A chemical once used to treat sofas — until it was found to cause rashes and blisters in people who sat on them — is now poised to become a major therapy for multiple sclerosis.

On the February MS/Cancer support group conference call, participants learned about the North American Research Committee On Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Project, what services it provides and the need for MS patients to participate.  This self-help support group is sponsored by the National MS Society and the American Cancer Society.

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Since its first broadcast in 1999, MS Learn Online, the National MS Society's Internet program, has been a successful way to educate about multiple sclerosis. View pre-recorded webcasts to learn more about MS from the convenience of your own home. Programs cover a wide variety of topics such as information for people newly diagnosed, MS basic facts, symptom management, employment, intimacy, care-partners, and progressive MS.

Each program may include:

Summary: In a small-scale, early-phase trial of the hormone estriol, a form of estrogen, women with relapsing-remitting MS showed decreases in MRI-detected brain lesion activity and immune responses during treatment, suggesting that additional study of estriol is called for to determine longer-term efficacy and safety.

• Women who have MS and are pregnant often experience fewer MS symptoms and relapses, especially during the second and third trimester. Because the hormone estriol is elevated during later stages of pregnancy, and mice given pregnancy levels of estriol were shown to have fewer symptoms of an MS-like disease, the hormone was considered as a candidate for testing against MS.
• Estriol was well tolerated. Six women with relapsing-remitting MS experienced significant decreases in brain lesion numbers and volume, as well as reductions in levels of immune proteins indicative of inflammation.[More]