symptoms

New research from Argentina explores the idea that controlling symptoms of type 2 diabetes (metabolic syndrome) can also beneficially impact multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression. The study,“Immunologic Effects of Metformin and Pioglitazone Treatment on Metabolic Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis,“ appeared March 7 in the journal…

Oh sugar, sugar… Diet Coke is my “thing.” I have a love/hate relationship with it – I hate being without it but I know I need to end our affair. I like to think that it helps me stay awake, but in reality it gives me headaches and an upset…

Damage to the cerebellum in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is due more to the death of actual nerve cells than the destruction of white matter connections, a new study out of Italy suggests. The article, which challenges previous ideas about how brain damage in MS occurs, is titled “MRI-detectable cortical lesions in the…

Rosacea is an inflammatory skin condition affecting mostly fair-skinned individuals. A study from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, recently showed that the condition in women is also associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent genome wide association studies (GWAS) have pinpointed genetic risk factors of the disease that also increase…

Scientists in recent years have wondered whether a link exists between high lactate levels resulting from mitochondrial dysfunction and multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. Now researchers in Italy showed that lactate, a metabolic byproduct, is indeed increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients and may be a disease driver. Mitochondria are the body’s energy factories,…

Microglial cells in the hippocampus, a brain region crucial for memory processing, may contribute to brain damage associated with cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS). The finding, published in the journal Scientific Reports, implies that targeting microglia could be a promising strategy to improve cognition in MS. While cognitive…

A large-scale online survey, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society  and developed by researchers, is investigating how multiple sclerosis (MS) patients perceive and evaluate the risks and benefits of available therapies. Investigators encourage MS patients to participate in the survey, titled “Multiple Sclerosis Risk Tolerance,” which can be…

People newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) tend to also suffer from other chronic health problems, particularly depression, according to a Canadian study, that also emphasizes the importance of investigating whether the safety of MS treatments differs for these patients. “These findings are interesting for several reasons,” the study’s author,…

Video games targeting cognitive abilities may improve brain function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study found. Results, published in the journal Radiology, showed that these games strengthen connections between neurons in the thalamus, a brain region crucial for information processing. The findings also add to…

Researchers found that nerve cell connections in the brain, called synapses, were damaged in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) through a process wholly unrelated to myelin destruction. As the damaged mice synapses studied were in regions crucial for memory processing, finding ways of protecting these neurons would be a crucial step toward developing a…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who also suffer from other autoimmune conditions, like thyroid disease or diabetes, have more severe brain damage than MS patients without comorbidities, according to a study from the University at Buffalo. The study was recently published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. An earlier report from…

March is Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Month, and the  Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) will be marking it with a campaign to educate and heighten public awareness of the disease and the needs of the MS community. For this campaign, the MSAA will dedicate each week in March to a…

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, working in the fruit fly model, identified an organic cation transporter, CarT (carcinine transporter), that is crucial to the recycling of histamine in the brain and the maintenance of healthy vision. Histamine is a neurotransmitter involved in chronic inflammation and pathogenesis in multiple…

Researchers analyzing gait in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) using wearable inertial sensors have established two new and highly sensitive observer-independent measures of disability that strongly correlate with fatigue and patient-perceived health status. Their article, titled “Disability and Fatigue Can Be Objectively Measured in Multiple Sclerosis,” was published in the journal PLOS…

Researchers identified the chloride-channel protein anoctamin 2 (ANO2) as a new target for autoantibody production in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Their study, “Anoctamin 2 identified as an autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis,” was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Sates of…

In an innovative research project funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Dr. Anne Astier from the University of Edinburgh, U.K., and her team will use zebrafish to track the CD46 protein and determine where and how it affects the movement of immune cells into the brain, a process believed to influence…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore presented key findings today, Feb. 19, concerning the presence of contrast-enhancing lesions in later stages in the relapsing-remitting experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) model. The presentation was made at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2016, which is ongoing through…

Dr. Daniel S. Reich with Johns Hopkins University  is giving an oral talk on “MRI as an Outcome Measure in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis” at Friday’s ACTRIMS Forum 2016. This year’s meeting focuses on progressive MS, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 20, in New Orleans. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been the…

Dr. Wayne Moore, from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver General Hospital, will present an overview and analysis of the major histology and pathology aspects that characterize and differentiate relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and progressive forms of the disease, primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center plan to present the results of a study investigating the contribution of specific antibodies to the neurodegeneration and neuronal dysfunction observed in multiple sclerosis (MS). The study’s results are to be reported today, Feb. 18, at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research…

Scientists from the Neuroimmunological Diseases Unit at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will present results of a study investigating several biomarkers that might lead to a more sensitive and accurate diagnostic test of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, a key aspect of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The data is being reported today, Feb.18, at the…

The U.S. Senate health committee recently passed the “Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act of 2015” (S. 849), sponsored by Sens. Johnny Isakson and Chris Murphy, which would create a nationwide system to track the incidence and prevalence of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), and that one day might help lead to a…

A new study underscores the variability of immune responses in different people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and suggests this heterogenity affects responses to the commonly prescribed MS medication interferon-β, but blood biomarkers may exist that can help to determine those most likely to benefit from such treatment. The study, “Cytokine profiles…

A new campaign called “End our pain” is asking people to sign a petition calling on the U.K. to allow all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) there to have access to medical cannabis as a treatment for MS symptoms, in keeping with countries  such as Canada and Germany, and a number…

A Spanish study showed that relapse and remission in multiple sclerosis (MS) states are regulated by small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) molecules in patterns differing between men and women. Scientists have increasingly realized that sncRNAs play an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Various kinds of these RNA molecules, such as…

A research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) launched a study on people at risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), a debilitating disease that affects more than 400,000 people in the United States and about…

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers reported that antibodies directed at lipids are associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and may potentially serve as biomarkers for monitoring disease status. While the hyperintense brain lesions detected by MRI are crucial for diagnosis and therapeutic…

Taste deficits are considerably more prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients than previously thought, and correlate directly with the severity of MS-related brain lesions, researchers report in an article titled “Taste dysfunction in multiple sclerosis,” published in the Journal of Neurology. Sensory problems are common MS symptoms, with…

In a new study using several mouse models of human immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers found that increased levels of an endogenous protein called tristetraprolin (TTP) resulted in protection against pro-inflammatory diseases. The results suggested that this natural protein might constitute a valuable therapeutic strategy to reduce…

Researchers have found that changes in the composition of immune molecules — specifically, a shift to more anti-inflammatory cytokines and regulatory T-cells (Tregs) — likely account for the efficiency of alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) as a treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The study, titled “Alemtuzumab long-term immunologic effect: Treg suppressor function…