'Diagnose and adios'*

Demographic and Disease Characteristics of People With Multiple Sclerosis Living in Urban and Rural Areas

This study compares demographic and disease-related characteristics of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) living in urban and rural areas. The data analyzed for this study were collected from a survey of 1518 people with MS living throughout the United States from October 2004 through January 2005. We found significant urban-rural differences in various MS characteristics, including type of MS. A significantly larger proportion of people with MS in remote rural areas than their urban counterparts responded that they had primary progressive MS. People with MS in rural areas were significantly more likely than those in urban areas to report that MS symptoms interfered with their independence A significantly larger proportion of people with MS in remote rural areas than in urban areas were not receiving disease-modifying medications. Our results suggest that MS disease expression varies across urban-rural gradients.

I fit into the rural camp.

PDF here

Can a vitamin alleviate chronic, progressive multiple sclerosis?

Researchers have found a possible way to protect people with multiple sclerosis (MS) from severe long-term disability: increase nervous-system levels of a vital compound, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), by giving its chemical precursor.

More at www.childrenshospital.org.

Multiple Sclerosis In Genetically Susceptible Twins Is Augmented By The Northern Environment

A new study of twins suggests that living farther north of the equator significantly increases risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) among those with genetic susceptibility due to some environmental factor.

More here.

Alcohol makes your brain grow

Drinking alcohol boosts the growth of new nerve cells in the brain, research suggests.

Drink here'.

Pot and alcohol, people with MS have all the fun...

The Painful Truth

The Iraq war is a new kind of hell, with more survivors - but more maimed, shattered limbs - than ever. A revolution in battlefield medicine is helping them conquer the pain.

A technology worth following for those that experience pain.

More here.

Balancing Act

Noise is the key to restoring the body's sense of equilibrium

I want these shoes! Interesting article on vibrating insoles and balance.

More here.

We are developing noise-based devices, such as vibrating insoles, to improve balance control in older adults and patients with diabetic neuropathy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, respectively.

More information and references  here.

Serono plans multiple sclerosis treatment by inhalation

Yaaaaa!

Serono of Switzerland is planning to expand its billion dollar multiple sclerosis franchise with a new version of interferon beta that would do away with the need for injections, reports Phil Taylor.

The company already sells an injectable drug for MS, Rebif (interferon beta 1a) and has small molecule, orally active drugs in its pipeline. These could now been joined by an inhaleable formulation that would provide a more patient-friendly alternative to the current injectable drugs for MS, and could improve efficacy.

Inhale here.

Schepens Scientists Regenerate Optic Nerve for the First Time

For the first time, scientists have regenerated a damaged optic nerve -- from the eye to the brain. This achievement, which occurred in laboratory mice and is described in the March 1, 2005 issue of the Journal of Cell Science, holds great promise for victims of diseases that destroy the optic nerve, and for sufferers of central nervous system injuries. “For us, this is a dream becoming reality,” says Dr. Dong Feng Chen, lead author of the study, assistant scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute and an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. “This is the closest science has come to regenerating so many nerve fibers over a long distance to reach their targets and to repair a nerve previously considered irreparably damaged.”

More here.

Serono Completes Patient Enrollment in Rebif(R) Versus Copaxone(R) Comparative Clinical Trial

Serono (virt-x: SEO and NYSE: SRA) announced today that patient enrollment has been completed in a multi-national Rebif(R) (interferon beta-1a) versus Copaxone(R) (glatiramer acetate) comparative clinical trial. This two-year trial is designed to compare the efficacy of the two therapies in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), who were previously untreated with disease modifying therapies.

More here.

Gene linked to myelin repair in the brain

In a study published in the December 17 issue of the journal Science, scientists from the Centre for Brain Repair and the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge and the Dana-Farber Institute at Harvard University, report that the gene Olig 1, thought to aid the development of certain brain cells, is essential for the myelin-repairing process in adults with Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases like Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

More here.

Mercury Fillings: They're Not Risky

Mercury in dental fillings does not cause Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, or other health problems, according to a new review of all current research.

But will this put to rest the concerns many people have?

It's a sensitive issue. Methyl mercury is the type found in fish, and has been found harmful to the brain in large amounts. The EPA advises women to avoid eating mercury-rich fish during pregnancy for that reason.

However, mercury in dental fillings is a different type of chemical compound -- an amalgam or blend of copper, silver, and mercury. Dentists have used this blended metal for more than 150 years. But over the years, concerns about mercury fillings have been raised, writes Meryl Karol, PhD, an epidemiologist with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

More  here.

Comments anyone?

Birth Month Seen Linked to Multiple Sclerosis Risk

People born in May in the northern hemisphere have a higher than average risk of developing multiple sclerosis, researchers said on Tuesday.

More here.

This is the most viewed and most emailed item on Yahoo! right now. I wonder why the wide interest.

Early Brain Changes in MS Revealed by New MRI Techniques

Progressive changes within the brain occur earlier in multiple sclerosis than previously supposed, according to a study presented October 4, 2004, at the 129th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association. Using sophisticated variations on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, researchers described changes that appear in the first years of the disease, while disability is still minimal.

"The study showed that subtle abnormalities in the brain were steadily increasing during the first five years of multiple sclerosis, possibly reflecting changes to nerve fibers and their surrounding myelin sheathes," said Dr. Gerard Davies of the Institute of Neurology in London, lead author of the report.

Davies and colleagues also report preliminary evidence that the abnormalities may even pre-date the appearance of symptoms of the disorder.

More here.

Ancient Virus Protein Linked to Multiple Sclerosis

Syncytin, a virus protein that has been around for millions of years, may play a role in the nerve damage that occurs with multiple sclerosis (MS), scientists report in the journal Nature Neuroscience. This finding could lead to new treatments for the devastating neurologic disease.

Syncytin "can activate immune mechanisms, which can ultimately damage cells that make myelin," an important nerve covering that gradually disappears in patients with MS, senior author Dr. Christopher Power, at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, told Reuters Health.

More here.

Solid evidence that best treatment for multiple sclerosis is pregnancy

For years, doctors have suggested the best treatment for multiple sclerosis is pregnancy. Now, an Oregon study is delivering solid evidence to support the theory.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center have uncovered the mechanism by which estrogen, produced in high volumes during pregnancy, boosts the expression and number of regulatory cells that are key to fighting MS and other autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis and diabetes.

One treatment I guess I won't be on. More here,

Research into sleeping disorder drug may help multiple sclerosis patients

A University of Nottingham academic is leading a research project looking at whether a drug produced for a sleeping disorder could improve the quality of life for thousands of multiple sclerosis patients.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Most With MS Still Enjoy Good Quality of Life

Most people with multiple sclerosis (MS) say they're satisfied with their quality of life, despite suffering from impaired physical function and overall general health, a new study shows.

Researchers found 77% of people with MS said they were mostly satisfied or delighted with their quality of life, even though they suffered from lower physical functioning, vitality, and overall general health compared with the general population.

More here.

Clinical Trial Investigates Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis With Gamunex(R), Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human), 10% Caprylate/Chromatography Purified

Bayer HealthCare LLC, Biological Products Division (Bayer BP), has closed enrollment in the first industry-sponsored trial to evaluate immune globulin intravenous (IGIV) for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Under an Investigational New Drug application (IND) submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the multi-national clinical trial will assess the efficacy and safety of Gamunex?, Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human), 10% Caprylate/Chromatography Purified, in RRMS. The study includes 120 patients participating from many regions of the world, including North America, eastern and western Europe, and Israel.

More here.

Statins may curb multiple sclerosis

Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may help to treat multiple sclerosis, a human study suggests. A daily dose of the heart medicine helped to slow brain deterioration in patients with the condition.

More here.

Neural Engineering's Image Problem

Jennifer French, who was paralyzed from the waist down in 1998 as a result of a snowboarding accident, has a new mission. Standing up? Walking? No. Been there. Done that. With the help of electronics implanted in her legs and lower torso, she can already stand up out of her wheelchair and even move around using her walker. But now she's taken on a different sort of challenge: motivating others with neurological injuries and their caregivers to consider implanted devices. It's a tougher sell than you might think.

Neuroscientists are, at last, realizing one of the greatest ambitions in recent medical history: the ability to tap directly into the human nervous system to restore motor and sensory functions in patients who lost them because of injury, illness, or stroke.

More here.

Sick Kids researchers look at viral triggers for multiple sclerosis in children

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) have shown an association between paediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), indicating that exposure to the virus at a certain time in childhood may be an important environmental trigger for the development of MS. This research is reported in the April 21, 2004 issue of JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association).

"Earlier studies suggested a relationship between childhood exposure to Epstein-Barr virus and the risk of developing MS. This is virtually impossible to quantify in adult MS patients, as nearly 90 per cent of the healthy adult population in Western countries has been exposed to EBV. In the paediatric patients, we can study viral exposures more easily, as children have fewer viral exposures due to their young age," said Dr. Brenda Banwell, the study's principal investigator, a Sick Kids neurologist and associate scientist, and an assistant professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto.

The research team found that 83 per cent of the paediatric MS patients showed evidence of a past EBV infection, compared with 42 per cent for the healthy control group. The paediatric MS patients also were less likely than the control subjects to have been exposed to herpes simplex virus. Epstein-Barr virus is very common and transmissible virus in the herpes family that causes infectious mononucleosis.

"We think the Epstein-Barr virus plays an important role in the development of MS, as the genetic code of the virus contains sequences that are identical to genetic sequences in the myelin basic protein, which is expressed in the brain, and destroyed in MS. It is conceivable that the immune system mounts a response to that genetic sequence in EBV, then sees it in myelin and targets it as well," added Dr. Banwell.

More here.

IVAX, Serono say oral cladribine trials for MS positive

The Swiss pharmaceuticals group Serono and its US partner IVAX Corp. posted positive results from two clinical trials with an oral formulation of cladribine, a potential new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS).

"This is a major step in the development of the first oral disease modifying treatment for multiple sclerosis."

That would be nice.

Swallow here.

Losing a Child Raises MS Risk, Danish Study Shows

Parents who lose a child have an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease that strips the nerves, researchers in Denmark reported on Monday.

People who lost a child were 50 percent more likely to develop MS than parents who did not lose a child, the study found -- raising the possibility that psychological stress may play a role in the development of MS.

More here.

Bagpipes and kilts cause MS

A SURVEY carried out by a neurologist in St. Vincent's hospital in Dublin has found Donegal has a far higher level of Multiple Sclerosis than Wexford.

Chris McGuigan believes the reason for the variance is the high level of Scottish heritage in Donegal.

According to a report in 'The Sunday Times' this weekend the historical influx of settlers from Scotland and Northern Europe has left those living in the north of Ireland generally at a greater risk of contracting the neurological condition.

More here.

New Data Challenge Theories of Multiple Sclerosis

A new view of multiple sclerosis (MS) may arise from the first extensive study of brain tissue from the earliest hours during a bout of the disease. The results, published February 23, 2004, in the advance on-line edition of the Annals of Neurology, suggest that the earliest event is not, as previously believed, a misguided immune system attack on a brain substance called myelin.

Instead, the first event appears to be the death of the brain cells that produce myelin, triggering a subsequent immune system mop-up operation to clean up the cells and the myelin, said author John W. Prineas, MBBS, of the University of Sydney in Australia.

More here.

Levetiracetam and MS Spasticity

Spasticity is a condition in which muscles cramp so badly that a person can't even walk. It is one of the most common symptoms of multiple sclerosis, but that may be changing. Here's promising research that gets some MS patients back on their feet.

Kim Pullin enjoys visits to the park with her daughter. Not long ago, multiple sclerosis would have made this trip impossible. "The spasms appeared in my arm, in my leg, in my hands. I absolutely could not walk on my leg," she tells Ivanhoe.

Pullin's neurologist Kathleen Hawker, M.D., gave her levetiracetam -- a drug used to control epileptic seizures. "I was noticing that some patients were using it for pain, and I also noticed their stiffness, cramps and spasms were also improving," says Dr. Hawker, of UT Southwestern in Dallas.

More here.

Biogen Idec and Elan to Seek Earlier MS Drug Approval

Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. said they will apply for U.S. approval of their experimental Antegren multiple sclerosis drug by July, speeding potential clearance of the product by as much as year. Shares of both companies soared.

More here.

Alcohol Helps Heart by Cutting Inflammation

The heart benefits seen with light alcohol use may relate to its ability to reduce inflammation, new research suggests.

I'll volunteer for the MS study!

More here.

Study could help in fight against multiple sclerosis

A researcher with the University of Nebraska Medical Center has received a grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to study the effectiveness of a drug that could inhibit multiple sclerosis.

Dr. Kalipada Pahan, an associate professor in the UNMC College of Dentistry, is the recipient of the $274,000, three-year grant.

Pahan said the drug Gemfibrozil, commonly known as Lopid, has been shown to disable nitric oxide production in the brain.

More here and here.

More about Gemfibrozil.

Detecting Changes in Multiple Sclerosis

Genetic information from a simple blood test may help doctors detect changes in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and improve diagnosis and treatment for these patients.

So says a study published Feb. 2 in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology.

More here.

Elan Says Antegren Trial for Crohn's Successful

Irish pharmaceutical firm Elan Corp Plc raised market hopes for its much-vaunted experimental drug Antegren on Thursday after it announced successful results from a key clinical trial on Crohn's disease.

Data from Phase III studies of Antegren's effect on MS are expected by late 2004 or early 2005.

More here.

The brain as Internet

I used to own/manage an Internet company, one of the biggest connection problems in the mid 90's was crosstalk on old crappy phone lines. I often use that analogy to describe MS.

A novel model of human brain aging developed by a UCLA neuroscientist identifies midlife breakdown of myelin, a fatty insulation coating the brain's internal wiring, as a possible key to the onset of Alzheimer's disease later in life.

Detailed in the January edition of the peer-reviewed journal Neurobiology of Aging, the model presents opportunities to explore how lifestyle changes, hormone replacement therapy, higher education or treatment with common medications in middle age might help brains remain healthy longer.

"This model embraces the human brain as a high-speed Internet rather than a computer. The quality of the Internet's connections is the key to its speed, fidelity and overall capability," said Dr. George Bartzokis, the author and visiting professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. He also is director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic and Clinical Core director of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

"Close analysis of brain tissue and MRIs clearly shows that the brain's wiring develops until middle age and then begins to decline as the breakdown of myelin triggers a destructive domino affect. Our time at the peak is short indeed," Bartzokis said. "The challenge for science and medicine is to figure out how to extend the brain's peak performance so that our minds function as long as our bodies."

More here.

Gene Differences May Alter Susceptibility To Multiple Sclerosis

A tiny difference in a gene may signal that a person is twice as susceptible to multiple sclerosis (MS) as normal. It could also foretell of a more rapidly progressing form of the disease, according to new research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health.

More here.

MS in Zimbabwe

While traveling in Zimbabwe we bought some craft items from a store that sold things made by "cripples". They had never heard of MS. I just found this PDF File
on MS in Zimbabwe.

Or read news from Zimbabwe.

Tovaxin, an MS vaccine

TovaxinTM is a novel therapeutic vaccine that parallels the concept of autologous cancer vaccines. Instead of modifying cancerous cells, Tovaxin TM consists of modified autoreactive T cells. Modification of these cells during the vaccine production process causes them to elicit an immune response when injected back into the patient. This immune response is directed against T cells within the patient that are self-reactive with myelin. This immune response, directed against a specific subset of autoreactive T cells, greatly reduces the number of these autoreactive cells in MS patients. TovaxinTM has considerable potential because it attacks the underlying cause of MS rather than just addressing its symptoms.

Read more here.

La Jolla Pharma Discovers Molecule That Produces Positive Results

Company scientists have generated highly selective inhibitors of SSAO (semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase), an enzyme that has been implicated in inflammatory responses in many tissues and organs. Preclinical studies in animal models of multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and acute inflammation have shown that treatment with the Company's inhibitors both maintained function and reduced disease activity compared with placebo treatment.

More here.

Brain-protecting Protein Boosted by Multiple Sclerosis Drug

A drug used to treat multiple sclerosis has been found to stimulate immune system cells to produce a brain-protecting protein.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have shown that the drug, Copaxone, stimulates T cells to produce a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Read more here.

Imaging Test May Diagnosis MS Early

Researchers from New York University report that using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a sophisticated imaging test, can detect multiple sclerosis when it is in an early stage.

Read it here.

New Compound That Acts On Peripheral Receptors May Be Promising Treatment For Some Nerve Pain

"Chronic pain is one of the most significant disease states affecting Americans, in terms of economic and social impacts," says Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "And, unfortunately, therapeutic options for the treatment of chronic pain are inadequate, partly because a number of drugs that can be used to treat pain have unpleasant side effects that limit their effectiveness, and partly because some of them have the potential for addiction and abuse."

Read it here.

Dental amalgan and MS

The mercury in dental amalgam fillings -- most people's major source of exposure to mercury vapor absorbed into the bloodstream -- does not appear to cause or worsen degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis, according to an article in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The fear of such a link was sparked by a report that high mercury levels have been found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Summary here.

They own our local paper the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

Blocking Proteins Could Help Modulate Multiple Sclerosis

"What we found was that the non-neuronal cells in the brain -- microglia and astrocytes -- only respond to very specific chemical messengers related to inflammation," said Dr. Crocker. "By understanding which signals are required to turn on these specific genes, we might therein be able to modulate the degree and severity of an immune attack to the brain like MS."

Dr. Crocker indicated that the idea of tweaking the immune system is getting a lot of attention in the drug industry. "It's on the horizon," he said. "How we might be able to train [these proteins] to work for us, instead of against [us], is what's going to come next."

Read it here.

Q&A: Cannabis drug trial

The biggest-ever trial of "cannabinoid" drugs in MS has produced mixed results.

While patients told researchers that their symptoms were eased by the drugs, there was relatively little hard evidence of physical changes in their bodies to back this up.

BBC News Online looks at the implications of the trial for future use of cannabis in medicine. Read it here.

Medicinal Marijuana May Help With MS

A marijuana pill appeared to relieve some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis in the first scientifically rigorous study of the strongly debated drug.

The research, published this week in The Lancet medical journal, found that even though improvements could not be detected by doctors' tests, a greater proportion of patients taking the drug reported reduced pain and muscle stiffness than those taking fake capsules.

Read it here.

Passive exercise!

The AT-101 is a non-invasive means for passive exercise that serves as an aid to improve circulation as well as joint mobility. The process does not stress either muscles or joints, is pain-free, causes no discomfort, and yet is the passive equivalent of jogging while you are lying flat on your back.

Read it here.

They reported that 45 minutes of AT101 application in 14 healthy subjects and 40 patients suffering from a variety of illnesses released nitric oxide in all trials. Its importance is reflected by the award of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 for discoveries concerning "nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system." Nitric oxide levels in the blood are increased naturally in the body during active exercise and accounts for several of its beneficial effects including prevention of arteriosclerosis.

Drs. Sackner and Adams said that "nitric oxide is beneficial to the body because it opens blood vessels more widely and suppresses inflammation in a way similar to cortisone products without the harmful side effects of these drugs." Ten to 15 daily AT101 applications of AT101 passive exercise device were administered to 25 patients with chronic inflammatory diseases and a quality of life questionnaire provided before and after the trial. These diseases included osteoarthritis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, fibromyalgia, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome, restless legs syndrome, chronic venous insufficiency, and coronary artery disease. There were statistically significant improvements in vitality, body pain and role physical following the application of the AT101 program. "These benefits suggest that the body's release of nitric oxide with the AT101 passive exercise device might be beneficial to a large number of other diseases which have as their basis chronic inflammation," added Drs Sackner and Adams.

Read it here.

Passive exercise!?! I like the sound of that.

Clinical Effects of COPAXONE(R) or Interferon Therapy Compared to Untreated RRMS Patients

The percentages of relapse-free patients in each group were: COPAXONE -- 83 percent; Avonex -- 65 percent; Rebif -- 60 percent; Betaseron -- 60 percent; no treatment -- 37 percent.

Adriana Carra, M.D., Department of Neurology, Hospital Britanico de Buenos Aires, Argentina, spoke about the results. "It is clear that immunomodulatory therapy is beneficial in the long-term treatment of relapsing-remitting patients compared to no treatment. Our data are similar to those observed in other studies published or presented."

Read it here.

Scientists Say Mouse Research Hampered

"Each year, millions of mice are genetically engineered to precisely mimic human cancers %u2014 a technology that could lead to the swift development of new and targeted treatments. But many researchers complain that progress is being slowed by commerce."

This article is about cancer, I'm not sure if the same issues apply to MS research.

Read it here.

Stem cells grown into tissues

"MIT scientists today reported the first known success in using human embryonic stem cells to grow primitive versions of human organs and tissues. They say this represents a promising step toward the development of lab-engineered tissues that could one day eliminate some organ shortages."

This one is worth following.
Read it here.

Studies tie Lou Gehrig's disease to Gulf War vets, MS next?

"the journal Neurology conclude that Gulf War veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS as the general public. The reasons are not clear. And although some scientists still question the Gulf War-ALS link, others suspect that veterans of that conflict also might be at a higher risk for other neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease.
...
Meanwhile, Robinson says, his organization is pressuring the VA for similar research into multiple sclerosis. "In my group alone, we have over 70 Gulf War veterans who have MS," he says. "We formed a group called MS Vets. We have told the VA that we think there is a statistical significance in veterans."

Read the rest here.

Gene-based response to multiple sclerosis drug

"They found that when the patients were given the drug beta-interferon, there was a marked difference in the pattern of gene activity between the different patients. This could help the doctor to modify the dose or the treatment regime - opening the door to truly personalized prescribing."

Read it here.

Cure for MS is at hand

That's the headline anyway.

"A Singapore medical research team has made a breakthrough discovery that could finally lead to a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS)."

Read a news summary here.

The MS Society says:
"In our opinion, the press release greatly overstates the discovery's impact. Additional work along the same lines is ongoing, funded by the National MS Society, NIH and other agencies, that will ultimately fit the
pieces of this puzzle together and aid in the development of new therapeutic strategies for MS.

Research Programs Department
National Multiple Sclerosis Society"

Or for those more scientifically inclined here is the abstract:

"Axon-derived molecules are temporally and spatially required as positive or negative signals to coordinate oligodendrocyte differentiation. Increasing evidence suggests that, in addition to the inhibitory Jagged1/Notch1 signaling cascade, other pathways act via Notch to mediate oligodendrocyte differentiation. The GPI-linked neural cell recognition molecule F3/contactin is clustered during development at the paranodal region, a vital site for axoglial interaction. Here, we show that F3/contactin acts as a functional ligand of Notch. This trans-extracellular interaction triggers γ-secretase-dependent nuclear translocation of the Notch intracellular domain. F3/Notch signaling promotes oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and upregulates the myelin-related protein MAG in OLN-93 cells. This can be blocked by dominant negative Notch1, Notch2, and two Deltex1 mutants lacking the RING-H2 finger motif, but not by dominant-negative RBP-J or Hes1 antisense oligonucleotides. Expression of constitutively active Notch1 or Notch2 does not upregulate MAG. Thus, F3/contactin specifically initiates a Notch/Deltex1 signaling pathway that promotes oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination."

Got it? Read the rest here (subscription required).

Smoking Increases Risk of Multiple Sclerosis -Study

"Smokers are up to three times as likely to develop multiple sclerosis than nonsmokers, researchers said on Monday. "

Read it here.

If you're still smoking I don't think that this will make any difference, we already knew that:

Smoking was responsible for 70 percent of all cancer deaths and nearly 19 percent of cardiovascular disease deaths in Missouri in 1995. Missouri Department of Health; Center for Health Information Management & Epidemiology. Smoking-Attributable Mortality in Missouri. Monthly Vital Statistics 1998 March;32(1).

Lung cancer has now surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of smoke-related deaths among white middle-class smokers. Thun MJ. Excess Mortality Among Cigarette Smokers: Changes in a 20-year Interval. American Journal of Public Health 1995; 85(9):1223-30.

Smokers have a 50 percent greater chance of contracting a deadly form of adult leukemia. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Smoking doubles the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Silverman DT, Dunn JA, Hoover RN, Schiffman M, Lillemoe KD, Schoenberg JB, et al. Cigarette smoking and pancreas cancer: A case-control study based on direct interviews. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1994; 86(20):1510-16.

Smoking is a risk factor for developing rheumatoid arthritis. Symmons DPM, et al. Blood Transfusion, Smoking, and Obesity as Risk Factors for the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results from a Primary Care-Based Incident Case-Control Study in Norfolk, England. Arthritis & Rheumatism 1997; 40:1955-1961.

According to a recent study, smokers have a 70 percent greater risk of suffering from hearing loss than nonsmokers. Cruickshanks K, Klein R, Klein BE, Wiley TL, Nondahl DM, Tweed TS. Journal of the American Medical Association 1998; 279(21):1715-1719.

Smoking increases the chance of developing cataracts and other eye diseases. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Smokers who develop skin cancer are more likely to die of their disease than nonsmokers. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Smoking increases the risk of duodenal ulcers, Crohn’s Disease, and colon polyps. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Women who quit smoking may dramatically reduce their risk of cervical cancer. Szarewski A, Jarvis MJ, Sasieni P, Anderson M, Edwards R, Steele SJ, et al. Effect of smoking cessation on cervical lesion size. Lancet 1996; 347(9006):941-3.

Women who are exposed to tobacco smoke (smoking and secondhand smoke) every day are two to three times more likely to develop breast cancer. Morabia A, Bernstein M, Heritier S, Khatchatrian N. Relation of breast cancer with passive and active exposure to tobacco smoke. American Journal of Epidemiology 1996; 143(1):918-28.

Smoking increases the chance of developing colorectal, bladder, kidney, and pancreatic cancers. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Smoking increases the chance of impotence in males. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Smoking impairs sperm motility and normal development, increasing chances of infertility, miscarriage and birth defects. Napier K. Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you: the first comprehensive guide to the health consequences of smoking. NY: American Council on Science and Health; 1996.

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart disease among both men and women. Smokers have twice the risk of heart attack of nonsmokers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Fact Book 2000/2001. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/maso/factbook/main.htm. Accessed May 21, 2002.

A recent study found that current smokers sustained their first acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) more than 10 years earlier than non-smokers, and the younger smokers had a higher mortality rate. Weiner P, Waizman WP, Weiner M, Rabner M, Magadle R, Zamir D. Smoking and first acute myocardial infarction: age, mortality and smoking cessation rate. Israel Medical Association Journal 2000; 2(6):446-9.

Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer mortality in both men and women. Chao A, Thun MJ, Jacobs EJ, Henley SJ, Rodriguez C, Calle EE. Cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer mortality in the cancer prevention study II. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2000; 92(23):1888-1896.

More than 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known carcinogens and over 400 other toxins, can be found in cigarette smoke. Glantz S. Tobacco: Biology & Politics. Waco, TX: Health Edco; 1992.

People who smoke one pack or more of cigarettes per day are more likely to suffer vision loss (macular degeneration) than those who never smoked. Seddon JM, Willett W, Speizer FE, Hankinson SE. A prospective Study of Cigarette Smoking and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Women. Journal of the American Medical Association 1996; 276:1141-1146.

People who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes per day are nearly twice as likely as nonsmokers to develop diabetes. Rimm EB, Chan J, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC. Prospective study of cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and the risk of diabetes in men. British Medical Journal 1995; 310(6979):555-9.

Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer mortality in both men and women. Chao A, Thun MJ, Jacobs EJ, Henley SJ, Rodriguez C, Calle EE. Cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer mortality in the cancer prevention study II. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2000; 92(23):1888-96.

The use of CAM by people with MS

Canadian study on the use of complementary and alternative medicines. The results of this study demonstrate that people with MS are likely to be using some type of CAM.

"Seventy percent of respondents had used CAM within the past two years. Over 100 different practices and products were described."

"Although a small number of people reported experiencing negative effects from CAM (5%), the vast majority perceived positive effects (72%). Therapies most often cited as beneficial were massage therapy, acupuncture and cannabis. The most common reasons for using CAM were to improve health (68%), to lessen the symptoms of MS (61%) and a belief that it couldn’t hurt (55%). Reasons most frequently endorsed for not using CAM were lack of knowledge about these therapies (42%) and satisfaction with the care provided by conventional practitioners (20%)."

Read it here.

Driving impairment and MS

31 people with MS and 10 healthy controls took a driving simulator test, they found that the MS group had 3-4 times more accidents and concentration faults than the controls. They also found that driving impairment correlated with performance on a test of cognitive function, but not on tests which reflects physical disability. This suggests that the ability to drive safely, at least for people with MS, has more to do with cognitive function than physical ability. It would be nice to see a larger study of this type. Drive safely!

Read the abstract here.

Will the next Pixar/Disney star have MS?

German researchers are building a virtual patient to predict the progression of MS

Read it here.

Gray Matter Damage Linked to MS

"Conventional thinking has it that multiple sclerosis is a disease of white matter lesions or plaque detected by MRI [magnetic resonance imaging]," says Bakshi. "In the last five years, growing evidence suggests that MS is not just a white matter disease, but that gray is also involved. We now know it's a global disease of the brain and spinal cord. And it targets not only white matter but gray."

Read it here.

Monkeys Help Show if Virus Causes MS

"In the infected marmosets, HHV6 infection appears to produce an inflammatory disorder in the central nervous system almost identical to MS in humans," Dr. Claude Genain of the University of California San Francisco, who led the study, said in a statement.

Read it here.

Feed a cold, starve MS...

This is an old article, but worth following. Maybe those strict diets did work.
Read it here.

Genes, Environment Contribute to Multiple Sclerosis

"A large study of Canadian twins has confirmed much of what experts already knew about multiple sclerosis -- that genes and environment both contribute to the disease's onset."

Read a news article here.