Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease for which no cure has yet been found. Researchers are working to identify new and better strategies to stop that progression.
People with primary-progressive MS (read more about courses of MS) experience a slow but nearly continuous worsening of their disease from the onset, with no distinct relapses or remissions. A more common type of progressive MS is secondary-progressive MS, which starts as relapsing-remitting MS and then transitions into a progressive course, with or without occasional relapses.
Some of the burning questions that are being addressed through research include:
- What factors influence the transition from a largely relapsing-remitting course with distinct immune attacks to a largely progressive (steadily worsening) course (secondary-progressive MS)?
- Can the disease-modifying therapies prevent, delay, or slow long-term MS progression?
- What causes primary-progressive MS, and is it the same (currently unknown) thing that causes more common forms of MS?
- What new therapies will help people with progressive MS?
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What causes degeneration of nerve fibers—thought to be the cause of long-term disability experienced by many with MS—and how can that be stopped or reversed?
Read about a think tank on progressive MS convened by the National MS Society
Although many of the National MS Society’s research studies explore virtually every aspect of MS and more basic aspects of how the nervous system and immune system works, some studies focus specifically on progressive forms of MS. As part of its Strategic Response for 2011-2015, the National MS Society is increasing its focus on understanding mechanisms that drive MS progression and finding new therapies to treat it. Current projects aimed at progressive MS include:
- Four new studies launched in fall 2010 are taking different approaches aimed at identifying risk factors that influence whether MS symptoms progress, including factors that are potentially modifiable such as hormones and vitamin D levels. These studies are taking place in Boston and Buffalo, and may lead to ways to predict and prevent disease worsening.
- Another study in Kansas City is investigating levels of a brain chemical in people with progressive MS and also relapsing MS to understand the role of oxidative stress in disease severity and its potential as a therapeutic target.
- Many projects are focusing on repairing MS tissue damage, including the Society’s Nervous System Repair and Protection Initiative, in which four international teams have been collaborating to lay the groundwork for clinical trials of therapeutic strategies for repair and protection in MS.
- In collaboration with the MS Society of Canada, the Society has just launched seven research projects focusing on whether CCSVI (vein blockages) plays a role in the MS disease process.
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