Latitude gradient decreasing, female/male ratio increasing in MS

hollie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:12:55 -0400

Individual studies have recently reported on what seems to be a decrease of the MS "latitude gradient" (the lower incidence rate toward the equator) and an increase in the ratio of females to males with MS. To test the overall validity of these indications, two epidemiologists compiled and analyzed MS incidence data from 27 different studies conducted in Europe, the US, and Australia. These studies covered different time periods that ranged from 1950 to 2002.

The analysis confirmed that over these decades, MS rates have been increasing more rapidly in lower latitudes than in higher ones. Also confirmed was the increase in the female:male ratio, which grew from 1.4 in 1955 to 2.3 in 2000. The authors suggest possible explanations for these findings. For instance, changes in lifestyle and living conditions at lower latitudes may result in decreasing exposure to sunlight (and thus lower vitamin D levels) and decreasing exposure to infections at younger ages. The female:male ratio may have been affected by an increase among women in smoking, which has been associated with MS, or perhaps reproductive factors (although none of these have yet been associated with MS).

One of the limitations pointed out by the authors was that this was not truly a worldwide study due to the shortage of incidence figures from Africa, Asia, and Central/South America. It would be very interesting to study the gender ratio in these regions, for instance, to see whether the explanations put forth remain plausible and/or whether new ones emerge.

Maybe we don't need to worry too much about brain atrophy

art — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:03:59 -0400

One of the big worries people have with MS is the brain atrophy. Here's a story about a girl who had half of her brain removed and was largely able to cope afterward. We have considerable backup in our heads.

Tysabri Turns Two

art — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:48:48 -0400

Tysabri has been back on the market for 2 years now. A whopping 17,800 people are taking it in the US, with 13,400 more world-wide. No new cases of confirmed PML have been seen, but only 6,600 people have been on Tysabri for more than 18 months.

So far, so good!

MS sufferers getting 'postcode lottery' treatment

art — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:33:31 -0400

No country has figured out a healthcare system that works for everyone (or even most people). The US system is seriously broken and detractors are usually proponents of some form of national health system.

Here's a story from the UK about the poor treatment you get from NHS when you have MS and the failure of a five year effort to fix that.

Here's a health plan that works: get really rich and be able to afford the best doctors and hospitals. Now we just need a plan to get really rich.

Good News: Avonex and Tysabri Prices Going Up!

art — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:30:10 -0400

Oh wait, that's only good news for shareholders. Guess we shouldn't get our good news from financial reporters.

Anyway, enjoy the snazzy new higher prices on Avonex, Tysabri, Rebif, etc.

Americans think they would rather be dead than disabled

art — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:03:41 -0400

More than half of Americans would rather die than live with a severe disability, according to a survey.

In the online poll commissioned by Disaboom, a Web site and social network for people affected by disabilities, 52 percent of the 1,000 "nationally represented" adults chose death over losing the ability to live an independent life.

MS severity-influencing genes found (using Accelerated Cure Project DNA samples)

hollie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:09:50 -0400

Genetic researchers in Syracuse, NY have identified gene variants that may affect severity of MS. They were trying to confirm previous findings that linked genes in the CCL cluster on chromosome 17 with a higher risk of MS, but those results couldn't be replicated. However, when they analyzed the data for severity, they found variants in the CCL8 gene that were more frequent in subjects with "severe" MS compared with subjects with "mild" MS. CCL genes play a role in the immune response, so these results suggest that factors that influence immune responses may also influence the severity of MS.

This study is of particular interest to us at Accelerated Cure Project because the samples used included DNA samples from our sample and data repository. In fact, this is the first published journal article that mentions our repository as a source of samples. We expect there will be many more!

Watermelons, not Viagra

art — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:22:58 -0400

Scientists discovered that watermelon has an effect similar to well-known drug Viagra. The positive effect is attributed to an ingredient citrulline found in watermelons.

I wonder if watermelon sales will sky-rocket now?

Cortical atrophy may influence personality

hollie — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:28:20 -0400

Changes in the brain can result in changes to personality -- for instance this is often seen in traumatic brain injury -- but this effect has not been studied much in MS. Scientists in Buffalo, NY looked into whether loss of brain tissue in the cerebral cortex could have any connection with personality characteristics.

They performed MRIs on and administered personality tests to 44 MS subjects and analyzed the results, controlling for factors such as cognitive function, depression, and T2 lesion volume. They found that greater cortical atrophy was associated with lower Extroversion and Conscientiousness scores. Moreover, subjects with greater cortical atrophy tended to score themselves higher on Openness and Conscientiousness than others scored them. These results suggest that loss of cortical tissue can affect personality, although the authors acknowledge that their findings need to be confirmed by analyzing changes in personality and cortical volume over time.

ProNeuron accuses Teva, maker of Copaxone, for sabotaging trials

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:19:40 -0400

Some of this article is a bit difficult to follow, and money is probably a major motivator behind ProNeuron’s accusations that Teva has sabotaged clinical trials. But ProNeuron claims it has evidence that lower doses of COP-1, the active ingredient in Copaxone, may be effective for some neurodegenerative diseases, and it suggests that this might have implications for MS users of Copaxone. ProNeuron claims that Teva has not pursued this because they want to reap the benefits of having patients inject Copaxone daily.

Between currents studies of double dose Copaxone and this article, it sounds like the story about the most effective dosage for Copaxone is far from over. It would be worth tracking this law suite to see if the claims are indeed true.