GeneFo and MitoQ Plan Webinar on How Mitochondrial Antioxidants May Impact MS

The online multiple sclerosis community GeneFo will hold a webinar next week to discuss the latest research findings on how mitochondrial antioxidants may affect MS.

The webinar, which will be open to patients who register, will start at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, Aug. 24. GeneFo connects MS patients with their peers and experts, and information about medical resources and clinical trials.

In 2016, GeneFo partnered with MitoQ, a New Zealand-based company that develops supplements for mitochondrial health. It decided to ask MitoQ’s CEO, Greg Macpherson, to share the newest research in the field.

The partnership led to people with MS obtaining a 20 percent discount on MitoQ supplements. The discounts will also be offered to those who attend the webinar, or sign up to receive a recording of the webinar by email.

Mitochondrial supplements should be started only after consultation with a physician, GeneFo pointed out.

“Patients in our community and in other online groups have been reporting that antioxidant supplements have helped reduce fatigue, improve brain function, and decrease muscle exhaustion,” Neer Ziskind, GeneFo’s CEO, said in a press release provided to Multiple Sclerosis News Today.

“It was therefore important for us to bring the latest updates on the topic, as well as ease the financial access to the product, and we hope this exclusive 20 percent reduction comes in handy for patients and caregiver in the Multiple Sclerosis community,” Ziskind added.

Research indicates there is a link between mitochondrial health the development and progression of MS. Studies have identified defects in how mitochondria look and function in MS patients and animals.

Similar links to mitochondrial health have been found in other neurological diseases. And studies of mitochondrial antioxidants in various conditions suggest that they have the potential to prevent or delay the development of a disease, or alleviate symptoms once it appears.

But GeneFo points out that research has shown that the molecular processes of oxidative stress and the damage it causes are complex, and different diseases may need different antioxidant approaches. This complexity, it says, is the reason clinical trial results vary and have yet to generate robust evidence of whether antioxidants can be beneficial in MS.

The webinar will focus in part on the biology of oxidative stress, but also include the latest findings from  renowned research institutions such as the University of California, Los Angeles, the Mayo Clinic, and the Johns Hopkins University Hospital.

To register for the webinar or the recording, and to receive the 20 percent discount on MitoQ products, please click on this link.