Thursday 27 June 2013

Week 42

Before I start, I feel like the need to apologise about last week's blog. Lets be honest, it was pretty crap - more so than usual, even. I was on holiday (kind of), it was pretty much chucked together at the last minute and I even forgot to talk about what had been in the news concerning MS that week. Not my fault, it's the MS, blah blah blah. 

Had I made more of an effort, I would've mentioned the exciting news to come from the  Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago where they have been working on a new treatment that targets only the proteins that come under attack when the immune system fails to recognize them as a normal part of the body. Researchers hope they will be able to cure the disease but leave the rest of the body's defences on guard.

Good old copy and paste, eh?

What they are basically saying is that current medications are immunosuppressive - they stop the entire immune system from working, whereas this new medication only targets the parts that come under attack, leaving the rest of the immune system to do its job and fight off infections and other foreign bodies. 

These results are taken from a small stage 1 trial, so it is still a long way off from being administered to the masses, but it is another step in the right direction, and Dan likes this*.

Obviously this news is over 2 weeks old, so it's 'old hat' now, and you're probably telling yourself that you've read about it via a million links that have already appeared on your Twitter timeline. Well, what can I say? I am a bit slow on the uptake, but that's not my fault, is it?

Before I go I want to tell you that I have restarted my exercises and I have got a bit of much needed strength back in my legs. I've lost count how many times I've fallen over in the last month, or so. The humid weather saps my energy, so much so, the mild exercising regime that I have got actually makes me worse. Anyway, the milder weather this week has got me back on track and I haven't falling over for over a week. 

*I am aware that referring to yourself as the third person is a sign of madness, but I firmly believe that a little bit of insanity gives you great armour in this battle with MS and your homework this weekend is to do something frivolous. 

Stay crazy, people. 

Dan

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