THIS DEALS WITH INFECTION FACTORS
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS VARIABLE
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Since 1884 it was believed that the cause of MS was a virus. This so called viral hypothesis is still very popular. It is known that some virus can cause relapsing and remitting courses and can also cause myelin destruction.
They believe something causes the body's immune system to go on an insurrectionary rampage and turn on itself, storming across the blood brain barrier and attempting to trash the central nervous system.
It is believed that viruses trigger and perpetuate MS but they now believe MS is not related to a persistent viral infection.
Since 1946 over twenty viruses have been studied relative to MS.
Measles, rubella, varicella-zoster, smallpox, mumps, influenza, parainfluenza, infectious mongnucleosis, typhoid, mycoplasma infections, upper respiratory and other febrile diseases. Vaccinations against, measles, mumps, rubella, influenza and rabies. The most likely cause however is an unknown respiratory infection and varicella infection.
CHLAMYDIA PNEUMONIAE
The bacterium chlamydia pneumoniae was found in the cerebrospinal fluid of all MS patients in Nashville TN study of 37 MS patients at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. These antibody response indicate a chronic immune activation to the organism. It is not yet known if C. Pneuoniae is a bystander or a trigger. The chlamydia family of bacteria typically cause chronic diseases with cycles of remission and relapse in other organs. It is noteworthy that acute sclerosis had a dramatic positive response to antibiotics. (April 99)
Epstein-Barr germ A common herpes type virus has been linked to Multiple Sclerosis. The link is a statistical association which is not a strong scientific link. In short it can't prove definitive cause and effect. However it was found that 95% are affected by age 40 with the virus and it is suspected most are infected during childhood. People without the virus rarely develop Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of the American Medical Association Dec 2001.
Hepatitis B vaccine MS has been linked by anecdotal evidence but does not stand the test of statistical analysis. Recent studies continue to find no links between Ms and Hep B vaccine, Jan 2001
HERPES VIRUS
HZZV Herpes zoster virus has been associated with MS (1999)
Hepatitis G virus shows a lack of association with Ms.
HHV-6
Exposure to common viruses, such as the human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6),
or bacteria may trigger the disease in some people with a genetic tendency.
This may explain why in identical twins, only one twin develops MS, 70 percent of the time.
However: Other studies suggest that human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6), HHV-7,
HHV-8 MS studies lack evidence to conclude a link.
INFECTIOUS MONONUCELEOSIS
MS patients were much more likely to have had infectious mononucleosis than the control group. They also changed residences more frequently, were more likely to have lived on a farm, and to have traveled to Mexico (a common destination for participants in a West Coast-based study). Dr. Roger Detels @ Uof C, Other studies also suggest that Infectious Mononuceleosis is a co-factor in the pathogensis of MS.
MEASLES (Rubeola) A prime suspect in the cause of MS was the measles virus. More than 30 studies confirmed that about 75% of MS patients have rubeola antibodies. Measles however has never been found in the brains of MS patients. Like TB an entire generation has been vaccinated against rubeola and MS should go into serious decline in the very near future if there is a relationship.
TUBERCULOSIS It was strongly believed that Tuberculosis was the cause of MS but with the elimination of TB there was no corresponding drop in MS. This fact closed the case on this theory.
MS is twice as common in women and generally first occurs in people in their 20s or 30s. Its cause is unknown. Because MS most often affects people in northern Europe and the northern half of the United States, scientists once suspected environment was a factor.
But strong evidence now suggests that MS results from an autoimmune process in which immune cells mistake myelin as a foreign invader and attack it. No one knows what triggers this process, which eventually damages not only myelin but underlying nerve tissue.
NOT LIKELY A SINGLE VIRUS OR BACTERIAL CAUSE
Another important piece of evidence for determining MS cause is the fact that there is no recorded case of MS having been transmitted to another person through a blood transfusion (Theofilopoulos, 1995a).
Studies have shown that MS most likely is not transmitted by person to person contact or by blood transfusion.
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