Blood test that can predict multiple sclerosis

A simple blood test that can predict multiple sclerosis up to nine years before symptoms appear is being developed by scientists.

Experts predict that the discovery could lead to early treatment to prevent the disease harming patients.

At present doctors have no way of picking up MS before symptoms develop and patients are frequently diagnosed quite late.

But now a team of Israeli doctors and scientists have found “chemical markers” on blood that will lead to a test for the disease.

Professor Anat Achiron, of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine, has uncovered a way of detecting MS years before the illness hits sufferers.

“We are not yet able to treat people with MS to prevent the onset of the disease but knowledge is power,” said Professor Achiron.

“Every time we meet a new patient exhibiting symptoms of MS, we must ask ourselves how long this has been going on.

“We can diagnose MS by brain MRI scans, but we’ve never been able to know how ‘fresh’ the disease is.”

Her findings are published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease.

If doctors can predict the onset of MS early enough, intervention therapies using drugs such as Copaxone or beta-interferon drugs that stave off MS symptoms might be used.

“We theorised that if we looked at the gene expression signature of blood cells in healthy people, we could look for possible biological markers that characterise those who subsequently developed MS,” said Professor Achiron

Multiple sclerosis has devastating affect on lives with more than 100,000 sufferers in the UK and two million worldwide.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other.

Nerve cells in the brain send electrical signals down fibres called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin.

In MS, the body’s own immune system attacks and damages myelin, causing scarring (or sclerosis), which affects the axons ability to conduct signals.

MS takes several forms, with symptoms relapsing or accumulating over time.

Permanent disability occurs as the disease advances.

Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females.