Researching Through the Multiple Sclerosis Deadlock
Researchers in the UK and the United States have just made a discovery that they feel will begin to break up the log jam keeping answers from researchers studying Multiple Sclerosis.
Both of these groups of scientists have identified two different genes that are linked to the development or inheritance of Multiple Sclerosis. To make many years and man hours of research short, these two studies compared the DNA of patients with Multiple Sclerosis against the DNA of healthy volunteers from the general public. This was done at the molecular level when means they were comparing each DNA “building block” separately. What they found was anomalies or variations in single building blocks in two genes. Patients with Multiple Sclerosis tended to have a different building block in this place in these two genes. This variation is not the sole factor in the development of Multiple Sclerosis as it is shown to simply pre-dispose someone to the disease.
The researchers are very careful to remind patients that this is hopeful news but breakthroughs in treatment and healing are very far off. What this research has done has made an identifiable link between DNA and multiple sclerosis. It has shown that patients with this DNA variation are simply more at risk for developing Multiple Sclerosis. It has not told researchers how it can be fixed or prevented.
Researching Through the Multiple Sclerosis Deadlock
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects myelin. Myelin is a protein that ensheaths nerves and nerve fibres of the central nervous system. Once this autoimmune reaction begins, the patient begins to experience muscle weakness, balance problems, and speech and vision problems.
Multiple Sclerosis is a slowly progressing disease that is thought to be precipitated by both genetic and environmental factors.