Theoretical Immunology

If it's on your mind and it has to do with multiple sclerosis in any way, post it here.
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

Scott1 wrote:
...
The tightness you have is collateral damage from MS but it doesn’t have to be permanent.
...
Thank you Scott for all your comments and the patience with me on the physiotherapeutical aspects and needs.

The one thing that intrigues me is your above comment.
You seem to see the tightness and with that in some way the progression of disability as collateral damage from MS.

Is this because you see the problem of how -over time- the EBV takes the genome and EBV B cell cross reaction as collateral to the MS process with the Zoster viral cause in the CNS and spinal as primary? With the latter detoriorating the neuroconduction in the head/spinal and the former weakening muscles strength and local muscle control? I could probably agree to such view.

Regards,

Leo
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

The oxidative stress cycle could be more involved and complicated than just superoxide from EBV B cells as this article shows:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17191137

To place this in context: this is Ref 12 in Pall's publication on how can we cure the NO/ONOO cycle: http://nunm.edu/images/CE/cureabst.pdf

Where the mechanism described by Foxton et al (BG4 cycle) would be more a problem in the CNS than in muscles.
While for progressive MS patients, it would be more of an EBV problem in the muscles.

Any views welcome.
Last edited by Leonard on Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Scott1
Volunteer Moderator
Posts: 1691
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Scott1 »

Hi Leo,

I'm not bold enough to say that's the definitive answer. In the link to Martin Palls article, the chart on page 2 has a box that points to iNOS. In his book that same box is full of cytokines (interferons, interleukins etc) which would be products of your explanation. So it would fit.

I do see tightness as collateral damage. I see demyelination in much the same way. Whether its permanent depends on what you do about the inflammatory cycle and how long it has persisted.

The first question should always be "what is supposed to be happening?" and I don't feel that gets asked very often. Nearly every pathway is ATP dependent.

Regards,
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

Let’s draw this short D-tour on influences and superoxide generation to a conclusion.

The daily live of MS patients is affected by many influences including temperature; air pressure; oxygenation; supply of crude fuel. So there is not one, there are many. All will in some way have an effect on ATP production. Furthermore, besides intra-cellular there may be extra-cellular mechanisms such as calcium homestasis that affect patients.

I think the generation of superoxide in MS patients is mainly caused by EBV B cells. After 60 years of age, when the production of B cells wanes, half of MS patients stabilize. The BG4 cycle may add to the superoxide production, but I guess that may be more for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The thing that I fail to understand is why this vast neurological world with over 10,000 participants attending ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS has been so obsessed with demyelination and - after all these years - has not thought about the possibility of a failing ATP generation as the root cause for MS. And what to do about that.
Last edited by Leonard on Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:38 am, edited 5 times in total.
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

If you have the right physiotherapist who is used to treat MS patients, he can make you walk again. A significant part of MS progression is caused by muscle rigidity. Many years of neurodeficiency may have caused muscular stiffness and rigidity.

When the agonist gets tightened, the antagonist on the other side has to relax. Now if the signals to relax falter or are too slow, or because of cross talk due to demyelination, over a period of many years a situation will develop where muscles and/or antagonists get exhausted and/or stiff and get locked up. This may be aggravated by local neuromuscular deficiency caused by EBV B cells and oxidative stress.

I recently had the experience that after untightening my muscles, I found the nerve path is still there and that in fact I still have full control over my muscles. While I got completely dependent on a cane for the last 2 - 3 years, I could walk again as a normal person without a cane, for several hundred meters.
Last edited by Leonard on Thu May 24, 2018 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Scott1
Volunteer Moderator
Posts: 1691
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Scott1 »

Hi Leo,
This recently published article fits with your recent discussion - https://scienmag.com/leg-exercise-is-cr ... em-health/

Regards.
Last edited by Scott1 on Thu May 24, 2018 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Zyklon
Family Elder
Posts: 401
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 12:45 pm
Location: Turkey

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Zyklon »

GYM and resistance/strength training plays a major role for my health. I don't care about what my docs say about heavy training. It makes me feel good...
Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain! You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain! Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from... Pain!
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

A few weeks ago, something really fantastic happened to me. For several hundred meters, I could walk normal again and without a cane. This has not happened to me for the last 2-3 years. I always went out with a cane and got completely dependent on it. Perhaps more importantly, the muscles in my hips worked and I could feel their ‘rotational’ movement needed for the gait. It was as if I could control my legs as in the old days.

In a way the experience was really weird and came by complete surprise while I was not conscious at that moment about the physiotherapy session that I had had the previous day. In fact, the day before I had seen a new physiotherapist who had treated MS patients for over 20 years. He stretched my legs and hips. It was not really very much more than a few rather basic movements, mainly stretches.

In the morning the legs were quite stiff but that's not unusual. Later that morning, I went out of the house to go to the back of the garden, and already in the kitchen I felt that my legs were different. I put on my shoes, took the cane and got going. But 5 meters on or so - this came totally unexpected - I told my wife who happened to be outside: it feels different. And I threw the cane away and walked like a normal person to the back of the garden and then came back.

This made me realize that the nerve paths are still there, that in fact I still have full control over the muscles in my hips and legs. I guess now my main problem is the rigidity of the muscles that has held me back and seems to even worsen over time. Is this what is progression, at least in part?

The physiotherapist said that many years of neurodeficiency may have caused muscular stiffness and rigidity. When the agonist gets tightened, the antagonist on the other side has to relax. Now if the signals to relax falter or are too slow, or because of cross-talk due to demyelination, a situation will develop where muscles and/or antagonists get exhausted and/or stiff and remodel. This situation may be aggravated by tightening muscles that squeeze significant nerves (Scott’s above posting), thinner/weaker neuromuscular paths caused by the oxidative stress cycle (EBV B cells) and of course the neurological trauma in CNS and spinal from earlier MS relapses.

The last MRI of my head suggests things are stable so no (new) inflammatory activity. There may still be a bit of oxidative stress left over from EBV B cells but above 60 years of age that may be expected to wane with time as well.

The important thing now would seem to be to work on the muscles, to get the right physiotherapy and muscular treatments. Scott’s remarks on muscular treatments in above postings would seem very appropriate and are well taken. I know now what I have to work on.

= = =

I share Scott’s view about muscular rigidity being collateral to MS. I know for us it feels like damage but I would not necessarily use the word damage as the phenomenon may be some sort of evolutionary compensatory mechanism in reaction to sustained nerve impairment. And with Scott, I think – and hope – that it is reversable.

Where the article in Scott’s above posting would seem to focus more on neurological health, I think that there is also an aspect of "muscular learning". Last night I saw a reportage on television called "The secrets of the human body" (you can find on YouTube). It was done by the BBC. It explained quite nicely how muscles of for instance tennis players adapt to the situation. I think that generally speaking there will also be some adaptation in elderly people where muscles get stiffer to compensate for the loss of... And for us there will be some 'compensation' for the many years of faltering signaling…

I would need to add another step (9) to the Skeleton to cover this new dimension of muscular blockage http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p251748
and with that I think we have a pretty complete picture of what is MS. It's now a matter of writing it all down.

= = = = = = = = =

Post script June 2019:

I know now what happens. And it is repetitive. In other words, I can provoke this situation.

If I literally cool down my body the nerves start to work, I can even lift my foot and feel the rotational movements in my hip. And I walk almost as normal while normally my EDSS must be around 5-6 and I can only walk with difficulty with a cane.

In other words, if it gets really cold, the mitochondria are supplied by raw energy, ATP is produced and the synapses are 'charged'. And the muscles work as normal and almost instantly the spasticity seems to evaporate..
Last edited by Leonard on Thu Jun 20, 2019 12:30 am, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
Scott1
Volunteer Moderator
Posts: 1691
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Scott1 »

Hi Leo,

I am glad you are finding a way through this. There are some people who do have quite profound problems with edema, muscle tightness and muscle weakness.

As part of the inflammatory process our ability to manage calcium is affected and that causes those problems.

In particular, the receptors on the post synaptic neurons called the NMDA receptor and AMPA receptor can play a part in a process called long term potentiation . This video explains it in the context of learning but you could apply the concept to skeletal muscle pathways.

In essence, the neural pathways will remodel themselves based on what is repetitively happening to them. The phrase is "fire together - wire together vs fire apart - wire apart". So the essence is you need to keep doing things that produce positive outcomes (such as exercise or movement). Blocking NMDA receptors with magnesium (possibly just through diet or with a supplement) can change long term outcomes. Of course, if you haven't addressed the causes of inflammation (EBV is a big one) then you are going to struggle.

That muscle tightness needs a ready supply of ATP to relax it but you may need to modulate calcium with magnesium as well. As my case is more extreme I control calcium with Dantrium. To get a positive benefit using that you need to move those muscles all the time otherwise you will feel very weak as the tightness fades.
Regards,
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

The viral connection

Post by Leonard »

This article fully confirms the Skeleton https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29996671
Varicella zoster virus (VZV), known to cause chicken pox infection in humans, is a significant contender in sensitizing the infected people towards MS.
Reactivation of latent herpes viruses by other infectious agents induces ..... perhaps such as Hepatitis vaccinations?
I had these vaccinations a few years before MS was diagnosed.

The relationship MS-EBV is the second part of the viral argument that causes the progression.
I have been struck by a simple fact, which however means a lot.
(Progressive) MS hardly ever occurs among people who are EBV seronegative.
That is still 5-10% of the population, so in some larger studies the possibility of chance is reduced to an almost indefinitely low value.
Again, fully confirming the Skeleton.
Last edited by Leonard on Sun Oct 28, 2018 1:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

oral-health-risks-MS

Post by Leonard »

http://decisionsindentistry.com/article ... sclerosis/

quote:
Individuals with MS are at increased risk for dental caries, gingivitis and periodontitis due to the physical effects of MS, as well as these patients’ reduced immune response.2,22
Compared to those without MS, patients with MS tend to have more extensive gingival disease and an increased number of decayed, missing or filled teeth.5,21
unquote

I think it is the CCSVI and hypoperfusion that causes the "reduced immune response", which in turn causes the teeth problems but also causes viral spreading into the CNS.
Again, fully confirming the Skeleton at http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p251748 .
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

from http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 25958.html :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl ... le_788.pdf
on "Rab32 connects ER stress to mitochondrial defects in multiple sclerosis"

Besides Rab32, I guess there will be many proteins involved or affected in some way.


The above paper on Rab32 again fully confirms the Skeleton on http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p251748

Scaring how far this world of neuroinflammatory experts is still removed from the bigger overall concept.

= = = =

Also this new thread on Metabolomic profile of insulin resistance confirms the overall thinking of the Skeleton

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 30426.html

of course, the issue here is that the cells don't open up fast enough.
it is a form of non-insulin dependent resistance/diabetes.
there are other publications about this.
Last edited by Leonard on Fri Oct 05, 2018 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Danelle
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2018 5:45 pm

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Danelle »

https://hopevictoryoverms.blogspot.com/?m=1

I have had success with reversing my lesions. I have written a blog to share my story.
I have been symptom free for 7 years.
User avatar
Leonard
Family Elder
Posts: 1063
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:00 pm
Location: Brussels

Re: A new concept and treatment options for MS

Post by Leonard »

Re: 2018 study: increased plasma citrulline levels in pwMS
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 30488.html

The citrullination mechanism is part of a programmed cell death. See eg http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p248066

This is yet another paper that confirms the overall picture at http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p251748
Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”