This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Interesting question CureO.

Great news Dunman, thanks for the post. In a way I am scared of getting hopeful even though it is my one wish that they find a cure. The first step is knowing what causes it, and if it is this virus, then that is fantastic, but scary.



J.

Cureo said:

Specifically on this virus, i didnt read the % of non-MS controls that had this virus?

I asked just the same question on CPN help. It could just be something that most people have antibodies to, like EBV. You know, when I was a child, my mother used to send me to friends' houses to catch everything going, to save me catching it when I was older. Trouble is, I only caught scarlet fever as a child, but I probably have antibodies to everything going!

Sarah

When Arron started the site he offered $1,000 to the first poster to get to 1,000. That money is as good as mine!

hahaha-- would you settle for a nice dinner instead? I'm, as always, thankful to all of you for your combined efforts.

Hi everybody here!

The news also came trough in Holland,lots of people with and without MS are exited..

Let's hope this brings a cure or at least a profylaxe!

We cross our fingers!

hahaha-- would you settle for a nice dinner instead?

NO Arron, I'll take the $1,000. You're from California and almost all Californians are millionares.

I have mentored Digan and Dunmann from NOTHING and deserve special credit.

I'll keep posting until I hit 1,000 posts but will go on strike until the money hits my account! I've had hundreds of PMs begging me to keep posting but the decision will rest with you!

In the meantime, I think the next six months might be very interesting - hopfully some good news on the various drugs trials, and a breakthrough on the genes front.

Ian

Bromley, you should have picked a higher number for your imaginary prize because you were already beaten to 1,000, probably by about 1 year.

Dignan,

I'm talking about quality postings not the rantings of a mad person.

The $1000 is as good as mine - Arron is a former member of the Village People (YMCA and all that), so this sort of money is peanuts to him.

I like the way you and your fellow Canadian Dunmann are ganging up against the sole Englishman (Hugh Grant look-a-like). But remember the bull-dog spirit - Winston Churchill, Maggie Thatcher etc. I won't go down without a fight.

Ian

CureOrBust wrote:I saw a science TV show a couple of weeks ago that featured a new technology, that from my limited understanding, was using RNA to create a material/cell that could target & damage the DNA of specific virus

I found a URL while checking something else up. It contains the transcript of the show i mentioned.
Virus Busters
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1619353.htm

cureorbust,

The research program sounds like it may really work to cure viruses. My hopes were dashed a bit when the last sentence referenced that it will take at least a decade to test whether the process works.

I am running out of decades.

gwa

oo

Bob,

It would of course depend on whether the virus was just a trigger or whether it remained in the system and lead to continuation of the disease process. I assume that's why they are examining MS lesions to look for the presence of the virus.

If it was just a trigger - then anti-virals would be of little benefit. But understanding the trigger, and its effect on genes, should lead to therapeutic targets.

If it did persist in the system (and led to the immune system attack), then anti-virals (if they worked) might lead to less / no more damage.

If there was a vaccine, then if given to young children, they might never get infected and then not develop MS.

Of course this is all guesswork at the moment. But if I were a betting man, a virus would be the front-runner. The PML cases in the Tysabri trials were a result of the JC virus which led to de-myelination (and death in two cases).

Cyprovirus may turn out to be a red herring - but as long as they keep looking they'll eventually find the trigger/s.

Ian

Dear all,

I forwarded the article to good neuro who forwarded it to a virologist. The virologist had the following view:

"Unfortunately the press release does not refer to any peer reviewed publication nor does it present any hard data related to multiple sclerosis. Reading between the lines I think that this is possibly just a resurrection of an old and now discredited story about a link between MS and a virus known by various names including cryptovirus, parainfluenza virus 5, PIV-5, simian virus 5 & SV5.... So unless there are new convincing data which are not yet in the public domain, then I fear that this press release is just 'hype'".

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - but of course, perhaps more data will be provided. But, as with most things with this disease e.g. Tysabri, they build us up to knock us down.

Ian

Yeah, its like troubleshooting the idle/run problem I have my 1990 Nissan 300zx project car. It could be so many things, and just when you think you have it figured out, something else comes up. Grrrrrr. Blasted disease, and blasted car.



It did occur to me, however, that the persistant nature of MS is not an auto-immune condition, but that of a viral component that is causing the damage.