MRI's

[Guest guest]

Public release date: 5-Nov-2008

Contact: Wagner

swagner@...

Wiley-Blackwell

Multiple sclerosis progression can be predicted with MRI

Gray matter imaging may lead to more accurate identification of those

at-risk

Boston, Mass. – November 05, 2008 – A new study published in Journal

of Neuroimaging shows that MRI scans used on multiple sclerosis (MS)

patients to determine if the disease has affected gray matter in the

brain can identify those at-risk for progression of disability.

MS affects approximately 400,000 people in the United States and as

many as 2.5 million worldwide. It is the most common cause of

progressive disability in young adults. While the cause of the

disease remains unknown, it is characterized by damage to the

covering over the nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord, or to

the nerve fiber itself.

In an attempt to understand the causes of disease progression,

researchers at the Partners MS Center, led by Dr. Rohit Bakshi and

his team, have developed new ways to detect gray matter damage.

Dr. Bakshi, Director of the Laboratory for Neuroimaging Research and

an Associate Professor of Neurology and Radiology at the Brigham and

Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, led a four year follow-

up study, which found that patients with unnatural darkness of gray

matter structures as seen on MRI pictures carried a higher risk for

progression of physical disability. This abnormal darkness is

referred to as T2 hypointensity, and is suggestive of excessive iron

deposits. In addition, the researchers found that the new marker of

gray matter damage showed closer correlations with patients' clinical

status than other established MRI markers of disease severity,

including lesions, also known as " plaques, " and shrinkage of the

brain, also know as " atrophy. "

" MRI scans obtained from patients with MS are being used to develop

measures and techniques that can accurately measure the visible and

hidden damage to the brain, especially in gray matter areas and can

more accurately predict the course of the disease, " says Bakshi.

As a result of the findings, MRI-based measurement of gray matter

damage may be used as a surrogate marker of disease progression.

Physicians may therefore be able to more accurately identify patients

at risk for developing this progressive disease.

MS has been traditionally viewed as a disease affecting the white

matter of the brain, where messages are transferred between the

brains gray matter sections, which control the processing of

information. While prior research has shown that the brain's gray

matter is also affected, studies detailing its effects have been

limited. In addition, current therapies for MS are incomplete,

raising the need to better understand disease mechanisms and the

biomarkers of disease progression. If excessive iron in gray matter

contributes to damage, this would open a new avenue for developing

better therapies.

###

[Guest guest]

How do they even know they are looking at MS?  People with Lyme disease can have

lesions all over there brain and spine.  How can they know?  The nuero that

looked at my MRI's in the hospital said the lesions can be attributed to

numerous things not just MS.....I don't see how they can see they are looking at

MS disease progression-- what if they are looking at Lyme disease progression. I

just received an update from the producers who made the movie Under Our Skin.

Evidently, a woman who has been battling Lyme just died from Lyme

complications-- she was 41. I watched a video of her which was recorded and is

available on YouTube.  She was interviewed a year ago and said she has basically

lost her life-- that she was sick everyday and each day presented some symptom

that would come or go. She mentioned that she had lesions all over her body

which means her brain, spine and other organs no doubt.  I am assuming these

doctors would say she had

progressive MS.  It just seems like such a big , jumbled mess to me.  I am

sorry if I sound disgusted , but I am. It seems to me that more should be done

to try to accurately diagnose people when they become ill-- that enough is not

done.  I was given a Lyme test in the hospital when they said I had " probable

MS' and it was one of the bad tests-- that almost always come back negative. Why

do they bother and if you are dealing with such a serious illness and diagnosis

why shouldn't you be told that you would probably have to have a more extensive

and accurate test for say Lyme to try to rule that out.   Or, maybe we have to

stop looking at what the cause is and the diagnostic methods used and do

whatever is possible to make ourselves well. What do we need a label for on an

illness that nobody understands or for that matter knows what it is except of

course for disability and insurance issues.  Sorry, for the long post....

 

Best,

Subject: MRI's

To: mscured

Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 8:57 PM

Public release date: 5-Nov-2008

Contact: Wagner

swagnerwiley (DOT) com

Wiley-Blackwell

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