Read full article here.

In the past, it was quite common for doctors not to tell people they had multiple sclerosis after making the diagnosis, so as to spare them anxiety or worry about the future. Even today, some doctors still avoid such disclosure. New research from Bologna in Italy sheds important light on this question. Researchers enrolled 229 people with MS or clinically isolated syndrome (a single attack not yet diagnosed as definite MS) in the study. Of these 229, 93 were unaware of their diagnosis, suggesting this practice on the part of treating doctors of not disclosing the diagnosis is still relatively common. The diagnosis was then disclosed to these people, after measuring their quality of life and psychological state before disclosure. Interestingly, 30 days after this disclosure, measures of quality of life, anxiety and depression were better than before the patients knew the diagnosis, and this improvement in quality of life and psychological wellbeing persisted over the following two years. Read full article here.

Interesting article. Full original post here.

1. Molecular pieces of bacteria (mimicry) have been identified that can cause autoimmune response against nerve insulation (myelin).
2. Accidental discovery that Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) in 3 MS patients led to a reversal of the disease.
3. Dietary changes have been reported to reverse disease symptoms in some people.
4. Vitamin D deficiencies are widely observed across many autoimmune diseases.
5. Abnormal obstructions in the veins in the necks of MS patients are being studied with MRI and the blood flows are being measured with Doppler MRI techniques.  Some have claimed reversal after balloon angioplasty to open the blockages.  Many trials are on the way.  This remains a controversial bit of research.

The five items above are described further below.

Professor Westall Discovers the Connection Between Gut Bacteria and Multiple Sclerosis

Professor Frederick Westall has a doctorate degree in chemistry and worked with Dr. Jonas Salk, the inventor of the Salk vaccine for polio, for over 12 years at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.  Dr. Salk chose Professor Westall to be in charge of the experimental development of the multiple sclerosis vaccine that occurred in the 1970′s and 80′s because Professor Westall was the first person to discover and synthesize a chemical that could induce an experimental version of multiple sclerosis in animals.  The vaccine worked in animal trials but did not perform as expected in human trials due to subtle differences between the immune systems of the animal and human.  After leaving wrapping up his research at Salk, he accepted a position to teach chemistry at Cal Poly Pomona.  After retiring from Pomona, Professor Westall has continued to self-fund his research to find the cause and cure for multiple sclerosis.  In 2006 he published the following landmark paper in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology where he discovered that pieces from a person’s normal gut bacteria could provide the irritating chemicals, known as antigens, to drive the autoimmune condition for multiple sclerosis.  By utilizing the vast genetic database of the National Institute of Health, he identified candidate bacterial species that were capable of producing the antigens that excited the immune system to attack the nerve tissue in the brain.

Molecular mimicry revisited: gut bacteria and multiple sclerosis.

Westall FC.