Multiple sclerosis is a form of autoimmune disease that often causes
irreversible impairments at different levels of the nervous system. At
present, multiple sclerosis can neither be prevented, nor completely
cured. However, the existing treatments are used to slow down the
progression of the disease, prolong the periods of remission, ease the
symptomatic flare-ups and prevent the development of further
complications. The main factor responsible for the development of
multiple sclerosis is inappropriate activity of the immune system.
While the normal immune system produces antibodies that fight against
antigens (foreign infectious agents), in the case of multiple sclerosis
the immune system becomes dysfunctional and turns against healthy body
cells. The compromised immune system can no longer distinguish between
healthy, normal cells and antigens, triggering repeated attacks on the
body’s nervous system and destroying the nervous cells’ protective
cover called myelin. The destruction of myelin (protein that has a
series of vital roles at the level of the nervous system) determines
serious impairments of the central nervous system and peripheral nerve
tissues.
Myelin surrounds the axons, (filaments that are responsible with the
transmission of electric impulses among nerve cells) facilitating the
transmission of information between nervous cells. When the myelin
cover is destroyed, the signals transmitted at the level of the nervous
system are disrupted, thus causing a series of neurological symptoms in
patients confronted with this type of disease. Although in the past
medical scientists believed that multiple sclerosis only involves the
destruction of myelin, recent medical investigations have revealed the
fact that the axons are also attacked by the dysfunctional immune
system.
Axon destruction begins in the incipient stages of multiple sclerosis
and it is considered to be the main reason for the irreversible
character of the disease. The spontaneous periods of remission
experienced by most patients with multiple sclerosis are believed to
occur not as a result of temporary decreased autoimmune response, but
as a result of accentuated remyelination (repairing of the myelin) at
the level of the nerve cells. However, the benefic effects of
remyelination are later surpassed by the undesired actions of the
immune system in the periods of relapse. Intrigued by the process of
spontaneous remyelination that occurs in the periods of remission,
medical scientists are currently working to stimulate and enhance this
process at the level of the nerve cells in patients with multiple
sclerosis. Extra stimulation of the nervous systems’ production of
myelin, corroborated with immunosuppressive treatments may provide an
efficient cure in the near future.
