Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Latest Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Interferon-gamma plays a critical role in damaging the cells that produce myelin

A new way to preserve the cells that surround and protect nerves could lead to new treatments for demyelinating diseases such a multiple sclerosis, a research team reports in the May 10, 2006, issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

10 May 2006

Discovery of new type of cell that generates crucial immune system cells

A new type of cell that generates crucial cells of the immune system has been discovered at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

8 May 2006

Epstein-Barr virus may trigger multiple sclerosis

Researchers have found that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) carry a population of immune cells that overreact to Epstein-Barr virus.

3 May 2006

Genetic and environmental factors impact chronic fatigue syndrome patients

People who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have a genetic make up that affects the body's ability to adapt to change, according to a series of papers released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

2 May 2006

No support for medical use of marijuana from the FDA

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in the U.S. there are no scientific grounds for the medical use of use of marijuana and the agency is highly critical of attempts by individual states to legalise it.

23 Apr 2006

Novel and important benefits of vitamin D and the problems associated with vitamin D deficiency

...will be discussed at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) Fifteenth Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress, April 26-30, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

19 Apr 2006

Computer program lets people with Trigeminal neuralgia diagnose themselves

Trigeminal neuralgia, or TN, is a disorder affecting the areas of the face where the trigeminal nerve's branches are distributed, including the lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead, and upper and lower jaws.

13 Apr 2006

IL-25 both promotes and limits inflammatory diseases

The same signal responsible for promoting the type of immune responses that cause asthma and allergy can also limit the type of inflammation associated with debilitating diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and multiple sclerosis, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

13 Apr 2006

New insights into how anti-rejection drug daclizumab (Zenapax) helps MS patients

A research team led by the University of Cincinnati's Bibiana Bielekova, MD, report new insights into the role of the MS drug daclizumab (Zenapax) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

11 Apr 2006

Mount Sinai launches CombiRx trial to treat relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is the Clinical Coordinating Center for the first study to assess the effectiveness of combining two FDA approved medications as initial treatment for people with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

11 Apr 2006

Epstein-Barr virus infection linked to multiple sclerosis

Young adults with high levels of antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that most often causes mononucleosis, may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis 15 to 20 years later, according to a study in the Archives of Neurology.

11 Apr 2006

Drug trial disaster will discourage future volunteers

According to the British government agency responsible for medical safety, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), no evidence has been found to suggest there were any problems with the manufacturing of a drug which left six volunteers seriously ill.

6 Apr 2006

Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

The accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not sufficient to rule in or rule out a diagnosis of MS with a high degree of certainty, finds a study published online by the British Medical Journal.

28 Mar 2006

Mustard and garlic kick linked to single pain receptor

A single pain receptor is solely responsible for the kick delivered by mustard oil and garlic, according to research in the Cell. Mustard oil is the active ingredient in mustard and in the pungent green sushi condiment known as wasabi.

28 Mar 2006

Atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University Medical Center are reporting compelling new evidence that the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for preventing the progression of, and reversing the severity of, multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2006

Drug trial nightmare - two still critically ill

In the drug trial nightmare which has left six men very ill in a London Hospital two remain in intensive care and are not expected to make any early improvement, according to their doctor Ganesh Suntharalingham, Northwick Park Hospital's Clinical Director of Intensive Care.

17 Mar 2006

MS sufferers lobby for return of Tysabri

Despite the deaths of two people among the thousands treated with a promising multiple sclerosis drug, MS patients are trying to persuade the U.S. government to allow the drug back onto the market.

8 Mar 2006

Will the FDA rise to the occasion and admit their natalizumab mistake?

When Anita Louise Smith enrolled in an experimental drug trial in 2002 in Colorado, she had a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis but no symptoms and was looking to reduce the chances of being ravaged by the disease.

7 Mar 2006

Johns Hopkins scientists identify protein fragment which may lead to a simple test for multiple sclerosis

Johns Hopkins scientists report the discovery of a protein found only in cerebrospinal fluid that they say might be useful in identifying a subgroup of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or identifying those at risk for the debilitating autoimmune disorder.

7 Mar 2006

Reparative cells offers new avenue for fighting multiple sclerosis

Plaques that form around the nerve cells of people with multiple sclerosis are apparently what disable people with the disease. But partly developed reparative cells within the plaques provide hope for a treatment, a UT Southwestern physician reports in the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Mar 2006