Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a serious disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It is an autoimmune disease, which means the body’s own immune system attacks healthy parts of the body by mistake.
In MS, the immune system damages a protective layer called the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve cells. This can lead to problems with moving, seeing, thinking, and feeling.
In severe cases, MS can cause long-term disability or even death. Around 2.8 million people around the world live with this condition.
For many years, doctors and scientists have studied MS to find out what causes it. But the exact reason why some people get MS has not been clear. Now, a new study from Harvard University offers strong evidence that a common virus might be the main cause.
The virus is called Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV. It is a type of herpes virus that infects about 95% of adults around the world. Most people get it when they are young, and it stays in the body for life. EBV is best known for causing a disease called mononucleosis, or “mono,” which is sometimes called the “kissing disease.”
Scientists have suspected for a long time that EBV might be linked to MS. But it has been hard to prove because almost everyone gets EBV, and only a few people develop MS. Also, MS symptoms usually appear about 10 years after someone is infected with EBV. This delay makes the connection harder to study.
In this new study, researchers looked at the health records of more than 10 million young adults in the U.S. military. Among them, 955 people were diagnosed with MS while they were serving.
The researchers had access to blood samples taken every two years from these service members. This allowed them to track who got infected with EBV and when they later developed MS.
What they found was striking. People who got infected with EBV were 32 times more likely to get MS compared to those who were not infected. Other viruses did not have this effect.
The team also found signs of nerve damage in the blood, but only after EBV infection. These signs included high levels of something called neurofilament light chain, which shows that nerves are being harmed.
This study strongly supports the idea that EBV is the main cause of MS. The scientists believe that MS symptoms take a long time to appear because the damage happens slowly, and the virus interacts with the immune system in a complicated way over time.
The researchers say that their findings cannot be explained by any other known risk factors for MS.
This discovery gives hope for better ways to prevent and treat MS in the future. Right now, there are no good ways to stop or treat EBV infections. But if doctors can create a vaccine or medicine to fight EBV, they might also be able to stop MS from developing.
The study was led by Dr. Alberto Ascherio and published in the journal Science. It shows that targeting EBV could one day change how we treat MS and improve the lives of millions of people.
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