Friday, December 23, 2011
I read that the other day I really hope one day they can find the cause and maybe cure us or at least stop anyone else from getting MS
Mark,
This could bring us nearer to the ‘Holy Grail’ - thanks Jon for posting this - and Happy New Year to you - [and Mark] - l should think a forensic anthropologist would be our best bet for a good detective into the complexeties of this disease. Too much time and money has been spent barking up the wrong tree.
l have read lots of ‘novels’ by forensic anthropologists - and also followed series on TV - by the forensic anthropologists - l think from Edinburgh. lf they can dig up bodies from hundreds of years ago - and can tell what they ate - and what they died of and how they lived and who was related to who - then lets hope they will get the funding to explore what is happening to us. - Preferably, before we pop our clogs.
Love to you all
Frances.
That’s really interesting and hopefully it will prompt some further research and maybe even, one day, a cure. Happy New Year to you
Tracey
But like a lot of people with other autoimmune disorders SOME of us don’t catch viruses. This I think shows that for SOME of us with MS there is an autoimmune element.
I think we have a variety of different conditions that at the moment are all called MS because they have similar symptoms, and mostly seem to show lesions on the brain &/or spine and positive LP. But I think a variety of conditions that have different causes and will require different cures… possibly. I’m not a scientific person but it’s really my guess from coming on forums, reading about MS and having PPMS.
Pat x
Hi, mmmm interesting…just picking out a little of what the report suggests ie the bit about MS being a metabolic disorder…so is this why I`m fat then?
Or am I being daft?
luv Pollx
If it’s not autoimmune why am I injecting stuff that lowers my immune system then?
Wendy
x
you know i had to listen to a friend of my husband’s family wirtling on on how this is caused by lack of vitamid D. Should have pointed her in this direction, as I don’t think she believed me when i said there is no known cure yet, and they cant even decide what is causing this.
Being that way inclined, I tried to check out Dr Corthals. Maybe it was beause I wondered why a Forensic Anthropologist was interested in MS.
The Journal paper quoted, does seem to have had a very wide press indeed - almost suggesting that someone had sent out a press release.
Dr Corthals is not currently on the staff list of the John Jay College,.
She did hold the position of “Assistant Professor” at John Jay C. In the US, “Assistant Professor” is the same as “Lecturer” in the UL - that means quite low on the academic totem pole.
Now I do not have a big problem with any academic trying to find a niche to get themselves noticed - in the hope of a permanent position - and this has all the hallmarks of someone doing just that.
I go with Pat, Poll, and Wendy.
Geoff
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16362314
Hi Guys,
Did anyone catch the news this morning about MS research
Follow the link above.
Tony
All very interesting…But where does it leave us?
The neurotics have been fiddling about with MS for 70-80 years,and not made any real advances.Ego and hubris will ensure that they continue to get nowhere,but not let other medics, “'Ave a go at it”.
There is also the small matter of the £6 billion that Fat Farmer makes globally every year from MS.They stop any worthwhile research into MS which their neuro buddies don’t approve of,and are in cahoots with many agencies and parts of government.
Narrow minded, defeatist,.slanderous/libelous(take your pick), but MY realization after 10 years is that if you have found ways of helping yourself, keep doing them
Happy, healthy and wealthy New Year, Wb
Interesting article - for once they featured somebody with MS who looks vaguely normal, which is not like them. Is this just another flash in the pan though?
L x
Thanks for posting this. Supporting Robin Franklin’s stem cell research is why I support the MS society while I am lucky enough to be still in a job .
The BBC story about a link between MS and Vitamin D deficiency was enough to get me looking for on-line D Sources. I have to find out now, because I have a Neurologist appointment in 5 days, and I want to ask the right questions.
With MS, and a few other neurological disorders, there are so many grey areas that ANY research is useful. If I wanted to have a real moan, it would not be about the big drug companies (who have earned their huge profits by spending huge sums on research), but about all the support organisations for all the neurology conditions, and all the researchers for all the neurology conditions, who do not talk to each other.
Think about this - my wife has Parkinsons, and I have MS. We share a large number of symptoms. We support two different Societies. Reading the magazines we find that there is a lot of commonality. Her diagnosis was based on a favourable response to one drug. This drug is for Parkinsons - it slowed her deterioration right down - therefore she must have Parkinsons. Simple. And an MRI showed no brain or spinal lesions whatever - so she does not have MS.
In my case, it took a Neurologist’s physical examination, plus a lot of blood tests, plus an LP, plus an MRI to confirm that I have MS (and not the initial diagnosis of TIM). And for good measure, my problem is caused by inflammation inside the spine that is pressing on the spinal cord.
My wife has a Neurology Nurse who does home visits, I have an MS Nurse who does not leave the hospital. We ca communicate with each of them by phone or e-mail any time we need to. Each of these nurses know what our spouse’s dignosis is. Each of them know that most of our symptoms are the same (“funny, that …”), but they report to two different Neurologists in two different hospitals. I doubt if the two Neurology teams ever get together and talk about cases.
Parkinsons specialists go to Parkinsons conferences - MS specialists go to MS conferences. They read specialist journals. If they ever share knowlege I will be really surprised. You cannot blame the Specialists for this - it is just the way that the whole system for researching and reporting science has evolved. But maybe, just maybe, you could ask that one or two of the support Societies could actually get together and talk about common research issues.
Geoff
Interesting post Geoff, I was told that my genetic link probably comes from my mother’s Rheumatoid Arthritis and not my paternal grand father’s Parkinson’s disease. Which I was surprised at. If you look up R/Arthrits on the internet the causes are virtually that of MS, (Epstein Barr virus and lack of vitamin D)(sunshine) I take this to mean they don’t know what causes either. I do however try and get as much sun as I am able these days and take vitamin D3 in the winter months. Plus I am trying (and failing) to live on a low fat diet as I belive that cutting out red meat (after what I thought was arthritis and now believe was my first MS attack) 22 years ago; stopped my MS for at least 10 years.
Happy New Year to you and your wife!
Wendy
x
Hi Wend,
Personally I think there IS a link with Parkinson’s - not that I’m suggesting there isn’t with RA. You might have got a bad inheritance from both sides.
One of my paternal great aunts (Nanna’s sister) had MS, and another had Parkinson’s. I don’t think this is just down to random bad luck - two neurological diseases among sisters.
I think Parkinson’s has been linked to mutations on a specific chromosome (6, I think?)
MS has been tentatively linked with Chromosome 6, and RA definitely is!
Tina
x
Thanks for that Tina and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Wendy
x
Dear Dr Corthals,
Your review is not available yet on World of Knowledge so I cannot query it, but I’d be fascinated to know how you have gone from publishing a paper on bats in 2008 and one on tropical deforestation in Feb 2011 to a review of MS in December 2011. In fact, of the 5 papers returning from a search of Corthals A* on Web of Knowledge, all 5 are to do with biology and not neurology.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Karen MacRae.
Well,I have read the full review and am quite impressed with the sugestions.I’m more inclined to believe such a paper than some self styled advisors who give advice on these boards.Including Doctors who try to discredit someone without any evidence and then question their position,when quite clearly Dr.Corthals does exactly what she says she does!
It’s intersesting that the tighter someones argument the more people try to discredit it.
Bloomin’ heck does that mean you can’t believe everything that is published by an academic?
This thread should carry a spoiler alert.
It’s almost as devasting as being told there is no Father Christmas