Bruce Trapp, PhD––Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, Ohio
Background
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, disabling neurodegenerative disease. It strikes most often during early adulthood, and it affects about twice as many women as men. Many aspects of MS, including its cause, are not well understood. It is unknown whether MS represents a single disease, or [...]

Robert J. Fox, MD––Medical Director, Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Assistant Professor, Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine at CWRU Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
Introduction
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has provided a new window into the injury caused by multiple sclerosis (MS) and the effects of MS therapies. MRI can be performed in a variety of [...]

A.D. Sadovnick–– Department of Medical Genetics and Faculty of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; E. Dwosh–– Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; C.H. Guimond–– Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Background
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders, other than [...]

Silva Markovic-Plese, MD—Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina School of Medicine, North Carolina
Introduction
The recent expansion in our understanding of the development of the disease in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has allowed therapies to be designed with ever-greater specificity. Some of these medications are even able to target interactions [...]

Olympia Hadjimichael, MPH, Coordinator , NARCOMS Project, Yale Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research , Yale University School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Healthcare System , West Haven , CT
Bladder symptoms are very common among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), because MS can affect the nerves responsible for urinary control. In the previous issue [...]

According to a study presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, mitoxantrone, a chemical routinely used to fight breast cancer, leukemia, and malignant lymphoma, dramatically decreases disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for at least 4 years.
Induction therapy, frequently used against cancers, is designed to wipe out abnormal [...]

According to a recently published study, relatives of patients with MS have a higher risk of developing MS than the general population. The study to evaluate risk involved 30 relatives of patients at the Department of Neurology, Medical Academy in Lodz, Poland, and the Department of Neuroscience, Scientific Institute and University Ospedale San Raffaele, in [...]

A study at the Florida State University has discovered an unusual brain enzyme that may contribute to MS. Research focused on the enzyme known myelencephalon-specific pro enzyme. The enzyme, which relatively new discovery, is found in animals and humans. Results of the study indicate that the enzyme attacks proteins and myelin-sheathed nerve cells brain, which [...]

Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center recently reported on the association between regional measures of cortical atrophy and neuropsychological (NP) dysfunction found in a study of 35 patients with MS.
Patients underwent neurological examination, MRI, and NP testing. Blind quantitative MRI analysis yielded total [...]

A Rockefeller University research team led by Sidney Strickland has reported the identification of the blood clotting factor fibrin as a critical protein in the regulation of regeneration of the myelin sheath following injury. MS is characterized by damage to nerve fibers’ “myelin sheaths,” the thick layers of specialized insulating cells that normally wrap [...]

Expert Consultant
Andrew D. Goodman, MD, Department of Neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
Progress to Date
Since multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions seem to be caused by immune attacks, one likely explanation for MS is that it is an autoimmune disease; that is, a disease in which the immune system incorrectly identifies one of the body’s [...]

Timothy L. Vollmer, MD, Director, Yale Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research, Yale University School of Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, New Haven, CT; Olympia Hadjimichael, MPH, Coordinator, NARCOMS Project, Yale Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research, Yale University School of Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, New Haven, CT
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is [...]

Expert Consultant
Harris E. Foster, Jr., MD, Associate Professor of Surgery (Urology), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Progress to Date
Bladder problems are common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), affecting up to 90% to 100% of patients during the course of their disease (Foster, 2002). Patients may have trouble with holding their urine (incontinence) [...]

Harris E. Foster, Jr., MD, Associate Professor of Surgery (Urology), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Progress to Date
As the ads for adult urinary pads discretely imply, bladder control problems are uncomfortable and potentially embarrassing, unfortunately, bladder symptoms are very common in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Up to 80% of patients with [...]

Randall T. Shapiro, MD, Director, Fairview Multiple Sclerosis Center, Minneapolis, MN
Progress to Date
For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), fatigue and muscle weakness can make it difficult just to get out of bed. The increased immobility and pain of spasticity can make performing daily tasks even harder.
Spasticity is a condition in [...]