Among the approaches the National MS Society is taking to find the cause and cure for MS is research into triggering or risk factors that influence whether a person develops the disease. Research of populations to study disease patterns, including variations in geography, demographics, socioeconomic status, genetics, environmental risk factors, and exposure to infectious agents, is called “epidemiology.” These studies provide vital information about relationships among these factors, so that we can better understand who gets MS and why, identify and explain areas with high or low rates of the disease, and assist in planning for health care and other services.
Finding a way to prevent MS will require understanding the genes that make people susceptible to developing the disease, and also identifying the environmental triggers so that those triggers can be avoided or otherwise de-railed so that MS is prevented from developing. The Society funds epidemiology studies to identify risk or protective factors, studies of how infection(s) might trigger MS. As we learn more about susceptibility genes, studies of how the immune system and genes interact with environmental factors to cause MS become more feasible.
Epidemiologic studies have given us some important clues about who develops MS:
- The disease affects more than twice as many women as men.
- It is most common among people with a northern European heritage, but people of other backgrounds develop the disease as well.
- MS appears to be more prevalent in temperate regions of the world than in the tropics.
- It is diagnosed most often in people between the ages of 20 and 50, although it also can develop quite early or quite late in life.
- Some possible risk factors that have been identified for MS include cigarette smoking and Epstein Barr virus.
- Some possible protective factors that have been identified for MS include intake of vitamin D and greater exposure to sunlight.
Epidemiological studies ultimately seek to discover the cause of MS, and may also serve as the basis for developing future treatments.
Many investigators believe that no single infectious agent or environmental factor is “the” cause of MS. Rather, they are exploring how a susceptible person’s immune system reacts to a variety of viral or other infections and environmental exposures, and how immune function is linked to hormonal and other factors.
New research initiative
The question of what factors influence the course and progression of multiple sclerosis is the focus of a new research initiative of the National MS Society, recently launched with the worldwide release of a Request for Applications. The goal of this first step is to award a pilot grant to a consortium of investigators, who would test the feasibility of a longitudinal study to determine why some people with MS have mild courses while others experience serious worsening of symptoms over time. Such a study could offer avenues for predicting who may experience progression, and ways to prevent and stop progression. This new project(s) will be announced later this year.
MS Trial Alert: Investigators Recruiting for Study Comparing Exercise Programs to Improve Depression
Feb 08, 2012
Summary: Investigators at the University of Washington, Seattle, are recruiting 108 people with all types of MS or spinal cord injury nationwide for a study comparing the effects on depression of two telephone-coordinated exercise programs. The study, also called the inMotion study, is funded by the National Institutes on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
MS Trial Alert: Pain Study Recruiting People with MS Nationwide
Feb 07, 2012
Summary: Investigators nationwide are recruiting 400 people with secondary-progressive MS or relapsing-remitting MS to compare the effectiveness of three doses of the oral drug AVP-923 (Nuedexta®, dextromethorphan hydrobromide and quinidine sulfate, Avanir Pharmaceuticals) or inactive placebo in reducing central neuropathic pain. The study is funded by Avanir Pharmaceuticals.
Research Teams Report on 18 Months of Progress from MS Societies’ Initial Studies on CCSVI and MS
Jan 27, 2012
Reports from 7 multi-disciplinary teams investigating CCSVI in MS indicate that they are making good progress toward providing essential data and critical analysis as these two-year projects move toward their completion. The studies were launched on July 1, 2010 with a more than $ 2.4 million commitment from the MS Society of Canada and the National MS Society (USA).