EBV

[MCBCON]

http://nro.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/11/11/1073858410381531.abstract

[jensequitur]

This goes along with my theory that MS is caused by a virus that damages cells in the body and makes our immune system attack our myelin...  

Bob, what's a Sheep's Blood antibody?

[COBOB]

EBV can (emphasis on CAN) cause Mono.  Not everyone exposed gets Mono. For some reason, some people are exposed and have a titer, but never have the symptoms.  I had all the symptoms, but maintained a negative MonoSpot.  I did have a positive Sheep's Blood Antibody and a Titer that was through the roof.

[essdipity]

From all I've read, showing markers for the EB virus is not the same as having had mono. As has been said, nearly everyone carrries the virus, but very few, relatively speaking, get mono.

It's just that among MS patients, the rate of actual mono is much higher than in the general population. And also, many MS patients have never had mono, even if they do carry the virus.

ess

[daisy.girl]

The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) causes infectious mononucleosis in 90 percent of the cases.

In most of the cases of mononucleosis there are no symptoms of monoclueosis that means the EBV infection is sub clinical.

In a research conducted in 2002, it was found that about 95 percent of adults of the age group 35-40 years had been infected by mononucleosis in the United States.

In the research conducted in 2005, it was found that Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infects more than 98 percent of the world's population

[MCBCON]

The point of the article is that having had Mononucleosis was a large factor in MS patients.  EBV itself is not the issue really.

[daisy.girl]

Very interesting....
since up to 95% of the population has had the EBV; I guess it all falls on whether or not we are genetically susceptible.....and sounds like everyone should keep their Vit D levels up.
My Vit D is up to 31 now....and my neuro said that was fine, however, everything I read says it should be up to atleast 50.