Genetic links to MS uncovered

Scientists have found the first genetic links with multiple sclerosis in more than two decades in a study that raises the possibility of understanding the root causes of the debilitating disorder of the nervous system.

Two teams of researchers have each identified genetic variations in a pair of genes that substantially increase the chances of someone developing the disease, which is caused by the body's immune system attacking its own nerve cells.

Each genetic variation appears to raise the probability of developing multiple sclerosis by between 20 and 30 per cent.

Scientists believe the discovery is a major milestone which might lead to new forms of treatment.

It is well known that there is a strong genetic basis for multiple sclerosis and some genes have already been implicated, but the newly identified ones are directly linked with the immune system.

This suggests that the discovery could lead to a better understanding of why the fatty sheaths that insulate the long fibres of nerve cells are attacked and destroyed by the immune defences of people with multiple sclerosis.

The results are published in Nature Genetics and the New England Journal of Medicine.

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