Applied Data Research Study Finds Blockbuster Protein Drugs Shaping the Standard of Care for Autoimmune Diseases.

Researchers from Purdue University have studied and recorded how myelin degrades real-time in live mice using a new imaging technique. Myelin is the fatty sheath coating the axons, or nerve cells, that insulate and aid in efficient nerve fiber conduction. In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath has been found to degrade.

Men and women with multiple sclerosis (MS) equally transmit the genetic risk of the disease to their children, according to a study published June 27, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The research contradicts the results of a recent study, which found affected fathers were more likely than affected mothers to transmit the risk of developing MS to their children.

New Formulation of Rebif(R) Designed to Improve Tolerability and Immunogenicity Profiles

In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves – an insulating material called myelin – is damaged. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now discovered an important new line of communication between nervous system cells that is crucial to the development of myelinated nerves – a discovery that may aid in restoring the normal function of the affected nerve fibers.

Just months after receiving FDA approval, natalizumab, a medication for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory disorders, was voluntarily withdrawn by its manufacturers after three patients developed a brain infection known as Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML).

The immune system's ability to police itself may offer a new method of arresting the cells responsible for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and for the rejection of transplanted organs and tissues, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report in a study in the May issue of the journal Immunity and which will be available online on May 17, 12 noon ET.

Close on the heels of a large-scale clinical trial just underway to confirm that the female hormone estriol combats the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) in women, a just completed pilot study at UCLA now shows promise for the use of testosterone to combat its effects in men.

A glucosamine-like dietary supplement has been found to suppress the damaging autoimmune response seen in multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes mellitus, according to University of California, Irvine health sciences researchers.

Ultra-high-field (7T) MRI can detect multiple sclerosis lesions better than MRI which can lead to possible earlier diagnosis and treatment, according to a new study by researchers from Ohio State University in Columbus, and Columbia University in New York.

May is Multiple Sclerosis Month and there is no better way of raising awareness for this unpredictable and often debilitating disease then by highlighting the latest research that might offer hope for the 55 to 75, 000 sufferers across Canada. A new drug under investigation for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) appears to be safe and effective according to studies involving researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

On Mother's Day weekend, the Multiple Sclerosis Society will hold its 31st annual MS Carnation Campaign.