Country star's generosity aids himself, others

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MUSIC TO THEIR EARS

Country star's generosity aids himself, othersBy DEBORAH MANN LAKESpecial to the Chronicle With a $150,000 check from country music star Clay in hand, the University of Texas Medical School at Houston has taken a final step toward obtaining a $5 million piece of equipment that could hold the keys to a cure for multiple sclerosis. , who presented the check from his nonprofit organization Band Against MS earlier this month, has a form of the disease. His donation helped to purchase a high-powered magnetic resonance imaging machine, due to arrive in June. "This new machine gives hope, and hope is a big thing in anyone's life who has been diagnosed with this disease," said. "I've got a lot of passion for everything I do in life. My first passion is music, and my second passion is finding a cure for this disease." In multiple sclerosis, for reasons not fully understood, the immune system attacks healthy cells in the myelin sheath covering nerves. The resulting inflammation causes demyelination, creating damaged areas in the brain called plaques or lesions, which interfere with signals from the central nervous system. The nerves can no longer communicate with other parts of the body, leading to symptoms including loss of vision, double vision, stiffness, weakness, imbalance, numbness, pain, bladder and bowel control problems, speech and swallowing difficulties, emotional changes, and intellectual impairment. Researchers hope to unlock the mystery of remyelination, in which the myelin sheath somehow repairs itself, allowing the nerves to function again. "From the brains of MS patients who have died, we can see that some lesions are completely remyelinated," said Dr. Jerry Wolinsky, professor of neurology at UT-Houston. "The new myelin is not perfect, so on less powerful imaging machines, you can't see the repair. We're trying to see down deep enough to figure out the signal for remyelination and use that information to find a way to repair the damage." , who was diagnosed with a form of MS called relapsing-remitting in 1996 at age 26, said his only attack of the disease thus far was like being run over by a bulldozer. "It was an assortment of things. I couldn't bring my thumb and forefinger together on my right hand, which means I couldn't hold a guitar pick," said. "My right leg was dragging, I had a facial spasm and double vision." By diagnosing the disease before lesions occur, physicians can help patients get their immune systems under control. "We can detect things at a chemical level weeks and months before it can be seen on a standard imaging machine and, therefore, begin drug therapy sooner," Wolinsky said. "We've gone from a time when we didn't know if we should tell people they've got MS because there was nothing we could do, to a time when we are trying to see how quickly we can make a diagnosis in order to start drug therapy." The new imaging machine, called the 3 Tesla MRI, can see below what Wolinsky described as an upper layer of water down to the neurons affected by MS. "There's a chemical, N-acetyl aspartate, that only exists in neurons in the brain. We don't have a clue what it does, but we have pathological support that when it goes down and stays down, the axons and cables in the neurons are destroyed," he said. "That gives us a reason to start drug therapy earlier." The drugs used to treat MS are in two classes: interferon beta and glatiramer acetate. Both work to regulate the immune system, although researchers are not certain how they work. Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), which takes, seems to target central nervous system proteins, Wolinsky said. Patients who don't respond to the drugs will undergo chemotherapy as a last resort. has not had another attack. He runs daily and estimates that his right leg may be 10 percent weaker than the left, but says he has no other symptoms. Along with eating a healthy diet, he has learned ways to manage stress, which has been linked to MS flare-ups. occasionally sang the lyrics "Don't worry; be happy," during a tour of the new MRI facility where the 3 Tesla will be housed. A high-powered but smaller machine, used for research on animals, also will be in the new facility. The machines also are used for research on other neurological diseases. , who wants to be the first patient to try out the new machine, compared it to riding in a Ferrari. "What's really neat is that this machine can be used to research other diseases, as well," he said. "Who knows how close these neurological diseases are to each other, and the closer we get to curing one, the closer we get to curing all of them." Another of Wolinsky's patients, Randi Brightman, 45, has not had as much success with the different drug therapies and has undergone chemotherapy twice. For her, the discovery of how remyelination occurs holds the most promise. "I feel grateful to be one of Dr. Wolinsky's research `rats,' " said Brightman, who was diagnosed with MS when she was 19. "This new machine is incredible to me."

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