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382218 tn?1341181487

New study hot off the press: Mono and MS link further established

The link between mono (IM) and MS was further established in a study done in the Netherlands that was just published.  This was a large scale study, with 2877 MS patients and 2673 control subjects.  It was concluded that the risk for MS is significantly enhanced by prior IM, and also that this association is much stronger than with other common childhood illnesses.

It was stated that clearly, IM does not CAUSE MS. Rather, that the immune responses that develop upon infection are likely critical factors to explain this association.  What still needs figuring out is which molecular mechanisms are responsible for this link.

The fact that past assumptions about this link were borne out in such a large scale study is useful.  Past studies of this link were smaller in scale.  Also, this study clarified that the association between MS and IM is selective and doesn't apply to other viral or bacterial illnesses common in childhood.

So perhaps we are just a teeny tiny bit closer to answers about MS.  Still such a long way to go.  Does anyone think they'll have it figured out in any of our lifetimes?

db

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471862 tn?1207837116
I had IM in 1972, was 20 yrs old at the time, then in 1998 was dx with MS.  My sister never had Mono, but was dx with MS before I was, and she's younger.
It's just a strange disease.
Sallyr
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
That is very interesting....especially since I had IM 5 months ago...and now the doctors think I have MS (although why they STILL think that is strange since my MRI was fine). I have many, many MS symptoms and am currently barely able to walk. I have my first appt with a neurologist next week..... I also wanted to point out that IM is a serious virus that is related to MANY diseases such as lupus and chronic fatigue syndrome. Basically, if you have had IM, you are at a much higher risk for some bizarre disorders than if you havent had it....and no one knows why.
Helpful - 0
378497 tn?1232143585
I had *severe* IM almost three years ago (August 2005). Severe. It came on like a jungle fever, huge glands, exhaustion, fever, horrible throat, and I was barely able to move for several weeks. That time period is like a lost section of my life, I was so out of it, which is extremely unusual for me, and anyone who saw me during that time was alarmed. I was also just pregnant at the time and had a miscarriage as the illness ended. Could have been CMV or EBV.

Not that this is relevant here, given that I'm not diagnosed with anything. I can't get two doctors in the same field (neurosurgery, neurology, or neuroradiology) to agree on a single thing.

Bio
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429949 tn?1224691579
I had an illness when I was  11 that sounds similar to what you discribed. I was dx with hepatitis A, was in the hospital for three weeks and everyone in my family had to have a shot. I  caught it, they believe because the schools sewer was leaking into the well water that supplied the school. I had a sevier fever and very swollen glands in my neck and remember being somewhat delerious and very weak and fatigued to the point of not being able to  stand or walk on my own. I am 41 now and so far have not shown any long term liver damage from it. But hearing your discription above made me remember how sick I was. I  also had yellowing  in my eyes and skin. Could this have been IM? Could it reactivate  later in adulthood? The gland in my neck were so swollen that my mom kept me home for two weeks thinking I had the mumps, But the thing that stuck in my mind was the out of my head feeling that I had!

Santana
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
DB, you have been coming up with some great stuff today!

I want everyone to note that this study was about Infectious Mononucleosis.  This is the more severe presentation of the Epstein Barr Virus.  It is characterized by severe fatigue, fever, severe sore throat, swollen lymph glands, hepatitis, enlarged spleen and often an mild meningitis.

Just having the EBV infection is not the same thing.  Most people have the EBV with a mild, indistinguishable infection.

So, +EBV is not the same as a history of mono.

The clarification that the relationship is specific to IM is very interesting.

Wow, this really looks like a step forward.

Quix
Helpful - 0
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