Prog MS
The progressive nature of multiple sclerosis is a hard thing to get your head around, especially if you’re the type of MS’er for whom symptoms come and go.
The truth is that half of all MS relapses may leave some lingering problems, however slight. On average, around 65% of people with relapsing remitting MS will develop secondary progressive MS within 15 years of being diagnosed.
If MS progression is such a common feature of the disease, why haven’t scientists done better in trying to prevent it?
It’s easy to get lost in scientific lingo, therefore, in true Shift.ms style, let’s try and simplify progressive MS in a less stuffy way.
For a moment, let’s pretend that this disease called multiple sclerosis is the British music industry.
Let’s say that all those with relapsing remitting MS are students at the BRIT School for Performing Arts. BRIT school trained singers like Adele, Jessie J, Rizzle Kicks, Katy B and a host of other pop wunderkinds are recognisable for their ability to hold a note and are viewed by the record labels as safe artists to invest in. The big record companies see them as a secure bet, one that’s easy to market and sell. They conform to a tried and tested formula, meaning there’s less risk of them not being successful. It’s the pop stars that come from the BRIT school that are the easiest to manage and treat because they respond best to established methodologies.
Now, let’s say that those with secondary progressive MS are former members of the BRIT School for Performing Arts who were at one time easy to promote and market, but now they no longer fit the bill and are a liability to the record label. As a result, those with progressive MS are, for the sake of argument, members of the Brit school alumni that used to be famous but have now lost their record contracts. They were once upon a time simple to take care of but are now not so easy to market. Those in this situation are eager to get a recording deal again but the labels seem less inclined because they can’t see a viable way for them to be successful.
To make this metaphor even more comprehensive, please imagine those with primary progressive MS as people that have also come out of the BRIT school but were never able to get a record contract in the first place; therefore they were never taken seriously by the music industry even though they could sing just as well. These poor guys have been searching for an opportunity their whole careers, only to have the door shut on them every time. As time goes by, their chances of getting a record deal seem less realistic.
So we can gather that everyone coming out of the BRIT school is a talented cause but because the music industry struggles to keep them relevant, most eventually fall by the wayside.
This is not cool. All graduates of the BRIT School for Performing Arts deserve a second chance and the good news is the industry is waking up to that.
In fact, let’s do away with the BRIT school analogy for a moment and get back to basics. In order to properly treat MS you not only need to stop the immune system attacking myelin sheaths, you need to somehow keep the nervous system in shape by creating fresh oligodendrocytes that keep on producing myelin forming nerve-protective cells. That’s a tall order but not an impossible one.
MS gets worse the longer the disease goes on, meaning it will be harder to rectify progression if the damage is too prolonged and protracted. The good news is there’s growing evidence in MS mouse models that demonstrates they can supply them with young monocytes (a type of white blood cell that are part of the innate immune system of vertebrates) that can repair long-term damage to myelin sheaths.
Scientists are getting closer to putting the pieces together in order to crack the remyelination riddle, which is great news for all people suffering from MS, whatever their age and condition.
To be honest, any music fan could have told the scientists involved in remyelination studies that if you want to crack MS, it always pays to go young.
Just look at Madonna. Every pop starlet coming out of the BRIT school wishes they can be a perpetual music icon like Madonna, but they can’t, because the latter is constantly reinventing herself. Even at the tender age of 54, the Queen Mother of Pop has defied time by homing in on the best youthful trends and styles that will forever keep her relevant and effective.
Madonna is no fool either. She has a new album due out in March titled MDNA, which features collaborations with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. As Madonna has gotten on in years, she’s sustained her chart credentials by teaming up with the hottest young pop stars of the moment; hence why Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilera have also been past collaborators. By using young talent, Madonna has ensured she keeps on selling records and making money. The situation is no different for those suffering from MS. In order to encourage your body to regenerate myelin, it seems very likely that you’ll need to introduce young monocytes into the CNS that can then repair the damage your tired old cells can’t manage on their own.
I mean, seriously, why settle for being someone with a short music shelf life like say Kate Nash (who, you say?), when you can remain constantly famous like Madonna. It’s almost like settling for a bog standard Interferon beta-1-a medicine when you could be having a far better remyelination treatment that stops your MS in its tracks, for good. Think long term, not just for today.
Like always, goodness knows when such promising myelin repair treatments will become a therapeutic reality. (10 to 15 years time seems the standard line, though they’ve been saying that for the last 3 years, which by my comprehensive school calculations means it should arrive anywhere between the next 7 to 12 years.)
Still, at least scientists seem to be getting there. If all goes to plan, we may actually be looking at a remyelination treatment for MS hitting medical cabinets everywhere within a decade.
Till then, Vogue.
I
