Multiple Sclerosis Research & Biography

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a nervous system disease, has no cure as of 2010. Affecting about 400,000 young adults in the United States, MS attacks the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord, resulting in numbness or, in severe cases, blindness and paralysis, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Identification

• A fatty substance called "myelin" protects the central nervous system nerve fibers. If your body's defense system attacks myelin, scar tissue or "sclerosis" forms, damaging or destroying your nerve fibers and interrupting nerve impulses from your brain.

Expert Insight

• On January 20, 2010, the New England Journal of Medicine published its 96-week study results of cladribine oral tablet therapy for MS patients, used to slow cancer cell growth. This study revealed cladribine "significantly reduced relapse rates, the risk of disability progression, and MRI measures of disease activity at 96 weeks."

Alternative Medicine

• MS research at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine includes ginkgo biloba, used medicinally for thousands of years in China. People use ginkgo leaf extracts, which comes in capsules, tablets and teas, to treat MS.

Considerations

• The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) MS Genetics Research Group seeks Caucasian or African Americans diagnosed with MS to participate by mail in one of several ongoing research studies to help identify more than 100 genes. The UCSF group will pay for your blood sample lab and postage fees, according to UCSF Research Coordinator Cuquita Gomez.

Warning

• Consult with your doctor before taking ginkgo, especially if you take blood thinners or have surgery scheduled. Ginkgo thins the blood and can increase bleeding.