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July 07, 2005Trials of neuroprotection in MS
Dr Raj Kapoor from The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London....linkUntil recently, it was thought that disability in MS was caused mainly by the gradual loss of the fatty insulating layer of myelin which surrounds nerve fibres (axons), and which allows them to conduct electrical signals. However, we now know that most of the permanent disability in MS occurs because the axons themselves degenerate.
Experience suggests that the current strategy of modifying the immune system may not be able by itself to prevent this axonal degeneration and consequent disability, and that we will need to develop a second strategy, termed neuroprotection, to achieve this goal. In order to do so, we will need to identify and to inhibilt the mechanisms by which axons are damaged. Research work has already identified several such mechanisms. |