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Multiple sclerosis, or MS for short, manifests itself slightly differently in each person - which is why some call it the disease of a thousand faces. Arguably the worst manifestation of MS is its chronic progressive form. Unlike the more common relapsing-remitting variant (RRMS), in which sufferers are often symptom-free for months or even years, patients with the primary progressive form of the disease (PPMS) see their condition steadily deteriorate with no remissions.
Poorly insulated neurons die off
Today s therapeutic approaches are based on the assumption that the immune system is making a mistake and waging an inappropriate attack on the layer of myelin that surrounds and insulates the nerve cells long, cable-like branches called axons. In progressive MS, neurodegenerative processes steadily multiply and cause more and more neurons in the brain and spinal cord to die, explains Dr. Alexander Brandt, lead author of the study that has now been published in the jo