Causes Of Multiple Sclerosis

No one knows what causes Multiple Sclerosis. There is no cure. However, medical researchers know that Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease. Something causes the body's immune system to go into over drive and attack healthy tissues in the body. In the case of MS, the myelin around the nerve cells is attacked.

There are several theories as to what causes the immune system to rev itself up. Many of these theories are controversial and not supported by standard, allopathic medicine.

Many people in alternative medicine believe MS is caused by toxins in our food and environment. Mercury fillings and food additives such as MSG are at the top of that list. There are people who have had reduction in symptoms by having fillings removed or changing their diet to eliminate all foods that contain MSG.

Other people think MS is caused by an over growth of bacteria in the body. The theory is that the body's immune system works too hard to fight off these bacteria and it starts attacking healthy tissue, as well. There is some anecdotal evidence that this may be the case in some people.

Some people think MS is caused by being exposed to the EPV virus in childhood. This is the virus that causes mononucleosis, and Epstein Bar. It is thought the EPV virus could stay dormant in the system. Those who support this theory say that the EPV virus replicates itself similar to myelin, and the body's immune system can not tell the difference.

Still others believe lack of nutrition causes the immune system to malfunction and attack healthy tissue in the body. These people maintain that over the centuries the minerals have been leeched out of the soil we use to grow food, and that genetic engineering of food products has reduced or made vitamins and minerals biochemically unavailable to our bodies. This group advocates organic, raw food and whole food supplements.

What ever your theory about the causes of multiple sclerosis, it is important that both medical researchers and the general population continue to research the causes of the disease so that we can find a cure or and effective preventive plan.

Causes Of Multiple Sclerosis

Up to now, multiple sclerosis is still idiopathic. This means that, although research for its cause is currently and continuously being done, its definite cause still has not been discovered. However, a variety of probable causes has been found. It is through these probable causes that the medical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be established.

For starters, there is always the hereditary factor. The hereditary factor is present in almost all of the diseases. For instance, if a great great grandmother had multiple sclerosis, then there is a big chance that her descendants might have the disease as well.

Aside from heredity, the environment, according to researchers, also affects the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. An antigen or allergen commonly found in the environment could trigger a response from the body that later on leads to an immunocompromised system.

Multiple Sclerosis being an autoimmune disease

Research has it that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which means that the body’s personal immune system attacks its own cells. For reasons that are still unknown, the body’s immune cells show aggression towards and obliterate the myelin sheath that covers the neurons like an insulator inside the brain and the spinal cord.

This myelin sheath is responsible for the transmission and the prevention of unnecessary electrical activity that short circuits one cell from another cell. Once communication between the brain and the other parts of the body is disrupted, the transmission of sensations and control messages are not anymore normal. This pathophysiology is that of multiple sclerosis.

Plaques in multiple sclerosis

The progression of the disease’s symptoms is correlated with the development of new plaques within the parts of the brain that simultaneously control the affected areas. These plaques are developed from the demyelinated areas, which are basically the tiny round areas of gray neuron that no longer has a white myelin covering.

What makes multiple sclerosis more complicated is that, the pattern of the appearance of the plaques has absolutely no pattern. This makes multiple sclerosis completely unpredictable.

Inflammation of the myelin sheath

Normal cells are covered by a sheath that acts as an insulator. This sheath is made up of adipose substances that are called myelin. Myelin is very helpful in the correct and appropriate transmission of nerve impulses. Once this sheath is damaged from too much inflammation, multiple sclerosis occurs.

WBC action

T cells, which are special subsets of white blood cells, are important in the development of multiple sclerosis. Normally, the T cells are able distinguish between self and non-self. However, with multiple sclerosis, the T cells become weak when it comes to recognizing and differentiating self and non-self. In fact, in most multiple sclerosis cases, these lymphocytes recognize the healthy cells of the central nervous system as foreign and harmful and attack.

There is a BBB or a blood-brain barrier that serves as a tight barrier between the blood and the brain. This barrier is made up of endothelial cells that completely line the walls of the blood vessels. Since the auto-reactive T cells start attacking healthy cells and trigger an inflammatory process, they tend to cross the BBB, when they are not at all supposed to. This breaks down the BBB, thus, leading to multiple sclerosis.