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I'm considering a sex change!

Multiple Sclerosis affects men and women differently 07 May 2008

A new study done in Buffalo is revealing the differences in the way Multiple Sclerosis affects men and women.

The Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center is part of the Jacobs Neurological Institute. Located at Buffalo General Hospital, the center has become an international leader in computerized analysis of brain scans.

Most recently, in a study of more than eight hundred MS patients, they've discovered a difference in the way the disease affects the brains of men and women.

Doctor Robert Zivadinov (Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center) said, "We found more gray matter atrophy, and especially cortical and deep brain matter atrophy in men versus women, and that was highly significant."

Gray matter and white matter are the two major components of the brain, and the center's computers can now recognize and measure them.

In one scan, from a man with MS, the outer folds of brain tissue, called cortex, are separated from each other by dark spaces, because the cortex has shrunk, this is known as atrophy.

In a woman's brain, the spaces are not nearly so wide.

Men with MS become more severely afflicted, perhaps because of a shortage of testosterone.

A recently published study showed that replacement of testosterone in males was protective for brain atrophy in patients who have MS.

Women with MS tend to have more loss of white matter, shown by the enlargement of a central fark area, and that may be related to hormones also, because women with MS don't have acute attacks while they are pregnant.

Gender differences may also explain why certain MS drugs work better in women and others in men.

"I think that we are going to hear more and more about sex influence in MS. Its a totally new, very important chapter."

We've long known that MS affects the brain in different ways, and affects different parts of the brain in different people at different times.

Now, thanks to the computing power and the large number of cases at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, we've learned how it affects women and men differently, and that's useful information.

For instance, Dr. Zivadinov suggests that we might be able to discover whether a sex hormone deficiency plays a role in a particular patient's illness, and do something about it.

Source: WIVB TV News Copyright 2000 - 2008 WorldNow and WIVB (07/05/08)

Hey Bromley-
Sex change seems a bit radical!

We just had Jeff's serum hormone levels tested, all good and in the mid-range. His saliva test had come back with weird results, so we did a follow up. As we've now learned, the saliva hormone tests aren't as reliable as the blood tests.
Just an FYI.
Really want to suggest testing and bio-identical hormone replacement to all MSers-

Thanks for the study info
AC

_________________
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
dual stents placed 5/09
CCSVI in MS

I think it follows the status quo. Women don't shed weight as easily as men so it's harder for our brains to get "thinner" too!

Marcia

_________________
Marcia

Haha! You know, at the thought of that, my saddle bags don't make me feel so bad today

_________________
Dx RRMS March 5, 2008.

[quote="bromley"]
Men with MS become more severely afflicted, perhaps because of a shortage of testosterone. "

broomley recently after visiting with my urologist about this, he and my nuero are freinds, he suggested that I take depo-testostrone. I had my levels checked and they were normal at 466. Even at the normal range he injected me with 200 mg of test. I have not noticed a difference yet but we'll see what happens. He said to call him back after 2 weeks and let him know how i was doing. If he says so then I guess i'll try another round. He also suggested the test patch but i'm not to keen on wearing that around I really just wanted it to give me a boost of energy. I will keep you up on how everything goes. Thanks arti

.

I had an attack during my pregnancy. It lasted from the 2nd month to the last month. I didnt recover until a couple weeks after I delivered.

When I was pregnant I couldn't walk, my legs were so weak and stiff, I was dizzy and I did have some numbness.

Bromley

I knew it was going to come to this. Before and after pictures would be nice. Thanks for posting this.

As an FYI for anyone who’s interested, here’s the link to the AAN Conference abstract: Gender Related Differences in Multiple Sclerosis. A Large Cohort Study of Conventional and Non-Conventional MRI Measures

Besides the influence of hormones on atrophy, I wonder if this research is yet another indicator that MS is neurodegenerative. After all, men have thicker myelin than women, yet they have more gray matter atrophy than women. If it all started with the myelin one would think men would have less rather than more gray matter atrophy than women (thicker myelin presumably delaying the ultimate death of neurons/axons) and vice versa, or so it would seem. Quite intriguing.

I’m thrilled with this news and hope they don’t equate or limit research in gender differences simply to the study of sex hormones. Both are welcome though--they’ve been a friggin’ long time coming for a disease that has had a decidedly gender bias for quite some time now. Too bad it‘s been more or less ignored until recently.

Yes! Although I hope they don’t get stuck on just estrogen and testosterone.

AC

A slight word of caution here--I know that traditional practitioners loathe saliva testing. It’s been my non scientific understanding though that the key concern is to test for “free” hormone levels. Most, but not all, serum tests check for bound hormone levels rather than “free” levels. If it’s bound, it may not be available to the brain, CNS, etc. So, if you have serum testing, I’d be certain to verify that it will provide info re: “free” hormone levels.

Here’s a link to some recent fun non MS research and I was happy to see researchers beginning to use saliva testing.Is estrogen testosterone for women?

AC

Totally and enthusiastically agree.

777
Sorry you didn’t experience any relief and only aggravation during your pregnancy. It seems certain that not everyone benefits during pregnancy. Lots of factors appear to be involved in MS.

Take care all--I'd love to see research on sex differences and hormones in people with MS get off the ground level. Maybe this research is just the ticket since it was such a large sample of people, not rats.

Sharon

Would it be beneficial if I were to ask my neurologist to request the whole gamut of blood tests just to see if anything is off?

Sharon-
Good advice on testing "free hormones". Yes, our endocrinologist made sure to do that. Not to brag, but he said Jeff's numbers were that of a 20 year old. Made my husband's day. We're glad to be ruling things out...no Lyme, no vasculitis, no vitamin or hormonal deficiencies. Part of me was hoping he didn't have MS, but he does. In doing the testing we're making sure that all of his other systems are functioning well.

And that brings me to Matt's question,
You can ask your neuro or GP to do blood tests for you. Check and see which have been done recently. Many of them may have already been tested. You have a right to ask for xeroxes of all your medical records.

I think it's good for all of us, MSers and regular folk, to have a knowledge of our own bodies and to do what we can to optimize our health.
AC

_________________
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
dual stents placed 5/09
CCSVI in MS

bromley,

I will try to be more patient with you now that it is shown that your brain may be somewhat compromised by the disease. This article explains a lot.

gwa