Interesting bit of news coming from Newsweek and Agence France-Presse this weekend. They've apparently identified a gene, called interleukin-7 receptor alpha on Chromosome 5, linked to Multiple Sclerosis which "appears to increase the risk of developing MS by 20 percent." I found this paragraph to be interesting:

Scientists have also looked to the environment for potential causes of MS. Suspects include an unidentified virus that preys on genetically weak immune systems, vitamin D deficiency and smoking. "This paper doesn't answer the genes versus infection question one way or the other," says Rodriguez. "The answer is that we still don't have the answer."

Indeed. What's interesting in my case is that no one else in my family has MS (though there is fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome), no one has diabetes. I did have very low levels of Vitamin D in my system but I've never smoked and had a pretty solid immune system up until (at least) the optic neuritis showed up...

More telling is this:

In a third paper, published in the journal Nature on Thursday, Lawrence Steinman and his colleagues showed that Cryab, a protein found in the human eye, protects brain cells during the early stages of MS. As the disease progresses, however, the immune system destroys this protein. "Giving Cryab as a therapy could be a future treatment to slow the progression of MS," Steinman says. His study also leaves the question of what causes MS unanswered.

So finding this new gene on chromosome 5 is all well and good, but... you know... so what? It still doesn't conclusively give us information about what causes the disease. It appears, at least to me, to provide more information on who gets it rather and how, not why. And even that's not terribly helpful...

I dunno - I'm not sure the "why" is even all that important if they can figure out how to repair the myelin quickly, post-relapse. For what it's worth, I'm putting my money on stem cell research...

In other news...

I have been feeling significantly better - emotionally and physically - over the last week. My energy levels are up, I don't feel fatigued and my mood is vastly improved!! I don't know if the Copaxone is doing anything for my MS, but getting off the Avonex certainly has helped me to feel better. The Copaxone injections continue to be minimal problem whatsoever. (Though, oddly, I've found that they don't cause trouble anywhere except my legs. I don't know why that is, but my legs apparently don't like the stuff. Decreasing the needle depth seems to help, however...)

Despite my improved mood and health, however, my motivation to do schoolwork doesn't seem to have changed at all. I have zero idea why this is the case. Hopefully I can get myself motivated before too long, tho. Wish me luck!