Northern California researchers give hope to people living with multiple sclerosis – San Francisco Chronicle

Linda Glassel

Jan. 31, 2021Updated: Jan. 31, 2021 4a.m.

Nearly 1 million people in the U.S. live with multiple sclerosis tens of thousands right here in Northern California alone.

The woman with progressive MS who struggles to button her shirt in the morning, yet is determined to stand up and dance at her granddaughters wedding. The high school athlete trying to ignore the tingling and numbness in his legs. The new mother recovering from a relapse and unable to walk, wondering what her babys future holds. The lawyer with blurred vision and foggy thoughts. The father struggling to say his childs name. The painter feeling her grip loosen. The avid cyclist feeling her balance go.

MS can be harsh. Unfair. Overwhelming. An unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that can affect everything the body does and is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50, but also occurs in young children and older adults. MS is relentless always taking away, never giving back, and always threatening to take again but new hope is emerging, thanks to the unique talents of our Northern California research community.

While MS research momentum, especially over the past decade, has improved life for people with MS by helping with early detection and radically boosting the number of disease-modifying therapies available to people with MS to slow disease progression (there are currently over 20 options to date), none of these therapies stops the disease, helps people regain vital function that they have lost, or prevents the disease from occurring. And there are very few that are effective for people with progressive forms of the disease who often face significant challenges daily.

But the MS outlook is changing, thanks to research taking place at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UCSF, an institution which has produced two recipients of the National Multiple Sclerosis Societys prestigious Barancik Prize for innovation in MS research. Innovative studies at these local institutions have driven pioneering work into two approved MS treatments already, and current studies offer promise into new therapies that can repair brain tissue, critical biomarkers that can help to stop the disease before symptoms occur, and new wellness and lifestyle insights that can help people preserve vital function.

As the leaders of the global MS movement, the National MS Society now believes MS is a preventable disease. Thats an astounding statement that few of us would have shuddered to say even a few short years ago. But we do so with confidence in the groundbreaking research taking place in Northern California, and we are directing significant investments from our global research portfolio to accelerate progress here.

It is our ultimate hope that these groundbreaking investigations will catalyze an MS cure.

Here are a few highlights of some of the most promising research being funded in Northern California:

Emmanuelle Waubant, M.D., Ph.D. at UCSF is examining whether a high-fat diet, lacking in vegetable intake, may increase the risk of having an MS relapse. This study will help us understand if diet alters the course of MS and may uncover new treatment strategies.

Roland Henry, Ph.D. at UCSF and his team are using existing imaging and genetic data that have been gathered worldwide to find ways to quantitate neurodegeneration. Gathering and standardizing imaging and genetic data will allow researchers to more quickly answer questions, which will accelerate research breakthroughs in progressive MS.

Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.

Read more about our transparency and ethics policies

Stephen Hauser, M.D. at UCSF, in partnership with Dr. Howard Weiner at Harvard, is working on an ambitious research project, providing a tool that will unravel why and how MS progresses, with the goal of predicting and preventing progression. The cohort study is the best approach for identifying factors that influence disease progression and quickly making information accessible to the whole MS community.

J. Bradley Zuchero, Ph.D., a Harry Weaver Award Scholar at Stanford, is investigating how scaffold-like structures inside cells change during the formation of myelin. This project may uncover novel insights into why myelin repair fails in those with MS, which would represent an important step toward therapies aimed at promoting regeneration of lost myelin.

Lisa Barcellos, Ph.D., MPH at UC Berkeley, is studying pediatric MS for insights into the genes and other factors that determine a persons risk of developing MS. The results will have implications for prevention, diagnosis and prognosis, and ultimately selection of disease therapy in all types of adult and childhood MS.

This exciting research is breaking down barriers that were once thought insurmountable, and were thrilled that so much of it is happening right here in our own backyard. The MS Society will continue to fund research like this here in Northern California and across the globe.

Linda Glassel is the National Multiple Sclerosis Societys Northern California president. To learn more about the MS Pathways to a Cure initiative in Northern California, you can contact her at Linda.Glassel@nmss.org.

Excerpt from:
Northern California researchers give hope to people living with multiple sclerosis - San Francisco Chronicle