How do slowly evolving lesions relate to MS progression?
- Lead researcher:
- Professor Frederik Barkhof
- Based at:
- University College London
- MS Society funding:
- £70,437
- Status:
- Active
About the project
Many people with MS are initially diagnosed with relapsing MS. When new MS lesions (areas of myelin damage) develop, you may experience symptoms as a relapse. When the body’s natural myelin repair process repairs the damage, your symptoms go away. But most people go on to develop symptoms that gradually get worse, known as secondary progressive MS.
Recent work has found that many MS lesions are still actively damaging nerve fibres even when you aren’t experiencing a relapse. These are called slowly evolving lesions. We don’t know how common slowly evolving MS lesions are, whether they affect disability, or ultimately whether they could be a target for treatments designed for progressive MS.
Using MRI scans, this PhD studentship supervised by Professor Barkhof will aim to find out more about how slowly evolving lesions relate to the progression of MS. They'll also try to understand more about where the iron (which is found around the edges of these lesions) comes from.
How will it help people with MS?
Understanding more about what causes progression in MS could open up new opportunities to design treatments for progressive MS.
The difference you can make
There are currently very few treatments available to help people with progressive MS. Your donation would help support innovative projects like these, which are vital for these treatments to become a reality.
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