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In the June 2010 Discover magazine there is a very interesting article discussing retroviruses and ms, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. In a nutshell the article posts findings that a retrovirus called HERV-W could trigger these conditions by being reawakened by known infections including herpes, toxoplasma, cytomegalovirus, and a dozen others.

If anyone gets the chance to read it I'd love to hear your feedback. The title of the article is the subject of this post.

Marcia

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Hi Marcia,
Isn't it crazy? I couldn't believe it when I read it and wonder why there's not more discussion about his findings on TIMS! With a strong family history of bipolar and other mental illnesses, makes me wonder if the researchers aren't onto something. I've been scouring the web trying to find out more info about this, but most of it is the same. Really cool stuff; and it makes sense!

I've been looking for more info on the net also but to no avail. It seems that this is the closest I've ever seen to a cause of MS. It doesn't throw the treatments we're using out the window. But it's a believable, rational explanation for how it begins.

Yes, me too. I've been looking all over since reading this and haven't found much. The irony for me is that I was hospitalized when I was a baby, and the doctors never knew the cause. I was treated with heavy steroids (sound familiar?) for over a year afterward. I looked down the CCSVI avenue and found that I do not have stenosis. I am grateful in that it's forced me to consider alternatives.

The more I learn about this disease, the more I believe there are several paths that lead us to the same spot. I think there are too many unknown variables that doctors do not take into consideration. Just last week I read an article about how researchers have recently discovered two subtypes of MS; Th1 and Th17 cell activated, respectively. The Th1 type of MS responds to the interferons, but for the Th17 type, it makes the disease worse! They are working on a blood test that will help determine which type an MS'er has. Hopefully that's not something we have to wait for for YEARS! Ugh...

I'll google whatyou just mentioned. Sounds interesting/enlightening.

in looking for info in the insanity virus, got both of these:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2002-08-05/n ... ler-torrey
and
http://discovermagazine.com/1992/sep/di ... chterm=the insanity virus

Seems Torrey has been at this theory for years; he is (or was) head of
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/ ... m/bio1.htm
where I imagine more if his work is cited.

I think he is basically saying that you might have the gene for schizophrenia (or whatever else), but that only makes you susceptible--there are many other factors that cause the gene to express--such as the virus in the article this thread is discussing.
To me this only makes sense--I have just found I have one of the Hemachromatosis genes (never suspected before)[THANKS TO MERLYN AND HER PHLEBOTOMY ANYONE THREAD], and have been thought for years to have Porphyria (testing difficult, and always get inconclusive results, despite all symptoms indicating)--and find now that HH and one of the porphyrias often hand-in-hand!!
But in the search re the porphyria, i figured something triggered it (too long to detail)--and have been busy avoiding the triggers. So the gene doesn't disappear, but the symptoms can be somewhat controlled (unfortunately after years of not knowing, and thus irreperable damage).
And probably is cause of MS symptoms, including lesions, all in a roundabout way.
So I think the article is worth tracking down, would be of interest, here mainly I think for further thoughts on searches re: the MSer's not fully healed by CCSVI. It opens us to the fact that MS, or almost any disease, is multi-faceted.