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MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

theguardian.com

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Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#71

Post by WillPostForFood »

unionpivo wrote: post #17
shakna wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They state very bluntly that MS is an autoimmune disease... when did this become clear to mainstream science? A while. The primary symptom of MS, the demylination, is caused by the immune system attacking the myelin. The _why_ of the immune system's attack is still unknown at this point in time, but that it _does_ has been known since at least 1965, with Schumacher's criteria.

You seem to be well informed. Do you know if there are any studies on: if one suffers from one autoimune condition is he more likely to suffer from others?

There is some mixed data, but the consensus is that MS is strongly correlated with other autoimmune diseases. This article has a good summary of several papers on the subject. You can scan down to the section on "Studies of Autoimmune Comorbidities in Multiple Sclerosis"

https://touchneurology.com/multiple-sclerosis/journal-articl...

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#72

Post by caycep »

secondo wrote: post #30

To me, following modern MS research progress is as exciting of an inward journey as space exploration is an outwards one. In fact to the point where I have considered leaving the tech field within the next 5-10 years to partake in it so it's fun to see this here on HN. Just 20 years ago the first disease modification treatments were introduced. These were recurring injections of interferon-beta (1b/1a) for a 18-38% r…

I'm reminded of the joke between the cardiologist and immunologist...but the story of MS therapies goes hand in hand with the revolution in molecular biology - and by extension, immunology.

https://twitter.com/nachristakis/status/1291414168713797638?...

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#73

Post by [deleted] »

bognition wrote: post #2

It’s kind of disappointing that this drug won’t be used as a treatment. I get that this drug has dangerous side effects but life with MS is terrible and the life expectancy is short 5-10 years. I fully believe that for chronic life threatening diseases people should be allowed to try all sorts of treatments that would be deemed unsafe.

[deleted]

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#74

Post by GordonS »

> Metformin seems to work by rejuvenating stem cells in the central nervous system, which then go on to become myelin-producing cells called oligodendrocytes. These churn out fresh myelin to replace that destroyed by MS

I have small fibre neuropathy, which has left me with constant pain. There are basically no treatments available beyond pain control, except for maybe IVIG treatments (there have been some papers showing promising results, but it's a very expensive treatment, and the NHS will not pay for it).

This is the first I've heard about metformin rejuvenating stem cells - if anyone knows more, especially in relation to nerve damage, or has some starting points for further research, I've be grateful.

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#75

Post by revel »

GordonS wrote: post #74

> Metformin seems to work by rejuvenating stem cells in the central nervous system, which then go on to become myelin-producing cells called oligodendrocytes. These churn out fresh myelin to replace that destroyed by MS I have small fibre neuropathy, which has left me with constant pain. There are basically no treatments available beyond pain control, except for maybe IVIG treatments (there have been some papers show…

My mom has SFSN and my brother has CIDP. From what I've seen IV IG is the only treatment for this kind of condition currently available and, even then, it's not a permanent fix. My brother has had it several times and it saved his life but the side effects are horrible. There are some interesting advancements happening in the States using stem cell but it's still very early days and even more expensive than IV IG. Just due to the process involved it's hard to see it coming down in price all that much.

This result is particularly exciting since it sounds like it's a drug and not a bio-product like IV IG or stem cell therapy.

Also, sorry to hear about your SFSN. Hope you're doing ok.

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#76

Post by neltnerb »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #49
neltnerb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh. I was about to say, my doctor said median was wheelchair in ten years, not dead. The severity varies tremendously, I (as sometime with MS) can totally see people with recent major episodes trading. They might not get another MS attack for years. Must have been a pretty bad side effect though, my first treatment literally resulted in me needing surgery. If that was better than nothing... I'm just going to guess th…

That's not the average now, though - especially not for someone taking medication. If folks ever even need a wheelchair, that is often temporary. It is so much more common to use other walking aids, if you need them at all. And this is still factoring in folks that aren't taking medications and are older and couldn't start on treatments early. This is all changing: People are getting diagnosed earlier than they were…

I am male, which accelerates the progression. But that was what my doctor told me in 2012 for men, even if taking interferon (which I did). And the two big new ones since. I stayed basically great until 2017. But now both hands are mostly numb and my leg is numb. I've taken the best medication available at every opportunity. Now it's progressive. I'm 37 and was diagnosed and treated very early after just one mild attack.

Anecdotes. I know. Although my progression so far has been fairly in line with my first doctor's statistics.

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#77

Post by GordonS »

shakna wrote: post #22
unionpivo wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be well informed. Do you know if there are any studies on: if one suffers from one autoimune condition is he more likely to suffer from others?

I am in no way an expert, which makes me very hesitant to answer these sorts of questions. I am a random person on the Internet. Take that into account when you read what I've written, and weigh it very skeptically. My knowledge comes from my own health. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (which is probably not an autoimmune disease. Probably.), after a ten year long process. MS was the other diagnosis being considere…

IME, many doctors, and even some consultants, use fibromyalgia as a catch-all where there is chronic pain and fatigue, but they can't find the underlying cause - basically a big umbrella to cover what are likely a broad spectrum of diseases and health issues.

I suffer from chronic pain and fatigue, and was previously diagnosed with fibromyalgia by both a rheumatologist and a neurologist, despite not even meeting the diagnostic criteria, and having an unrelated auto-immune health issue. Later on, via a skin biopsy I insisted on, it was discovered that I had small fibre neuropathy - damage to the small nerves responsible for pain signalling.

You didn't say anything about your specific symptoms, but if you have chronic limb pain, it might be worth looking at getting a biopsy.

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#79

Post by nottorp »

melling wrote: post #33
nottorp wrote: post #8

Please edit the title to fully spell out Multiple Sclerosis. At first I thought what does Microsoft have to do with nerve coatings?

You’ve overtrained your neural nets on technology. Please update your training set by reading more generally.

I don't read my medical info in English, generally. And as i said, the acronym in my native language is different.

Re: MS treatment a step closer after drug shown to repair nerve coating

#80

Post by 6d6b73 »

gavinray wrote: post #60
secondo wrote: post #30

To me, following modern MS research progress is as exciting of an inward journey as space exploration is an outwards one. In fact to the point where I have considered leaving the tech field within the next 5-10 years to partake in it so it's fun to see this here on HN. Just 20 years ago the first disease modification treatments were introduced. These were recurring injections of interferon-beta (1b/1a) for a 18-38% r…

My partner suffers from relapsing-remitting MS and it's horrible. Out of nowhere, body and brain half-quit working. Needs wheelchair, constantly confused. And then suddenly one day it stops. I like to hope we'll figure this out during our lifetime.

Check out Wahls Protocol.
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