Loosely Wrapped Myelin Marks Early Stages of Multiple Sclerosis, Even Before Inflammation - Neuroscience News (2023)

FAQs

What is the most common demyelinating event in patients with MS? ›

The initial symptom of MS is optic neuritis (ON) in 14% to 23% of patients, and more than 50% experience a clinical episode of ON during their lifetime. The most common manifestation is visual loss in one eye that evolves over a few days.

The hallmark of MS pathology is the focal demyelinated lesion, or “plaque,” present in the white matter of the optic nerves, brain, and spinal cord.

Longbrake says MS brain lesions are caused by inflammatory damage to nerves. This damage leads to neurologic deficits like weakness, numbness, or memory problems. Inflammation of the central nervous system is linked to the initial appearance of the disease as well as relapses.

PATHOLOGY OF MS. The pathology is characterized by multifocal lesions, the MS plaques. The usual evolution of the MS plaque is as follows: in the acute phase (active plaque), activated mononuclear cells, including lymphocytes, microglia, and macrophages destroy myelin and, to a variable degree, oligodendrocytes.

A variety of drug therapies are recommended depending on your specific disorder. Strategies to treat symptoms include medications to improve walking, spams, bladder dysfunction and others. Physical therapy, occupational therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy can also help manage symptoms.

Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that can mimic some of the symptoms of MS such as fatigue and joint pain.

People with multiple sclerosis can incorporate natural therapies into their health protocol in order to reduce inflammatory chemicals and reduce blood-brain-barrier disruption. Some of the most potent natural therapies to achieve these goals include resveratrol, vitamin D, fish oil, and a healthy diet.

These pain sensations feel like burning, stabbing, sharp and squeezing sensations. In MS you can experience acute neuropathic pain and chronic neuropathic pain. Acute Neuropathic Pain is sometimes an initial symptom of MS or may be part of an MS relapse. Acute means it has a rapid onset and is of short duration.

There have been studies that suggest Vitamin D deficiency may play a role in immune system function and the development of auto immune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis.

What mineral deficiency causes MS? ›

They found that people who naturally had lower levels of vitamin D (because of their genetics) were more likely to develop MS.

One group of toxic agents that could produce many features of MS are the potentially toxic elements (PTEs), formerly referred to as “heavy metals”, that include elements such as mercury, lead, and cadmium²⁷.

One of the more obvious first signs of MS is a problem with vision, known as optic neuritis. This is often because it's a more concrete symptom as opposed to vaguer neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Common symptoms include fatigue, bladder and bowel problems, sexual problems, pain, cognitive and mood changes such as depression, muscular changes and visual changes.

The myelin sheath is mostly made of fat, but certain fats work better as building materials. Healthy fats can help grease the gears. Unsaturated fats found in foods like nuts, seeds, salmon, tuna, avocado, and vegetable oils help nerve cells communicate more quickly.

Myelin is repaired or replaced by special cells in the brain called oligodendrocytes. These cells are made from a type of stem cell found in the brain, called oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). And then the damage can be repaired.

In multiple sclerosis, immune cells target a certain cell type called oligodendrocytes, which are only located in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Oligodendrocytes are special types of neurons (or brain cells), which produce something called myelin.

Attacks strike approximately every 12 to 18 months. This pattern is common when patients first develop MS and through the early years of their disease, and is referred to as relapsing-remitting MS.

Erythromelalgia is a painful MS symptom that affects the feet. The feet may feel tight or swollen and have a burning sensation. Some remedies for hot feet include: wearing pressure socks.

What neurological disorder mimics MS? ›

These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.

Devic's disease/NMO most often affects only the optic nerve and spinal cord at first. With MS, changes in memory, reasoning, problem solving and depression are also common. Vision loss with MS usually affects one eye at a time, but Devic's disease/NMO may affect both eyes at the same time.

Diphenhydramine, sold as Benadryl, is a type of antihistamine that can help reduce the likelihood or severity of an allergic reaction to a multiple sclerosis (MS) infusion treatment. Antihistamines block histamines, chemicals made by white blood cells that cause allergy symptoms such as itchy skin, rash, and hives.

Vitamins that seem of particular interest to people with MS include vitamin D, the antioxidant vitamins, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. Vitamin D Vitamin D is a hormone, or chemical messenger, in the body.

High doses of other vitamins can antagonize your immune-modulating, immunosuppressive therapies used to manage MS. Supplements that stimulate the immune system should be avoided in high doses. Those include selenium, zinc, B1, B2, folic acid, B6, vitamin A, biotin, magnesium, copper, and manganese.

People should consider the diagnosis of MS if they have one or more of these symptoms: vision loss in one or both eyes. acute paralysis in the legs or along one side of the body. acute numbness and tingling in a limb.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that involves an immune-mediated attack on the central nervous system. Myelin and the oligodendrocytes that form myelin appear to be the primary targets of the inflammatory attack, although the axons themselves are also damaged.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, which leads to the development of focal inflammatory lesions with secondary axonal damage.

Vitamin D sources and supplements

Mattson tends to recommend 1,000 to 2,000 IU per day to people with MS, even if levels are normal, to boost the protective factor against MS activity. “If vitamin D levels are low, I tend to recommend 2,000 units per day.

One study noted young people with MS who took a calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium supplement had a reduced number of relapses. The study authors theorized that magnesium could play a role in the growth and stability of myelin.

What vitamin and mineral deficiencies mimic MS? ›

Vitamin B12 deficiency or Copper Deficiency

A vitamin B12 deficiency can cause MS-like symptoms, says Conway. These symptoms can include fatigue, mental confusion, and numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.

While zinc deficiency causes brain cells to die, high levels can also be neurotoxic. Obtaining an equilibrium, or homeostasis, may be essential to improving clinical outcomes in people with MS.

Higher levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), and with reduced clinical activity in established MS, including decreased risk of relapse and reduction in disease activity on brain MRI [1, 2].

A vitamin B12 deficiency can cause neurological symptoms that mimic those of multiple sclerosis (MS). Symptoms of both conditions include muscle weakness, difficulty walking, cognitive dysfunction, and sensory disturbances.

Clostridium perfringens and epsilon toxin may explain many of these mysteries.” An environmental trigger is required for MS to occur in a genetically susceptible individual, and the abundance of epsilon toxin-producing Clostridium perfringens in people with MS suggests it could be the culprit.

While the genetics governing MS risk are still not completely understood, some 200 genes are thought to possibly contribute — even in small ways — to MS development. The strongest genetic risk factor is a particular variant of the HLA-DRB1 gene, called HLA-DRB1*15:01.

Multiple sclerosis is caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking the brain and nerves. It's not clear why this happens but it may be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

The first episode of clinically eloquent CNS inflammatory demyelination is frequently the first clinical manifestation of multiple sclerosis. This may occur on a background of sub-clinical disease that has been present for many years prior.

Demyelination and multiple sclerosis

In MS, demyelination occurs in the white matter of the brain and in the spinal cord. Lesions or “plaques” then form where myelin is under attack by the immune system. Many of these plaques, or scar tissue, occur throughout the brain over the course of years.

Fatigue. Fatigue is one of the most common symptom of MS, reported by at least 75% of patients with the disease. Fatigue is described as an overwhelming feeling of lassitude or lack of physical or mental energy that interferes with activities.

Can you have demyelination and not have MS? ›

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) or antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) can also occur in MS. Thus a number of patients with systemic autoimmune disease and demyelinating lesion can be misdiagnosed for MS.

Does demyelination always mean MS? MS is the most common demyelinating disorder that affects the central nervous system (CNS), comprised of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is not the only condition characterized by CNS demyelination, however.

T cells and B cells in MS

T cells become activated in the lymph system and, in MS, enter the central nervous system through blood vessels. Once there, T cells release chemicals that cause inflammation and damage. This results in damage to myelin, nerve fibers and the cells that make myelin.

When a damaged nerve “short circuits,” it can cause a sharp pain or a burning or squeezing sensation. A common pain in MS is what's known as Lhermitte's sign. “This occurs when there's a lesion on the cervical spine, the neck area of the spinal cord,” says Dr. Scherz.

Demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) that affect the brain and spine have a variety of etiologies and can be separated into primary such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and other idiopathic inflammatory-demyelinating diseases (IIDDs) and secondary (e.g., infectious, ischemic, metabolic, or toxic) ...

Relapsing-Remitting MS (RRMS)

The most common type of MS is called RRMS. It is defined by temporary periods called relapses, flare-ups or exacerbations, when new symptoms appear.

Cognitive impairment—a decline in the ability to think quickly and clearly and to remember easily—affects up to 75 percent of people with MS. These cognitive changes may appear at the same time as the physical symptoms or they may develop gradually over time.