Elsevier

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 49, Issue 4, October 1997, Pages 307-311
Medical Hypotheses

Multiple sclerosis: an immune legacy?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9877(97)90196-1Get rights and content

Abstract

The aetiology of multiple sclerosis suggests that its occurrence depends on a combination of factors, including viral infection in early childhood, genotype and an initiating event within the central nervous system. The resulting damage may be caused by events initiated by free radicals. Free radicals themselves may cause damage to myelin and also may trigger the arachidonic acid cascade, to produce compounds that are thought to initiate and augment T-cell activity. Repair of the damaged tissue is normally achieved by protective enzymes that remove damaged lipid from the myelin.

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  • Is environmental radon gas associated with the incidence of neurodegenerative conditions? A retrospective study of multiple sclerosis in radon affected areas in England and Wales

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    Lykken and Momčilović (2003a, 2003b) proposed that myelin sheath lipids take up inhaled lipid-soluble environmental radon; in this delicate and sensitive environment, subsequent α- and β-particle bombardment irreversibly damages myelin cell nuclei, puncturing the myelin sheaths beyond the point of repair and causing permanent nerve impulse propagation failure. An additional outcome of this irradiation is free-radical generation, leading to potential peroxidative damage to the myelin lipid portion (Cooper, 1997). Together with other studies (Hursh et al., 1965; Nussbaum and Hursh, 1965), this potentially provides a mechanism for delivering a significant radiation dose to the cells involved in MS.

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