What is this scale?

The Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale, otherwise known as the EDSS, is a famous way of quantifying how much is already disabled in a person with multiple sclerosis. This tool replaced the Disability Status Scales which did as much as grouping people with multiple sclerosis.

The Kurtzke EDSS enumerates the disabilities associated with MS or multiple sclerosis according to the established eight functional systems. This then allows many neurologists to allocate a specific functional system score in each. The functional systems are as follows: pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral, and others.

The Kurtzke EDSS gives two distinctive classifications to two different types of damage due to multiple sclerosis, depending on the severity of the disease’s symptoms. For instance, grades 1.0 up to 4.5 mean people who have multiple sclerosis but are fully ambulatory. On the other hand, those who are graded 5.0 up to 9.5 are those who are impaired in their ambulation.

Its discovery

Dr. Kurtzke established this useful scale back in August of 1955. The scale he discovered was initially called the DSS, which evaluated the impairment associated with MS based on a ten-point scale. And then it was in 1983 that Dr. Kurtzke discovered the EDSS. This latest tool became more famous and much more useful because it could evaluate MS-related impairment in all of the main neurological areas.

Even though the EDSS is not so sensitive when it comes to assessing temporary changes in the person’s level of consciousness, this tool is immensely utilized for not just national but also international tests in evaluating just how effective a certain therapy can be.

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The EDSS is predominantly built for assessing the person’s ambulation and not cognition, fatigue or the functioning of the upper extremities.

Its FS Scale

The FS scale or the functional systems scale is important to the EDSS since it assesses and evaluates the seven parts of the central nervous system which have the ability to control the normal functioning of the body. For instance, those who can function normally are graded 0 while those who are unable to finish the assignment are given the grade of 6.

The FS scale of the EDSS is important for those people with multiple sclerosis but can still ambulate since it evaluates where a certain person may have some disability or difficulty.

According to many research findings, the Kurtzke EDSS and a certain scale for the ADL’s or activities of daily living have a symbiotic relationship towards one another. Together, these two scales are able to assess the amount of disability that occurs in multiple domains of functioning, all depending on the person’s subjective report of any of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Although the EDSS is the standard way of finally assessing the amount of disability and impairment, it is still greatly criticized for the putting far too much focus on the use of the lower extremities or the legs and not much attention to the general clinical change.

What are used?

In evaluating the disease status, MRI scans are used by the physicians. However, such diagnostic test is not so correlational with the outcome of the disease, since in multiple sclerosis, majority of the lesions are not seen via the MRI scan. Some even do not have symptoms that can be clinically detected.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

If you have even a passing interest in the topic of Multiple Sclerosis, then you should take a look at the following information. This enlightening article presents some of the latest news on the subject of Multiple Sclerosis.

What is multiple sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis, which is otherwise termed as MS, is actually an autoimmune disorder that mainly affects the central nervous system. This debilitating disease commonly affects females who are in their childbearing years.

This means that certain issues are regarded significantly in relation to their disease, such as conception, getting pregnant and delivery of the baby.

Some research findings show that pregnancy has both clinical and immunological effects in the disease process of multiple sclerosis. Also, there are data that discuss the efficacy and the safety of treatments aimed at immuno-modulating cases of MS. And, symptomatic therapies for lactating women and pregnant women are also included. Furthermore, the research also includes management modalities for multiple sclerosis during the duration of the pregnancy.

The good news

Having multiple sclerosis can be such bad news, since this disease is not only debilitating but it is also an autoimmune disorder. However, with this bad news comes good news. The good news is that pregnancy is not at all a problem when it comes to MS. In fact, research findings actually think it is quite beneficial. With this said, multiple sclerotic women do not have to be afraid of getting pregnant.

The only bad thing that could happen when pregnancy and multiple sclerosis happens together is that they just tend to have a bigger possibility in having caesarean deliveries and slow prenatal development, as compared to those who do not have MS.

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But the advantage is such a big advantage because pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are no longer at risk for pre-eclampsia, other hypertensive pregnancy problems and a premature rupture of the membranes.

About the study

The study that was done made use of a national database that is usually utilized in nonfederal and short-stay hospitals in approximately thirty-eight states in the United States. There were an estimated total of eighteen million births, and that ten thousand of those who gave birth have multiple sclerosis.

An expert from the Stanford University School of Medicine named Eliza Chakravarty say that the results of the mentioned study are beneficial for females who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They have shown that having multiple sclerosis during pregnancy does not increase the risk of acquiring pregnancy-related complications.

Many physicians have actually been uncertain about the many effects of MS on different conditions of patients. In this case, they were hesitant whether or not a person with MS can have a child. It was because of this uncertainty that doctors advised their female patients to delay or avoid getting pregnant, when they actually did not have to.

What medications to avoid

Female persons who have multiple sclerosis who have a desire to become pregnant just need to know that there are particular drugs that are able to treat MS but should be avoided at all costs during pregnancy and during lactation. Such drugs can be the causative factors for many kinds of birth defects that can be transmitted to the fetus via blood and to the infant via the colostrum found in breast milk.

That’s how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

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Current info about Multiple Sclerosis is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest Multiple Sclerosis info available.

CSF exam

Upon examining the cerebrospinal fluid of those who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, otherwise referred to as MS, electrophoretic patterns can be observed. These patterns are made up of oligoclonal bands that indicate any significant increase in the person’s IgG. In fact, roughly eighty-five percent of MS patients demonstrate this finding.

Usually, the glucose level is within normal range. However, the protein level can be either normal or mildly increased. And the white blood cells range from slightly up to moderately increased but no exceeding five, specifically the mononuclear cells.

The MBP or the myelin basic protein is an important workup in MS. This component of myelin is increased in multiple sclerosis. Still, however, physicians do not recommend using the MBP’s as the marker to indicate the disease process or the progression of multiple sclerosis.

Blood tests

Those with MS must be tested for their B12 and their Folate levels, including their antinuclear antibody, or their ANA titers. Such tests are essential whenever there is evidence of a fast-acting deterioration in the cognition or degeneration of the person’s spinal cord.

Multiple sclerotic people experiencing optic neuritis and spinal cord lesions that are somewhat extensive should go to the laboratory to be tested for NMO or neuromyelitis optica. This test will determine the presence of antibodies of aquaporin 4 flowing within the serum.

You can see that there’s practical value in learning more about Multiple Sclerosis. Can you think of ways to apply what’s been covered so far?

An ESR or an erythrocyte sedimentation rate must also be taken, along with positive titers of a rheumatoid factor. These specific blood tests help in identifying if the disease being experienced by the person is indeed MS or just a vasculitic disease that apes multiple sclerosis.

Imaging studies

An MRI scan of either the head or the spine, with or without gadolinium, must be performed depending on whichever location the lesions are suspected.

Lesions that appear in relation to the onset of multiple sclerosis typically appear looking like T2 hyperintensities located within periventricular areas. These typical lesions have an ovoid shape and usually affect the white matter only. In some cases, several lesions grow from the corpus callosum of the brain.

Whenever the scans indicate lesions from the corpus callosum, this is termed as Dawson fingers. This term came from the work done by James Dawson back in 1916 as a neuropathologic test at the University of Edinburgh. This kind of condition indicates that the cells associated with inflammation have been distributed perivascularly into the veins and the venules of the brain tissues.

Imaging studies can also show any formations of plaque, especially in infratentorial regions. Moreover, the most common infratentorial areas affected by the plaques are the cerebellar peduncles, the pons’ surface and also the white matter part closest to the fourth ventricle.

Once gadolinium is used as the contrast dye, some lesions become luminescent. This result is indicative of an active disease process. Such luminescence means the BBB or the blood-brain barrier has broken down because of a constant subacute process of inflammation, ranging from a few days up to several weeks.

If a combination of both luminescent and non-luminescent lesions is observed, then this would further indicate the chronicity of the disease’s demyelinating process.

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important about Multiple Sclerosis.

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So what is Multiple Sclerosis really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Multiple Sclerosis–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

The women who already have at least one child have a thirty-four percent less of the possibility of having a progressive state of multiple sclerosis. According to studies, those women who do not have children yet are more likely to reach a stage of MS where they would need assistance in walking with a brace or a cane.

Having a child before or after the symptoms of multiple sclerosis started to appear is of great help. On the other hand, those women who had children even after the onset of their disease’s symptoms were much better off. Either way, it seems that pregnancy helps in cases of multiple sclerosis.

What the experts say

In fact, according to an expert from the Department of Neurology at the National MS Centrum which is located in Mesbroek, Belgium, named Marie D’hooghe, women who have multiple sclerosis and children tend to have a benign type of MS. This finding is in comparison to those women who have not yet given birth.

Research on multiple sclerosis indicates that eighty-five percent of those who unluckily develop MS initially have a relapsing ? remitting type. This means that attacks associated with this particular disease are usually followed by either total or partial recovery. More than fifty percent actually have a progressive state of the disease.

When this happens, the symptoms become much worse and more difficult to handle, and the rest periods where the symptoms disappear for a while become shorter. After some time, the MS process will lead to having a loss of vision, or worse, paralysis.

Women are more at risk than men.

You can see that there’s practical value in learning more about Multiple Sclerosis. Can you think of ways to apply what’s been covered so far?

Research has it that females are more predisposed to having multiple sclerosis. However, such cases are less severe as compared to the severity of the disease in males.

In the study conduced by the researchers mentioned, three-quarters of the female respondents have already had children. What the researchers did was they monitored the duration needed before the women reached sixth level based on the EDSS or the Expanded Disability Status Scale.

The Expanded Disability Status Scale

The EDSS is a system for rating that is used as a tool by many physicians for determining the severity of the symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis. For instance, first level means the severity is least severe, level ten means death is near. On the sixth level, it means that he or she needs to make use of an assistive device for mobility.

Research findings

For those who have no experience of giving birth usually had an average of thirteen up to fifteen years before finally progressing to the sixth level on the EDSS. On the other hand, those who already have children took some twenty-two up to twenty-three years before reaching that stage.

Moreover, the Director of the biomedical research from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Patricia O’Looney, say that there are indeed benefits for female patients who have already had children. Still, however, there is not enough data derived from their demographics to totally come up with some conclusions.

Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on Multiple Sclerosis.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

Current info about Multiple Sclerosis is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest Multiple Sclerosis info available.

Up to now, multiple sclerosis is still idiopathic. This means that, although research for its cause is currently and continuously being done, its definite cause still has not been discovered. However, a variety of probable causes has been found. It is through these probable causes that the medical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be established.

For starters, there is always the hereditary factor. The hereditary factor is present in almost all of the diseases. For instance, if a great great grandmother had multiple sclerosis, then there is a big chance that her descendants might have the disease as well.

Aside from heredity, the environment, according to researchers, also affects the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. An antigen or allergen commonly found in the environment could trigger a response from the body that later on leads to an immunocompromised system.

Multiple Sclerosis being an autoimmune disease

Research has it that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which means that the body’s personal immune system attacks its own cells. For reasons that are still unknown, the body’s immune cells show aggression towards and obliterate the myelin sheath that covers the neurons like an insulator inside the brain and the spinal cord.

This myelin sheath is responsible for the transmission and the prevention of unnecessary electrical activity that short circuits one cell from another cell. Once communication between the brain and the other parts of the body is disrupted, the transmission of sensations and control messages are not anymore normal. This pathophysiology is that of multiple sclerosis.

Plaques in multiple sclerosis

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The progression of the disease’s symptoms is correlated with the development of new plaques within the parts of the brain that simultaneously control the affected areas. These plaques are developed from the demyelinated areas, which are basically the tiny round areas of gray neuron that no longer has a white myelin covering.

What makes multiple sclerosis more complicated is that, the pattern of the appearance of the plaques has absolutely no pattern. This makes multiple sclerosis completely unpredictable.

Inflammation of the myelin sheath

Normal cells are covered by a sheath that acts as an insulator. This sheath is made up of adipose substances that are called myelin. Myelin is very helpful in the correct and appropriate transmission of nerve impulses. Once this sheath is damaged from too much inflammation, multiple sclerosis occurs.

WBC action

T cells, which are special subsets of white blood cells, are important in the development of multiple sclerosis. Normally, the T cells are able distinguish between self and non-self. However, with multiple sclerosis, the T cells become weak when it comes to recognizing and differentiating self and non-self. In fact, in most multiple sclerosis cases, these lymphocytes recognize the healthy cells of the central nervous system as foreign and harmful and attack.

There is a BBB or a blood-brain barrier that serves as a tight barrier between the blood and the brain. This barrier is made up of endothelial cells that completely line the walls of the blood vessels. Since the auto-reactive T cells start attacking healthy cells and trigger an inflammatory process, they tend to cross the BBB, when they are not at all supposed to. This breaks down the BBB, thus, leading to multiple sclerosis.

So now you know a little bit about Multiple Sclerosis. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

Are you looking for some inside information on Multiple Sclerosis? Here’s an up-to-date report from Multiple Sclerosis experts who should know.

There are some researches that say that female teenagers who happen to be obese have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis as compared to those who are not obese. The research had two hundred thirty-eight thousand and three hundred seventy-one female respondents who ranged from twenty-five up to fifty-five years of age. They filled out a questionnaire regarding their corresponding behavior towards their health every couple of years. In over forty years, five hundred ninety-three of these respondents developed multiple sclerosis.

The respondents

The respondents reported their exact weight and height at the age of eighteen. The research scientists then computed for their BMI or their body mass index. They were also told to choose from nine different kinds of silhouettes, from extremely thin up to extremely obese, in order to have a general description of their body size at five, ten and even twenty years old.

The findings

It was through this study that it was concluded that females who had a BMI of thirty or more at eighteen years old had more than two times of a risk for developing a case of multiple sclerosis, as compared to those who had a BMI of nineteen to twenty. Those who had a BMI of twenty-five up to twenty-nine were already considered as overweight while those who were obese had a BMI of thirty kilograms per squared meter.

For those who had a bigger body even though they were just twenty years old represented the purpose of having to use the silhouettes as tools in the study. Aside from that, they were also the ones who represented those who had a lot of risk for having MS. However, for those girls who were very large at five or ten years old is not at all related to the risk of multiple sclerosis development.

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Famous professor from the Harvard School of Public Health Kassandra Munger, ScD have stated that the results of the study indicate that weight pays such an important role in the development of MS in adolescence, as compared to that of childhood and adulthood. This means that teenagers have to be taught about preventing the onset of obesity from the very start to reduce the risk of having multiple sclerosis later.

The conclusions

Professor Munger states that there are two most likely statements that could explain why obesity pays a very important role with regards to risk of having multiple sclerosis. According to what she has found out in scientific and medical research, the high levels of Vitamin D inside the body greatly reduce the risk. But obese people have very low levels of Vitamin D.

Another possible explanation is that adipose tissue gives out material that can greatly affect the immune system and some types of cellular activity that are thought to be associated with multiple sclerosis.

The MS diet

Many forms of diet claim that they can reduce obesity, which, in turn, has a big possibility of precipitating the disease. Nutrition is a good way of preventing or avoiding the development of multiple sclerosis.

For instance, many of those who have MS have testified that eating food rich in gluten makes them feel terrible. Although, there are still no scientific findings to back this up, many depend on these testimonies.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

This article explains a few things about Multiple Sclerosis, and if you’re interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don’t know.

Misdiagnosing

There is a collection of tests that are needed to finally diagnose multiple sclerosis. This is so because there is no single diagnostic exam that is entirely proof-positive for the disease’s diagnosis.

Since the whole diagnosing process is difficult, a neurologist should be consulted as an evaluator. There is a ten percent among those who are said to have multiple sclerosis that actually has a disease that merely mimics multiple sclerosis. Such diseases that are usually mistaken as multiple sclerosis are multiple strokes, brain infection, inflammation of the blood vessels, lupus and vitamin deficiency. There are also some stress-related diseases that are misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis.

How the diagnosis is made

An accurate diagnosis of multiple sclerosis needs a complete medical history plus a neurological examination, which examines both the brain and the spinal cord. A lot of the diagnosing part, if not all, greatly depends on the correct questions asked by the physician in order to correctly uncover or discover important information.

In addition to a thoroughly taken medical history and physical assessment, there is also a variety of highly specialized procedures that are extremely helpful. Such procedures are spinal taps, MRI which makes use of imaging techniques, lumbar punctures which examine the cerebrospinal fluid running through the spinal column, laboratory analysis of the person’s blood, and evoked potentials which are basically electrical tests that determine if the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis has affected the nerve pathways.

If you find yourself confused by what you’ve read to this point, don’t despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.

Accepted criteria for diagnosis

First of all, it is in accordance to ongoing research that, multiple sclerosis occurs to those who are between twenty and fifty years of age. Aside from the weakening of the immune system, this age range is usually the one affected with the disease’s predisposing and precipitating etiologic factors.

For multiple sclerosis to be diagnosed there must be the presence of symptoms or signs that indicate damage or disease of the brain or the spinal cord. Also, since an MRI is compulsory, multiple sclerosis can only be diagnosed when there is evidence of two or more lesions. And of course, when all else fails and there is no other explanation for the underlying symptoms, the doctor could resort to diagnosing it as multiple sclerosis as long as the symptoms are congruent with that of the aforementioned disease.

What can be seen in the MRI scan?

With MRI, the neurologist is able to visualize any scar tissue in the deeper parts of the brain or the spinal cord due to the occurrence of multiple sclerosis. However, the very same lesions can also be seen in other conditions such as migraine headaches and hypertension. With this in mind, diagnosing multiple sclerosis is the last thing the physician would declare, since a group of tests are still needed to be done.

There is a five percent among those who have multiple sclerosis that does not show lesions on their MRI scan, probably because the lesions are somehow unique and cannot be easily detected by an MRI. Therefore, an MRI test is not completely depended on for immediately diagnosing or ruling out multiple sclerosis.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!

Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with Multiple Sclerosis? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Multiple Sclerosis.

Many of those who already have multiple sclerosis are very strong in trying different new modes of treatment. For example, for each of the twenty-nine days with a person, the person gives a certain thing to whomever would listen. Others would heartily give information and gratitude or thanks, those who have MS or multiple sclerosis give out their support.

After the full length of twenty days, those who had MS actually had a better time and the disease’s symptoms were greatly reduced.

None for those who are verbal with the test’s possible results might scoff and leave them to know that it was only very scientific, despite the fact that he was a trained scientist who only feels bad. In fact, he has established some cures that involve chocolate, sleeping early and pedicures. The aforementioned activities can be assumed to be well with fighting.

The 29-day Challenge

It is the perfect time to do such challenge. Since Christmas time is the time for the other to stop and think about the others, frantic practices are still present to try and make things have a perfect response to everything. Also, it is nice to have some one who is sick to have him or her completely announce any inspiration for me.

In some cases, you might purchase something for him where others would have to percent a lot of message. In fact, people have tried dipping pretzels in chocolate and some sprinkles and then being given to aunts. Another thing that people can experience is reading an extra book or publication. It is because of this extra work that dishes had to be washed and told everyone a plan had to be worked out.

Even though others might not have felt or experienced this kind of problem, there are those who finalize whether others have any results to report or not. There is also a portion that finds out if the warm fuzzes being experienced are just associated with his learning. Others might scoff and state that this challenge is very unscientific.

The best time to learn about Multiple Sclerosis is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable Multiple Sclerosis experience while it’s still free.

Drugs: Steroids

Corticosteroids or steroids are mainstay treatment aimed at relapse ? remitting multiple sclerosis. But others destroy those who are under examination who give out tests that test the diction of someone. And that a high dose of methylprednisolone is done on purpose for those who have a major relapse of multiple sclerosis.

What do steroids do?

These steroids decrease the inflammation within the central nervous system and also help in suppressing the attack on the myelin. In fact, it may also do good in improving the normal electrical conduction.

However, steroids do not improve the disease’s long-term part. In fact, in the long run, steroids might lose its effectivity once it is overused. And there is always an accompanying tendency with steroids to be overused by most since they are not merely there for maintenance treatment.

What does research say?

There are research findings that indicate that there is a potential benefit when it comes to using methylprednisolone via the intravenous route. This kind of administration is done regularly for five days every four months for as long as three years. Afterwards, it will be done for six months for as long as two years.

There has to be more evidence before finally including steroids in a prescription because steroids can have some adverse effects that could be very life-threatening once the drug is used overtime.

That’s the latest from the Multiple Sclerosis authorities. Once you’re familiar with these ideas, you’ll be ready to move to the next level.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!

In such a long time, it is only in this century that most of the impairments associated with the initial stages of multiple sclerosis can be reversed. This works by resetting their immune systems by making use of their very own stem cells.

Still, this kind of treatment is being further observed which necessitate some randomized clinical testing in order to confirm the test’s findings. However, this stem cell therapy is a good thing so that those who are still in the first stages of this disease can still have hope despite not having to undergo its drug regimen.

What is multiple sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is actually an autoimmune disorder that predominantly affects the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is basically made up of adipose tissue and it is wrapped around the nerve cells serving as a protective covering. Also, the myelin helps in speeding up the speed or the rate of the transmission between the brain, as it sends its signals, and the rest of the body. In MS, it is this myelin sheath that gets damaged.

What is best with treating MS is to immediately stop the attacks before there is further nerve cell impairment. And since MS is an autoimmune disease, this intervention is a definite must.

Stem cell treatment

A study was actually done regarding stem cell therapy and multiple sclerosis. The respondents were made up of twelve ladies and eleven gentlemen, who all had an early onset of the relapsing ? remitting type of MS. These respondents were chosen since their system failed to positively respond to interferon beta treatment, even after half a year.

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Stem cells were removed from these respondents, specifically from their bone marrow. Afterwards, chemicals were used in order to destroy the already present immune cells inside the person’s body before preparing to re-inject the stem cells. The re-injected stem cells will progress into what are called ?na?ve? immune cells which do recognize the myelin as self.

After three years of consistency in the treatment, seventeen of the overall total of respondents actually had an improved status on a standard disability scale. Moreover, none of the respondents died.

Reverse disability

Medical scientists say that this is the first time that reversing the disabilities associated with multiple sclerosis has actually been accomplished.

Although researchers admit that further testing is needed to confirm findings, but there is nothing to worry about because such tests are underway. Eventually, all thanks to stem cell transplant, those with MS are not forced to take drugs. Moreover, transplanting stem cells is a good thing for most since it is a one-off therapy.

Word from MS Society

Speakers from the MS Society have actually praised stem cell transplant for its positive results. Aside from stopping the debilitating disease from further progressing, the damages to the nerve conduction are also reversed.

At present, the potential of stem cells are become more and more recognized by many in the medical field. The only challenge relating to stem cells that remain is proving just how effective their transplantation is to big groups of people.

Those who only know one or two facts about Multiple Sclerosis can be confused by misleading information. The best way to help those who are misled is to gently correct them with the truths you’re learning here.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!

Up to now, there is ongoing research with regards to the factors that could trigger the onset of multiple sclerosis, more popularly termed as MS. Some findings indicate that there is an ordinary oral bacterium that could complicate this debilitating autoimmune disorder.

More information on multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is actually a disease wherein the body’s very own immune system attacks the brain, including the spinal cord. This disease affects one in approximately seven hundred people in the U.S. area. Those who have MS display a variety of symptoms such as neurological ones, difficulty in mobility and speech, and muscle weakness.

The common bacteria

The common bacteria, being talked about, are the porphyromas gingivalis, which is very common in human beings. These bacteria produce a very unique form of lipid called phosphorylated dihydroceramides or DHC’s. The DHC enhances the inflammatory response of the person. Also, this lipid is produced in other regions of the body, usually in the gastrointestinal tract.

These bacteria can be detected by identifying first if there is any DNA that specifically responds to this particular strain. This can be done by having a polymerase chain reaction, which is used for characterizing any evidence of DNA that specifically respond to the porphyromas gingivalis.

With this diagnostic tool, the presence of such bacteria can be identified in the oral cavity. This further suggests that early detection, including eradication, pay important roles in prophylaxis for this autoimmune disease.

I trust that what you’ve read so far has been informative. The following section should go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may remain.

Actually, a study was initiated by experts from the University of Connecticut Health Center such as Robert Clark and Frank Nichols. They started with this research in order to determine if such lipids can accentuate the immune-mediated impairment in this specific autoimmune sickness.

According to the findings of this study, the disease’s severity was enhanced whenever there were more these lipids. This concludes that the DHC’s which were phosphorylated from the said bacteria that are usually found in the body of humans can actually trigger, or in some cases, increase, the severity of multiple sclerosis.

Triggering factors

It is already a known fact that during an autoimmune attack, the own immune system attacks self tissues that could either be healthy or damaged. Either way, the immune system’s cells attack them all.

In the case of multiple sclerosis, the cells attack the protective covering of the nerves which is called the myelin. Apart from serving as protection, the myelin also aids in the proper transmission of signals between the brain and the rest of the body.

After proving that phosphorylated DHC’s from common bacteria found in humans can aggravate the process of this particular autoimmune system. Their next goal is to exemplify the effects of such DHC’s on the immune system’s cells. Also, they would like to identify exactly how the DHC’s are deposited in the tissues and exactly which tissues it prefers to be deposited in

They have also determined that phosphorylated DHC’s have a big potential to be the markers of multiple sclerosis’ disease process and also as the new targets when it comes to therapeutic intervention.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!