People with pale skin who are prone to sunburn may need to take vitamin D supplements, according to experts.

Experts increasingly believe that vitamin D levels below 60nmol/L may also be damaging to health.

From Activequote.com:

Vitamin D is important for good health, growth and strong bones and teeth. It can naturally be obtained by sunlight, but is also found in oily fish, eggs, and fortified foods.

Low levels of the vitamin have been linked with poorer survival rates from breast cancer and conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

Vitamin D supplements are already recommended for people who wear full body covering, people with darker skin, and vulnerable groups like the elderly, young and pregnant.

This is the first time fair skinned people have been included in this group. The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, indicated that pale skinned people may not be able to make enough of the vitamin from sunlight.

The study appeared in the journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Tags: multiple sclerosis, supplements

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Interferon, an immune-system protein already used for treating health complications like hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of cancers, could be used for granting relief to patients afflicted with asthma.

This finding was disclosed by researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center. It was also suggested that interferon can prove out to be a readily available and valuable therapy for treating asthmatic patients.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“This finding is incredibly important, because humans are being treated with interferon for a variety of diseases, yet no one has tried treating asthma patients with interferon,” said Dr. J. David Farrar, assistant professor of immunology and molecular biology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study. “The current therapies for asthma are inhalers and steroids, both of which offer only temporary relief.”

Asthma results in approximately 200,000 pediatric hospitalizations each year, more than for any other childhood disease. About 20 million people have been diagnosed with asthma in the U.S.

In the current study, the researchers showed in isolated human cells that interferon blocks the development of nascent Th2 cells and inhibits cells that already have become Th2 cells by interfering with a regulatory protein called GATA3, a transcription factor Th2 cells express to regulate their function.

The study was funded by Exxon Mobil Corp and the National Institutes of Health and the findings appeared in the July 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology.

Tags: Asthma, GATA3, hepatitis C, interferon, multiple sclerosis, steroids

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A gene has been designed by neuroscientists at the Stanford University that can enhance learning and memory abilities in animals under stress. The Stanford team remarked that experimental technique could one day lead to new forms of gene therapy possible of reducing the severe neurological side effects of steroids that are prescribed to millions of patients with arthritis, asthma and other illnesses.

Robert Sapolsky, co-author of the study and neuroendocrinologist, said steroids can mess up the brain part involved in cognition and judgment.

From Sciencedaily.com:

These findings also demonstrate the potential value of gene therapy for people who suffer severe cognitive side effects from taking large doses of corticoids to treat multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases, Sapolsky said.

“Potentially it could be used to protect the brain when you’re taking tons of this stuff for some disease,” he explained. “People who take high doses of these steroids can also get clinically depressed. In principle, you could use gene therapy to protect them as well.”

However, this type of gene therapy will not be medically available until scientists figure out a way to safely deliver the chimeric gene to humans, Sapolsky said. He also noted that the treatment should be used to prevent severe neurological side effects caused by medication and should not be given to those who simply want to enhance their short-term memory and learning skills. “You can’t drill into people’s heads and inject a virus just because somebody has a big exam coming up, ” he said.

Sapolsky, the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biological Sciences and a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford, has conducted numerous experiments on the damaging physiological effects of stress and has written extensively on the subject.

Tags: arthritis, Asthma, cognition, gene therapy, multiple sclerosis, steroids

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A factor (protein) in the human eye may prove effective to prevent and halt autoimmune eye disease in animal models besides useful for preventing and treating other autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes, as per scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute.

The factor alpha-MSH, when harnessed and used as a therapeutic drug, was demonstrated by the authors in a study in the November issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology to be useful in successfully preventing the onset of and stop progression of uveitis.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Schepens scientists took T cells from similar mice without uveitis and placed those cells in a culture with alpha-MSH and TGF-beta2, another factor found in the eye, which enhances the action of alpha-MSH. These T cells were specific for a self protein found in the retina. In the culture, these conventional T cells were coaxed into becoming “regulatory” T cells and were then injected into the mice with the disease. On examination of the eyes of the mice, the research team found that the severity of uveitis was significantly reduced and in most cases, the onset of the disease was prevented.

“This technique was extremely effective in the mouse model, and we believe that it has a great potential to work in other autoimmune diseases by changing the immune response responsible for multiple sclerosis or for the onset of Type 1 diabetes.” Says Dr. Taylor.

Although Dr. Taylor cautions that the exploration of the this technique is in its early stage, if it is found to be effective in humans it may someday offer a tissue targeted treatment for autoimmune diseases, which are often treated with steroids that can impact the whole body, he notes.

The Schepens Eye Research Institute team was awarded a $330, 000 grant by the Wadsworth Foundation to explore new therapies for multiple sclerosis on the virtue of this study and the basic research leading up to it.

Tags: diabetes, multiple sclerosis, steroids, uveitis

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Disease activity related with multiple sclerosis (MS) is reduced to a considerable extent when a combination of steroid drugs and MS drug is administered to patients, as per a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.

From Sciencedaily.com:

For the study, people with MS received the steroid drug methylprednisolone in monthly “pulses,” or three doses over three days, in addition to regular weekly treatment with the drug interferon beta-1a. The steroid drug has typically been used only to treat acute MS attacks, not as an ongoing treatment.

The study involved 341 people with relapsing-remitting MS. Half of the participants received both drugs; half received only the interferon drug plus a placebo. The participants were seen every three months during the three-year study for evaluation.

The participants had the disease for an average of three years and had not yet received a disease-modifying drug such as interferon.

Those who received both drugs had 38 percent fewer relapses, or times when the disease is active, than those receiving only the interferon drug. They also improved slightly on a test of MS disability, while the scores for the placebo group decreased slightly.

Study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, said that the study noted that both the drugs seem to have a synergy when taken together for providing improved beneficial effect on the disease activity as against use of the MS drug in isolation.

Tags: methylprednisolone, MS drug, multiple sclerosis, steroid, steroid drug

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The use of a steroid drug, methylprednisolone, in addition to a multiple sclerosis (MS) drug can prove to be a more effective combination for reducing the volume of disease activity than the use of MS drug alone.

This finding was presented as part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 – May 2, 2009.

From Sciencedaily.com:

The study involved 341 people with relapsing-remitting MS. Half of the participants received both drugs; half received only the interferon drug plus a placebo. The participants were seen every three months during the three-year study for evaluation.

The participants had the disease for an average of three years and had not yet received a disease-modifying drug such as interferon.

Those who received both drugs had 38 percent fewer relapses, or times when the disease is active, than those receiving only the interferon drug. They also improved slightly on a test of MS disability, while the scores for the placebo group decreased slightly.

At the beginning of the study and again after three years, the researchers measured the size of lesions in the brain that are a sign of disease activity. For those receiving both drugs, the lesions stayed the same size or shrunk, while the size of the lesions grew for those taking only interferon.

Study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, remarked that the results suggest that both drugs seem to have a synergy when taken as a combination and offer a more beneficial effect on the disease activity.

Tags: interferon, methylprednisolone, multiple sclerosis, steroid, steroid drug

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The addition of a steroid drug, methylprednisolone, to the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug can significantly reduce the amount of disease activity more than what could have been experienced with the use of MS drug in isolation, as per a presented study as part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.

From Sciencedaily.com:

For the study, people with MS received the steroid drug methylprednisolone in monthly “pulses,” or three doses over three days, in addition to regular weekly treatment with the drug interferon beta-1a. The steroid drug has typically been used only to treat acute MS attacks, not as an ongoing treatment.

The study involved 341 people with relapsing-remitting MS. Half of the participants received both drugs; half received only the interferon drug plus a placebo. The participants were seen every three months during the three-year study for evaluation.

The participants had the disease for an average of three years and had not yet received a disease-modifying drug such as interferon.

Those who received both drugs had 38 percent fewer relapses, or times when the disease is active, than those receiving only the interferon drug. They also improved slightly on a test of MS disability, while the scores for the placebo group decreased slightly.

The study results clearly suggest that the two drugs, steroid and MS, can bring synergy when taken as a combination and provide a greater beneficial effect on the disease activity than MS drug alone, according to study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

Tags: methylprednisolone, MS drug, multiple sclerosis, steroid, steroid drug

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When steroid drugs are added to multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, the risk of disease activity gets reduced to a considerable extent as per a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.

From Sciencedaily.com:

For the study, people with MS received the steroid drug methylprednisolone in monthly “pulses,” or three doses over three days, in addition to regular weekly treatment with the drug interferon beta-1a. The steroid drug has typically been used only to treat acute MS attacks, not as an ongoing treatment.

The study involved 341 people with relapsing-remitting MS. Half of the participants received both drugs; half received only the interferon drug plus a placebo. The participants were seen every three months during the three-year study for evaluation.

The participants had the disease for an average of three years and had not yet received a disease-modifying drug such as interferon.

Those who received both drugs had 38 percent fewer relapses, or times when the disease is active, than those receiving only the interferon drug. They also improved slightly on a test of MS disability, while the scores for the placebo group decreased slightly.

It was remarked by study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, that results of this study highlight the fact that the two drugs tend to bring synergy in a combination and provide an improved beneficial effect on the disease activity as against use of the MS drug in isolation.

Tags: methylprednisolone, MS drug, multiple sclerosis, steroid, steroid drug

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The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark conducted a study of adding methylprednisolone in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

The study involved patients with relapsing-remitting MS and who had the disease for an average of three years. The treatment group received both interferon and methylprednisolone, while the control group received the interferon drug and a placebo. The study lasted for three years and the participants were only seen every three months.

The researchers measured the size of the brain lesions at the initial phase and again after a period of three years. They found that those in the treatment group, their lesions either stayed the same size or it shrunk while the lesions grew in size for those in the control group. The sign of disease activity is measured primarily by the size of the lesion in the brain.

Furthermore, those who received both drugs have fewer incidences of relapses while those receiving interferon only have a 38% higher rate of relapse. In terms of MS disability tests, the treatment group improved slightly higher than the control or placebo group.

These results might be an indication that there is a synergy between the two drugs which can provide more benefits than interferon alone.

According to Science Daily:

“These results indicate that these two drugs may have a synergy when taken together and provide a more beneficial effect on the disease activity,” said study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. “This is a promising finding, as the benefit from interferon is only moderate and not everyone responds fully to the treatment, so anything we can do to boost those results is positive.”

Tags: interferon, methylprednisolone, multiple sclerosis

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Steroids help to reduce inflammation, but University of Illinois scientists suggest they also could be used to reverse a loss of myelin – a major problem in multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases and injuries associated with the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Treatment of MS already includes the use of steroids, because they relieve inflammation and speed remission. However, new findings indicate that the steroids dexamethasone and progesterone actually signal the initiation and dramatically increase the rate of myelin synthesis.

From Bio-Medicine:

“I think this work is very important in that it helps clarify the signals that are responsible for the synthesis of myelin,” said Jonah R. Chan, a doctoral student in the department of biochemistry and neuroscience program at the University of Illinois.

Myelin is a white substance made of fat and proteins that form in a protective spiral sheath around the axon of nerve fibers. The sheath is a vital component of the body’s efficient and rapid nerve-communication system.

“Steroids seem to be very important in regulating the initiation and synthesis,” said Michael Glaser, professor of biochemistry and lead investigator of the project. “They had been implicated as having a role in the overall process, but not for enhancing the actual synthesis. It is our hope that this line of work will lead to a line of treatment for nerve injuries and demyelinating diseases.”

Their findings provided the first live look at the signals initiating myelin formation in live cells, Glaser said.

What causes a loss of myelin – demyelination – in MS cases is not known, but is believed to be the result of an abnormal immune response to bacteria and viruses. When myelin fails to form, it jeopardizes nerve communications leading to altered sensations and other complications. Demyelination is a focal point of research around the world.

Tags: Demyelination, dexamethasone, MS, multiple sclerosis, myelin, steroids

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