Multiple Sclerosis

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Multiple Sclerosis

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Multiple Sclerosis

"Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually affects woman more than men. The disorder most commonly begins between ages 20 and 40, but can strike at any age. The exact cause is not known, but MS is believed to result from damage to the myelin sheath, the protective material which surrounds nerve cells. It is a progressive disease, meaning the damage gets worse over time. Inflammation destroys the myelin, leaving multiple areas of scar tissue (sclerosis). The inflammation occurs when the body's own immune cells attack the nervous system. The inflammation causes nerve impulses to slow down or become blocked, leading to the symptoms of MS. Repeated episodes, or flare ups, of inflammation can occur along any area of the brain and spinal cord."

Highlighted Article

The role of MRI in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. (Adv Neurol. 2006)

"There is no single test that is diagnostic of MS, including MRI. The lesions detected with MRI are pathologically nonspecific. The principles of MS diagnosis are based on showing dissemination of white matter lesions in space and time. … The first important role for MRI in the diagnosis of MS allows for an early diagnosis of MS … The second important role for MRI in the diagnostic work-up of suspected MS patients is to rule out alternative diagnoses obvious on MRI, such as spinal stenosis and most brain tumors. Characteristic lesions that favor MS include Dawson Fingers, ovoid lesions, corpus callosum lesions, and asymptomatic spinal cord lesions. However, other white matter diseases can have similar appearances on MRI. … MRI evidence plays a supportive role in what is ultimately a clinical diagnosis of MS, in the appropriate clinical situation, and always at the exclusion of alternative diagnoses."

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Multiple Sclerosis

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NEWS:

Correlation Found Between Restless Legs Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis “Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have more than 5 times the risk of having restless legs syndrome (RLS) compared with a healthy population, a new study shows. … The current findings are important, but the study's use of a questionnaire to determine RLS symptoms creates a selection bias, said the chair of the Congress Scientific Program Committee, Serge Przedborski, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and pathology at Columbia University, in New York, in an interview. "This is interesting, but the result needs to be confirmed before I say anything to my patients with MS," Dr. Przedborski told Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery.“

Does Pot Use Hamper Thinking in MS? “Marijuana smokers had slower average reaction times on a test that challenged them to process information quickly. And they were more likely to report a history of psychiatric diagnoses, most of which were depression or anxiety diagnoses. It's not clear if marijuana use caused those conditions. The study doesn't show which came first -- marijuana use or problems with emotions and thinking. It's also not clear if the patients, who all attended the same outpatient clinic, are representative of all MS users.“

Higher levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are associated with a lower incidence of multiple sclerosis only in women (Multiple Sclerosis 2008)

Homocysteine High in Patents With MS and Depression “Results of a study suggest for the first time a link between increased homocysteine levels and depressive symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study findings also indicate that homocysteine may be elevated in MS patients even in the absence of vitamin B12 and folate deficiency.”

Marijuana Use Among MS Patients Raises Risk for Cognitive, Mood Problems: Study found slowed information-processing, increase in depression, anxiety “Multiple sclerosis patients who smoke marijuana in search of symptom relief are more likely to suffer cognitive shortfalls and mood disorders, new Canadian research suggests. A slowing down in the ability to process and remember information is one significant side effect, as is a rise in the rate of depression and anxiety.“

Pediatric MS Affects Thinking, Memory

ARTICLES:

Overview & Facts

What to Expect With Primary Progressive MS

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Association of vitamin D metabolite levels with relapse rate and disability in multiple sclerosis (Multiple Sclerosis 2008) “Serum levels of 25(OH)D were associated with both relapse rate and disability in MS patients. These results are suggestive for a disease modulating effect of the serum concentrations of 25(OH)D on MS. The low circulating 1,25(OH)2D levels in progressive MS are due to older age and lower 25(OH)D levels. The potential consequences for vitamin D supplementation in MS will be discussed.”

Cognitive impairment and structural brain damage in benign multiple sclerosis (NEUROLOGY 2008)

Exercise and brain health - implications for multiple sclerosis : part 1 - neuronal growth factors. (Sports Med. 2008) “A current frontier in the neurodegenerative disorder multiple sclerosis (MS) concerns the role of physical activity for promoting brain health through protective, regenerative and adaptive neural processes. Research on neuromodulation, raises the possibility that regular physical activity may mediate favourable changes in disease factors and symptoms associated with MS, in part through changes in neuroactive proteins. Insulin-like growth factor-I appears to act as a neuroprotective agent and studies indicate that exercise could promote this factor in MS. Neurotrophins, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor likely play roles in neuronal survival and activity-dependent plasticity. Physical activity has also been shown to up-regulate hippocampal BDNF, which may play a role in mood states, learning and memory to lessen the decline in cognitive function associated with MS. In addition, exercise may promote anti-oxidant defences and neurotrophic support that could attenuate CNS vulnerability to neuronal degeneration. Exercise exposure (preconditioning) may serve as a mechanism to enhance stress resistance and thereby may support neuronal survival under heightened stress conditions. Considering that axonal loss and cerebral atrophy occur early in the disease, exercise prescription in the acute stage could promote neuroprotection, neuroregeneration and neuroplasticity and reduce long-term disability.”

Gray matter atrophy is related to long-term disability in multiple sclerosis (Annals of Neurology 2008)

Higher levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D are associated with a lower incidence of multiple sclerosis only in women (Multiple Sclerosis 2008) “Our data suggest that higher circulating levels of 25(OH)D are associated with a lower incidence of MS and MS-related disability in women. This may imply clues to the pathogenesis of the sex difference in risk and to the nature of the environmental factors involved in MS.”

Increased Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis Among COPD Patients and Their First-Degree Relatives: A Population-based Study (Lung 2008) “This study indicates that COPD and MS have an inflammatory vulnerability in common, at least in a subgroup of patients. These diseases may share inflammatory pathways, including predisposing variants of genes.”

Incidence of Multiple Sclerosis in the Urban Area of Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany (Neuroepidemiology 2008)

Mitochondrial defects in acute multiple sclerosis lesions (Brain 2008)

Monthly Ambient Sunlight, Infections and Relapse Rates in Multiple Sclerosis (Neuroepidemiology 2008)

Optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis. (Current Opinion in Neurology 2008)

OPTIMIZING VITAMIN D LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (Clinical & Investigative Medicine 2008)

Peripheral nerve demyelination in multiple sclerosis. (Clin Neurophysiol. 2008)

Temporal trends in the incidence of multiple sclerosis (NEUROLOGY 2008) “Conclusion: The latitude gradient present in older incidence studies of multiple sclerosis (MS) is decreasing. The female-to-male MS ratio has increased in the last five decades. “

The association of multiple sclerosis and Hodgkin's disease: the role of Epstein—Barr virus infection (Multiple Sclerosis 2008) “Although there are many unanswered questions, it is clear that without EBV seropositivity MS in adults is extremely rare.”

Varicella-zoster virus in cerebrospinal fluid at relapses of multiple sclerosis (Annals of Neurology 2008) “The ultrastructural finding of viral particles identical to VZV, together with the simultaneous presence of large quantities of DNA from VZV in the subarachnoid space, almost restricted to the periods of exacerbation, as well as its steady diminution and eventual disappearance from clinical relapse to clinical remission are surprising and constitute the strongest evidence to support the participation of VZV in the pathogenesis of MS.”

Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. (J Cell Biochem. 2008) “Vitamin D is a principal regulator of calcium homeostasis. However, recent evidence has indicated that vitamin D can have numerous other physiological functions including inhibition of proliferation of a number of malignant cells including breast and prostate cancer cells and protection against certain immune mediated disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS). The geographic incidence of MS indicates an increase in MS with a decrease in sunlight exposure. Since vitamin D is produced in the skin by solar or UV irradiation and high serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been reported to correlate with a reduced risk of MS, a protective role of vitamin D is suggested.”

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