July 23, 2018
Approximately 100,000 people in the UK live with multiple sclerosis. The neurological condition is triggered when the immune system attacks the nerves, causing pain, fatigue, vision problems and spasms.
What causes the body to begin attacking itself has never been identified. But scientists at the University of Glasgow and Harvard University in the US suggest exposure to two common infections — threadworms followed by the Epstein-Barr virus — may be the trigger.
The findings therefore suggest that developing a vaccine or drugs to stop people getting the Epstein-Barr virus could also make them immune to multiple sclerosis.
Professor John Paul Leach, consultant neurologist at the University of Glasgow, said: ‘MS is a condition where the body produces antibodies against itself for reasons that have never been understood and goes against its own nervous system. It is odd that we have never found out why some people are more prone than others.
There is already some evidence that exposure to the Epstein-Barr virus makes it more likely someone will develop MS but this does not offer the full explanation of why people develop this reaction. MS may be the result of not one but two infections in the right order.’
The researchers’ explanation is currently just a theory but they plan to carry out further research. Threadworms affect around one sixth of the world’s population and are a parasitic infection affecting the gut, common in children.
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