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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: multiple sclerosis

multiple sclerosis stories: 13 news summaries

 Bad Driving Is in the Genes 

Study says 30% can't help being lousy on the roads

Oct 29, 09 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Certain people—perhaps up to 30% of the population—may be fated by their genetic makeup to be bad drivers, a new study suggests. Researchers tested a small group of people on a driving simulator and found that subjects with a particular gene variant weren't so hot at keeping up... More »

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motorists • genetic modification • brain • genes • driving • multiple sclerosis

Men More Likely to Abandon
Sick Partners

Seven times as many women stay when serious illness strikes

Oct 15, 09 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Relationships fail seven times more often when illness strikes the female partner than when it strikes the man. Researchers don't know why, but theories abound: “There is an immediate shift in a relationship when an illness is diagnosed,” a counselor tells the Times of London. Gender roles... More »

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cancer • divorce • disease • women • men • marriage • multiple sclerosis • chronic illness • gender roles • relationship • scientific study • medical study • terminal illness

Swiss Politicians Battle 'Suicide Tourism'

As Britain eases rules, Switzerland fears rush of ill bent on killing themselves

Sep 21, 09 5:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Swiss politicians have stepped up efforts to battle "suicide tourism" as British officials prepare to announce new rules expected to make it easier for citizens to cross borders to die, reports the Independent. Some 115 Britons have died at assisted suicide operations run by Dignitas in Switzerland. Assisted suicide... More »

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suicide • assisted suicide • Switzerland • Dignitas • multiple sclerosis • Britain • clinic

British MS
Victim Wins Key Right-to-Die Ruling

Court orders that current law be clarified

Jul 31, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British woman has won her legal battle to force the government to clarify its law on assisted suicide, the Guardian reports. Multiple sclerosis sufferer Debbie Purdy, whose health is deteriorating, wants to travel to a Swiss euthanasia clinic to die when her condition becomes unbearable. Britain's highest court agreed... More »

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assisted suicide • euthanasia • multiple sclerosis • Britain • right to die • Debbie Purdy

 Sunlight Offers 
 Ray of Hope in 
 Preventing MS 

Vitamin D deficiency triggers disease

Feb 5, 09 5:42 AM CST
(Newser) - Deadly multiple sclerosis, which slowly destroys the central nervous system, may be  prevented with healthy exposure to the sun or Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study. Fresh research at Oxford University shows a vitamin D deficiency triggers a gene variant that increases the risk of developing MS by... More »

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Scotland • multiple sclerosis • MS • World Health Organization • vitamin D • Orkney • Shetland

Ailing Biotech Firms Need
Shot in the Arm

Flatlining economy threatens breakthrough medical research

Nov 21, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - For the first time in years, the biotech industry is in desperate need of a lifeline, Bloomberg reports, as the economic crisis threatens to shove companies into bankruptcy and derail the development of potentially life-saving drugs. “I’m looking down the barrel of a gun,” admitted one CEO.... More »

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Wall Street • investors • pharmaceutical companies • GlaxoSmithKline • stocks • biotechnology • Parkinson's disease • IPO • multiple sclerosis • biotech companies • Alzheimer's Disease • financial crisis

Study: Drug Reverses MS Brain Damage

Doctors hail 'major breakthrough' in treatment

Oct 23, 08 7:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Doctors are hailing what appears to be a huge breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the BBC reports. A drug used to treat leukemia reversed some of the brain damage caused by MS, researchers found, leaving sufferers less disabled at the end of the 3-year study than they had... More »

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immune system • leukemia • brain damage • multiple sclerosis • experimental drugs • scientific study

Guzzle Coffee, Prevent Multiple Sclerosis?

Mice who consumed equivalent of 6-8 cups a day were protected

Jul 1, 08 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - For preventing the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, caffeine might be just what the doctor ordered, the Daily Telegraph reports. In a study involving what must have been some very jittery mice, researchers found that the equivalent of 6-8 cups of coffee per day conferred protection from the rodent equivalent of... More »

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medical breakthrough • coffee • caffeine • multiple sclerosis • lab mice

Immune-System Ailments Now an 'Epidemic'

Doctors blame sterile homes, diet, obesity
for making us sick

Mar 4, 08 7:46 PM CST
(Newser) - Allergies and immune-system ailments like asthma, lupus, and MS are on the rise—and scientists increasingly blame modern life, the Washington Post reports. Many point to sterile conditions in the US and Western Europe, but pollution, diet, and obesity may also play a role. "We have dramatically changed our... More »

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health • epidemic • immune system • multiple sclerosis • asthma • food allergies

Dutch Pharma Firm Preps
Pot Pill

Drug may hit shelves in 5 years for migraine, Parkinson's victims

Jan 27, 08 1:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Why smoke pot when you can pop a pill? Echo Pharmaceuticals is jumping into Phase II trials for a new cannabis pill that could snag 20%-30% of the booming medical marijuana market, Reuters reports. The Dutch firm plans to sell the pill within 5 years, giving medical marijuana users a... More »

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medical marijuana • migraines • Parkinson's disease • marijuana • cannabis • multiple sclerosis • pharmaceutical • clinical trials • Alzheimer's Disease

Bone Marrow Breakthrough Gives New Hope

Safer technique could benefit MS, arthritis sufferers

Nov 23, 07 2:52 AM CST
(Newser) - Scientists investigating bone marrow transplants have made a breakthrough that could one day help millions. Currently, before transplants occur defective cells are killed with radiotherapy or chemotherapy—which causes widespread damage and can have serious side effects. But researchers have found it's possible to pinpoint and destroy blood-forming stem cells... More »

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medical breakthrough • rheumatoid arthritis • bone marrow • medical research • multiple sclerosis

Elizabeth Edwards Finds Unlikely Ally in Ann Romney

Both battle illness on campaign trail

Sep 16, 07 7:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Elizabeth Edwards' decision to encourage her husband's presidential campaign despite her diagnosis of incurable breast cancer has drawn considerable controversy. Lambasted by some as a "terrible mother" for leaving her young children at home to join the campaign trail, Edwards soldiers on and has found key support from an... More »

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Elizabeth Edwards • breast cancer • presidential campaign • multiple sclerosis • Ann Romney

New Genetic Ties to MS Found

Findings represent stunning medical breakthrough

Jul 29, 07 6:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have pinpointed two genes that may be linked to MS, signaling a breakthrough in the fight against the debilitating disease 20 years in the making. In separate studies published today by two medical journals, researchers revealed one specific gene receptor may trigger cells to inhibit the body's autoimmune reaction,... More »

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medical breakthrough • health • genetics • disease • science • immune system • genes • genome • multiple sclerosis • MS

13 Stories


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