A new study explores the link between certain viral infections during youth and the beginning of multiple sclerosis (EM) later in life. Autoimmune disease cannot be cured and although studies have shed light on how the condition can arise, there are still many mysteries that must unravel.
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system itself attacks the nerves of the body, which leads to possible symptoms and an increasingly serious disability. Although there are now several available medications that can, in many cases, delay the progression of the disease, there is no known cure or way of preventing it, and, beyond that, there is no clear trigger that feeds the beginning of the disease.
Recently published studies have explored the potential bond between severe viral infections during youth and the beginning of EM later in life. There is a long -awaited association between the herpes virus and the EM, for example, and one of the new studies sheds light on other potential diseases that could increase the risk of certain people.
A severe infection of the central nervous system, as well as respiratory infections such as pneumonia and mononucleosis, developed between the ages of 11 and 19, were linked to an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis. The second study focuses specifically on mono infections, finding an important role in the beginning of EM later in life.
Of those who contracted monkey (glandular fever) at the ages of 11 to 15 to 15, multiple sclerosis was more frequently diagnosed after 30 years. The idea is that EM is a disease that generally progresses slowly and that the damage caused to the brain will receive the brain time to manifest in the symptoms that lead to a diagnosis.The researchers point out that most people who developed these infections in their youth do not develop EM later in life; This may be due to, for example, a genetic predisposition in some people who increase risk.