March 16, 2010
Scientists from the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecule that acts as a switch triggering brain cells to grow and develop. Molecules known as miR-219 are usually found at high levels in brain cells called oligodendrocytes. This molecules seem to trigger oligodendrocytes to undergo a maturation process and become adult cells that perform certain tasks such as producing myelin, the protein that acts as insulation for neurons in the brain.
Oligodendrocytes are highly important cells found in the brain. Four out of ten cells in the brain are oligodendrocytes. Once mature, these cells are the ones...
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March 10, 2010
A recent study shows that highly fit patients with MS perform better on tests involving cognitive function as compared to lesser fit patients. The said study, which was conducted by researchers from the Ohio State University as well as the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts can be seen at the online journal Brain Research.
According to Ruchika Shaurya Prakash, assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study, "We found that aerobic fitness has a protective effect on parts of the brain that are most affected by multiple sclerosis". The study...
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March 3, 2010
A team of international researchers have recently found a new possible therapy that promises to help reduce the number of new or enlarged brain lesions in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis. The researchers have found that adding a humanized monoclonal antibody called daclizumab to available standard treatment enables the substantial reduction of new brain lesions in patients suffering from relapsing MS.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by the body's hyperactive immune system attacking the myelin, a fatty substance that protects the nerve fibers in the brain and the spinal cord. Considerable damage to the myelin covering...
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February 23, 2010
A recent study suggests that women with multiple sclerosis are more prone to suffer from migraine compared to women who don't have MS. But having migraine in itself is not an indicator that women will develop MS later on. The findings of this study will be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Toronto on April, 2010.
The said study was conducted by study author Dr. Ilya Kister, MD, of the New York University School of Medicine and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. The said study involved 116,678 women who were part...
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February 16, 2010
A preliminary study suggested that mother's who drank milk during pregnancy may help reduce their baby's risk of developing multiple sclerosis as an adult. The preliminary study was done by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and will be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
The preliminary study involved 35,794 nurses whose mothers answered a 2001 questionnaire concerning their experiences and diet during pregnancy with their nurse-daughter. Over the 16 year study period, 199 women developed multiple sclerosis. The researchers further found that the risk of MS was lower among women...
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February 9, 2010
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that usually affects more Caucasians that African Americans. But recent studies suggest that for those blacks that are afflicted by MS tend to have a disease that progresses faster and does not respond that well to available therapies as compared to MS that affects whites.
Neurology researchers from the University of Buffalo studied around 567 MS patients. During the course of the study, the researchers found out through Magnetic Resonance Images of the brain showed that blacks with MS develop more damage to brain tissue and had less normal white and gray brain matter as compared...
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February 2, 2010
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, the University Medical Center Gottingen and other institutes have recently witnessed live how aggressive cells from the immune system invade brain tissue and cause considerable damage such as what happens to people suffering from MS.
For so many years, scientists were puzzled just how these immune cells are able to escape the bloodstream and infiltrate the brain, considering that there are specialized blood vessels that act as a barrier between the bloodstream and the nervous system.
The team of researchers has discovered several new behavioral traits of immune cells. The nervous system...
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January 26, 2010
A new little pill is showing promise and hope for a number of people suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. This new pill may just change the lives of people with MS and improve their quality of life while learning to live with the usually debilitating disease.
A major clinical trial of an oral drug called Cladribine shows results that it can effectively reduce relapse and deterioration of MS, according to researchers at Queen Mary, University of London. The oral pill does away with the unpleasant side effects usually associated with current existing therapies for the said disease.
Cladribine holds the...
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January 19, 2010
A recent study has provided a new possible target for treating a wide range of diseases. Researchers from the Medical College of Georgia have identified a new protein that is critical to insulating the wiring system from the brain to the body. It may prove to be an interesting treatment target that may be possible for a number of diseases, from MS to cancer.
Studies involving mice have shown that a newly identified protein known as erbin may play a very significant role in the production of myelin, proteins that insulate the body's nerve wirings. The protein erbin regulates the...
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January 12, 2010
Bee Venom Therapy is one of the alternative treatments now being used for multiple sclerosis. It belongs to an alternative therapy method known as apitherapy, which refers to treatments associated with using not only bee venom and bee stings but also other bee products such as bee pollen, propolis and royal jelly. But in cases of multiple sclerosis, bee venom therapy has been known to offer some possible promise.
Apitherapy is not considered to be a recent form of treatment. Ancient Egyptians have been known to use bee byproducts to treat arthritis and a host of other health conditions. This might...
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