How can a virus interfere in the treatment of this disease?

As explained by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, this chronic condition affects the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord. As a result of this condition, people can have problems with their mobility, even to the point of becoming completely disabled.

“Symptoms can be mild, such as numbness in the extremities, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision,” the entity notes in a short guide it shares on its website.

According to this document, Not all patients with multiple sclerosis suffer from the disease in the same way, on the contrary, the symptoms and consequences of this condition can be diverse and unpredictable, which is why scientists continue to study this disease, with the aim of ensuring a better quality of life for people.

As they select from the Mayo Clinic Medical Publication Portal, This condition is so special that a person can stop walking forever, while others may not notice any symptoms.

“Multiple sclerosis has no cure. However, some treatments help speed recovery from attacks, change the course of the disease and control symptoms.

In this sense, and a few hours before World Multiple Sclerosis Day, a date to draw attention to the need for knowledge about this disease, a team of researchers shared a discovery that could have a positive impact on its treatment.

A discovery that could change the lives of thousands of patients

Multiple sclerosis experts point out The latest discovery of the link between this disease and the Epstein-Barr virus offers hope for a better response, ahead of World Multiple Sclerosis Day on Monday, May 30.

Treatments that claim to prevent her inflammation “A lot of progress has been made in the past 10 years,” neurologist Jean Pelletier, from the French Arsep Foundation (supporting research on multiple sclerosis), explains to AFP: “There has been a lot of progress in the past 10 years,” and monitoring patients More individual.

According to him, new developments could arise from a particularly important discovery, made in January by American researchers, which highlights the need for the Epstein-Barr virus to develop multiple sclerosis, although not all infected people are infected with it. .

It is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).

It causes an immune system disorder that attacks myelin, the protective sheath of nerve fibers. Often, it causes an inflammatory flare-up that is interspersed with phases of remission.

the disease They vary greatly from patient to patient, but they can produce sequelae, and are a common cause of disability in young adults. It is estimated that more than 2.8 million people suffer from this autoimmune disease worldwide.

Children and adolescents still represent a minority of cases, but the disease may have started long before it was diagnosed.

discovery of a link to the Epstein-Barr virus, Which affects 95% of adults and is a cause of other diseases such as mononucleosis, indicates that most cases of multiple sclerosis can be prevented by stopping infection with this pathogen.

In addition to a “better understanding of what this multifactorial disease may play”, the study hypothesizes “that multiple sclerosis could be prevented if children were vaccinated against the Epstein-Barr virus, given that at the present time there is no vaccine available,” according to Professor Pelletier.

*With information from Agence France-Presse.