Imagine you're trying to solve a puzzle, but you're missing some pieces. That's kind of what it's like when scientists study progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a disease that messes with your brain and spinal cord, causing damage to the protective layer around nerve cells. It affects millions of people worldwide, yet we still don't fully understand how it wor...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rollercoaster journey for patients, with its ups and downs taking a toll on mental well-being. We explored how alexithymia (difficulty describing emotions) and attachment styles directly impact mental health. But that's not all—we also looked at how attachment, alexithymia, feelings of loneliness, and perceived social support act as a cha...
Imagine having a condition like multiple sclerosis (MS), a long-term disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. Scientists are busy hunting for potential causes, with viruses like Epstein-Barr (EBV) leading the pack. But did you know fungi might also play a role? It’s true! The most significant genetic risk factor, the HLA-DRB1*15 group, is linked to MS and various...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease where remyelination—the body's attempt to repair damaged nerve fibers—varies greatly among individuals and even within the same person. Scientists in the Netherlands decided to use this natural diversity to find out what makes some people better at remyelinating than others. They collected brain tissue from people with MS,...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes increasing disability due to long-term inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. This ongoing inflammation, called smoldering neuroinflammation, is tough to treat with current medications. Chronic active white matter lesions are a big part of this problem. Initially, these lesions were only seen in autopsies. But now, we have advanceme...
Have you ever wondered how doctors check if people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are moving around safely? One tool they use is the Community Balance and Mobility Scale (CB&M). But how reliable and accurate is this scale? Scientists took a closer look to find out. Picture this: you're someone with MS, trying to move around your community. The CB&M scale is like a che...
Imagine you have multiple sclerosis (MS) and you're trying to learn a new physical task. A recent study looked into how three simple factors—autonomy, positive expectations, and focus on external cues—could help people with MS perform better and learn faster. Researchers divided 30 MS patients into two groups: one received special training (optimized group) and the o...
Ever wondered how our brain's white matter stays intact? In multiple sclerosis (MS), two proteins, Tyro3 and Gas6, are key players in maintaining this crucial tissue. These proteins are part of the Gas6/TAM system, which includes Tyro3, Axl, and Mer receptors. While animals have shown these proteins can slow down demyelination and speed up remyelination, human eviden...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a puzzle where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own nerves. We know that certain genes and outside factors kickstart this process, but the full picture remains blurry. While we've identified harmful T cells, the role of B cells – the antibody producers – is still a mystery. Understanding how these B cells contribute to nerve ...
In Italy, researchers recently took a close look at the financial burden of multiple sclerosis (MS) on patients receiving disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). They studied 393 MS patients, mostly women around 45 years old, with a form of MS called relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). On average, each patient's yearly costs came to about €20, 300. Costs went up with the seve...