Multiple
Sclerosis News
Multiple
Sclerosis Research is
advancing into some interesting areas. For example, did you know that our
nervous systems have specific cells called glial cells that are designated as the nerve
maintenance and repair cells for the entire nervous system? The job of
these cells is to repair damage to the myelin sheath along the spinal cord, that
insulates and aids in the nerve signal transmission along the spinal cord. The
nerve maintenance and repair cells also repair any damage to the Blood Brain
Barrier or BBB, a membrane that surrounds and protects the brain from toxins
being able to enter into the brain.
Multiple Sclerosis information
Our brains can not defend themselves against toxins and once there
is damage to the BBB, toxins can enter the brain very easily. The brain has none of its own
ability to remove toxins that are not suppose to be there in the first place
and this means that if the toxins that do enter the brain attack nerve cells,
damage to the brain cells themselves can result.
Multiple Sclerosis can
attack nerve cells, including membranes, like the BBB, or any other nerve cells
throughout the entire body. This can include the myelin sheath
that insulates and protects the spinal cord, the BBB (blood brain barrier) in the brain, or any other nerves
or membranes though out our bodies.
MS brain lesions are a result of the Multiple Sclerosis attacking
the brain and causing scarring. The scarring can actually interfere with
brain functions, such as cognitive abilities, speech, writing and reading
(since the brain interprets and reorganizes words for us to be
able to make sense of what we can read and write). Scarring in the brain can also affect memory, recognizing faces,
concepts and places we have been to previously, along with making it more difficult for us to connect with our surroundings.
There is further MS Research that is studying how the glial cells
work on repairing both the myelin damage and the BBB damage, that is so
often a result of Multiple Sclerosis. This
more recent research in ms is revealing that during the relapses or exacerbations that occur in MS is when the damage to
the myelin sheath and the BBB can occur. But the
research is also revealing that once the relapses or exacerbations
subside, the glial cells
get busy with starting to repair the damage to the myelin sheath
and the BBB, and
that this is what brings about the remissions in ms.
This
means that the body is repairing the myelin sheath and the BBB even throughout the
Multiple Sclerosis progression. It appears that often the
damage is occurring faster than the repairing of the
nerves.
Another interesting ms fact,
which has been recently discovered, is that as we find ways to relax
our bodies, this can help our bodies to generate or make more
stem
cells, which can help to repair damage to the myelin sheath or the
BBB (blood brain barrier), which surrounds and protects the brain.
If we can under-
stand more about our bodies can generate
their own stem cells, how this works and understand more
about ways to encourage our bodies to do more of this, this has a huge
potential for ms stem cell research and for those of us that have been given the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis.
A MS vaccine
has also in the works as a possible treatment for MS, but it is still
in the process of being tested. What is called a vaccine for MS
is not what is typically called a vaccine like a live virus that
weakened that is used in the type of vaccination shots that are given
to children before they are permitted to start attending school, to
boost their immune systems to prevent epidemics and outbreaks of all
kinds of diseases. The MS vaccine is more of a preventative type
injection that is to people that have already been diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis, in the hopes that it will prevent further MS
relapses. The MS vaccine has not been prove to be affective yet
and is still under clinical testing.
Can it be that we are not so far away from a Multiple Sclerosis cure?
If enough is understood about how the body can repair the damage to the myelin sheath
on the spinal cord or about how the nervous system repair cells work in
repairing the BBB, then maybe a cure can be found for reversing the broad range
of MS symptoms, which can
help those of us that have been living with Multiple Sclerosis,
even if it has been several years, since the symptoms of MS first
started to appear.
cures multiple sclerosis
Possible cures for multiple sclerosis, that are being considered by the doctors and during the ongoing ms research are:
* an MS vaccine
* ms stem cell research
* finding ways to harness repairing the myelin sheath along the spinal cord
But until more is understood about the causes of Multiple Sclerosis and the disease process of MS, the potential cures for MS are still in their infancy.
Reducing MS symptoms is the current approach to finding ways to help bring relief to those that have been diagnosed with MS.
