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Mayo Clinic researchers have identified critical steps leading to myelin destruction in neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a debilitating neurological disease that is commonly misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings could lead to better care for the thousands of patients around the world with NMO. The paper was published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

NMO is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that damages the optic nerves and spinal cord, causing vision loss, weakness, numbness and, sometimes, arm and leg paralysis and loss of bowel and bladder control. NMO was historically misdiagnosed as a severe variant of MS until 2005 when a team led by Vanda A. Lennon, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic research immunologist, identified an antibody unique to NMO, and discovered that its unexpected target was the major water channel of the central nervous system (aquaporin-4). A blood test emerging from this discovery has revolutionized the diagnosis of NMO, allowing its distinction from multiple sclerosis and introducing more appropriate treatments....Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/2395