Multiple Sclerosis: New Hypotheses are Needed

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) was recognized as a distinct disease involving both the brain and spinal cord and associated with disseminated demyelinating plaques (“la sclérose en plaques”) and axonal damage more than 145 years ago by French neurologist JeanMartin Charcot [1]. Since that time, the world has witnessed many remarkable discoveries. Due to progress in physics and mathematics, MRI has become a powerful tool in neurology allowing us to follow the progression of demyelinating lesions in living patients. Based on progress made in the field of immunology, a number of immunomodulatory drugs have been discovered, tested in clinical trials and become standards of care for the treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting form of MS. However, medications used in MS are called Disease-Modifying Treatments (DMTs) since they do not stop the disease but only delay its activity and progression. DMTs have limited clinical efficacy and may have significant adverse effects. At present, we do not know what causes MS and, therefore, we cannot develop the MS cure.