This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

The following article appeared On the Boston Cure Project website today. Based on MRIs, it categorises those with MS into four groups:

- low inflammation / high atrophy
- low inflammation / low atrophy
- high inflammation / high atrophy
- high inflammation / low atrophy

As most of you know 'atrophy' (brain tissue loss) - scares the pants of me. If there is a God - please let me be in the low inflammation ...

They don't seem to have any problem coming up with promising new targets for MS treatments...



Blocking macrophage migration inhibitory factor molecule might prevent the progression of multiple sclerosis

Medical Study News - 19-Oct-2005 - A new study suggests that a substance made by immune cells plays a key role in the progression of a disease in animals that closely mimics multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings further suggest that blocking the molecule, known as macrophage ...

Dear all,

Another piece of research and another finding which may result in better treatments (don't they all say this?). Unfortunately the experiments were done on mice.

Bromley


http://www.bio.com/newsfeatures/newsfea ... d=14100210

A nice MS story - for a change

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OK, maybe not CURE MS, but deciphering their genome might help a bit...



Scientists get on squid's nerves

18 Oct 2005 - The next time you bite into a tasty order of fried calamari, consider this: scientists are interested in the calamari squid not for dinner, but for all it is teaching them about nerve cells and the neurological conditions that result when nerve cells malfunction.

That's why scientists at the Marine Biology Lab (MBL) ...

Bees stings for MS don't work


http://www.msif.org/en/research/researc ... d_cro.html


Bromley

PS I've heard that bite of the King Cobra stops MS in its tracks.

I haven't a clue what this research actually found, but I'm glad to see that it kept ten reseachers employed (which is the whole point of MS).


http://www.msif.org/en/research/researc ... histo.html

Bromley

I wish I was a mouse - the researchers have managed to cure EAE in mice using bone marrow transplantation. Think of all the savings the mice in the world could make by not wasting all their money on the CRAB drugs now there is a cure.

However, given that EAE is a piss poor imitation of MS, I don't think these researchers will be finding anything for our condition.

http://www.msif.org/en/research/researc ...

I could cope with a limp, fuzziness in the fingers, a need to visit the toilet in a hurry, but the nightmare scenario for me is anything which affects my cognitive functioning. This research article, like many others, notes the loss of grey matter in addition to white matter (myelin).

As usual observations rather than explanations.

http://www.msif.org/en/research/researc ... r_pro.html

Bromley

Does this research call into question the notion that ...

When I was first dx I was told that MS was an inflammatory disease of the CNS. Being naive I thought that new drugs which dampen the inflammation would solve the problem. But MS is never simple. The following research paper notes that - 'The inflammatory activity and destructiveness of the multiple sclerosis process are to some degree independent of each other'.

As usual the researchers are good at observing but less good at working ...