MS researchers find conception connection

MS researchers find conception connection
Canadian Press at the Globe & Mail

CALGARY — "The miracle of life could eventually hold the key to a miracle of sorts for thousands of people suffering from multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the University of Calgary.

Between 55,000 and 75,000 Canadians suffer from MS, a chronic disease in which the body's own immune system attacks myelin, a fatty substance coating the brain and spinal cord. The resulting damage causes lesions that make it difficult for messages to travel through the central nervous system, leading to a progressive loss of sensation and movement.

But there is evidence that MS goes into remission when women become pregnant, and in some cases the body actually begins to repair some of the damage.

Researchers found the hormone prolactin, which is produced during pregnancy, encouraged the spontaneous production of myelin in the brains and spinal cords of pregnant mice. In addition, during pregnancy, the immune system no longer destroyed myelin.

........SNIP"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070220.wms0220/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

Um, the few that I had, that is. I mean the few white hairs that I had, not that I didn't have much hair. Oh, never mind.

I have MS and also have a high prolactin level. They are always looking for a pituitary tumor but there is none.