Smoking And Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis can become a debilitating disease that may affect one’s life. It is important that those affected by MS know how to deal with the disease, considering that it would take one’s whole life to try and manage it since there has yet no cure available to treat it. One way of managing multiple sclerosis is by following a lifestyle intent on trying to cope up with the symptoms and trying to prevent them from happening as long as possible.
One of the things that people with MS should consider is that smoking may have an effect on their disease. Researchers have identified smoking as a risk factor for MS. Further studies have revealed that smoking may hasten the progression of the said debilitating disease. Cigarette smoking has been associated with a 30 percent increase in the likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis although the results may not have been too significant enough but has instead been ruled out as just a chance finding.
But what the studies do show is that cigarette smoking has been found to be hasten the progression of multiple sclerosis. A past study has also shown that smokers who have multiple sclerosis experience faster deterioration rates when it comes to motor performance. On average, smokers with multiple sclerosis tend to show a 14 percent reduction on their motor skills which is attributable to the smoking habit.
Although the studies may not have yet shown that quitting smoking may prevent one from getting or developing multiple sclerosis, quitting may provide a positive effect in halting the disease progression for those who have it. It may eventually help people with multiple sclerosis avoid certain bad habits that may further worsen the disease faster than average.
Study Underway To Test Cannabis Compounds For MS Treatment
A clinical trial called CUPID (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) is about to go underway after being able to recruit 493 people with multiple sclerosis to take part in the said study. The study takes place at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth and will be evaluating whether a compound found in cannabis known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may help slow the progression of multiple sclerosis.
The CUPID trial is said to be an important milestone in the study of the disease since it aims to find a possible treatment that will aid in slowing down the progression of the disease. Current treatments available for multiple sclerosis only aims to ease specific symptoms that are linked to the disease such as muscle spasms, fatigue and bladder problems.
The CUPID trial follows in the heels of a similar study done earlier called CAMS (Cannabinoids and Multiple Sclerosis) which suggested the link between THC and the slow down of MS progression. The CAMS trial lasted for a year with participants taking THC as treatment for their multiple sclerosis. The CUPID trail on the other hand would take about three years to complete, with the result of the analysis made available by 2012. the CUPID study will also be assessing the effect of THC on progressive MS.
“We are delighted to have achieved the correct number of patient participants for this trial.”, said Prof. John Zajicek, head of the CUPID study at Peninsula Medical School. “Patients have been recruited from 27 sites across the UK. If we are able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the link between THC and the slowing down of progressive MS, we will be able to develop an effective therapy for the many thousands of MS sufferers around the world.” It took the team about two years in order to gather and recruit the 493 participants who will be taking THC for treating multiple sclerosis for three years, with some possibly doing three and half years.
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is one of the four known forms of MS. Also known as PPMS, this form of the debilitating disease is characterized by a gradual progress of the disease without any period of remission or relapse of the disease. A patient with PPMS may experience the symptoms leveling of at some days but does not disappear altogether at any time.
PPMS differs from the other forms of the disease, particularly the Relapsing/Remitting and the Secondary Progressive forms of MS in that the onset typically happens sometime in the late thirties or forties. PPMS initially takes place in a patient’s spinal cord rather than in the brain. PPMS may often migrate into a patient’s brain but it is less likely to do serious damage to the brain unlike the other forms of MS. And because of this, people with PPMS are less likely to develop problems that may be attributed to damage in the brain.
And just like other forms of multiple sclerosis, PPMS also presents its own set of special challenges when diagnosed. It may be very difficult to diagnose a person having PPMS since the disease may not clearly show in MRI findings. Doctors depend on several conditions to take place before PPMS can be considered which takes a variety of different tests taken for at least a year.
During the course of a year of documented tests, doctors may decide on the following conditions to determine if one has PPMS or not:
Worsening of symptoms during the course of the year.
People with PPMS start with symptoms that may be mild at first and that gradually becomes serious over time. The symptoms of MS do not seem to relapse at any time during the testing period.
Positive MRI Findings.
Doctors should see that MRI scans show some progressive worsening of lesions over time. Depending solely on MRI scans may be very difficult enough for doctors to diagnose PPMS since this form of MS usually form fewer lesions on the brain than Relapsing/Remitting MS.
Positive Lumbar Puncture
In the absence of any conclusive results taken from MRI scans, doctors may decide to take a lumbar puncture. This may help confirm diagnoses of MS and exclude other possibilities.
Recent Advances Offer Hope For People With MS
With multiple sclerosis still a disease without a known cure, it would be easy for many people to suddenly feel hopeless when they are diagnosed with this debilitating disease. Such a disease that can paralyze a sufferer at times and just plainly prevent a person from living a more meaningful life can be quite a problematic ailment indeed. But there is reason to hope. Recent breakthroughs have made it possible for researchers and scientists to make a step ahead in the search for that ultimate cure for multiple sclerosis.There have been a number of discoveries and developments that would help provide some hope for multiple sclerosis patients. One of the most significant of these breakthroughs include the discovery of a second gene that was linked to multiple sclerosis. This is considered as a major breakthrough in the researchers’ aim to find useful treatments for the disease and, ultimately, a much needed cure. The discovery of the gene is something worth noting in MS researcher that has spanned over 30 years of finding nothing conclusive about this debilitating disease.
Researchers and scientists are upbeat in being able to find other genes linked to multiple sclerosis which in turn can be used to target new treatments and possible cures for the disease. The thing about multiple sclerosis is that the symptoms exhibited by patients are various and differ from one case to another. The disease may also attack the different parts of the nervous system. Some MS patients may experience some trouble walking while others may not be able to walk at all. Some patients may have problems with speech due to the disease while others may experience blurred or even double vision.
Getting this new developments together and then using them to find possible treatments for multiple sclerosis provide a lot of hope indeed. And there are other breakthroughs that may also help add up to this hope for MS patients. Other advances in the study of multiple sclerosis has been the development of earlier and better diagnosis of the disease due to the advances in imaging technology.
Advances in the development of various drugs also provide hope for multiple sclerosis patients. There are now drugs available that can effectively reduce the severity and frequency of the symptoms, allowing MS patients to live a more normal life than before. Developments in several rehabilitation programs for multiple sclerosis also may help patient learn how to better cope up with their disease.
Effective MS Treatment May Depend on Disease Subtype
A study done by University of Michigan scientists suggests that patients suffering from similar clinical signs of multiple sclerosis may, in fact, have different forms of the disease which may require different treatments. Animal studies point out that the different subtypes of MS may likely affect how effective certain treatments are. Further studies, scientists believe will aid doctors in the future in pinpointing specific inflammatory processes in the body and then recommending the appropriate treatments using available drugs as well as the new ones along the line.
Multiple sclerosis is an auto-immune disease that affects the central nervous system. Cells from the immune system mount an aggressive response against certain proteins in the nervous system, particularly myelin which is considered as the insulation covering the nerve pathways where signals from the brain to other parts of the body go through. A loss of myelin may affect the electrical communication between the brain and the other parts of the body. Symptoms of the disease include, feelings of numbness and tingling, weakness, tremors, imbalance and pain.
Since the 1990’s the treatment of the most common form of the disease, relapsing-remitting MS, has gradually improved. With medications such as beta interferon drugs and glatiramer acetate now available, treatment has proven to be very effective in decreasing the attack rate as well as the suppression of inflammatory plaque development caused by MS. But the effect that some MS treatments greatly help show dramatic improvements in the patient’s condition while not in others still remains an unanswered question.
The University of Michigan research team sought out to conduct studies in mice suffering from a disease called experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis or EAE. The team found out that different inflammatory chemicals linked to two different types of immune T cells, could bring about paralysis and other MS-like symptoms. The team also showed that the drugs that may effectively block one of the inflammation pathways would not work as well in blocking the other.
According to Dr. Benjamin Segal, MD, senior author and the director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at the U-M Health System, “These two forms of disease differ in the specific anti-inflammatory agents that they are responsive to. We already know that some people respond better to the drugs beta interferon or Copaxone than others. Now we’ve shown proof that you can cause MS-like syndrome in mice due to qualitatively different types of inflammatory damage. As a result, these two kinds of inflammation likely require different approaches to treatment”.
It is not known as yet if the differences reflected in the animal studies will be similar to the human model of MS. But the study does suggest of the need to develop drugs that treat different inflammation pathways that may be caused by different forms of the disease.
