Mediplacements - Multiple sclerosis is not an attack on the immune system, researcher contends

Multiple sclerosis is not an attack on the immune system, researcher contends

Friday 30th December 2011

A leading researcher has claimed that multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a disease of the immune system and has more in common with coronary atherosclerosis -hardening of the arteries - than anti-immune system condition.

In the UK there are 100,000 people who suffer from MS and, according to NHS figures, it can occur at any age, but symptoms are mostly first seen between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are more than twice as likely to develop MS as men. Throughout the world there are 1.1 million people who have the condition.

Dr Angelique Corthals, a forensic anthropologist and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, suggests that because the disease is not a condition affecting the immune system and more of a metabolic occurrence it can answer the question of why it strikes women more than men and why cases are on the rise worldwide.

The researcher believes that the primary cause of MS can be traced to transcription factors in cell nuclei that control the uptake, breakdown, and release of lipids - fats and similar compounds - throughout the body. Many believe that genes, diet, pathogens, and vitamin D deficiency have all been linked to MS, but evidence for these risk factors is inconsistent and even contradictory, frustrating researchers in their search for effective treatment.

Dr Corthals said: "Each time a genetic risk factor has shown a significant increase in MS risk in one population, it has been found to be unimportant in another. The search for MS triggers in the context of autoimmunity simply hasn't led to any unifying conclusions about the etiology of the disease."

Much more research is necessary to fully understand how the disease affects women more than men, but Dr Corthals hopes that this new understanding of the disease could eventually lead to new treatments and prevention measures.

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Written by Megan Smith ADNFCR-1780-ID-801252575-ADNFCR