Immune treatment for MS shows promise

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A new treatment that boosts immunity to Epstein-Barr virus may benefit patients with multiple sclerosis, according to the results of an Australian study published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

In their study report, Michael Pender, a professor at the University of Queensland School of Medicine, Brisbane, and colleagues describe how a patient with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS) experienced noticeable clinical improvement after receiving 6 weeks of the immunotherapy treatment.

MS is an inflammatory disease, where the body's own immune system attacks and destroys myelin, the protein that insulates the nerves in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve and stops the electrical signals they convey from leaking out.

As the disease advances, symptoms progress from mild numbness in the limbs to paralysis and blindness.

Estimates from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society suggest MS affects around 400,000 Americans. In Australia, the number of people affected by the disease is thought to be over 23,000.

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Immune treatment for MS shows promise