QRB‘s Forthcoming page (click to enlarge)
On Wednesday, December 21st, the Quarterly Review of Biology will publish “Multiple Sclerosis Is Not a Disease of the Immune System,” by Dr. Angelique Corthals. It presents a revolutionary new framework for understanding the disease: MS is not an autoimmune disease, rather, it is caused by faulty lipid metabolism.
MS has been regarded as an autoimmune disease for decades. Billions of dollars have been spent on research depending on that premise. As a result, current treatments for MS are not particularly effective.
This paper explains why and, more importantly, offers a way forward.
I’ve been paying attention to research in the field since I was diagnosed with MS in 1993. I have a good understanding of the issues and a solid grasp of the scientific lexicon. Full disclosure: Dr. Corthals is a very good friend of mine and I’ve read every draft of this paper. I am fully convinced that her framework explains the contradictions that have puzzled researchers over the years, and answers their most frustrating questions*:
- Why does vitamin D play such an important role?
- How does diet affect the disease?
- Why do some studies suggest Epstein Barr (and other pathogens) trigger MS but other studies contradict this notion?
- How important is genetics in the development of MS?
- Can stress and physical trauma trigger the disease?
- Why are women more prone to MS than men?
- Why do drugs like statins sometimes seem to help MS?
This paper takes all the research of the last decade and fits it into a new pattern: a radical new understanding of MS.
However, it’s an extremely technical paper, and long (70 pages–though 20 of them are the bibliography). So on Wednesday, when the article goes live**, I’ll post a précis here that I hope will help readers grasp the essentials. (For those who know their PPARs from their peroxisomes, I recommend downloading the original.)
Angelique has given me permission to start discussing the paper before publication because it will have a powerful impact on people with MS and those who love us.
It takes a lot to move the needle of orthodoxy. Think of the MS ecosphere–people with MS, their loved ones, their doctors, their insurers, the pharmaceutical companies–as an ocean-going liner. It needs time to make a course correction. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll get the ship moving in the right direction and the sooner the right treatment will reach those who need it.
The odds are very good that you know someone with MS: there are more than 1.4 million of us (some estimates are much higher). For them–for us–I’d like you to help spread the word. If you know any media professionals (online, in print, on the airwaves), please point them to this post or the forthcoming Quarterly Review of Biology. Talk to your doctor. Talk to bloggers. Talk on Twitter. Just talk. Help move the needle. Think of it as a holiday gift to people with MS.
I’ll be talking about this more fully on Wednesday.*** Angelique has also offered to answer questions then–or now, if you have them. Just drop a comment or send me email (see sidebar).
This paper doesn’t offer a miracle cure. It doesn’t offer an instant treatment. But it does point the way. Please help by pointing people you know to me or to Angelique (her contact info is on her website–the first address is best).
Thank you.
* All opinions in this blog post–and all the mistakes–are mine.
Nicola Griffith 
Bravo. I will wade through any amount of highly technical stuff if it will help understand a slow killer.
I hope that the medical industrial complex can respond in a way that serves patients, rather than their own interests.
This is exciting news and may open the door to *many* other outmoded ideas that the medical community has steadfastly held on to for too long. Thanks for sharing it, I will pass it on.
jeanne
barbara, jill, jeanne, thank you.
Thanks; I look forward to reading this. Still no diagnosis of MS, but I've got the brain lesions and forearm crutches so I consider myself a member of the club.
Nothing to say except hellllll yeah.
Haddayr, wow, it's been a while IIRC. I *hate* the diagnostic process. I feel for you. But this paper, seriously, is very good news. More on Wednesday.
Mordicai, yes. Hell yes.
I sincerely hope this'll be able to spur on some changes and progress. I'll pass this on to my mother, too. She's a physical therapist who treats a lot of patients with MS and I know she and they would be very, very interested in reading this.
Corinne, excellent! That's just the kind of response I'm hoping for. The main blog post will be Wednesday.
So exciting! Dr. Angelique Corthals is awesomelly brilliant!!
I will pass this on to friends & my doctors. My psychiatrist in particular is very open to new ideas & I know he'll be interested in the article. He's one of those rare psychiatric professionals who believes that (gasp!) he should look for any medical causes that may underlie, exacerbate, or cause psychiatric symptoms (including pain and muscular difficulties that other shrinks say are “psychosomatic”) because you can't expect success if you treat only part of the problem. I'm thrilled for you & will stay tuned :)
Jennifer, yep!
Jo, thank you. The paper should be available on Wednesday–but if it's not, my summary should be enough to be getting on with.
Very excited to read the paper. I would love for there to be something to help my mom and friends with MS – so many brilliant people suffering, it makes my head spin.
Snott, for now: vitamin D3 supplementation, moderate exercise*, diet low in empty-carbs and high in poly-and mon-unsaturated fat (easiest way to deal with that over the holidays: supplement w/ fish oil and flax oil, use cold-pressed olive oil in salads). But, y'know, I'm not a doctor–this is just what I'm doing for myself now.
*modified yoga is great, and doable by people at varying levels of dis/ability. Give your mum my best wishes.
torn between being super-interested and also quite jaded by new research and info…I still look forward to reading this, sort of. thanks nicola for supplying the info.
Redheadgrrl, use the search box in the sidebar to look for previous posts on multiple sclerosis. You'll see that this is the first time I've been this excited. I believe, for the first time, that this is the real thing.
But I absolutely understand your wariness. I hope you'll come back on Wednesday and take a look.
Until then, be well.
Thank you for this. I have a sister and two nephews with MS. I look forward to reading your precise.
Eve, you're welcome. I hope your sister and nephews are doing okay. See my comment to Snott for what I do to help myself.
Tweeted and posted, says the writer in her ninth year of relapsing remitting and running out of places to bioJect Avonex once a week. But I'm not dancing in the streets just yet. My own former neuro, worldclass dedicated French neurosurgeon, was fierce in his belief that a dormant virus in the brain was the cause. So I'll be very curious – and, yes, open – as to this particular school of thought.
Shared on Facebook, emailed to a friend with MS, and emailed to my doctor. And…what Mordicai said.
I was diagnosed in 1997 and I am very, very ready to turn this ship around!
Deborah, thank you. I absolutely hear you on your reservations. I like this new perspective. It makes perfect sense to me–and I'm aware that it could in turn be part of a bigger puzzle. But the key, for me, is to get word out, so people can start designing ways to test it.
chadao, thank you. I don't know how I'd cope without all the good people in the world.
Anon, I hear you!
Thanks for this post!!!
We lost my Father's youngest sister to MS. Watching her lose her battle with this disease was one of the hardest things I have done in my life. I am looking forward to reading this paper. This may just be the beginning of the end for this disease. Let's hope.
Quiyada, you are most welcome.
Ruthann, I'm so sorry. Yes, let's hope.
You've got my attention. I have to say I'm jaded as well after dealing with this for almost 18 years but I'm open and excited to new possibilities in research. The meds I've tried have been pretty useless up to now. I also have no measurable immune system and have monthly infusions of immunoglobulin but that is not related to my MS however I'm sure it effects the disease process. Looking forward to reading on Wed. Thanks
I'll send your links to the medical people in my family–and I'm so glad a new approach is on the way! It's long overdue.
Consort, 18 yrs: sounds as though we're on the same timeline.
Louise, thank you.
I've had relapsing/remitting MS for many years, and finally have it (somewhat) under control. Was excited to have possible confirmation of my own admittedly anecdotal experience. it fits in nicely with my own situation.
I have high lipids, MS is better when taking statins, vitamin D, L-Carnitine and Alpha Lipoic Acid (they work synergistically), also Omega-3. I've been able to keep symptomatic episodes down to maybe two per year. I refused to take the drugs my doctor offered because of the awful side effects.
Statins have their own side effects (muscle, joint pain) but overall the combination above seems to work well. Here's hoping for a breakthrough in MS research/cure.
What an interesting idea. I cannot wait to read your paper.
Sarah, I wish more people would take their health management into their own hands. We all need slightly different things. Good for you for finding yours.
Lisa, not my paper: it's written by Dr Angelique Corthals. And I'm pretty sure you'll find it interesting :)
I have been doing research on MS ever since my sister was diagnosed in '86. Unfortunately, I lost her in '91 but I continue to do research.
Early this year, I developed what my Rheum. thought was RA or Lupus, but the markers were not there. My health care was cut off before further testing could be done, so even MS was not ruled out.
Researching my own problems, I concluded that neither RA nor Lupus (nor whatever I have) are auto-immune diseases. What I do know is that they are connective tissue disorders closely related to collagen production. I have read some studies recently that collagen is closely related to (affected by) lipids. So… maybe all these diseases share a faulty lipid metabolism. Maybe they are all the same disease with different manifestations.
In any case, I look forward to reading this study. Thank you SO MUCH, Nicola, for sharing this!
ristpastels, I'm sorry to hear about your sister. I lost my sister to scleroderma ten years ago.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that sometimes what appears to be RA or Lupus is in fact triggered by some of the same factors that produce MS. I can't wait for this paper to be released into the wild.
I don't have MS, but I have another very rare disease and I know several people with MS. As far as I am concerned, there is always a need for new thinking when it comes to understankding how our bodies work. I really hope this leads to some positive results.
Anon, ah, I wish MS were 'very rare'. Perhaps it will be, one day. I wish the same for your disease.
Nicola, could you share a direct link or buy link to the article?
Lisa, I will when it goes live–on Friday (it was delayed). It will be a free PDF download, available to all.
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Thank you, Nicola. My sister has a wonderful attitude, but she can no longer walk. My nephews are doing okay. I to take vitamin D3 and fish oil capsules.
Eve, keep taking the supplements!