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Vaccine for MS ...?
What if there were a vaccine for MS? Yes, you read that right! A multiple sclerosis treatment that could actually stop disease progression and maybe ever reverse it. That would be totally amazing.
Image by Jan Felix Christiansen from PixabayWe recently ran across and article about this very thing. Cir was at one of his Tysabri infusion appointments when another patient showed us the article. We were excited about the prospect of a treatment like this. It is quite early in the study, though, so it will most likely be years before we see this treatment come to fruition.
The vaccine would be similar to the messenger RNA or mRNA vaccine developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech for treating COVID 19. The same technology used to develop Comirnaty, is being used to create a vaccine to help those with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Ugur Sahin, the CEO of BioNTech is person pushing to develop the vaccine for MS.
Mouse Models
A handful of studies are treating a mouse model of multiple sclerosis called autoimmune encephalomyelitis with the vaccine and the results have been promising. When given the shot, the mice were able to produce an antibody that prevented their nervous system from attacking the myelin sheath. So yes, you guessed it, no more MS symptoms! And no more progression of the disease!
This is so exciting to us. Depending on how long it takes to develop, this treatment could possibly mean an end to this devastating disease. Those who are more susceptible to or those who have had one or only a few relapses could be spared ever developing the symptoms associated with the progression of multiple sclerosis.
Vaccine for MS and Other Autoimmune Diseases
People who live in areas with high rates of MS could be encouraged to get the vaccine so they may never develop it at all. We could possibly see MS rates decline. And if that is the case, what about other autoimmune diseases? Could the same be done for them? Vaccines for lupus, Lou Gehrig's disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more of the over 80 conditions where the body's immune system attacks its own organs, tissues, and cells.
The therapies that people with MS take now, don't really stop the disease. They also don't fix anything. They slow the progression of multiple sclerosis by basically altering the immune system. The MS vaccine would actually stop the symptoms and any progression and another plus - the persons immune system wouldn't be affected.
What would that mean for you? Your family members at higher risk for developing MS? And, if it proves to reverse multiple sclerosis, it would allow so many people to live a normal life... That would be absolutely amazing.
Original Study
If you'd like to read the original study in the journal Science.org, here it is (it's full of technical jargon, though) - Mouse Model Vaccine for MS (my title). The actual title is this - "A noninflammatory mRNA vaccine for treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis". I think I like mine better....
You can also read about the vaccine for MS in these articles, too:
- https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/mar/03/it-is-exciting-multiple-sclerosis-vaccine-could-be/
- https://neurosciencenews.com/mrna-vaccine-multiple-sclerosis-17964/
- https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/news-posts/2021/01/11/biontech-vaccine-halts-ms-progression-without-immune-suppression-mouse-model-study/
Quick Video About a Possible MS Vaccine
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