Can myelin sheath be repaired?

[savvycs]

Hello MS community. I hope everyone is doing well. My latest question is can myelin sheath be repaired?

Thanks

Gina

[ConfirmedRachel]

Great question Gina thanks

Nx

[ConfirmedRachel]

So glad you put that up Ess, I've been referred to a Neuro Physio only last week. They are looking at whether my limp is only linked to the nerve compression I had before my back op or an MS symptom. Either way, they want me to have Neuro Physio assessment etc as well as Musculoskeletal I've been having since Dec.

Fingers crossed for the trial you're involved in x

Nx

[savvycs]

Thank you for the feedback and keep us posted on your progress. Sounds very promising. I will check out the myelin repair foundation as well. Best of luck!

Gina

[essdipity]

In case anyone is interested,the website for this organization is inirehab.com. To see a brief presentation by its director, Dr. Daniel Becker, to the Maryland MS Society:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x6n-WMIwVA&feature=youtu.be

I'm sure there are other approaches to myelin repair but I'm not current on them.

ess

[essdipity]

I refer you to the work of the Myelin Repair Foundation (myelinrepair.org) for comprehensive info on this subject. This organization has been in the vanguard of research into the important repair area for several years. Other similar Google searches should turn up additional data on myelin repair and where we are in this research.

I myself am in MS Physical Therapy that uses the repair concept. I'll be finished with the evaluation part in early November, at which time I'll meet again with the neuro rehab doctor, who runs this program in suburban Baltimore. He initially explained the concept to me (a lot to take in) as utilizing oligodendryocytes (a kind of cell already in the brain) which can make myelin and send out strands of it to the damaged neurons, using electrical stimulation. It's rather like electrodes and intense TENS machines taped to various parts of the body (my legs) as I use what looks like a very modified elliptical machine or some such. There are gauges all over the place.

How this interacts with my brain (site of all my lesions) I certainly do not understand, but I do hope to understand more once I've read up more and talked to the neuro again. At the moment he is at ECTRIMS, the world's major MS conference in Europe, and he's a Hopkins doctor, so has a great deal of credibility in that regard.

I confess I'm somewhat skeptical at this point, but we'll see. I was referred to this neurorehab place by an MS NP who is very knowledgeable, and the PTs they have their are all trained specifically in spinal cord injuries, MS and other major disruptions of the CNS system, so they're not at all the usual PTs who work on sports injuries, fractures, etc. They all have doctorates.

Anyway, I was planning to say something about this experience once it's wound up and once I have something more intelligent to offer, if that time ever comes :-)

ess