Researchers at the Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford, Ill., announced Wednesday that they have started a three-year project to learn why some communities appear to have elevated levels of the disease. The study will be funded by a grant from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is an affiliate of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC.)
The study also will investigate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which could share causative factors with multiple sclerosis.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system - the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves. In MS, myelin, a fatty tissue that helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses, is lost in multiple areas, leaving scar tissue called sclerosis.
Sometimes the nerve fiber itself is damaged or broken. When myelin or the nerve fiber is destroyed or damaged, the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain is disrupted. This produces the various symptoms of MS.
Preliminary evidence also shows that MS is unusually common in PawPaw, DePue and Lewistown. Possible environmental causes also have been identified in the communities.
The research will be led by Joel Cowen, assistant dean, who heads the Health Systems Research Unit at the college. An earlier study by Health Systems Research uncovered highly elevated levels of MS on Morrison, Ill., but did not include medical verification as will take place this time.
Local residents will serve as community outreach coordinators to assist Health Systems Research. The CDC will grant $100,000 toward the study and medical verification in the first year. Lesser amounts are expected the second and third years of the grant.
Four grants were awarded nationally as well as a continuing study in Texas.