Next Meeting The next meeting will be on August 15th and will be a lunch meeting at the Multi Purpose Room at the Cowra Library starting at 12 noon.Please ring Dulcie to confirm attendance on 6342 1686.

A Very Distressing News Report

Subject: MAN WITH MS HAS STICK TAKEN AWAY BY AIRPORT SECURITY

A SYDNEY man with multiple sclerosis who needs a stick to walk says he had his stick pulled to pieces by security at Melbourne Airport and told to take it back to the check-in desk because he was not allowed to carry it on an aircraft.

When Richard Larsen told the security officer he needed the now dysfunctional stick to walk, he said he was told "bad luck".

The 37-year-old software engineer from Petersham was trying to board a Virgin Blue flight to Sydney on Wednesday morning.

Mr Larsen said the security officer laughed at him and a security supervisor told him to get out of the way.

"I felt they were trying to humiliate me," Mr Larsen said yesterday.

He asked for a wheelchair, hobbled to a nearby seat and had to wait 15 minutes for a Virgin Blue "customer service supervisor" to appear. Mr Larsen said he can "walk" 100 metres on a good day but last Wednesday was not a good day and it was getting worse.

The airline supervisor told Mr Larsen there would not have been a problem if he used a "real" walking stick instead of the carbon-fibre hiking stick he has used in the four years since being diagnosed with the disease.

Mr Larsen said he has carried the stick on many Virgin flights before and flew at least once a month without any trouble carrying it on planes.

He said the Virgin supervisor told him: "I don't have time for this and you have a plane to catch."

When Mr Larsen said he had time to discuss the issue with someone who did have time, he said the supervisor responded: "I don't have to help you".

Mr Larsen pointed out he did have to help Virgin passengers with disabilities gain access to the cut-price airline's facilities.

The supervisor ordered a wheelchair and took him to the baggage check-in and the departure gate, but Mr Larsen said the man would not give a clear answer about where he could pick up the stick in Sydney. In contrast, the Virgin flight crew were "very kind and helpful", he said.

New Multiple Sclerosis Gene Found

Variations in the IL7R Gene May Make Multiple Sclerosis More Likely, New Studies Show

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

July 30, 2007 -- Three new studies show that the IL7R gene, which affects the immune system, may affect a person's chances of developing multiple sclerosis.

Variations in the IL7R gene are common, and they're more common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in people without multiple sclerosis, according to the trio of new studies.

The finding may eventually lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis, researcher Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD, tells WebMD.

"Either this gene -- the IL7R -- or a gene related to it may be an excellent target that drug companies can use to develop treatments and cures," says Pericak-Vance, who directs the Miami Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami.

Multiple Sclerosis Genes

Pericak-Vance worked on two of the three new studies on the genetics of multiple sclerosis.

She explains that the IL7R gene is "involved in the immune system," but that its precise role in multiple sclerosis isn't clear yet.

Scientists have worked for decades to find gene variations tied to multiple sclerosis, and that's proven to be a complex challenge, Pericak-Vance notes.

"You know how some puzzles have 500 [pieces and] some have 1,000 pieces? Well, when we started, we thought, 'OK, this is a 500-piece puzzle.' But as we did more and more research over the decades, we realized that, 'Oh my God, we really have a 1,000-piece puzzle we're trying to put together,'" says Pericak-Vance.

"It's been 20-plus years, and even though we know genes are important, we haven't been able to find them. And now, after these many years, we finally hit upon one," she says.

New Multiple Sclerosis Gene Studies

In each of the three new studies, scientists compared the genes of people with and without multiple sclerosis, and then checked their findings by studying still more people.

All in all, the studies included more than 14,000 people. Two of the studies appear in the journal Nature Genetics. The third study and a related editorial appear in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The IL7R gene stood out in all three studies. Another gene, called IL2RA, is also noted in the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

More multiple sclerosis genes may await discovery, notes Pericak-Vance.

She calls the IL7R gene "one of multiple genes involved in MS," and notes that scientists will study related genes and gene interactions to learn more about the genetics of MS.

But Pericak-Vance explains that IL7R gene doesn't fully explain multiple sclerosis. Environmental factors matter, too.

"There are lots of people who carry the variation that's associated with MS but don't get MS. So now we have to see what other things are involved," says Pericak-Vance.

More Work Ahead

In The New England Journal of Medicine, editorialist Leena Peltonen, MD, PhD, writes that scientists still need to find the full array of "suspicious genes" that are involved in MS. Peltonen points out that the IL7R and IL2RA genes only account for a small proportion of genetic risk for multiple sclerosis.

Peltonen works at Finland’s National Public Health Institute and University of Helsinki, as well as at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Mass.

Still, the findings are "very significant," Pericak-Vance tells WebMD. "I think it's been a long time coming and just really opens up the possibilities for new research."

"Obviously the more we know about a disease, the more questions we have to ask," says Pericak-Vance. "But it's great that we get to ask more questions."

SOURCES: Lundmark, F. Nature Genetics, July 29, 2007; advance online edition. Gregory, S. Nature Genetics, July 29, 2007; advance online edition. Hafler, D. The New England Journal of Medicine, July 29, 2007; advance online edition. Peltonen, L. The New England Journal of Medicine, July 29, 2007; advance online edition. Margaret Pericak-Vance, PhD, director, Miami Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami.

An Aussie in England!

Multiple Sclerosis: How the Disease Progresses

How Does MS Progress?

The course of multiple sclerosis varies for each person. Because of this uncertainty, doctors often tell their patients that they "probably" or "possibly" have MS. Your diagnosis is based on the combination of problems, patterns of recurrence, which systems are impaired and your test results. There is no way to predict how each person's condition will progress. It often takes years before a doctor can be certain of an MS diagnosis and have some idea on how the disease will progress.

There are four courses that MS takes:

Relapsing-remitting MS: characterized by unpredictable acute attacks, called "exacerbations," with worsening of symptoms followed by full, partial or no recovery of some

function. These attacks appear to evolve over several days to weeks. Recovery from an attack takes weeks sometimes months. The disease does not worsen in the periods between the attacks. This pattern usually occurs early in the course of MS in most people.
Primary-progressive MS: characterized by a gradual but steady progression of disability, without any obvious relapses and remissions. This form of disease occurs in just 15% of all people with MS, but it is the most common type of MS in people who develop the disease after the age of 40.
Secondary-progressive MS: initially begins with a relapsing-remitting course, but later evolves into progressive disease. The progressive part of the disease may begin shortly after the onset of MS, or it may occur years or decades later.
Progressive-relapsing MS: This is the least common form of the disease and is characterized by a steady progression in disability with acute attacks that may or may not be followed by some recovery. People with progressive relapsing MS initially appear to have primary progressive MS.

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects of the disease continue throughout the person's life.

What Is a True Exacerbation (Relapse)?

A true exacerbation of MS is caused by an area of inflammation (swelling) in the nerves of the brain and spinal cord system followed by something called demyelination, which is the destruction of myelin. The myelin is the fatty sheath that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers.

Demyelination results in the formation of an abnormal area called a plaque within the brain and/or spinal cord. A plaque causes the nerve impulses to be slowed, distorted, or halted, producing the symptoms of MS. One example of an exacerbation of MS would be the development of optic neuritis, an inflammation of the optic nerve (which is in the back of the eye) that impairs vision.

An exacerbation of MS may be mild and not cause a noticeable impairment in functioning or may significantly interfere with a person's daily life. Exacerbations usually last from several days to several weeks, although they may extend into months.

Exacerbations or relapses of MS are often treated with medications called corticosteroids. These drugs reduce inflammation. It is generally accepted that taking corticosteroids for a short amount of time will shorten an exacerbation and/or reduce the severity.

What Is a Pseudoexacerbation?

Sometimes an increase in symptoms has nothing to do with the underlying MS, but is caused by factors such as fever, infection or hot weather that can temporarily aggravate MS. This is referred to as a pseudoexacerbation. For example, some people report a worsening of their symptoms during or after periods of intense stress.

What Is Remission? A remission does not mean that all the symptoms of MS disappear, but rather that a person with MS mostly returns to the way they were before the last exacerbation or relapse began.

Reviewed by the doctors at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Research at The Cleveland Clinic.

Laugh It Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The prison hospital

Prisoner: Look here, doctor! You've already removed my spleen, tonsils, adenoids, and one of my kidneys. I only came to see if you could get me out of this place!

Doctor: I am, bit by bit.

How much will this cost me?

Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled?

Dentist: $100.00.

Patient: $100.00 for just a few minutes work?

Dentist: Well, I can extract it very slowly if you like.

I can't find the cause of your pain

As the doctor completed an examination of the patient, he said, "I can't find a cause for your complaint. Frankly, I think it's due to drinking."

"In that case," said the patient, "I'll come back when you're sober"

Reach Gaz by email to comment: starrgh@tpg.com.au

Gaz is in our Gallery!

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