Multiple sclerosis has been around for ages, but only within the past two hundred years has it been correctly identified and extensively researched in order to bring about a world free of its ravages. Here are pivotal moments in the short timeline of multiple sclerosis knowledge:
1838: doctors’ autopsy drawings show changes in brain tissues, but MS is not yet identified
1868: A French neurologist, Dr. Jean Martin Charcot, tracks several patients with neurological symptoms such as tremors, slurred speech, walking difficulties, and muscle spasms. He examines one particular patient’s brain after her death and discovers multiple sclerosis “plaques” or scarring along nerve pathways.
1878: myelin, the protective covering of the nerves, is discovered by a Dr. Ranvier
1919: abnormalities in spinal fluid are discovered
1928: the cells that make myelin, oligodendrocytes, are discovered
1935: Dr. Thomas Rivers (U.S.) demonstrates an MS-like illness in rats when he injects them with healthy myelin and it produces an autoimmune reaction much like multiple sclerosis in the subjects. The animal variety of MS is called experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, or EAE. This opens up the idea that MS is caused by an incorrect autoimmune response, not soley by a viral or bacterial infection.
1946: the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is started in the U.S. by Sylvia Lawry, a woman whose brother has the disease
1948: oligoclonal bands are discovered in spinal fluid and they become a criterion for positive multiple sclerosis diagnosis
1965: a correlation between elevated white blood cells and MS activity is made
1969-1970: Adrenocorticotrophic hormone, or ACTH, is first used on patients to increase their natural steroid production and reduce inflammation on the nerves (caused by MS attacks.) Later on, synthetic steroids become the norm.
1981: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is first used to record abnormalities in the brain and along the spinal cord
1993: the first disease-modifying drug, Betaseron, is introduced to MS patients
2008: a number of oral medications, some disease-modifying and some for the improvement of symptoms, are currently in phase III trials that lead to Food and Drug Administration approval
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