Multiple Sclerosis History

The death of the grandson of King George III, whose symptoms were described in a diary that he kept until his death, is theorized to have been caused by Multiple Sclerosis

Twenty years later, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot became the first person to identify MS as a disease. One of his female patients showed an unusual combination of symptoms. Charcot tried some typical treatments for neurological disorders, but she died anyways. After her death, Charcot dissected her brain and found brain lesions, or scars. The disease was dubbed Sclerose en plaques.

Due to development in the production of microscopes, Dr. James Dawson was able to describe the inflammation of the myelin and demyelination of the neurons in the brain after viewing them under a microscope.

Studies on mice suggested the immune systems’ involvement, but this was mostly ignored.

17 years later ,a researcher at Columbia University found unusual protein byproducts in the cerebrospinal fluids of people with MS and in this time, doctors thought MS was actually caused by blood flow problems.

it was discovered that MS was an autoimmune disease. This resulted in steroids being utilized to treat attacks (however, steroids have no lasting effects). The first disease modifying agent was also developed.

There were many clinical trials, potential treatments, and diagnostics in the 1980’s and 1990’s. MRI scans became the standard for diagnostics and testing the disease modifying agents to see whether or not they could slow down MS. Improvements appeared in the use of drugs to treat MS, as well as rehabilitation and other therapies.

Unlike past MS patients, patients nowadays have many more treatment options. Just recently, there has been research in the form of stem cell treatments, which could be potentially able to repair damaged myelin.