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Myelin is a fatty substance that wraps around nerve fibers, helping to speed up electrical communication between nerve cells. Scientists are studying strategies to protect and repair myelin in diseases it damages such as multiple sclerosis.
1. What is Myelin armor?
The myelin sheath is the fatty tissue that protects nerve cells. These cells are part of the central nervous system, carrying messages back and forth between the brain and the rest of the body.
Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, is a disease that causes the immune system to attack the central nervous system, causing the myelin sheath to become damaged. That means the nerve won't be able to send and receive information as it should. MS can weaken muscles, damage coordination in the body, and in the worst case, paralysis. MS affects about 1 million Americans and it usually appears between the ages of 20 and 50.
2. Myelin and the nervous system
Wrapped myelin sheath protects nerve cell axons, much like the insulation around electrical wires. When the myelin sheath is healthy, nerve signals are sent and received rapidly. But if you have MS, your body's immune system sees myelin as a threat and attacks both myelin and the cells that make it. When this happens, the nerves inside the sheath can be damaged and leave scarring on the nerve - known as sclerosis.
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3. Myelin's role in health and disease
Loss of myelin is a problem that causes many CNS disorders, including stroke, spinal cord injury and most notably multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic, disabling CNS disease that affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
Research indicates that MS is involved in autoimmune responses. Scientists think that immune cells, which normally protect the body against bacteria and viruses, mistakenly attack the myelin sheath.
In addition, recent research shows that once an axon is damaged, nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord communicate with each other and with the damaged muscles, leading to a range of unpredictable symptoms. varies from person to person. These symptoms, which can be temporary or permanent, range from fatigue, weakness, and paralysis to blindness and even paralysis.
Guillain-Barre syndrome destroys the protective covering of peripheral nerves (myelin sheath), which prevents nerves from transmitting signals to the brain.
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4. New therapeutic possibilities for imbalanced diseases
Research into the components of myelin, how it is produced and how it works has paved the way for new therapeutic possibilities in degenerative myelin diseases like MS.
4.1 Repair and protect Myelin repair and protection is one of the methods to treat diseases like MS. This approach focuses on (1) repairing damage that has already occurred and (2) preventing further damage to the nerves and axons.
Several drugs are currently approved for the treatment of MS under the second strategy. They work by blocking or changing the activity of the immune system, protecting myelin from unwarranted attacks.
However, to date there are no drugs available that regenerate lost myelin. Scientists are exploring multiple lines of research to repair and protect myelin, including developing therapies that stimulate the brain's natural capacity to heal itself, and discovering new drug targets for myelin regeneration. and piloting stem cell therapies in animal models.
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4.2 Stem Cells Stem cell therapy is an avenue that is being explored in the search for a treatment for MS. Scientists in the United States and Italy have taken skin cells from mice and reprogrammed them into stem cells that can become any type of cell in the nervous system.
These new stem cells were then infused into the spinal cords of an MS mouse model where they secreted factors that help the myelin-producing cells survive. Thus, these mice had more myelination and less axonal damage than mice that did not receive the stem cell infusion. Although the results are promising, more work will be needed in human clinical trials to determine the treatment's effectiveness.
Myelin's discovery, more than a century ago, has enhanced our understanding of how the nervous system works. Ongoing research efforts worldwide seek to understand how myelin is damaged in diseases such as MS, revealing new possibilities for treatment and offering hope to the millions of people affected by these diseases. this disease.
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References source: brainfacts.org , webmd.com, mayoclinic.org
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