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Ms

  • 29-05-2006 1:24pm
    #1
    senordingdong
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,673 ✭✭✭✭


    Is MS an autoimmune disease?


Comments

  • #2
    hoggy87
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 53 ✭✭hoggy87


    Yup. The immune system attacks the nervous system.


  • #3
    DrIndy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,461 ✭✭✭DrIndy


    Yes, but every autoimmune disease has a different mode of action and activation of different components of the immune system. Some are very florid symptoms like rheumatoid arthritis, wegeners or SLE which can kill quite quickly, others are more chronic.

    MS is poorly understood as to how the immune system activates and why areas of the brain and spinal cord are assaulted.

    There is a female preponderance and also runs in families, pointing to an inherited genetic weakness contributing.


  • #4
    Pet
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,579 ✭✭✭Pet


    Is the lower rate of autoimmune disease in men related to testosterone's activity as an immune-suppressor?


  • #5
    John
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,135 ✭✭✭✭John


    It's probably more to do with estragen being neuroprotective. It's also anti-inflammatory which would reduce damage from MS. Most neurodegenerative diseases are due to massive increases in free radicals due to mitochondrial dysfunction. I'm not overly familiar with MS but I reckon like in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc. that estragen reduces the levels of these free radicals via various channels. A quick PubMed gave this review and this review*.





    *EAE is an animal model of MS


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