Multiple Sclerosis Has a Common Viral Culprit, Opening Doors to New Approaches
15th August 2022
Why people develop the autoimmune disorder has been a long-standing question. Studies have pointed to certain gene variations and environmental factors. For decades, a common virus called Epstein-Barr virus has also been high on the list of culprits.
Now recent studies paint a clearer picture that Epstein-Barr virus instigates MS when the central nervous system gets caught in the cross hairs of an immune response to the virus’s attack. This recognition opens new options for treatment, or even vaccines. Perhaps therapies that target Epstein-Barr itself — or remove the cells in the body where the virus camps out — could jettison the virus before damage is done.
In modern ‘journalism’, it is somehow mandatory to start off even a ‘news’ story with a bit of narrative, as if the old who-what-when-where-why isn’t enough; we have to have a ‘story’ to anchor it. Everything has to be a narrative. Feh.