MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Epstein-Barr, Aqua Exercise, Diagnosing SPMS, Myelin Repair

Epstein-Barr Virus and MS Risk: New Link to Mono Found in Study

Add this study to the mounting evidence that there’s some type of association between the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) — the virus associated with mononucleosis — and multiple sclerosis. I’ve never had mono, but several people with MS who post on our MS News Today Facebook page say they have.

People who had infectious mononucleosis — a contagious disease for which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the leading cause — had a higher incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the 10 years following diagnosis compared with individuals not diagnosed with the virus, a study found.

This link was particularly strong for patients diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis, commonly known as mono, between the ages of 14 and 20.

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Aquatic Exercise Found to Ease Fatigue, Improve Balance in MS

I agree — my overall health is better when I swim or walk in the pool a few times a week. For me, any kind of regular exercise helps ease a number of my symptoms.

Aquatic exercise therapy can help to ease fatigue and improve balance in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), without notable side effects, according to a review of published studies.

These findings have important implications for MS patients, as fatigue is among the main symptoms of the disease and can severely impact quality of life.

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Algorithm May Help Define SPMS; ‘Gold Standard’ Still Neurologist

If your diagnosis is secondary progressive MS, I’ll bet you can’t say with any precision when you progressed to it from relapsing-remitting MS. I know I can’t. There is no test for this. Maybe this algorithm will help make that determination. But what’s in a name anyway? Does anyone — other than insurance companies, perhaps — care what your MS is called?

A data-driven algorithm may be useful for defining the sometimes unclear transition from relapsing-remitting (RRMS) to secondary progressive (SPMS) forms of multiple sclerosis, a study found.

The study, “Towards a validated definition of the clinical transition to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: A study from the Italian MS Register,” was published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal. 

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MS Spasticity Therapy Baclofen Helps to Repair Myelin: Study

Repair of the myelin coating of our nerves, which when damaged is partially responsible for MS symptoms, is a researcher’s holy grail. How nice it would be if something as readily available and inexpensive as baclofen could accomplish this. But this was just a mouse study, and researchers say other studies are needed to see whether actual people with MS show evidence of enhanced remyelination.

Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS — in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed.

These findings suggest baclofen — sold as oral tablets, oral solution, and injectable formulations — may be a potential therapeutic approach to stimulate myelin repair in people with MS, the researchers noted.

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