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Tag: multiple sclerosis

Published on Leave a comment on Study Finds Link Between Viruses and Alzheimer’s Disease

For a while now it has become clear to some scientists that the prevailing view of Alzheimer's disease (buildup in the brain of 2 substances: amyloid and tau) isn't correct. Instead, some researchers feel that there is growing evidence that viruses are implicated as a cause of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., vascular dementia, ALS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis).

A recent study linked 22 viruses to the development of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., vascular dementia, ALS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis) within 15 years. The strongest association was for viral encephalitis and later developing Alzheimer’s disease. Influenza with pneumonia was associated with 5 neurodegenerative diseases.

The researchers also found a link between infection with Epstein Barr and later developing multiple sclerosis (this confirmed other recent research).

Other studies find that vaccinations (influenza, pneumonia, shingles) are associated with lower rates of Alzheimer's disease. This has also been found with antivirals (e.g., for herpes simplex).

From Science Alert: A Study of 500,000 Medical Records Links Viruses to Alzheimer's Again And Again

A study of around 500,000 medical records suggested that severe viral infections like encephalitis and pneumonia increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. ...continue reading "Study Finds Link Between Viruses and Alzheimer’s Disease"

Published on Leave a comment on Sunshine and Multiple Sclerosis in Children and Young Adults

Another study found that increased sun exposure in children and young adults is linked to lower levels of multiple sclerosis. This was the main finding of a study conducted at multiple centers in the United States by a team of American and Australian researchers.

The researchers in the study stated that not only does sunlight boost vitamin D levels, it also "...stimulates immune cells in the skin that have a protective role in diseases such as multiple sclerosis." In addition, they found an association with the intensity of sunlight and estimated that residents of Florida would be 21 percent less likely than residents of New York to have multiple sclerosis. Sun exposure appears to be dose dependent - the longer the exposure, the lower the risk of multiple sclerosis.

Earlier studies also found immune boosting properties of sunlight. Sunlight has low levels of "blue light" which energizes T cells that play a central role in human immunity. T cells are a type of white blood cell, are part of the immune system, and help protect the body from infection and cellular abnormalities (cancer). 

Bottom line: In this study getting at least 30 minutes (up to 1 hour) of sunshine daily, especially in the summer, seems to be key in terms of protective effects.

From Medical Xpress: Sunshine may shield children, young adults from MS

Living in sunny locations and spending time outdoors may raise the risk for skin cancer, but a new study led by UC San Francisco and the Australian National University shows that in children and young adults, sun exposure may protect against multiple sclerosis. The study follows previous work by other researchers that has demonstrated an association between increased ultraviolet exposure in childhood and lower odds of adult MS.  ...continue reading "Sunshine and Multiple Sclerosis in Children and Young Adults"

Published on Leave a comment on Mineral Supplements and Multiple Sclerosis

A diagnosis of a lifelong progressive disease such as multiple sclerosis is one that everyone wants to avoid. So there is much speculation and research looking at what causes it and possible ways to avoid getting it. Some earlier research suggested that zinc  and iron may play a role (e.g., finding that zinc levels are lower in those with multiple sclerosis). Thus the results of this long-running study of more than 170,000 female nurses (Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II) was informative.

The researchers found no association with intake of any of the following minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, copper) and multiple sclerosis risk. As the researchers Concluded: "Our findings suggest that mineral intake is not an important determinant of MS risk.

In case you're wondering about what is protective - a number of studies have shown that people who get more sun exposure have a lower risk of MS.

From Science Daily: Do minerals play a role in development of multiple sclerosis?

Some studies have suggested that minerals such as zinc and iron may play a role in how multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses, once people have been diagnosed with it. But little was known about whether zinc, iron and other minerals play a role in the development of the disease. A new study shows no link between dietary intake of several minerals and whether people later develop MS.  ...continue reading "Mineral Supplements and Multiple Sclerosis"

Published on Leave a comment on Some Health Benefits of Sunlight

I'm starting to see studies questioning whether some of the beneficial health effects that many attribute to vitamin D may actually be due to sunlight. In the first study, researchers said that sunlight also has low levels of "blue light" which energizes T cells. T cells are a type of white blood cell, are part of the immune system, and help protect the body from infection and cellular abnormalities (cancer). So the blue light in sunlight had a positive effect on the T cells.

The second study examined whether it was low levels of vitamin D that is linked to multiple sclerosis (which is the widely accepted medical view) or was it low exposure to sunlight? They found that vitamin D is not associated with multiple sclerosis risk in blacks or Hispanics (but is in whites). But sun exposure is protective in all three racial/ethnic groups (blacks, Hispanics, whites). Thus it was the sunlight that was important in protecting against multiple sclerosis rather than vitamin D. Bottom line: for various beneficial health reasons, go out in sunshine frequently (20 minutes a day is fine). Remember, sunlight is the "natural source" for vitamin D (the ultraviolet light hitting our bare skin allows us to make vitamin D).

From Dec. 2016 in Science Daily: Sunlight offers surprise benefit: It energizes infection fighting T cells

Sunlight allows us to make vitamin D, credited with healthier living, but a surprise research finding could reveal another powerful benefit of getting some sun. Georgetown University Medical Center researchers have found that sunlight, through a mechanism separate than vitamin D production, energizes T cells that play a central role in human immunity.

Their findings, published today in Scientific Reports, suggest how the skin, the body's largest organ, stays alert to the many microbes that can nest there. They specifically found that low levels of blue light, found in sun rays, makes T cells move faster -- marking the first reported human cell responding to sunlight by speeding its pace.

"T cells, whether they are helper or killer, need to move to do their work, which is to get to the site of an infection and orchestrate a response," Ahern says. "This study shows that sunlight directly activates key immune cells by increasing their movement."

"We know that blue light can reach the dermis, the second layer of the skin, and that those T cells can move throughout the body," he says. ...."We found that sunlight makes hydrogen peroxide in T cells, which makes the cells move. And we know that an immune response also uses hydrogen peroxide to make T cells move to the damage," Ahern says. "This all fits together." Ahern says there is much work to do to understand the impact of these findings, but he suggests that if blue light T cell activation has only beneficial responses, it might make sense to offer patients blue light therapy to boost their immunity.

From Medscape: Is It Time to Rethink Low Vitamin D as a Contributor to MS?

The idea that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) has been well established in the literature and has, for the most part, been etched into recent neurology dogma. Yet, research by Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD—a clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles—suggests that the association might not be that simple. ....As background, the vitamin D–multiple sclerosis hypothesis originated from the observation that the prevalence of MS increases with increasing distance from the Equator, as ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun becomes less intense. But this is also where more white people live.

The main result of our study is that vitamin D is not associated with MS risk in blacks or Hispanics, regardless of genotype. In contrast, sun exposure is protective in all three racial/ethnic groups.

Published on

Another study finding a benefit of coffee consumption - this time linked to a lower rate of MS. Keep in mind that numerous studies have shown a strong association of higher sunlight exposure (especially in childhood), and living at lower latitudes (more sunlight exposure) with lower rates of multiple sclerosis. From Science Daily:

Can coffee reduce your risk of MS?

Drinking coffee may be associated with a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, April 18 to 25, 2015."Caffeine intake has been associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and our study shows that coffee intake may also protect against MS, supporting the idea that the drug may have protective effects for the brain," said study author Ellen Mowry, MD, MCR, with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

For the study, researchers looked at a Swedish study of 1,629 people with MS and 2,807 healthy people, and a U.S. study of 1,159 people with MS and 1,172 healthy people. The studies characterized coffee consumption among persons with MS one and five years before MS symptoms began (as well as 10 years before MS symptoms began in the Swedish study) and compared it to coffee consumption of people who did not have MS at similar time periods. The study also accounted for other factors such as age, sex, smoking, body mass index, and sun exposure habits.

The Swedish study found that compared to people who drank at least six cups of coffee per day during the year before symptoms appeared, those who did not drink coffee had about a one and a half times increased risk of developing MS. Drinking large amounts of coffee five or 10 years before symptoms started was similarly protective.

In the US study, people who didn't drink coffee were also about one and a half times more likely to develop the disease than those who drank four or more cups of coffee per day in the year before symptoms started to develop the disease.