ago. Unfortunately my previous account was removed…
Jane Petty, strategic lead for physiotherapy for the MS Society, talks about her session at MS Frontiers 2009 which looked at exercise and physiotherapy for people with multiple sclerosis, and ways to improve delivery of these services around the UK.
