MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Myelin Repair, Early DMT Use, Online Physical Therapy, At-home Exercise

Scientists Discover Enzyme Needed for Activating Myelin Repair

Here’s encouraging news for those interested in remyelination — and who isn’t interested in repairing our frayed MS nerves? Yes, it’s only a mouse study, but maybe it’s the starting point for finding a way to use a particular enzyme to boost our myelin-repairing genes.

This is a very technical story, but this quote jumped out at me: “Worth noting … is the dramatic downregulation of the TET enzymes detected in post-mortem brain tissue from multiple sclerosis patients, thereby highlighting the overall translational potential of our findings.”

I know scientists can’t just snap their fingers and create a way of using those enzymes to repair our myelin, but it gives me hope that there might be a way to do it.

The enzyme TET1, which is progressively lost with age, is essential to activate genes needed to repair myelin — the sheath around nerve cells that is damaged in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — a study in mice has found.

The scientists said their discovery supports further research to find ways to reverse TET1 decline, repair myelin damage, and slow MS progression.

Click here or on the headline to read the full story.

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Younger Age, DMT Use at Early Relapse May Lessen Later Disability

Similar results to these have been reported in other studies, and it’s an important concept. It seems there is no doubt that the earlier a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) is started, the more likely it is to slow MS progression. So, please tell me, why are some people with MS still reluctant to be treated with a DMT, and why are some neurologists still reluctant to recommend early treatment? 

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are using a disease-modifying therapy — and are at a younger age — when they have a relapse within the first three years of their disease course are more likely to recover completely, lowering their risk of long-term, 10-year disability, a study suggests.

Complete recovery may also be more likely in these patients if they have no bowel, bladder, or cognitive symptoms.

The study, “Relapse recovery in multiple sclerosis: Effect of treatment and contribution to long-term disability,” was published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal – Experimental, Translational and Clinical.

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Shepherd Center, BurnAlong Open Global Online Rehab Classes for MS

I’m a believer in the benefits of physical therapy (PT) for people with MS. And therapists will tell you it’s particularly necessary as a follow-up to a rehab hospital admission. But it can be difficult for some people to get to a PT center, and home care PT isn’t always available. Here, participants use the BurnAlong health platform to participate in PT classes on their own or in live sessions with other people. These remote, personalized sessions as a follow-up to a hospital admission sound like an excellent and much-needed extension of telemedicine.

BurnAlong and the Shepherd Center, a leading rehabilitation hospital in the U.S., have established a partnership to bring tailored rehabilitation classes to people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neuromuscular diseases worldwide.

The video classes, designed by clinicians, therapists, and wellness professionals at the Shepherd Center, based in Atlanta, will be uploaded to BurnAlong’s health platform. They are meant for patients with neurological conditions treated at the Shepherd Center, as well as their families and users of BurnAlong, a platform for online wellness and health programs.

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Home-based Exercise Viable Alternative for RRMS Patients

I have no doubt that what this study reports is true. I’ve exercised off and on at a gym or at home for many years. It’s mostly upper body stuff using weights or resistance machines or bands, and I think it makes a world of difference to my physical and mental well-being. And my exercises took less time each day than what these study subjects were doing. It doesn’t take a lot of work.

A home-based rehabilitation program can help ease fatigue, improve motor and cognitive function, and promote better quality of life in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a small clinical trial has found.

While a structured supervised exercise program was better at improving fatigue and health-related quality of life, the findings point to the home-based program as a good alternative for people who have to travel long distances to reach a rehabilitation clinic, or in unusual circumstances such as the pandemic.

The study, “Supervised exercises versus telerehabilitation. Benefits for persons with multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Acta Neurologica Scandinavica.

Click here or on the headline to read the full story.

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