This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Dear all,

Sorry, my favourite subject again, neuro-protection.

I posted last week about the UK MS Society research conference which is taking place this week. The focus of the conference is neuro-protection which should, if effective, be beneficial to sufferers of any type of ms. Professor Kenneth Smith is presenting at the conference. I attach a summary of an article which he co-authored and which has just been published. Hopefully, he will say more at the conference which takes place this Wednesday and Thursday.


All the best

Bromley


http://www.msif.org/go.rm?id=12497

Hi Bromley -

Thanks for this post, and your others involving neuroprotection. I've been thinking about them and trying to learn a bit more. I noticed that in the New England Journal of Medicine out now, there is a review of a book on the topic:
Neuroprotection: Models, Mechanisms and Therapies
Edited by Mathias Bähr. 369 pp., illustrated. Weinheim, Germany, Wiley-VCH, 2004. $175. ISBN 3-527-30816-4.

And then when I went on Amazon, I found this one, which seems tightly linked to the Campath research.
Early Indicators, Early Treatment and Neuroprotection in Multiple Sclerosis (Topics in Neuroscience)
by O.R. Hommes, G. Comi

So I'm wondering if you have any familiarity with these. Also, have you heard anything from the meetings that you posted about?

Thanks,
Arcee

Arcee,

Thanks - I'm not familiar with these articles. Neuro-protection is an area which researchers are now turning to.

The UK MS Society conference which is focusing on neuro-protection finishes today. When feedback / presentations are posted on the UK MS Society website I will provide the short cuts. On Tuesday £2m was awarded to a UK project (extending a project) looking at cannabis and its effectiveness at proecting nerves.

The UK MS Society recently posted details of the work of its MRI Research. Part of this research is looking at neuro-protection - see details below.

'We have analysed the scans from numerous clinical trials over the past 10 years that have included people with relapsing remitting, primary and secondary progressive MS. We have found that a number of treatments - including mitoxantrone , beta-interferon and natalizumab - are able to reduce the number of new lesions that appear on the scan, and this effect is accompanied by a decrease in the relapse rate. We are currently developing MRI techniques for monitoring neuroprotective treatments. Effective protection of nerve fibres should prevent MS from progressing and the measurement of brain tissue loss on MRI appears a promising way of assessing this effect. Brain volume change will be the primary outcome measure of a trial of lamotrigine in secondary progressive MS – funded by the MS Society –that is due to start later in 2005'.

As I have said before, if the nerves of ms sufferers can be effectviely protected this should stop further deterioration and disability. Repair of damage already done could come from the research on stem cells which is really starting to gather pace - particulalry in the UK and South Korea. These two areas (in my opinion) should be the big hope areas for the future. I'm not saying that the immune focused research has been of no value but neuro-protection looks a better bet for stopping progression and (from my limited knowledge) should be beneficial to those who are SP and PP.


Ian (Bromley)