Source Royal Holloway University:  We are looking for volunteers with Relapsing Remitting MS to take part in a new study investigating the relationship between specific mental skills and employment in Multiple Sclerosis. We will be using a new, computer-based test which we hope will be able to produce information more closely related to real life experiences.

You will complete a series of neuropsychological tests and questionnaires which should take no more than 2 hours. We will be arranging a suitable location for testing.

If you are interested and would like more information, please take a stub below and contact the researcher, Laura Clemens, Trainee Clinical Psychologist, who will give you an information leaflet and discuss the study in detail. For more information email Laura.

Source Neurology Advisor: In patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), fingolimod may protect against deep gray matter (dGM) and thalamus volume loss and may also lead to slower disability progression compared with placebo, according to an analysis published in Neurology.

The investigators analyzed pooled data from the FTY720 Research Evaluating Effects of Daily Oral Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis FREEDOMS and FREEDOMS II phase 3 trials, using data from the fingolimod program. In the pooled analysis, a total of 2064 participants with RRMS received 0.5 mg fingolimod (n=783), 1.25 mg fingolimod, or placebo (n=773). At 12 and 24 months, the investigators evaluated baseline changes in dGM and thalamic volumes. White matter and ventricular volume changes were also evaluated. Read on.

Source MS Society:  Researchers at the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research have found that extra myelin can be sent to the wrong part of the nerve – an important insight for MS treatments.

Professor David Lyons and his team looked at what happens in zebrafish and mice when myelin making cells (known as oligodendrocytes) make more myelin than the nerve fibres need.

Too much of a good thing?

Professor Lyons, MS researcher at the University of Edinburgh and lead author, said: “We were surprised to find that when more oligodendrocytes and myelin were present than the nerve fibre needed, the excess myelin was sent to the wrong part of the nerve.”

It’s important to consider where extra myelin ends up because treatments for MS often involve increasing myelin production to repair damage done to nerve fibres. Read on. 

Source MS Trust:  The causes of MS are not well understood and there are a number of factors to be considered. You may wonder whether you did something to cause your MS or if you could have stopped MS from happening to you. The answer is ‘no’. No one could have advised you how to prevent your MS.

The cause of MS is a very active area of research and it seems likely that a number of different factors come together to trigger MS. Some of these factors are in the world around us and there is some evidence that lack of sunshine may play a part. Other possibilities include being exposed to certain common viruses and carrying certain genes. However, no one knows for certain. Read on.