INFECTIOUS THEORY OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Report #7294; 12/9/97

Exciting research from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland shows that Multiple sclerosis may be caused by a reactivation of infection with the human-herpes simplex-6 or HHS-6 (1).

HHS-6 causes a disease called roseola, a disease in infants characterized by high fever for several days, followed by a total body rash that signals that the child will recover soon. Researchers showed that 2/3rds of multiple sclerosis sufferers have antibodies against HHS-6, 3/4ths have DNA from HHS-6 only in the damaged parts of their brains. Multiple sclerosis is characterized by repeated episodes of nerve damage and recovery. For example, a person may lose vision and regain it, then lose coordination for one arm and leg, then regain some coordination, and so forth. This recent study shows that a single virus, HHS-6, may cause multiple sclerosis, but Harvard University researchers have shown that the surface protein on myelin coverings of nerves have the same protein structure as several different germs, such as the human wart virus, influenza, herpes simplex, reovirus and the bacteria, pseudomonas (2). When you are infected with these germs, your body's cells and antibodies attack and kill them, but they also attack and kill your own myelin. So far, Copaxone and beta interferon, two drugs to suppress your immunity have been shown to barely help prevent recurrent attacks of nerve damage in multiple sclerosis. This recent research shows that drugs to kill HHS-6 may be far more effective.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News