Feb
14
First blinded study of venous insufficiency prevalence in multiple sclerosis shows promising results
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ScienceDaily Feb. 14, 2010 — More than 55 percent of multiple sclerosis patients participating in the initial phase of the first randomized clinical study to determine if persons with MS exhibit narrowing of the extracranial veins, causing restriction of normal outflow of blood from the brain, were found to have the abnormality.
The results were reported February 10 by neurology researchers at the University at Buffalo.
When the 10.2 percent of subjects in which results were border line were excluded, the percentage of affected MS patients rose to 62.5 percent, preliminary results show, compared to 25.9 percent of healthy controls.
These preliminary results are based on the first 500 participants in the Combined Transcranial and Extracranial Venous Doppler Evaluation CTEVD study, which began at UB in April 2009. Investigators are planning to examine 500 additional subjects, who will be assessed in the second phase of the study with more advanced diagnostic tools. Complete data on the first 500 will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in April.
Robert Zivadinov, MD, PhD, UB associate professor of neurology and principal investigator on the study, says he is “cautiously optimistic and excited” about the preliminary data. Zivadinov directs the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center BNAC, located in Kaleida Health’s Buffalo General Hospital, where the study is being conducted.
read the rest via First blinded study of venous insufficiency prevalence in multiple sclerosis shows promising results.
Feb
12
Drinking Milk While Pregnant May Lower Kids’ MS Risk – BusinessWeek
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TUESDAY, Feb. 9 HealthDay News — Children born to mothers who drink lots of milk and have a high dietary intake of vitamin D during pregnancy have a much lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis later in life, researchers say.
The new study included 35,794 U.S. nurses whose mothers provided information about their experiences and diet during pregnancy. The nurses were followed for 16 years, and 199 of them developed multiple sclerosis MS during that time period.
“The risk of MS among daughters whose mothers consumed four glasses of milk per day [during pregnancy] was 56 percent lower than daughters whose mothers consumed less than three glasses of milk per month,” Dr. Fariba Mirzaei, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology.
read the rest via Drinking Milk While Pregnant May Lower Kids’ MS Risk – BusinessWeek.
Jan
24
Multiple sclerosis seems to damage the central nervous system at a pace faster than the body’s own repair mechanism can keep up. In an attempt to find new approaches to treat the disease, scientists are exploring techniques to give the repair process a boost.
An important area of research focuses on ways to help the body regenerate a fatty substance called myelin, which is damaged by attacks brought on by MS patients’ own immune system. Myelin protects nerve fibers, or axons, much like insulation on electrical wire. Currently, the principal treatment for MS is with medications that aim to slow the disease’s progression, but don’t help repair the damage.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory condition that can be disabling in advanced stages. The disease affects an estimated 400,000 people in the U.S. While typically not fatal, it can cause an array of debilitating symptoms, including fatigue, vision problems and even paralysis.
Scientists are tantalized by signs the body can create new myelin. Bruce Trapp, head of the neurosciences department at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, has studied myelin for decades by dissecting brains of deceased MS patients. “We know the MS brain can repair its lesions,” or areas of damage, says Dr. Trapp, who founded a small start-up company Renovo Neural Inc., that is trying to grow and activate cells that create myelin.
Myelin-rebuilding research is in the early stages and there is a long road ahead to prove it could work safely in people—it hasn’t progressed beyond rodents. Researchers believe it will be important to replace myelin soon after it’s damaged, and before harm to nerve fibers has advanced too far.
Research on other MS treatment strategies could yield results first. MS often requires lifelong treatment, and MS drugs brought in more than $8.7 billion in 2009 revenue worldwide, according to Bernstein Research.
read the rest via New Ways to Treat Multiple Sclerosis – WSJ.com.
Jan
1
Q: I have had multiple sclerosis since I was in my late 20s. I’m now in my early 50s and have been in remission for a while.What can you tell me about MS and bee stings? I got stung a couple of days ago, and I started walking much better and feeling perkier. I have energy that I haven’t had in years. One of my daughters told me about bee-sting therapy.
A: The medical use of honeybee products is known as apitherapy. Bees have played a role in alternative health care since the Egyptians used their byproducts to cure arthritis. Those byproducts have since been used to treat chronic pain, a number of skin conditions, burns of the skin, coughs and a great deal more.
Researchers have found that specific compounds in the venom, namely melittin and adolapin, can work toward reducing pain and inflammation through a process that allows the body to release natural healing compounds in its own defense. It is rumored that thousands of multiple-sclerosis patients in the United States appear to be using bee venom as an alternative to interferon, corticosteroids and other drugs. I don’t know how so many have tapped into this approach, because there are only about 50 physicians nationwide who use bee-venom therapy to relieve the symptoms of MS.
read the rest via Family Doctor: Can it be that bees can help MS patients? – Canton, OH – CantonRep.com.