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The US National MS Society reported recently that researchers have uncovered hundreds of proteins that may be active at different stages of multiple sclerosis. They conducted high-tech analyses of different types and stages of MS brain lesions. To validate the approach, they narrowed in on two of the proteins and blocked their activity using existing drugs in mouse models of MS, and were able to improve symptoms.
Read more at: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/news/news-detail/index.htmlx?nid=48
This is a term often used, but not often understood or accepted. Benign MS is described as a type of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in which few relapses occur. These relapses tend to produce sensory symptoms, which go away and leave very little or no residual damage or disability.
It is thought that 10% to 20% of people with MS have benign MS, but it is impossible to predict who will follow this course. It is also estimated that half (or more) of these people will eventually have MS progression and no longer have benign MS.
There is also debate on the topic of exactly how to define benign MS, but some researchers propose a definition of benign MS as people who have had MS for at least 10 years and who have an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 2.0 or less.
Many neurologists and researchers do not use the term "benign MS," as there is so much debate and controversy over the exact definition and numbers of people that could be classified as having it.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an important imaging technique used in the medical field to diagnose many diseases and detect abnormalities in the human body non-invasively. MRI is the preferred imaging technique in diagnosing and monitoring diseases such as stroke, tumors, blood vessel abnormalities, infections, MS, and many other neurological and non-neurological diseases.
In the neurological sense, an MRI is often performed to obtain an inner image of the brain if unusual activity is suspected. For example in the case of MS, abnormal spots called lesions can be detected with an MRI before clinical symptoms occur. MRIs have advantages over other imaging methods because this system is thorough and can be used to detect small subtle changes during the early stages of diseases. One limitation is that the scans usually take several hours to complete.
Now, thanks to dedicated researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the world’s most powerful MRI is ready to be used to help the first patient. The team’s machine received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the cusp of the 2008 New Year. The 9.4 Tesla machine will open up a new field in medical imaging, particularly neurology.
Typical clinical MRI scanners have magnetic field strengths of 0.2 to 3 Tesla. At these strengths only the movement of water molecules can be visualised, which limits the observation of metabolic processes in the brain to abnormal cystic or tumor formations and abnormalities in blood vessels or the heart.
In 2003 MRIs with magnetic field strengths as high as 8 Tesla were accepted by the FDA, but to date, the 9.4 Tesla scanner is the most powerful clinical scanner that is large enough to acquire images from the human brain.
The 9.4 Tesla MRI allows doctors to visualise molecules other than water. For example, doctors will now be able to perform sodium imaging to determine whether a brain tumor is shrinking, growing, or migrating all in one visit.
Previous MRI scanning required that the patient make several trips to the hospital over a period of weeks and sometimes even months. The reason that only one visit is necessary with the 9.4 Tesla scanner is that this high magnetic field strength allows more molecules to be visualised in a shorter period of time in comparison to the lower strength scanners that are currently being used. Imaging technology is now moving towards patient studies such as sodium imaging and towards safety testing for oxygen and phosphorus imaging in humans. Researchers are hoping that this scope can even be extended to other, more rare molecules in the future.
Analysing a patient’s metabolic pattern after the administration of a therapeutic agent will allow doctors to customise treatment plans as well as determine the optimal type and amount of drugs to prescribe their patients.
There are no known harmful side effects of undergoing an MRI besides the exposure to magnetic fields which should be avoided during pregnancy. Patients undergoing an MRI procedure sometimes experience mild nausea or claustrophobia from being inside of a chamber.
Plasma exchange is used sometimes in the treatment of MS. During plasma exchange treatment, the patient’s blood is removed and the blood cells are mechanically separated from the fluid plasma. The patient’s blood cells are then mixed with replacement plasma and the mixture is returned to the patient.
Scientists say that plasma exchange may help restore neurological function in approximately 45 percent of those experiencing sudden, severe MS attacks whose resulting disabilities did not respond to high doses of steroid treatment.
But a recent Mayo Clinic (a prominent US medical research centre) study demonstrates that only those MS patients with evidence of immune cells that cause tissue destruction in their lesions are likely to respond to plasma exchange.
This, they say, is the first evidence that differences in pathological subtypes of MS may predict response to treatment.
“The new findings may partly explain why some patients respond to a particular treatment and others do not,” says Claudia Lucchinetti, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and the paper’s senior and corresponding author. “The biological basis for the variable response to current MS treatments is not well understood. It may be that not all MS patients form lesions in the same way and therefore would not be expected to respond to a given treatment the same. Thus, MS treatments may need to be more individualised and tailored for different types of patients.”
Read more at: http://scamparoo.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/a-mayo-clinic-study-into-ms-lesions/
This issue of MS in focus on stem cells and remyelination in MS comes at a time when the MS community is full of hope and purpose. MSIF has brought together leading scientists who present a comprehensible picture of what is known about stem cells at this time, and where the efforts of scientists around the world are focused.
The booklet is now available in print, to download as a PDF, and to view online at: http://www.msif.org/en/resources/msif_resources/msif_publications/ms_in_focus/issue_11_stem_cells_and_remyelination_in_ms/index.html
Those who use this speech-to-speech service will know that this makes a huge difference to using the telephone to make calls.
Now they offer the opportunity to email them anytime from 24 hours to 15mins before you want to make your call, letting an operator know:
This new service will offer some people the opportunity to get connected faster and more effectively. Find out more about this and other services they offer at http://www.nzrelay.co.nz