<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512</id><updated>2011-11-27T15:57:29.158-08:00</updated><category term='fiortified milk'/><category term='vitamin d campaign Posted in Uncategorized'/><category term='uk news'/><category term='undercover research'/><category term='vitamin d'/><category term='multiple sclerosis'/><category term='fundraising'/><category term='shine on scotland campaign'/><category term='diabetes UK'/><category term='British Journal of Nutrition'/><category term='the independant'/><category term='Vascular Dementia?'/><category term='ms society scottland'/><category term='scottish government'/><category term='swine flu'/><category term='ms society scotland'/><category term='disease  family  health Multiple Sclerosis'/><category term='cancer research uk'/><category term='nhs choices'/><category term='Alzheimer&apos;s Disease'/><category term='vitamin d deficency'/><category term='sun message'/><category term='press release'/><category term='bighearted scotland child of the year 2009'/><category term='gene expression'/><category term='osteoporosis'/><category term='research'/><category term='respite care campaign'/><category term='dermatology'/><category term='Multiple Sclerosis Society'/><category term='public health'/><category term='ryan mclaughlin'/><category term='melanoma'/><category term='skin cancer'/><category term='multiple sclerosis health ms scotland'/><category term='ms prevention'/><category term='scottish parliament'/><category term='Nati'/><category term='the lancet'/><category term='Oliver Gillie'/><category term='fotification'/><category term='ms news'/><category term='parkinsons'/><category term='milk'/><category term='nestle nesquick'/><category term='news of the world'/><category term='asthama'/><category term='rickets'/><category term='kilimanjaro'/><category term='U-turn'/><category term='vitamin d campaign'/><category term='Sunscreen Advice'/><category term='harvard university'/><category term='sunsmart campaign'/><category term='health advice'/><category term='published research'/><category term='public health advice'/><category term='guardian article'/><category term='shine on scotland'/><category term='cancer research'/><category term='sun advice'/><title type='text'>Multiple Sclerosis Scotland</title><subtitle type='html'>A Shine on Scotland campaign blog</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>66</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-6504570303379328718</id><published>2011-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-11-12T17:45:44.912-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/pressrelease/A-Major-Multiple-Sclerosis-Movement-is-now-in-Progress--12283.aspx"&gt;Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; "&gt;MS stars unite to back a global movement to End MS&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/picture/shinemstvstation-20073.aspx" id="ctl00_cpContent_teaserUrl" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.pressport.co.uk/image.aspx?CompanyId=3493&amp;amp;teaser=shinemstvstation.JPG&amp;amp;width=350" id="ctl00_cpContent_teaserImg" border="0" alt="A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!" title="A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 20px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: top; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; float: left; " /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.us/" title="PressPort" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "&gt;&lt;b style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;/PressPort/ --&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; MS Station Inc. (MSstation.com and MSstation.TV) along with ‘Shine On MS’ (&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.Shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;) are uniting the MS Community on a Grand and Global Scale!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;NEVER FEEL ALONE WITH A MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DIAGNOSIS AGAIN!!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;You can hear us on MSstation.com and see us on MSstation.TV. Now, you can also chat with us on Shine On MS’&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;! [&lt;a href="http://shineonms.msstation.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;http://shineonms.MSstation.com&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;MSstation Inc. is Dedicated to Providing Global Awareness, Encouragement and Support for People Affected Directly or Indirectly by Multiple Sclerosis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;Radio Hosts of MSstation.com include a number of affluent people in the Multiple Sclerosis Community. Amy Gurowitz and Stuart Schlossman, are amongst the numbers involved in procuring MSstation Inc.’s Mission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;Amy Gurowitz, Founder of MS softServe &lt;a href="http://www.mssoftserve.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.MSsoftserve.com&lt;/a&gt; hosts MSLOL (Multiple Sclerosis Life of Learning) Radio&lt;a href="http://www.mslolradio.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.MSLOLradio.com&lt;/a&gt; every 1st Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MS SoftServe is Dedicated to Customized Learning about Multiple Sclerosis. MS SoftServe will give users control over what and how they learn about their unique version of MS, without exposing them to unwanted information that contribute to their anxiety while living with it”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;Stuart Schlossman, Founder of MS Views and News Organization &lt;a href="http://www.msviewsandnews.org/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.MSviewsandnews.org&lt;/a&gt; Hosts Stu MS Radio&lt;a href="http://www.msstumsradio.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.MSStuMSradio.com&lt;/a&gt; every 4th Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;MS Views and News, Inc., is dedicated to the global collection and distribution of current information concerning Multiple Sclerosis. In collaboration with other organizations, MS Views and News (MSV&amp;amp;N) uses state-of-the-art communication channels to provide information for those affected by or interested in MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;Like the Hosts the Founder Rae-Anne (Rae) Edwards also has Multiple Sclerosis. You don’t have to have MS to Host your own show on MSstation, just a passion to spread Awareness, Encouragement and Support!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;About Shine On MS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;A social network and community for those affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Shine On MS is a community for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis, MS Groups, researchers, campaigners and activists. Users can share, get support and interact with other members. The social network was created by MS campaigner Ryan Mclaughlin from Scotland. The teenager dedicated the social network to help fight for better rights for those with MS. The young health activist will use the platform as a campaign HQ to launch a worldwide campaign in 2012 to get politicial action taken to end the disease within a generation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a title="Shine on MS" href="http://www.shineonms.com/" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;About the Shine on Scotland Campaign&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;A campaign by 16 year old Ryan Mclaughlin to get vitamin D for every child and pregnant&lt;br /&gt;mother as a preventative measure against Multiple Sclerosis &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.shineonscotland.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information, please contact&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; "&gt;Shine on MS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Founder &lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/contact/Ryan-Mclaughlin-5565.aspx" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;Ryan Mclaughlin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/redirect.aspx?id=12283&amp;amp;p=www.shineonms.com" title="Shine on MS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(190, 0, 0); "&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Phone 07580 461976&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-6504570303379328718?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/6504570303379328718/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/11/shine-on-ms-major-multiple-sclerosis.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6504570303379328718'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6504570303379328718'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/11/shine-on-ms-major-multiple-sclerosis.html' title='Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-9030202361855107877</id><published>2011-08-31T07:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-31T07:35:02.949-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='press release'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='multiple sclerosis'/><title type='text'>Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/pressrelease/A-Major-Multiple-Sclerosis-Movement-is-now-in-Progress--12283.aspx"&gt;Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;"&gt;'via Blog this&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #485969; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;h2 style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;MS stars unite to back a global movement to End MS&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.us/" id="ctl00_cpContent_lnkBackLink" style="color: black; float: left; margin-right: 10px;" title="PressPort"&gt;/PressPort/ --&lt;/a&gt;MS Station Inc. (MSstation.com and MSstation.TV) along with ‘Shine On MS’ (&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.Shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;) are uniting the MS Community on a Grand and Global Scale!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;NEVER FEEL ALONE WITH A MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DIAGNOSIS AGAIN!!!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can hear us on MSstation.com and see us on MSstation.TV. Now, you can also chat with us on Shine On MS’&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;! [&lt;a href="http://shineonms.msstation.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;http://shineonms.MSstation.com&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;br /&gt;MSstation Inc. is Dedicated to Providing Global Awareness, Encouragement and Support for People Affected Directly or Indirectly by Multiple Sclerosis.&lt;br /&gt;Radio Hosts of MSstation.com include a number of affluent people in the Multiple Sclerosis Community. Amy Gurowitz and Stuart Schlossman, are amongst the numbers involved in procuring MSstation Inc.’s Mission.&lt;br /&gt;Amy Gurowitz, Founder of MS softServe&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mssoftserve.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.MSsoftserve.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;hosts MSLOL (Multiple Sclerosis Life of Learning) Radio&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mslolradio.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.MSLOLradio.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;every 1st Wednesday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MS SoftServe is Dedicated to Customized Learning about Multiple Sclerosis. MS SoftServe will give users control over what and how they learn about their unique version of MS, without exposing them to unwanted information that contribute to their anxiety while living with it”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stuart Schlossman, Founder of MS Views and News Organization&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msviewsandnews.org/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.MSviewsandnews.org&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Hosts Stu MS Radio&lt;a href="http://www.msstumsradio.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank"&gt;www.MSStuMSradio.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;every 4th Wednesday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MS Views and News, Inc., is dedicated to the global collection and distribution of current information concerning Multiple Sclerosis. In collaboration with other organizations, MS Views and News (MSV&amp;amp;N) uses state-of-the-art communication channels to provide information for those affected by or interested in MS.&lt;br /&gt;Like the Hosts the Founder Rae-Anne (Rae) Edwards also has Multiple Sclerosis. You don’t have to have MS to Host your own show on MSstation, just a passion to spread Awareness, Encouragement and Support!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;b&gt;About Shine On MS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A social network and community for those affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Shine On MS is a community for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis, MS Groups, researchers, campaigners and activists. Users can share, get support and interact with other members. The social network was created by MS campaigner Ryan Mclaughlin from Scotland. The teenager dedicated the social network to help fight for better rights for those with MS. The young health activist will use the platform as a campaign HQ to launch a worldwide campaign in 2012 to get politicial action taken to end the disease within a generation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="Shine on MS"&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;About the Shine on Scotland Campaign&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A campaign by 16 year old Ryan Mclaughlin to get vitamin D for every child and pregnant&lt;br /&gt;mother as a preventative measure against Multiple Sclerosis&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;www.shineonscotland.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="ctl00_cpContent_ContactsList_UpdatePanelInfo"&gt;&lt;div id="ctl00_cpContent_ContactsList_boxDiv"&gt;&lt;i&gt;For more information, please contact&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shine on MS -&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/redirect.aspx?id=12283&amp;amp;p=www.shineonms.com" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Shine on MS"&gt;www.shineonms.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;- Founder&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/contact/Ryan-Mclaughlin-5565.aspx" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;Ryan Mclaughlin&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;- Phone 07580 461976 -&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.co.uk/pressrelease/A-Major-Multiple-Sclerosis-Movement-is-now-in-Progress--12283.aspx" id="ctl00_cpContent_ContactsList_ContactList_ctl01_HyperLinkMail" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;Email&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;"&gt;'&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-9030202361855107877?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/9030202361855107877/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-major-multiple-sclerosis.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/9030202361855107877'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/9030202361855107877'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-major-multiple-sclerosis.html' title='Shine on MS - A Major Multiple Sclerosis Movement is now in Progress!'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-5483037209884392587</id><published>2011-08-17T03:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-17T03:01:55.083-07:00</updated><title type='text'>MS breakthrough: Vitamin D directly terminates production of disease-causing protein</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://shineonscotland.org.uk/?p=5796"&gt;MS breakthrough: Vitamin D directly terminates production of disease-causing protein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Mechanism suggests a potential new path toward pharmaceutical treatment of MS, as well as therapies for other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, eczema and psoriasis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;For years scientists have noted an association between levels of vitamin D in a person’s body and the person’s ability to resist or minimize the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) but didn’t understood the mechanism involved. Until now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;New breakthrough research by a collaborative team at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and Stanford indicates that &lt;a title="Vitamin D Research And News" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1334" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;vitamin D&lt;/a&gt; directly terminates the production of a disease-causing protein.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;As the investigators outline in their report, published in the September issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology (“1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 ameliorates Th17 autoimmunity via transcriptional modulation of interleukin-17A” ):&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;• During MS (“EAE” in mice), a damaging protein called interleukin-17 (IL-17) is produced by immune cells in the brain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;• The research team found that after vitamin D binds to its receptor, the receptor parks itself on the gene that encodes IL-17.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;• By doing so, the vitamin D receptor occupies a site normally reserved for a protein called NFAT, which is required to turn the IL-17 gene on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;• The gene stays off and IL-17 levels plummet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;• At the same time, the vitamin D receptor turns on another gene, whose product generates suppressive T cells that combat the destructive action of their IL-17-producing counterparts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;According to the researchers, led by UMDNJ Prof. Sylvia Christakos, PhD, the mechanism they identified suggests what might be a new path toward pharmaceutical treatment of MS, as well as therapies for other autoimmune diseases that might include rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, eczema and psoriasis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Source: ProHealth Copyright © 2011 ProHealth, Inc. (17/08/11)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-5483037209884392587?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/?p=5796' title='MS breakthrough: Vitamin D directly terminates production of disease-causing protein'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/5483037209884392587/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/ms-breakthrough-vitamin-d-directly.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5483037209884392587'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5483037209884392587'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/ms-breakthrough-vitamin-d-directly.html' title='MS breakthrough: Vitamin D directly terminates production of disease-causing protein'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-6454054501571787757</id><published>2011-08-11T21:41:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:41:24.543-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It is hoped eventually to slow, stop or even reverse the damage MS causes to the brain and spinal cord.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The trial, involving up to 150 patients across Europe, is due to start later this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr Paolo Muraro from Imperial College London said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“There is very strong pre-clinical evidence that stem cells might be an effective treatment.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Researchers will collect &lt;a title="Stem Cell Research And Treatment" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1330" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;stem cells&lt;/a&gt; from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it is hoped that they will repair the damage caused by MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The research has been part-funded by the UK’s MS Society, which is concerned about the availability of unproven stem cell treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;In recent years many people living with MS have been attracted to overseas stem cell clinics which claim to cure long-term conditions in exchange for large amounts of money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But there is no proven stem cell therapy available for MS anywhere in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The MS Society hopes these new trials will eventually lead to a proven treatment – and a reduction in the draw of overseas treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Common condition&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;MS is the most common neurological condition to affect young people in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Three million people are thought to be affected worldwide and up to 100,000 in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The condition is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking and damaging a substance called &lt;a title="Myelin" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1832" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;myelin&lt;/a&gt; in the brain and nerve cells.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The myelin damage disrupts messages from the brain to the body which leads to a number of &lt;a title="MS Symptoms" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/743" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;symptoms&lt;/a&gt; such as sight loss, bladder and bowel problems, muscle stiffness and eventually physical disability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Drugs are available to alleviate the symptoms – but they do not prevent the progression of the condition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Experiments in test tubes and laboratory animals suggest stem cells extracted from bone marrow may be able to offer a more effective treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Their role in the bone marrow is to protect the cells that make blood. But they also seem to protect myelin from attack by the immune system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is also some evidence that these cells might also be able to repair damaged tissue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Hold potential&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr Doug Brown, of the MS Society, said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“These experiments have confirmed that these stem cells hold that potential – but these need to be confirmed in large scale clinical trials.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is some way to go, however, before laboratory promise can be translated into a treatment that can be offered to patients.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The international team will begin so-called phase two clinical trials in six months’ time designed to determine whether the treatment is safe and effective.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It will take five years to carry out and assess the results of the trials after which large phase three trials may be required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But Dr Muraro believes that the stem cell approach has real potential.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;He said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“The great hope is the fact that we are exploiting a biological system that has evolved over millions of years and harnessing it for treatment that takes advantage of the stem cells’ flexibility.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Sir Richard Sykes, chair of the UK Stem Cell Foundation, said Dr Muraro’s research was the first of its kind to take place in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“Given the high incidence of MS in the UK in comparison to other countries, I am delighted that we have at last progressed stem cell research to this stage, which will bring much-needed hope to so many people affected by this devastating condition.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The MS Society is also funding two other stem cell studies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;One, based at Queen Mary Hospital, London will examine how stem cells made from the brains of aborted foetuses can be used to repair nerve damage in people with MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The other, based at the University of Nottingham, will compare stem cells from people with a progressive form of MS to those without the condition to aid the discovery of effective treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Source: BBC News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011 (29/07/11&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.4em; "&gt;Related articles&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;ul class="zemanta-article-ul" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://summit4stemcell.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/stem-cell/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research is a Breakthrough!&lt;/a&gt; (summit4stemcell.wordpress.com)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/27/victory-stem-cell-research-and-patients" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A Victory for Stem Cell Research and Patients&lt;/a&gt; (whitehouse.gov)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stem-cell-trials-for-ms-treatment-2328236.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell trials for MS treatment&lt;/a&gt; (independent.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-14332206" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell trial to treat MS&lt;/a&gt; (bbc.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8669853/Stem-cell-treatment-could-prevent-MS-brain-damage.html&amp;amp;a=50142029&amp;amp;rid=f0a847ed-7e50-499c-9d30-bb7af5d0eb6c&amp;amp;e=3a1ddaa41ffdc6e66bd9b7bd6ffa3af8" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell treatment ‘could prevent MS brain damage’&lt;/a&gt; (telegraph.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://earlsview.com/2011/07/28/new-push-in-austin-for-adult-stem-cell-therapy/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;New push in Austin for adult stem cell therapy&lt;/a&gt; (earlsview.com)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2011/07/29/trials-for-stem-cell-ms-treatment-115875-23305027/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Trials for stem cell MS treatment&lt;/a&gt; (mirror.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Enhanced by Zemanta" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-6454054501571787757?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/07/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for-ms-patients/' title='Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/6454054501571787757/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for_11.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6454054501571787757'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6454054501571787757'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for_11.html' title='Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-7017709526813165275</id><published>2011-08-11T21:41:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:41:23.295-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It is hoped eventually to slow, stop or even reverse the damage MS causes to the brain and spinal cord.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The trial, involving up to 150 patients across Europe, is due to start later this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr Paolo Muraro from Imperial College London said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“There is very strong pre-clinical evidence that stem cells might be an effective treatment.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Researchers will collect &lt;a title="Stem Cell Research And Treatment" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1330" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;stem cells&lt;/a&gt; from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it is hoped that they will repair the damage caused by MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The research has been part-funded by the UK’s MS Society, which is concerned about the availability of unproven stem cell treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;In recent years many people living with MS have been attracted to overseas stem cell clinics which claim to cure long-term conditions in exchange for large amounts of money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But there is no proven stem cell therapy available for MS anywhere in the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The MS Society hopes these new trials will eventually lead to a proven treatment – and a reduction in the draw of overseas treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Common condition&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;MS is the most common neurological condition to affect young people in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Three million people are thought to be affected worldwide and up to 100,000 in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The condition is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking and damaging a substance called &lt;a title="Myelin" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1832" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;myelin&lt;/a&gt; in the brain and nerve cells.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The myelin damage disrupts messages from the brain to the body which leads to a number of &lt;a title="MS Symptoms" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/743" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;symptoms&lt;/a&gt; such as sight loss, bladder and bowel problems, muscle stiffness and eventually physical disability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Drugs are available to alleviate the symptoms – but they do not prevent the progression of the condition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Experiments in test tubes and laboratory animals suggest stem cells extracted from bone marrow may be able to offer a more effective treatment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Their role in the bone marrow is to protect the cells that make blood. But they also seem to protect myelin from attack by the immune system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is also some evidence that these cells might also be able to repair damaged tissue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Hold potential&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr Doug Brown, of the MS Society, said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“These experiments have confirmed that these stem cells hold that potential – but these need to be confirmed in large scale clinical trials.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is some way to go, however, before laboratory promise can be translated into a treatment that can be offered to patients.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The international team will begin so-called phase two clinical trials in six months’ time designed to determine whether the treatment is safe and effective.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It will take five years to carry out and assess the results of the trials after which large phase three trials may be required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But Dr Muraro believes that the stem cell approach has real potential.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;He said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“The great hope is the fact that we are exploiting a biological system that has evolved over millions of years and harnessing it for treatment that takes advantage of the stem cells’ flexibility.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Sir Richard Sykes, chair of the UK Stem Cell Foundation, said Dr Muraro’s research was the first of its kind to take place in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“Given the high incidence of MS in the UK in comparison to other countries, I am delighted that we have at last progressed stem cell research to this stage, which will bring much-needed hope to so many people affected by this devastating condition.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The MS Society is also funding two other stem cell studies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;One, based at Queen Mary Hospital, London will examine how stem cells made from the brains of aborted foetuses can be used to repair nerve damage in people with MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The other, based at the University of Nottingham, will compare stem cells from people with a progressive form of MS to those without the condition to aid the discovery of effective treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Source: BBC News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2011 (29/07/11&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.4em; "&gt;Related articles&lt;/h6&gt;&lt;ul class="zemanta-article-ul" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; list-style-type: disc; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://summit4stemcell.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/stem-cell/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research is a Breakthrough!&lt;/a&gt; (summit4stemcell.wordpress.com)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/27/victory-stem-cell-research-and-patients" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A Victory for Stem Cell Research and Patients&lt;/a&gt; (whitehouse.gov)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/stem-cell-trials-for-ms-treatment-2328236.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell trials for MS treatment&lt;/a&gt; (independent.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-14332206" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell trial to treat MS&lt;/a&gt; (bbc.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8669853/Stem-cell-treatment-could-prevent-MS-brain-damage.html&amp;amp;a=50142029&amp;amp;rid=f0a847ed-7e50-499c-9d30-bb7af5d0eb6c&amp;amp;e=3a1ddaa41ffdc6e66bd9b7bd6ffa3af8" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Stem cell treatment ‘could prevent MS brain damage’&lt;/a&gt; (telegraph.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://earlsview.com/2011/07/28/new-push-in-austin-for-adult-stem-cell-therapy/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;New push in Austin for adult stem cell therapy&lt;/a&gt; (earlsview.com)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="zemanta-article-ul-li" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2011/07/29/trials-for-stem-cell-ms-treatment-115875-23305027/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Trials for stem cell MS treatment&lt;/a&gt; (mirror.co.uk)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Enhanced by Zemanta" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-7017709526813165275?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/07/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for-ms-patients/' title='Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/7017709526813165275/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7017709526813165275'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7017709526813165275'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/doctors-begin-major-stem-cell-trial-for.html' title='Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-6638515385900051185</id><published>2011-08-11T21:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:37:37.582-07:00</updated><title type='text'>MS Society funds major international stem cell research</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Scientists in the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5,-0.116666666667&amp;amp;spn=10.0,10.0&amp;amp;q=51.5,-0.116666666667%20(United%20Kingdom)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="United Kingdom"&gt;UK&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;have received £1 million in joint funding from the MS Society and the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.ukscf.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;UK Stem Cell Foundation&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;for three new studies which will test whether stem cells can be safely used to slow, stop or reverse the damage caused to the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Brain"&gt;brain&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and spinal cord in people with MS.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;One of the studies is the UK part of an international trial involving 150 to 200 people with MS in countries across the world, including&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.9,12.4833333333&amp;amp;spn=10.0,10.0&amp;amp;q=41.9,12.4833333333%20(Italy)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Italy"&gt;Italy&lt;/a&gt;, America and Canada.&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Dr Paolo Muraro and his researchers at trial sites in&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=55.9494444444,-3.16027777778&amp;amp;spn=0.1,0.1&amp;amp;q=55.9494444444,-3.16027777778%20(Edinburgh)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Edinburgh"&gt;Edinburgh&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5072222222,-0.1275&amp;amp;spn=0.1,0.1&amp;amp;q=51.5072222222,-0.1275%20(London)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="London"&gt;London&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;will take stem cells from the bone marrow of 13 people with MS, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into the bloodstream. The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it’s hoped they will repair the damage caused by MS – including targeting ‘active’ lesions, where damage is currently happening.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Scientists believe that this unique international collaboration will reduce, by a number of years, the time taken to test whether stem cells could be a safe and effective treatment for people with MS.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Watch Reggie Greaves, who has MS, interview Paolo Muraro about this study.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;object height="385" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="480"&gt;&lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/p/C0CD45D4005A23BE?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_GB&amp;amp;fs=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Simon Gillespie,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Chief executive officer"&gt;Chief Executive&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;of the MS Society, said: “Stem cells hold tremendous potential as a future treatment option for people with MS. We are delighted to be funding this world leading research which shows the power of an international research collaboration and joint working between charities.”&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Of the two other studies funded by the MS Society and the UK Stem Cell Foundation, one based at&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=22.27006,114.13115&amp;amp;spn=1.0,1.0&amp;amp;q=22.27006,114.13115%20(Queen%20Mary%20Hospital%2C%20Hong%20Kong)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong"&gt;Queen Mary Hospital&lt;/a&gt;, London, will look at how stem cells can be used to treat&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mssociety.org.uk/about_ms/symptoms/vision/optic_neuritis.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;optic neuritis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;in laboratory models of MS. The other, based at the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.939,-1.197&amp;amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;amp;q=52.939,-1.197%20(University%20of%20Nottingham)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="University of Nottingham"&gt;University of Nottingham&lt;/a&gt;, will compare stem cells from people with a progressive form of MS to those without the condition to help us discover possible treatments.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Please visit both&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mssociety.org.uk/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="MS Society UK"&gt;MS Society UK&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and/or &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mssocietyscotland.org.uk/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="MS Society Scotland "&gt;MS Society Scotland&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-6638515385900051185?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/6638515385900051185/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/ms-society-funds-major-international.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6638515385900051185'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6638515385900051185'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/ms-society-funds-major-international.html' title='MS Society funds major international stem cell research'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-515594529482683094</id><published>2011-08-11T21:30:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:30:21.124-07:00</updated><title type='text'>JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;div class="copy fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 18px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-header fix post-nothumb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline; width: 600px; float: left; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-title-section fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-title fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Myriad Pro', 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Trebuchet MS', Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.4em; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-%e2%80%98real%e2%80%99-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 30px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); letter-spacing: -1px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;div class="metabar" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 0.9em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 153, 204); font-style: normal; line-height: 2.4em; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;On August 4, 2011, in &lt;a href="http://shineonscotland.org.uk/category/latest-news/" title="View all posts in Latest news" rel="category tag" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Latest news&lt;/a&gt;, by admin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="copy fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 18px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="textcontent" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 15px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Harry Potter" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter&lt;/a&gt; author &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="J.K. Rowling" rel="myspace" href="http://www.myspace.com/everything/j-k-rowling" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;JK Rowling&lt;/a&gt; has spoken of her regret about not mentioning her soon-to-be world-famous character to her mother until it was too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter author JK Rowling the’ inspiration behind the Shine on Scotland campaign and who personally  helped teenager Ryan Mclaughlin to lead his battle to prevent MS,  has spoken of her own regret about not mentioning her soon-to-be world-famous character to her mother until it was too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Her mum Anne Rowling suffered from &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Multiple sclerosis" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;, and died at the age of 45. It was in her memory that JK last year donated £10m to the &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="University of Edinburgh" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=55.9473888889,-3.18719444444&amp;amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;amp;q=55.9473888889,-3.18719444444%20(University%20of%20Edinburgh)&amp;amp;t=h" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;University of Edinburgh&lt;/a&gt; to set up a multiple sclerosis research clinic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The last film in the record-breaking movie series of book adaptations,&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" rel="rottentomatoes" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_i" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, was released last month. (Watch the trailer above.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;img src="http://files.stv.tv/img/articles/264648-jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum-200.jpg" alt="JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; " /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Speaking about her decision to delve into her family’s past, JK revealed: “Mum died when I had just started writing Harry Potter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“It’s a real regret that I never even mentioned it to her, that she died without knowing anything about something so huge.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It was for this reason that she decided to explore her ancestry for an upcoming episode of &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Who Do You Think You Are" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Who Do You Think You Are&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/em&gt;. She added that her mum “was very interested in her &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="French language" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;French&lt;/a&gt; roots but never had a chance to explore them. So a huge motivation in looking into my family history is my mother. It’s very much bound up in that loss.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;So how did she feel about appearing on the show? JK said: “I probably felt as everyone does when they agree to be the subject of this programme: excited, apprehensive, very curious, definitely nervous… I think I cried on three separate occasions – I don’t know whether I’ve set a record.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Of her experience, she explained: “The story both was, and wasn’t, what I expected. It is inevitably a very emotional experience.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Enhanced by Zemanta" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-515594529482683094?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-%e2%80%98real%e2%80%99-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum/' title='JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/515594529482683094/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter_11.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/515594529482683094'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/515594529482683094'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter_11.html' title='JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-4753795736432989388</id><published>2011-08-11T21:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:30:20.148-07:00</updated><title type='text'>JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;div class="copy fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 18px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-header fix post-nothumb" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: inline; width: 600px; float: left; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-title-section fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="post-title fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 28px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Myriad Pro', 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Trebuchet MS', Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.4em; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-%e2%80%98real%e2%80%99-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.45em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 30px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); letter-spacing: -1px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;div class="metabar" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 0.9em; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); color: rgb(51, 153, 204); font-style: normal; line-height: 2.4em; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;On August 4, 2011, in &lt;a href="http://shineonscotland.org.uk/category/latest-news/" title="View all posts in Latest news" rel="category tag" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Latest news&lt;/a&gt;, by admin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="copy fix" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 18px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 18px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; display: block; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;div class="textcontent" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 18px; padding-left: 15px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Harry Potter" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter&lt;/a&gt; author &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="J.K. Rowling" rel="myspace" href="http://www.myspace.com/everything/j-k-rowling" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;JK Rowling&lt;/a&gt; has spoken of her regret about not mentioning her soon-to-be world-famous character to her mother until it was too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter author JK Rowling the’ inspiration behind the Shine on Scotland campaign and who personally  helped teenager Ryan Mclaughlin to lead his battle to prevent MS,  has spoken of her own regret about not mentioning her soon-to-be world-famous character to her mother until it was too late.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Her mum Anne Rowling suffered from &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Multiple sclerosis" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;, and died at the age of 45. It was in her memory that JK last year donated £10m to the &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="University of Edinburgh" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=55.9473888889,-3.18719444444&amp;amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;amp;q=55.9473888889,-3.18719444444%20(University%20of%20Edinburgh)&amp;amp;t=h" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;University of Edinburgh&lt;/a&gt; to set up a multiple sclerosis research clinic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The last film in the record-breaking movie series of book adaptations,&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" rel="rottentomatoes" href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_i" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, was released last month. (Watch the trailer above.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;img src="http://files.stv.tv/img/articles/264648-jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum-200.jpg" alt="JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; " /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Speaking about her decision to delve into her family’s past, JK revealed: “Mum died when I had just started writing Harry Potter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“It’s a real regret that I never even mentioned it to her, that she died without knowing anything about something so huge.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;It was for this reason that she decided to explore her ancestry for an upcoming episode of &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Who Do You Think You Are" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Who Do You Think You Are&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/em&gt;. She added that her mum “was very interested in her &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="French language" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;French&lt;/a&gt; roots but never had a chance to explore them. So a huge motivation in looking into my family history is my mother. It’s very much bound up in that loss.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;So how did she feel about appearing on the show? JK said: “I probably felt as everyone does when they agree to be the subject of this programme: excited, apprehensive, very curious, definitely nervous… I think I cried on three separate occasions – I don’t know whether I’ve set a record.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Of her experience, she explained: “The story both was, and wasn’t, what I expected. It is inevitably a very emotional experience.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" title="Enhanced by Zemanta" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; height: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-4753795736432989388?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-%e2%80%98real%e2%80%99-harry-potter-regret-over-staying-mum/' title='JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/4753795736432989388/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/4753795736432989388'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/4753795736432989388'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/jk-rowling-reveals-real-harry-potter.html' title='JK Rowling reveals ‘real’ Harry Potter regret over staying mum'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-7607701119494265162</id><published>2011-08-11T21:28:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:28:34.608-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;With unprecedented debt affecting many of the developed world’s economies, there is much concern about the impact of cost savings on healthcare. In the UK the NHS needs to save £20bn by 2015.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Where savings will come from is a source of deep contention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But some reports have focused on the fact that the NHS is spending unacceptable amounts on the cost of some of its medicine. Latest annual figures show pharmaceuticals cost the NHS £11.9bn in primary and secondary care – almost 12% of total revenue. Cost-benefit analysis of treatment, though, is a tricky subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Multiple sclerosis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a good example. It is a very costly disease. The estimated cost to the UK economy of MS is over £1.4bn a year. Of this about 8% was spent on the cost of &lt;a title="Disease Modifying Drugs" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1695" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;disease-modifying drugs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Recently, however, the leading journal &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Neurology&lt;/em&gt; published a &lt;a title="Disease Modifying Drugs Research" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1316" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; comparing two groups of MS sufferers. One group was on treatment and the other was not. Not seeing a dramatic difference in the two groups, the authors concluded that many disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in multiple sclerosis are far from cost-effective. Interferon β-1a, interferon β-1b, and glatiramer acetate were seen to deliver &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘modest health gains’&lt;/em&gt; at best.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘It is very unlikely that under current pricing and prescribing patterns, DMT may be considered cost-effective for patients with relapsing-remitting MS and secondary progressive MS,’&lt;/em&gt; the authors concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Some have challenged the methodology of this report, but it serves to highlight a major issue. That of the challenge of finding drugs that are both effective and in terms of costs, financially justifiable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Drugs effectiveness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On a drugs effectiveness – if DMTs for MS were more effective then treatment should reduce the longer-term costs of disabled care by reducing disability progression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A new raft of drugs are being developed to treat MS that might be more up to the job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The immunomodulatory drug, Fingolimod, for instance, shows promise. A trial comparing its effectiveness with a placebo showed relapse rates reduced by as much as 60% and reduced disability progression by about 30% over six months. When compared to one of the older standard treatments of MS, beta-interferon-1a, it was shown to be better at reducing relapse rates by some 53%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But in a little publicised note on the NHS Nice website, the committee who would sign off on Fingolimod, pushed back the deadline for its decision by almost a year. It cited &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘resource constraints and efficiency scheduling’&lt;/em&gt;. This seems to be code for&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘the drug is very expensive and we have to wait to see if we can afford it’.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Old Treatments, New Tricks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a cash-strapped era, the far bigger question is this: can healthcare providers, particularly state ones, afford such expensive drugs?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Fingolimod is reported to cost up to $48,000 a year to patients in the US. It is likely to cost less in the UK, but still more than the current first-line DMTs offered by the NHS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The thornier issue, then, is not the effectiveness of the drug, but rather the cost.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;When faced with this reality, we have to acknowledge then that there are a number of generic, older treatments that might be as efficient in treating MS as the new wave of drugs, but at a much lower cost.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;These are older remedies that could, in the case of MS, be used for new tricks. These treatments include vitamin D, Minocyline, Fumaric Acid Esters, Parasites, Lipoic Acid, Low Dose Naltrexone and Uric Acid. They have all been shown to have some promise for MS. And being generic treatments they are not under patent from a drug company, so they are comparatively much cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But the trouble is this – there is no hard, categorical proof that any of these are as good or better than the standard treatment. It is a dilemma summed up in an editorial in &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Journal of Neuroimmunology&lt;/em&gt; writing on the use of parasites to treat Multiple Sclerosis:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;What is required is rigorous, objective evaluation … at the levels of animal models, clinical trials, and immunology.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The trouble is that &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘rigorous, objective evaluation’&lt;/em&gt; of treatments that cannot be licensed is costly – a Phase III trial can run into the millions of pounds. And this, of course, is not something that will be done by the drug companies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr D. Craig Hooper of the Thomas Jefferson University in the United States, who has done much work in whether antioxidants have the potential to treat MS, is clear on the conundrum: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘this is not something that big pharma is going to get into – governments have to do this sort of thing’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Government needs to step up to do the work drug companies will not do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Admittedly, something like this does exist. The Health Technology Assessment programme (HTA) produces independent research about the effectiveness of different healthcare treatments and commissions the research it thinks is most important through different funding routes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But, despite not suffering the cuts that have befallen other public sectors, the HTA still has limited funding and does not always commission bold work. Recently, for instance, a Phase 3 trial of vitamin D for MS was considered by the HTA but was rejected, despite there being seemingly compelling evidence that low levels of Vitamin D is linked in those who develop MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Medics, also, have proven unwilling to pursue research like this. The HTA recently advertised for a trial of an off-patent drug – azathioprine – in MS. It had no applications.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The need for innovation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The seeming reticence to innovate and experiment in the NHS has been highlighted in other areas. Sir John Bell, who led an inquiry into the future of NHS genetics, has said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘There has already been a lot of innovation, almost none of which has been adopted by the NHS…There’s more than enough we could be doing here, but the NHS is completely unprepared’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And in The Times’ letters pages there was a recent headline that ran: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘Chronic Fatigue syndrome needs more research’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is both a moral and an economic argument for the NHS to prioritise and aggressively push research both in terms of funding and in terms of pushing clinicians into this field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Moral in the sense that more government-sponsored trials could help find highly effective uses for older drugs for people afflicted by terrible diseases.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And economic in that the overall cost to patient and state for these old drugs performing new tricks would be considerably less than many existing low-functioning disease modifying treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;by Iain Overton&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Source: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (04/08/11) and  supplied by MSRC&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-7607701119494265162?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/why-in-an-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more-government-research/' title='Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/7607701119494265162/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-in-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more_11.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7607701119494265162'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7607701119494265162'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-in-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more_11.html' title='Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-1362417611396151548</id><published>2011-08-11T21:28:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:28:33.643-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;With unprecedented debt affecting many of the developed world’s economies, there is much concern about the impact of cost savings on healthcare. In the UK the NHS needs to save £20bn by 2015.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Where savings will come from is a source of deep contention.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But some reports have focused on the fact that the NHS is spending unacceptable amounts on the cost of some of its medicine. Latest annual figures show pharmaceuticals cost the NHS £11.9bn in primary and secondary care – almost 12% of total revenue. Cost-benefit analysis of treatment, though, is a tricky subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Multiple sclerosis&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a good example. It is a very costly disease. The estimated cost to the UK economy of MS is over £1.4bn a year. Of this about 8% was spent on the cost of &lt;a title="Disease Modifying Drugs" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1695" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;disease-modifying drugs&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Recently, however, the leading journal &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Neurology&lt;/em&gt; published a &lt;a title="Disease Modifying Drugs Research" href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1316" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;report&lt;/a&gt; comparing two groups of MS sufferers. One group was on treatment and the other was not. Not seeing a dramatic difference in the two groups, the authors concluded that many disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in multiple sclerosis are far from cost-effective. Interferon β-1a, interferon β-1b, and glatiramer acetate were seen to deliver &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘modest health gains’&lt;/em&gt; at best.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘It is very unlikely that under current pricing and prescribing patterns, DMT may be considered cost-effective for patients with relapsing-remitting MS and secondary progressive MS,’&lt;/em&gt; the authors concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Some have challenged the methodology of this report, but it serves to highlight a major issue. That of the challenge of finding drugs that are both effective and in terms of costs, financially justifiable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Drugs effectiveness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On a drugs effectiveness – if DMTs for MS were more effective then treatment should reduce the longer-term costs of disabled care by reducing disability progression.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A new raft of drugs are being developed to treat MS that might be more up to the job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The immunomodulatory drug, Fingolimod, for instance, shows promise. A trial comparing its effectiveness with a placebo showed relapse rates reduced by as much as 60% and reduced disability progression by about 30% over six months. When compared to one of the older standard treatments of MS, beta-interferon-1a, it was shown to be better at reducing relapse rates by some 53%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But in a little publicised note on the NHS Nice website, the committee who would sign off on Fingolimod, pushed back the deadline for its decision by almost a year. It cited &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘resource constraints and efficiency scheduling’&lt;/em&gt;. This seems to be code for&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘the drug is very expensive and we have to wait to see if we can afford it’.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Old Treatments, New Tricks&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a cash-strapped era, the far bigger question is this: can healthcare providers, particularly state ones, afford such expensive drugs?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Fingolimod is reported to cost up to $48,000 a year to patients in the US. It is likely to cost less in the UK, but still more than the current first-line DMTs offered by the NHS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The thornier issue, then, is not the effectiveness of the drug, but rather the cost.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;When faced with this reality, we have to acknowledge then that there are a number of generic, older treatments that might be as efficient in treating MS as the new wave of drugs, but at a much lower cost.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;These are older remedies that could, in the case of MS, be used for new tricks. These treatments include vitamin D, Minocyline, Fumaric Acid Esters, Parasites, Lipoic Acid, Low Dose Naltrexone and Uric Acid. They have all been shown to have some promise for MS. And being generic treatments they are not under patent from a drug company, so they are comparatively much cheaper.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But the trouble is this – there is no hard, categorical proof that any of these are as good or better than the standard treatment. It is a dilemma summed up in an editorial in &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Journal of Neuroimmunology&lt;/em&gt; writing on the use of parasites to treat Multiple Sclerosis:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;What is required is rigorous, objective evaluation … at the levels of animal models, clinical trials, and immunology.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The trouble is that &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘rigorous, objective evaluation’&lt;/em&gt; of treatments that cannot be licensed is costly – a Phase III trial can run into the millions of pounds. And this, of course, is not something that will be done by the drug companies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Dr D. Craig Hooper of the Thomas Jefferson University in the United States, who has done much work in whether antioxidants have the potential to treat MS, is clear on the conundrum: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘this is not something that big pharma is going to get into – governments have to do this sort of thing’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Government needs to step up to do the work drug companies will not do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Admittedly, something like this does exist. The Health Technology Assessment programme (HTA) produces independent research about the effectiveness of different healthcare treatments and commissions the research it thinks is most important through different funding routes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;But, despite not suffering the cuts that have befallen other public sectors, the HTA still has limited funding and does not always commission bold work. Recently, for instance, a Phase 3 trial of vitamin D for MS was considered by the HTA but was rejected, despite there being seemingly compelling evidence that low levels of Vitamin D is linked in those who develop MS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Medics, also, have proven unwilling to pursue research like this. The HTA recently advertised for a trial of an off-patent drug – azathioprine – in MS. It had no applications.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The need for innovation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The seeming reticence to innovate and experiment in the NHS has been highlighted in other areas. Sir John Bell, who led an inquiry into the future of NHS genetics, has said: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘There has already been a lot of innovation, almost none of which has been adopted by the NHS…There’s more than enough we could be doing here, but the NHS is completely unprepared’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And in The Times’ letters pages there was a recent headline that ran: &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;‘Chronic Fatigue syndrome needs more research’&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There is both a moral and an economic argument for the NHS to prioritise and aggressively push research both in terms of funding and in terms of pushing clinicians into this field.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Moral in the sense that more government-sponsored trials could help find highly effective uses for older drugs for people afflicted by terrible diseases.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And economic in that the overall cost to patient and state for these old drugs performing new tricks would be considerably less than many existing low-functioning disease modifying treatments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;by Iain Overton&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Source: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (04/08/11) and  supplied by MSRC&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-1362417611396151548?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/why-in-an-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more-government-research/' title='Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/1362417611396151548/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-in-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/1362417611396151548'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/1362417611396151548'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-in-age-of-health-cuts-we-need-more.html' title='Why in an age of health cuts we need more government research'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-5105375122696579606</id><published>2011-08-11T21:26:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:26:40.149-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Vitamin D and sunlight: Are you in the dark about this deficiency?</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;If you cover your hair, body and face with black synthetic fabric or use too much sun block every time you go out into the sun, you may be putting yourself at significant risk of a vitamin D deficiency, doctors are beginning to warn.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Vitamin D is produced by the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. It is also &lt;a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/223454/ramazans-here-but-keep-the-extra-weight-far-away/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: initial; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(0, 66, 114); font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;absorbed from certain foods, like fish&lt;/a&gt;. But if you don’t get enough of it, you experience symptoms like bone and limb pain, back and muscles aches, migraines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Well-known consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Sadiah Ahsan-Pal has long been alarmed with the sheer number of her patients in Karachi who are testing deficient in Vitamin D. “There is nothing wrong with covering yourself,” she clarifies. “But women in Pakistan are using the wrong colour i.e. black and the wrong fabric i.e. synthetic to do so.” Instead it is recommended that they use light-coloured fabrics that breathe because they are made of natural fibres such as silk or cotton.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;The problem is that more and more women in Pakistan are taking up the black-coloured abaya, a clothing whose tradition emanates in part from the Arab world and is not indigenous to South Asia. And for anyone who argues that women have been using this style in the Arab world for a long time, they just need to look at the slew of research on what is being called “the silent epidemic” on that region.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;In fact, a number of studies have also been conducted on Arab women. The scope of this research ranges from women living in the United Arab Emirates to those of Arab descent living in various parts of Europe including Denmark. One such study is published in the&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Journal of Biosocial Science &lt;/em&gt;in which researchers conclude that after ‘adjusting for other confounding variables such as nationality clothing and UV sources…limited skin exposure to sunlight appears to be an important determinant to Vitamin D status’ in a person. Thus covering oneself with black cloth and rarely exposing the skin to sunlight does have a significant negative impact on the biological ability to synthesise vitamin D for the body.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;In Pakistan, many women add to the ensemble black gloves made of synthetic material and socks as a result of which not a single inch of skin is left visible with the exception of the eyes. “Synthetic is not the appropriate fabric for this weather, it doesn’t allow your skin to breathe or your perspiration to evaporate,” cautions Dr Sadiah. “It has also resulted in the development of many skin and fungal infections and irritations. What is worse is that many people do not even connect the dots as to why this is happening though it’s fairly common sense.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Additionally, women who are restricted to staying indoors or within the boundary walls of their homes are also showing up vitamin D deficient. “Women observing pardah inside their homes because of male domestic help barely get any time in the sun furthering aggravating the deficiency” explains Dr Saadia Khan, who is the head of the department obstetrics and gynaecology at University Medical and Dental College in Faisalabad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And a Vitamin D deficiency does not discriminate. It is not only surfacing in lower income groups – it equally affects members of the privileged socio-economic class. Many women from the high-income groups stay indoors for most of the day but when they go out, it is in a car and they usually just hop out of it to go indoors yet again, whether it is someone’s house, a café or shop. The result is that even they don’t get enough exposure to sunlight and when they do find themselves in ‘dhoop’ they cover up to prevent tanning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Expecting mothers are advised to take particular care as they are at greater risk. In fact, according to Dr Sadiah Ahsan-Pal over 90% of her patients are testing positive for the deficiency. Khan in Faisalabad also presents similar statistics with her patients in the Punjab.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;A vitamin D deficiency affects your immune and vascular systems and may also put you at risk during pregnancy, presenting severe complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and problems with the baby’s growth. Furthermore, it can cause infertility in men as well women and has been linked to some cancers such as that of the breast. Doctors are, however, still in the stage of trying to connect all the dots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;There are plenty of Vitamin D rich foods, especially oily fish or fish liver oils but in Pakistan this too poses a hitch. Many people don’t eat fish regularly during the week. And the fish we do have access to are not high in Vitamin D. Examples of the varieties that are rich in Vitamin D are salmon, sardines and tuna – which are generally not easily available in Pakistani markets or are too expensive because they are imported. Outside Pakistan many companies sells cereals fortified with supplements but just like eating fish, this is not necessarily part of our culinary culture.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Vitamin D is also essential for the absorption of calcium in the body, which is in turn a crucial mineral for the healthy functioning of our cells. Khan points out that many young adults and children across the country are no longer drinking enough milk, if any at all, to provide their growing bodies with their much-needed nutrients. Children don’t play enough outside where they can also get their daily dose of Vitamin D.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Doctors are also worried about the old obsession with skin whitening and fair skin. Many people apply excessive sun block, which is counter-productive as it limits much-needed absorption of the sun rays.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;And so if you or someone you know has inexplicable aches and pains or recurring headaches, it is well worth consulting a doctor and getting a complete blood test to find out if a Vitamin D deficiency is at play. And then, in possibly what may be the quickest of fixes, just go get some sun.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Published in The Express Tribune, August 7&lt;sup style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 0.7em; vertical-align: top; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; line-height: 0; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;, 2011.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-family: inherit; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-5105375122696579606?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-sunlight-are-you-in-the-dark-about-this-deficiency/' title='Vitamin D and sunlight: Are you in the dark about this deficiency?'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/5105375122696579606/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-sunlight-are-you-in-dark.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5105375122696579606'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5105375122696579606'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-sunlight-are-you-in-dark.html' title='Vitamin D and sunlight: Are you in the dark about this deficiency?'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-5299379914950422454</id><published>2011-08-11T21:25:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:25:30.925-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Vitamin D And Transporter Proteins Hold Key To Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Written by Anne Hudsmith&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;As we grow older our chances of developing &lt;a title="What Is Alzheimer's Disease? What Causes Alzheimer's Disease?" href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Alzheimer’s disease&lt;/a&gt; increase. This is attributed to the possible accumulation of a peptide amyloid beta in the brain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;New research has shown that &lt;a title="What Is Vitamin D? What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin D?" href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161618.php" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;vitamin D&lt;/a&gt; is responsible for flushing out amyloid beta from the brain in addition to age-related alteration in the production of transporter proteins which move amyloid beta in and out of the brain. The research was published in &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="BioMed Central" rel="homepage" href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;BioMed Central&lt;/a&gt;‘s open access journal &lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Fluids and Barriers of the CNS&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Age-related decline in memory and cognition, and Alzheimer’s disease have all been linked to low levels of vitamin D in the body. Scientists from &lt;a class="zem_slink" title="Tohoku University" rel="homepage" href="http://www.tohoku.ac.jp/english/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Tohoku University&lt;/a&gt;, Japan, have conducted research to understand the underlying mechanism and found that injections of vitamin D resulted in better removal of amyloid beta from the brain of mice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Prof Tetsuya Terasaki said:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 3px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); quotes: none; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); clear: both; font-style: italic; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;&lt;em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;“Vitamin D appears to increase transport of amyloid beta across the blood brain barrier (BBB) by regulating protein expression, via the vitamin D receptor, and also by regulating cell signaling via the MEK pathway. These results lead the way towards new therapeutic targets in the search for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;This is a major breakthrough read the full article at &lt;a title="Medical News Today" href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/230829.php" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "&gt;Medical News Today&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-5299379914950422454?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://shineonscotland.org.uk/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-transporter-proteins-hold-key-to-prevent-alzheimers-disease/' title='Vitamin D And Transporter Proteins Hold Key To Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/5299379914950422454/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-transporter-proteins-hold.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5299379914950422454'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5299379914950422454'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/vitamin-d-and-transporter-proteins-hold.html' title='Vitamin D And Transporter Proteins Hold Key To Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-4798113551958119734</id><published>2011-08-11T21:22:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:23:12.550-07:00</updated><title type='text'>No link between MS and CCSVI in study</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296644" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;EW YORK (&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.reuters.com/" rel="homepage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Reuters"&gt;Reuters Health&lt;/a&gt;) – A new study provides more evidence that&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis-basics.aspx" rel="everydayhealth" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="living with ms"&gt;multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(MS) is not caused by a&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_vessel" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Blood vessel"&gt;blood vessel&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;condition, as some&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Research"&gt;research&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;has suggested.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296638" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;The new findings follow a study last month in which Dr. Ellen Marder from the&amp;nbsp;Dallas&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Health_Administration" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Veterans Health Administration"&gt;Veterans Affairs Medical Center&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and her colleagues reviewed the current literature on the condition, called chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_cerebrospinal_venous_insufficiency" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency"&gt;CCSVI&lt;/a&gt;. They couldn’t find any convincing data to suggest that narrowing&amp;nbsp;blood vessels&amp;nbsp;in CCSVI are behind MS.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296641" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Based on those findings, Marder’s group said MS patients should not undergo surgery to open up those blood vessels (see&amp;nbsp;Reuters Health report&amp;nbsp;of July 14, 2011).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1312944492966211" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Now they’ve reported on another study, in which they found that people with MS are no more likely to have signs of CCSVI on ultrasound tests than people without MS.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1312944492966217" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;The researchers say the results — and recent reports from other investigators — “call into question” whether CCSVI actually does play a role in causing MS, and whether there’s really any point in trying to treat the blood vessel condition.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296647" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;In&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://archneur.ama-assn.org/" rel="homepage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Archives of Neurology"&gt;Archives of Neurology&lt;/a&gt;, they summarize the history of the suggested link between MS and CCSVI. In 2009, Italian researchers first suggested that people with MS were more likely to have narrowing of the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vein" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Vein"&gt;veins&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;that run from the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Brain"&gt;brain&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and spine to the heart — which could cause some blood to leak back into the brain.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Doctors then proposed that correcting the situation through surgery might ease MS symptoms, such as movement and balance problems.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;But more recent studies haven’t shown clearly whether people with MS are more likely than others to have CCSVI, or whether an invasive vessel-opening surgery could have any benefit.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;In their current study, Marder’s team took ultrasound images inside and outside the brains of 18 people with MS — all U.S. veterans — and another 11 people of the same age and gender without MS. On those scans, they looked for the proposed signs of CCSVI, including a lack of blood flow — or backward blood flow — in veins in the head and neck, as well as narrowing of those veins.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Four MS patients had one of those signs show up on their ultrasounds — but so did four people in the comparison group.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296635" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“We don’t think (CCSVI) is the cause of&amp;nbsp;multiple sclerosis,” Marder recently told Reuters Health. “We would not advise our patients to be tested for this or act on any recommendations based on this sort of testing.”&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296632" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Still, some researchers have continued pushing for a link between MS and CCSVI, and a few doctors have started offering procedures to MS patients to open their veins — surgeries typically given to people at risk of&amp;nbsp;heart attack&amp;nbsp;that carry bleeding and infection risks.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_131294449296625" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Timothy Coetzee, chief research officer at the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Multiple_Sclerosis_Society" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="National Multiple Sclerosis Society"&gt;National Multiple Sclerosis Society&lt;/a&gt;, said there are still conflicting opinions about what role CCSVI might play in the disease — and that while this study adds evidence to that debate, it doesn’t shut the door on it.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“In my mind the jury’s still somewhat out on what it means for MS,” he told Reuters Health.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;His organization has handed out over $2 million to fund research on CCSVI, and Coetzee said he hopes those studies will help “draw some conclusions” on what the condition might mean for MS care. “We need to be sure that ideas are tested and validated because of the impact that has on people” with MS, he said.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;In the end, he added, what matters most is that people with MS talk with their own doctors about the best treatment for their condition.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yui_3_3_0_1_1312944492966251" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;SOURCE: http://bit.ly/rjuK4V Archives of Neurology, online August 8, 2011.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-4798113551958119734?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/4798113551958119734/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-link-between-ms-and-ccsvi-in-study.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/4798113551958119734'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/4798113551958119734'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-link-between-ms-and-ccsvi-in-study.html' title='No link between MS and CCSVI in study'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-3847743571370196933</id><published>2011-08-11T21:20:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:21:32.392-07:00</updated><title type='text'>T Cell deﬁciency may explain Multiple Sclerosis virus link</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Evidence that MS&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Patient"&gt;patients&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;are deficient in the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_cell" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="T cell"&gt;T cells&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;that normally control&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epstein-Barr_virus" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Epstein-Barr virus"&gt;Epstein-Barr virus&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;may help explain the pathogenesis of the disease,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-35.3,149.133333333&amp;amp;spn=1.0,1.0&amp;amp;q=-35.3,149.133333333%20(Australia)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Australia"&gt;Australian&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;researchers say.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Professor Michael Pender and colleagues at the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.4469,153.0283&amp;amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;amp;q=-27.4469,153.0283%20(Royal%20Brisbane%20and%20Women%27s%20Hospital)&amp;amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital"&gt;Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;found the average percentage of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytotoxic_T_cell" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Cytotoxic T cell"&gt;CD8 T cells&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;was significantly decreased in the blood of MS patients compared with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Health"&gt;healthy&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;subjects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;They also made the&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“striking”&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;discovery that the proportion of CD8 T cells declined markedly with age in MS patients compared with healthy controls,&amp;nbsp;based on their study of 64 MS patients and 68 healthy age and sex-matched subjects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Reporting their findings in a letter in the&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Journal of Neurology&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Neurosurgery and Psychiatry&lt;/em&gt;, they wrote: “What is remarkable about the CD8 T cell deficiency in MS is that normally when&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/738" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Epstein-Barr Virus"&gt;EBV&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;load is increased, as it is in the blood and brain of MS patients, the CD8 T cell frequency should increase and not decrease.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“This suggests that there is a fundamental defect in the ability of MS patients to make an appropriate CD8 T cell response to EBV.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Speaking with&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Neurology Update&lt;/em&gt;, Professor Pender said CD8 T cell deficiency in MS was first reported three decades ago, but had been&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“largely forgotten”.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the meantime, increasing evidence had suggested EBV had a role in MS.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Bringing these two ideas together, he suggested CD8 T cell deficiency might contribute to the lack of control of EBV in MS patients, and to the development of the disease.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“More work will be needed to confirm it and determine what’s causing the deficiency in the first place. We believe it’s genetically determined but that needs to be worked out,”&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;he said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;The researchers also tested the frequency of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_blood_mononuclear_cell" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Peripheral blood mononuclear cell"&gt;peripheral blood mononuclear cells&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;producing&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interferon" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Interferon"&gt;IFN&lt;/a&gt;-ɣ in response to autologous EBV-infected B cell lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;They found that for a given percentage of CD8 T cells in the blood, the LCL-specific T cell frequency in MS patients was generally lower than in healthy subjects.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;This, they said, indicated that the decreased LCL-specific T cell frequency in MS was due to the CD8 T cell deficiency.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Sources: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry &amp;amp; Neurology Update (09/08/11)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-3847743571370196933?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/3847743571370196933/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/t-cell-deciency-may-explain-multiple.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/3847743571370196933'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/3847743571370196933'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/t-cell-deciency-may-explain-multiple.html' title='T Cell deﬁciency may explain Multiple Sclerosis virus link'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-6730293752236254109</id><published>2011-08-11T21:18:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:19:20.857-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Positive results from first registrational trial for Daclizumab HYP in RRMS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.biogenidec.com/" rel="homepage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Biogen Idec"&gt;Biogen Idec&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and Abbott today announced positive top-line results from SELECT, a global, registrational Phase 2b clinical trial designed to evaluate the investigational compound daclizumab high-yield process (DAC HYP) in people with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis-basics.aspx" rel="everydayhealth" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="living with ms"&gt;relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(RRMS) over one year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Results showed that DAC HYP, administered subcutaneously once every four weeks, significantly reduced annualized relapse rate by 54 percent in the 150 mg dose arm (p&amp;lt; 0.0001) and 50 percent in the 300 mg dose arm (p=0.0002) compared to the placebo arm at one year. DAC HYP met key secondary endpoints for the 150 mg and 300 mg arms, respectively, providing a highly statistically significant reduction in the cumulative number of new gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions between weeks eight and 24 (69%; 78%); in the number of new or newly enlarging T2 hyperintense lesions at one year (70%; 79%); and in the reduction in the proportion of patients who relapsed (55%; 51%). DAC HYP also showed a trend toward improvement in quality of life measures at one year.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;The SELECT trial also investigated DAC HYP’s effect on disability progression as measured by the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/2505" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="EDSS"&gt;expanded disability status scale&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_Disability_Status_Scale" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Expanded Disability Status Scale"&gt;EDSS&lt;/a&gt;) as a tertiary endpoint. Findings showed that DAC HYP reduced the risk of sustained disability progression at one year by 57 percent in the 150 mg dose arm and by 43 percent in the 300 mg dose arm compared to placebo. Additional analyses are ongoing and the companies anticipate presenting detailed data at an upcoming medical meeting.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“The exciting results for DAC HYP, along with previous clinical data, support our continued investigation of this candidate as a promising new approach to treating multiple sclerosis,”&lt;/em&gt;said Doug Williams, Ph.D., Biogen Idec’s&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_president" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Vice president"&gt;Executive Vice President&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_and_development" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Research and development"&gt;Research and Development&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“DAC HYP’s convenient once-monthly, subcutaneous administration, combined with a strong efficacy profile, suggest that it may provide an attractive option for MS patients. We hope to confirm the results of SELECT in our second registrational trial, DECIDE.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“These results bring us one step closer in the development of a potential new treatment option for multiple sclerosis, an area of medicine where there continues to be a significant need for novel approaches for patients,”&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;said Eugene Sun, M.D., Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical Clinical Development, Abbott.&amp;nbsp;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;“We look forward to continued analysis of the SELECT data and the opportunity to present these results in full context at an upcoming scientific forum.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;In the SELECT trial, the overall incidence of adverse events and treatment discontinuations were similar in all study arms. Serious infections (2% versus 0%), serious cutaneous events (1% versus 0%) and liver function test abnormalities greater than five times the upper limit of normal (4% versus &amp;lt;1%) occurred more frequently in DAC HYP-treated patients than in the placebo group. There was one death in SELECT due to a complication of a psoas muscle abscess in a patient recovering from a serious skin adverse event and one in the ongoing dose blinded extension study (SELECTION) due to possible autoimmune hepatitis; a contributory role for DAC HYP in these events could not be excluded.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;In addition to SELECT, DAC HYP is being studied in a&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Clinical_trials" rel="wikinvest" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Clinical trials"&gt;Phase 3&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;registrational clinical trial called DECIDE, which is currently enrolling patients. DECIDE is evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-monthly subcutaneous DAC HYP as a monotherapy compared to&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1695" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Disease Modifying Drugs"&gt;interferon beta 1-a&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;therapy over two to three years of treatment.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;About SELECT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;SELECT was a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, one-year,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dose-ranging_study" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Dose-ranging study"&gt;dose-ranging study&lt;/a&gt;to determine the safety and efficacy of DAC HYP in 600 patients with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/742" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Types Of MS"&gt;RRMS&lt;/a&gt;. The study evaluated two doses of DAC HYP (150 mg or 300 mg every four weeks) and had a greater than 90 percent study completion rate in all treatment groups. The primary endpoint was the reduction in annualized relapse rate in patients with RRMS at one year. Secondary endpoints included the reduction in the cumulative number of new gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions between weeks eight and 24, in the number of new or newly enlarging T2 hyperintense lesions at one year, and in the proportion of patients with RRMS who relapsed, as well as improvement in quality of life measures in patients with RRMS at one year. Additional endpoints assessed the safety and tolerability of DAC HYP.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;About DAC HYP&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/daclizumab" rel="everydayhealth" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Daclizumab"&gt;Daclizumab&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;high-yield process (DAC HYP) is a subcutaneous formulation of daclizumab and an investigational therapy for the treatment of RRMS, the most common form of MS. DAC HYP is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to CD25, a receptor subunit that is expressed at high levels on T cells that are thought to become abnormally activated in autoimmune conditions, such as MS. Data from previous clinical trials showed that DAC HYP increases CD56bright&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_killer_cell" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Natural killer cell"&gt;NK cells&lt;/a&gt;, which target the activated immune cells that can play a key role in MS without causing general immune cell depletion.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Sources:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nationalpost.com/" rel="homepage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="National Post"&gt;National Post&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;© 2011 National Post (09/08/11)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Have you visited our new Social network for Multiple Sclerosis yet ? &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Shine on MS"&gt;Shine On MS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="zemanta-pixie" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-6730293752236254109?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/6730293752236254109/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/positive-results-from-first.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6730293752236254109'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/6730293752236254109'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/positive-results-from-first.html' title='Positive results from first registrational trial for Daclizumab HYP in RRMS'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-7369330470369673224</id><published>2011-08-11T21:14:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T21:14:55.320-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sun exposure, Vitamin D intake and progression to disability in progressive MS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Summary: This study assessed&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/calcium-vitamin-d" rel="everydayhealth" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Calcium Vitamin D"&gt;vitamin D&lt;/a&gt;-related exposures from childhood to&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Disease"&gt;disease&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;onset and their associations with MS progression among war veterans in the MS Surveillance Registry, based on self-reporting of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunburn" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Sunburn"&gt;sun-exposure&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and age at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disability" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Disability"&gt;disability&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;milestones.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Low average sun exposure in the fall/winter before disease onset was associated with an increased risk of progressing more quickly, whereas use of&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_liver_oil" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Cod liver oil"&gt;cod liver oil&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;during childhood and adolescence was associated with a reduced risk. The authors propose that exposure to&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/1334" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Vitamin D Research And News"&gt;vitamin D&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;before MS onset might slow disease-related neurodegeneration and thus delay progression to disability among patients with the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/742" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Types Of MS"&gt;progressive&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;subtype.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Abstract&lt;br /&gt;Background: Early life events have been suggested to influence multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility, and to potentially modulate its clinical course. We assessed vitamin D-related exposures from childhood to disease onset and their associations with MS progression.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Methods: Among veterans in the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis-basics.aspx" rel="everydayhealth" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="living with ms"&gt;Multiple Sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Surveillance Registry, 219 reported having the progressive form and met the inclusion criteria. Participants reported their past sun exposure, vitamin D-related intake and age at disability milestones using the Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS). The&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_hazards_models" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Proportional hazards models"&gt;Cox proportional hazards model&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;was used to examine the association between vitamin D-related exposures and time (years) to disability.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Results: Low average sun exposure in the fall/winter before disease onset was associated with an increased risk of progressing to a PDDS score of 8 (hazard ratio,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_ratio" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Hazard ratio"&gt;HR&lt;/a&gt;: 2.13, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.20-3.78), whereas use of cod liver oil during childhood and adolescence was associated with a reduced risk (HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.20-0.96).&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Conclusions: These results suggest that exposure to vitamin D before MS onset might slow disease-related neurodegeneration and thus delay progression to disability among patients with the progressive subtype.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Authors: McDowell TY, Amr S, Culpepper WJ, Langenberg P, Royal W, Bever C, Bradham DD.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Source: Pubmed 21822026 &amp;amp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroepidemiology" rel="wikipedia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #3399cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Neuroepidemiology"&gt;Neuroepidemiology&lt;/a&gt;. 2011 Aug 5;37(1):52-57. Copyright © 2011&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.karger.com/" rel="homepage" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Karger Publishers"&gt;S. Karger AG&lt;/a&gt;, Basel. (10/08/11)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;Have you visited our new Social network for Multiple Sclerosis yet ? &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #0088cc; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Shine on MS"&gt;Shine On MS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-7369330470369673224?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/7369330470369673224/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/sun-exposure-vitamin-d-intake-and.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7369330470369673224'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/7369330470369673224'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/sun-exposure-vitamin-d-intake-and.html' title='Sun exposure, Vitamin D intake and progression to disability in progressive MS'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-8305911248747314302</id><published>2011-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T20:49:33.035-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Shine On MS - Shine on MS - Teen declares an all out war to help end MS and save his mum</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #485969; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pressport.org/picture/_MG_0007-19950.aspx" id="ctl00_cpContent_teaserUrl" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;&lt;img alt="Teen declares an all out war to help end MS and save his mum" border="0" id="ctl00_cpContent_teaserImg" src="http://www.pressport.org/image.aspx?CompanyId=3493&amp;amp;teaser=_MG_0007.jpg&amp;amp;width=350" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top;" title="Teen declares an all out war to help end MS and save his mum" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;16 yr old MS campaigner Ryan McLaughlin of the Shine on&amp;nbsp;Scotland&amp;nbsp;campaign for FREE vitamin D supplements to prevent MS in Scotland has launched his own social network dedicated it to fighting for better treatments for those with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis" rel="wikipedia" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Multiple sclerosis"&gt;multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and vow's to lead a new global campaign to help end the disease if he can get the support.&lt;br /&gt;This platform will act as the campaigns HQ allowing the teenager to launch, support and manage multiple campaigns and all the logistics on a single platform.&lt;br /&gt;The site offers many applications and tools&amp;nbsp;available on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Facebook"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; plus members have the ability to customise&amp;nbsp;their own profile pages similar&amp;nbsp;to that offered by social sites like MySpace and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://bebo.com/" rel="homepage" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Bebo"&gt;Bebo&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;with live chat, free blogs and member forums.&lt;br /&gt;The website is free to join and open to everyone effected or touched&amp;nbsp;by MS inc charities, researchers and activists alike.&amp;nbsp;The new website will form a key&amp;nbsp;part of&amp;nbsp;the campaigners’s&amp;nbsp;vision&amp;nbsp;to help in his fight to&amp;nbsp;’end MS’ .&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;'A platform for taking action on ending Multiple Sclerosis'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To have a platform to allow us to bring everyone with a connection to MS together on a single website, who share the same goal in ending MS is a really great tool in the war to help beat MS.&lt;br /&gt;It's simple 'we are stronger together - fighting together' say's Ryan&lt;br /&gt;If we combine the resourses of MS charities worldwide and use the power of social media I believe we can get politicians to sit up and&amp;nbsp;listen and then to act - we can end MS - stop the pain and end the misery.&lt;br /&gt;MS is still being ignored by politicians and governments and now I want to make a stand for MS - I want action taken by world leaders to begin work on a road map for ending MS with a generation. I believe those with MS deserve nothing less.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Members have the say&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I want to let the members shape it and allow them to 'get involved' in helping me develop a global campaign for ‘Political Action in ending MS within a generation‘. I need the MS community&amp;nbsp;to join and support me,&amp;nbsp;together we will make this succeed”&lt;br /&gt;The website has support for 17 languages including Russian and Chinese with more being planned to be added in the coming weeks.&lt;br /&gt;The campaigner plans to open the Shine on MS Foundation in August and planning a 'Gala MS Dinner' in Glasgow in&amp;nbsp;early November to raise funding towards vitamin D clinical trials,stem cell research and if we raise our targets I would like to contribute towards research projects with MS Society Scotland. We are just confirming up final dates with a "Major Celebrity Host" then well announce the full details.&lt;br /&gt;Its been really hard to get my plans off the ground without any funding. I've had to relying on my sponsors and donations. if any companies who read this who can help with sponsorship or financial support please get in contact.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Notes for Editors:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About Shine On MS&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A social network and community for those affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Shine On MS is a community for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis, MS Groups, researchers, campaigners and&amp;nbsp;activists. Users can share, get support and interact with other members.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="Shine on MS"&gt;www.shineonms.com&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About Shine on Scotland&amp;nbsp;Campaign&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A campaign by Ryan Mclaughlin to get vitamin D for every child and pregnant&lt;br /&gt;mother as a preventative measure against Multiple Sclerosis&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;www.shineonscotland.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Awards won by Ryan McLaughlin&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pride of Britain Award winner 2010 "Teenager of courage"&lt;br /&gt;Winner of 'child of year 'award 2009 - &amp;nbsp;Bighearted Scotland&lt;br /&gt;Winner of Young Scot of the Year 2011 for 'Health'&lt;br /&gt;The 'Independent on Sunday' included Ryan Mclaughlin in the 2010 happy list &amp;nbsp;'Top 100 Brits'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-8305911248747314302?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/8305911248747314302/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-shine-on-ms-teen-declares.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/8305911248747314302'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/8305911248747314302'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-shine-on-ms-teen-declares.html' title='Shine On MS - Shine on MS - Teen declares an all out war to help end MS and save his mum'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-8712896109322062840</id><published>2011-08-11T20:47:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-08-11T20:47:56.861-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Shine On MS - Shine on MS - Scot who linked 'MS and Sunshine' in OZ aims to end MS and save mum</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #485969; color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;16 yr old MS campaigner Ryan McLaughlin of the Shine on&amp;nbsp;Scotland&amp;nbsp;campaign for FREE vitamin D supplements to prevent MS in Scotland has launched his own social network dedicated it to fighting for better treatments for those with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis" rel="wikipedia" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Multiple sclerosis"&gt;multiple sclerosis&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and vow's to lead a new global campaign to help end the disease if he can get the support.&lt;br /&gt;The plucky teen discovered the missing link while on a holiday with his family in Queensland his mum was in a wheelchair on arrival in Austrailia and within 48 hours she was up and able to her taekwon-do patterns, it was a miracle and thats when he made the link, the family went home and his mum's health declined confounding his theory, Ryan took to the net and discovered research by Prof Eber's from Oxford University, armed with research he took up his fight to help beat the disease.&lt;br /&gt;He was dubbed as 'Braveheart' after he dressed up as William Wallace and he led an army of 350 kids to the Scottish Parliament demanding free vitamin D suppements, for 3 years he's been researching and leading the campaign to try and prevent MS.&lt;br /&gt;He was highlighted in the Austrailian press last year after he held a International summit in Scotland on 'Vitamin D and MS' that Austrailian researchers attended and contributed in debating all the evidence along with many renowned scientists from around the world. The teens International summit even spurred on trials in OZ by MS Research Austrailia. His war on MS won him a Pride of Britain Award&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://youtu.be/HO8Nu7i2q28" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="Pride of Britain awards video"&gt;Video Link&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ryan has created this platform to act as a campaigns HQ allowing the teenager to launch, support and manage multiple campaigns and all the logistics on a single platform. It's full of videos with the latest research many of them provided by MS Research Austrailia.&lt;br /&gt;The site offers many applications and tools&amp;nbsp;available on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://facebook.com/" rel="homepage" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Facebook"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; plus members have the ability to customise&amp;nbsp;their own profile pages similar&amp;nbsp;to that offered by social sites like MySpace and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://bebo.com/" rel="homepage" style="color: #0033cc;" title="Bebo"&gt;Bebo&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;with live chat, free blogs and member forums. it even a radio station and live TV broadcasts inc a live TV feed from the Whitehouse as well as a host of fun, science and political programs.&lt;br /&gt;The website is free to join and open to everyone effected or touched&amp;nbsp;by MS inc charities, researchers and activists alike.&amp;nbsp;The new website will form a key&amp;nbsp;part of&amp;nbsp;the campaigners 'vision' and to help him in his fight to end MS .&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;'It's a new tool and a platform for taking action on ending Multiple Sclerosis'&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To have a platform to allow us to bring everyone with a connection to MS together on a single website, who share the same goal in ending MS is a really great tool in the war to help beat MS.&lt;br /&gt;It's a simple concept but it works &amp;nbsp;'we are stronger together - fighting together' say's Ryan.&lt;br /&gt;If we combine the resourses of MS charities worldwide and use the power of social media I believe we can get politicians to sit up and&amp;nbsp;listen and then to act - we can end MS - stop the pain and end the misery.&lt;br /&gt;MS is still being ignored by politicians and governments and now I want to make a stand for MS - I want action taken by world leaders to begin work on a road map for ending MS with a generation. I believe those with MS deserve nothing less.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Members have the say&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I want to let the members shape it and allow them to 'get involved' in helping me develop a global campaign for ‘Political Action in ending MS within a generation‘. I need the MS community&amp;nbsp;to join and support me,&amp;nbsp;together we will make this succeed”&lt;br /&gt;The website has support for 17 languages including, Arabic, Russian and Chinese with more being planned in the coming weeks.&lt;br /&gt;The teenager says he wont forget he dicovered the crucial link in OZ and never forget his family and the people of Austrailia who have helped to support the work of MSRA - with your support researcher's are on the verge of preventing MS now i'm aim my sights even higher &amp;nbsp;- i want action to bring an end to the disease. I hope to raise funding to visit OZ later this year.&lt;br /&gt;The campaigner plans to open the Shine on MS Foundation in August and is planning a 'Gala MS Dinner' in Glasgow in&amp;nbsp;early November to raise funding towards vitamin D clinical trials and stem cell research, if I raise my targets I would like to contribute towards research projects with MS Society Scotland and MSRA. We are just confirming up final dates with a "Major Celebrity Host" then well announce the full details.&lt;br /&gt;It's been really hard to get my plans off the ground with no funding. I've had to rely on sponsors and donations. But despite the difficulties I will never stop fighting for what's right !&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;Notes for Editors:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About Shine On MS&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A social network and community for those affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Shine On MS is a community for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis, MS Groups, researchers, campaigners and&amp;nbsp;activists. Users can share, get support and interact with other members.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonms.com/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="Shine on MS"&gt;www.shineonms.com&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About the Shine on Scotland&amp;nbsp;Campaign&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;A campaign by Ryan Mclaughlin to get vitamin D for every child and pregnant&lt;br /&gt;mother as a preventative measure against Multiple Sclerosis&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;www.shineonscotland.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The plucky teen was backed by author J.K Rowling and Sir Tom Hunter&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;About the MS Society Scotland&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The MS Society Scotland is dedicated to supporting everyone living with or affected by MS, providing respite care, an award-winning freephone helpline (0808 800 8000), specialist MS nurses and funds around 80 vital MS research projects in the UK.&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.mssociety.org.uk/" style="color: #0033cc;"&gt;www.mssocietyscotland.org.uk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About MS Research Austrailia&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;MSRA is currently working with Australian scientists to establish a clinical prevention trial of vitamin D in MS, targeting people with the earliest signs of MS. This trial will help provide the much needed evidence that vitamin D can prevent the development of MS and determine the most effective dose of vitamin D. Funding has been secured to begin the trial, but further funding will be required to see the trial through to completion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dr Lisa Melton&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Research Development&amp;nbsp;Manager&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MS Research Australia&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PO Box 1246 Chatswood NSW 2057&lt;br /&gt;293 Mowbray Road Chatswood NSW 2067&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;D:&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;02&amp;nbsp;9468 8337&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;F:&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;02 9411 7456&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Email&lt;/strong&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="mailto:lmelton@msra.org.au" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="blocked::mailto:lmelton@msra.org.au"&gt;lmelton@msra.org.au&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Web&lt;/strong&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.msra.org.au/" style="color: #0033cc;" target="_blank" title="blocked::http://www.msra.org.au/ http://www.msra.org.au/"&gt;www.msra.org.au&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-8712896109322062840?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/8712896109322062840/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-shine-on-ms-scot-who-linked.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/8712896109322062840'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/8712896109322062840'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2011/08/shine-on-ms-shine-on-ms-scot-who-linked.html' title='Shine On MS - Shine on MS - Scot who linked &apos;MS and Sunshine&apos; in OZ aims to end MS and save mum'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-5465882076649768318</id><published>2010-07-25T07:20:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-07-25T07:20:17.080-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sunscreen Advice'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='guardian article'/><title type='text'>Don't let the phoney melanoma scare keep you out of the sun</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;There are many good reasons why we won't – and shouldn't – give up our tan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul class="article-attributes no-pic multi-pub" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-collapse: collapse; border-left-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-right-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-top-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.25; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; min-height: 66px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 2px; position: relative;"&gt;&lt;li style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sam-shuster" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;img alt="Sam Shuster" class="contributor-pic-small" height="60" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/7/20/1279626380202/sam-shuster.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-style: none; border-collapse: collapse; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Contributor picture" width="60" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li id="contrib-shift" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: normal; left: 70px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: absolute; top: 5px;"&gt;&lt;ul style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;li class="byline" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sam-shuster" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;Sam Shuster&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="publication" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;The Guardian&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;time datetime="2010-07-21" pubdate="" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Wednesday 21 July 2010&lt;/time&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="history" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a class="rollover history-link" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/melanoma-myth-skin-cancer-sun#history-link-box" id="history-link-byline" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;Article history&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Kira Cochrane asks "why can't we give up the tan?" (&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/jul/07/tans-risk-from-sun" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title=""&gt;Going for the burn&lt;/a&gt;, G2, 7 July). The answer is simple: we are not convinced that the alleged harm outweighs the obvious benefits, and we dislike the bullying, fear-mongering campaign against sun exposure.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Skin&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/cancer" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Cancer"&gt;cancer&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;statistics are used to scare, not educate. Almost all of the 84,000 skin "cancers" that appear each year are in fact benign: they don't spread or kill; their cancerous name is a historical misnomer. Of course, sun exposure increases facial wrinkling, as does smoking, but the black ace in the fear game is melanoma, because the real thing is vicious.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;As the article tells us, Cancer Research UK say the incidence of malignant melanoma has&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/skin-cancer-rates-soar-for-baby-boomers" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title=""&gt;"quadrupled in Britain in the last 30 years"&lt;/a&gt;. But if this were so we would have seen coffin-loads of consequences by now. We haven't, and in a recently published large UK study (&lt;a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122453431/abstract?CRETRY=1&amp;amp;SRETRY=0" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title=""&gt;British Journal of Dermatology, 2009&lt;/a&gt;), I and my colleagues showed that the reason mortality has not increased with incidence is that the tumours reported are actually benign; they are not true malignant melanomas. Our explanation of the phoney melanoma epidemic is "diagnostic drift which classifies benign lesions as … melanoma", a misdiagnosis "driven by defensive medicine, an unsurprising response to its commercialisation".&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;The recategorisation by the International Agency for Research on Cancer that Cochrane quotes, which gives sunbeds "the same high risk … as cigarettes and asbestos", is absurd. The field is an unreliable mess of conflicting conclusions, and the claim of a special risk for younger people, which the article repeats, is now denied. But critically, since we now know incidence is invalidated by classifying benign disease as malignant, until diagnosis is improved only studies of melanoma mortality are acceptable; and the few that have been done show that melanoma mortality actually decreases after UV exposure!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;The poor relationship of melanoma to cumulative UV dose had solarphobics running for cover in the idea the article quotes, that a one-off sunburn "could develop into a melanoma". But that doesn't happen: unlike the benign tumours that really are caused by UV, melanomas do not predominate in sun-exposed skin. There are commonsense reasons to avoid sunburn, and for use of sunscreens – but not, as Cochrane implies, to prevent melanoma, for which they have been shown to be ineffective.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Cochrane wonders why "we still associate tanned skin with good health", but there are many good reasons. Although the medical uses that&lt;a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/finsen-bio.html" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title=""&gt;gained Niels Ryberg Finsen a Nobel prize&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;have long past, there are newer uses in photo-chemotherapy, dermatology and psychiatry.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Self-image is measurably increased by a tan, and we will learn much from understanding the mechanism of this wellbeing. UV initiates the synthesis of vitamin D, essential for our bones, and sunscreen promotion has led to problems. It also has a profound effect on our immune function. Strangely, the bastard science of descriptive epidemiology that masterminded the melanoma myth now claims that UV lowers the incidence of many internal cancers and melanoma, thereby outweighing any harmful effects.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Plants and animals owe their existence to the sun, and it is hardly surprising that we've learned to adapt and use it. That's why we can't give up our tan, and more importantly why we shouldn't try.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/melanoma-myth-skin-cancer-sun"&gt;http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/melanoma-myth-skin-cancer-sun&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-5465882076649768318?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/5465882076649768318/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-phoney-melanoma-scare-keep-you.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5465882076649768318'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/5465882076649768318'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-let-phoney-melanoma-scare-keep-you.html' title='Don&apos;t let the phoney melanoma scare keep you out of the sun'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-1413450180394599030</id><published>2010-07-25T07:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-07-25T07:01:34.852-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='shine on scotland'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nestle nesquick'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vitamin d'/><title type='text'>NESTLÉ RELAUNCHES NESQUIK WITH NEW ‘NO–ARTS’ RECIPE</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="Summary" style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;A brand new version of family favourite NESQUIK® will hit the shelves this month with a new and improved recipe. NESQUIK will still have the same great taste loved by families nationwide but will be free from artificial ingredients.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;In response to parents’ concerns about artificial ingredients, Nestlé has renovated and improved the NESQUIK recipes so that there are now no added artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives, in any of the Strawberry, Chocolate or Banana flavoured products. ‘No arts’ versions of the Strawberry and Chocolate flavours are available now, with new Banana arriving in early autumn.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;NESQUIK has always been a good source of vitamin D, which is essential in helping the body absorb the calcium found in milk. Both calcium and vitamin D are important to help the development of strong bones and teeth in children.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;Nutritionist for Nestlé UK and Ireland Liz Read said, “We’ve worked really hard to improve the NESQUIK recipe by taking out artificial ingredients. We are giving parents extra assurances and now have a product that families will love.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;“The work we’ve done with NESQUIK is a continuation of our work to remove artificial ingredients across Nestlé’s products more broadly and builds on the renovation of our confectionery products such as SMARTIES, MILKYBAR and the ROWNTREE’S brand. “&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;The launch of new recipe NESQUIK will be backed by a £3 million marketing campaign which sees NESQUIK milkshake powder advertised on TV for the first time in 10 years.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;Through emotionally engaging communications, the campaign will connect with a new generation of families. Both TV and digital activity will continue to feature the iconic NESQUIK bunny Quicky, who has been the brand’s mascot since 1973.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;Egle Augustinaviciute, NESQUIK Brand Manager said; “The creative idea at the heart of the campaign – ‘They only grow up once’– reminds consumers that NESQUIK is a fun family brand that&amp;nbsp; encourages kids to grow in imagination and learning. It also promotes NESQUIK’s health benefits, both as a source of vitamins and as an imaginative way of making milk an appealing drink choice for kids…and grown–up kids!”&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;The campaign is backed by strong integrated digital support with the launch of new ‘Nesquik.co.uk’ as well as the exciting&amp;nbsp; new ‘Imagination Station’ (&lt;a href="http://www.nesquik-imaginationstation.co.uk/" style="color: #a21b0e;"&gt;www.nesquik–imaginationstation.co.uk&lt;/a&gt;) launched in co–operation with AOL. ‘Nesquik.co.uk’ provides parents with product information as well as general nutritional information and great NESQUIK recipes, while ‘Imagination Station’ acts as an online resource for parents, with exciting playtime ideas and free activity sheets for parents to enjoy with their children.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;Additionally, for the first time this year NESQUIK will participate in ‘Get Set, Go Free’, Nestlé’s cross–category family activity promotion which encourages families to get out and try new activities.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"&gt;For more information: Nestlé UK Press Office&lt;br /&gt;020 8667 6005&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:nestleukpressoffice@uk.nestle.com" style="color: #a21b0e;"&gt;nestleukpressoffice@uk.nestle.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-1413450180394599030?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/1413450180394599030/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/nestle-relaunches-nesquik-with-new.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/1413450180394599030'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/1413450180394599030'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/nestle-relaunches-nesquik-with-new.html' title='NESTLÉ RELAUNCHES NESQUIK WITH NEW ‘NO–ARTS’ RECIPE'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-3001728960643634247</id><published>2010-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-07-25T05:52:05.992-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Sunscreen Advice'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='published research'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the lancet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='skin cancer'/><title type='text'>The questionable effectiveness of sunscreen</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="ja50-head" style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;h1 class="ja50-ce-title" style="color: black; font-size: 1.8em; line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;The questionable effectiveness of sunscreen&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-author-group"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-author"&gt;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-author" href="http://www.thelancet.com/search/results?fieldName=Authors&amp;amp;searchTerm=Adam%20E+Handel" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Adam E Handel&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#aff1" name="back-aff1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#aff2" name="back-aff2" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;b&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-author"&gt;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-author" href="http://www.thelancet.com/search/results?fieldName=Authors&amp;amp;searchTerm=Sreeram%20V+Ramagopalan" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Sreeram V Ramagopalan&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#aff1" name="back-aff1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#aff2" name="back-aff2" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;b&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-e-address" href="mailto:sreeramr@well.ox.ac.uk"&gt;&lt;img alt="Email Address" border="0" src="http://www.thelancet.com/images/article_email.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="$" style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;div class="section-separator" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(178, 178, 178); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 10px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-sections"&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-para" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"&gt;In their Seminar (Feb 20, p 673),&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib1" name="back-bib1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Vishal Madan and colleagues highlight a rising incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in several countries. The incidence of NMSC also seems to be increasing in the USA.&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib2" name="back-bib2" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;2&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;This increase is the reverse of what is expected given the continued increased purchase of sunscreen per head in the USA and UK since the 1990s (&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#fig1" name="back-fig1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;figure&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib3" name="back-bib3" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;3&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib4" name="back-bib4" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;4&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-figure" id="fig1" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-bottom-color: rgb(178, 178, 178); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(178, 178, 178); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em; padding-bottom: 0.3em; padding-left: 0.3em; padding-right: 0.3em; padding-top: 0.3em;"&gt;&lt;div class="fig_sizelink_container" id="fig1" style="float: left;"&gt;&lt;a class="image-sizer" href="http://download.thelancet.com/images/journalimages/0140-6736/PIIS014067361061104X.gr1.lrg.jpg" id="fig1_sizelink"&gt;&lt;img alt="Click to toggle image size" class="image-sizer" id="fig1_sizer" src="http://www.thelancet.com/images/large_image_plus.gif" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="fig_container" id="fig1_container" style="height: auto; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 53em;"&gt;&lt;img alt="Click to toggle image size" class="thumbnail" id="fig1_version" src="http://download.thelancet.com/images/journalimages/0140-6736/PIIS014067361061104X.gr1.sml.gif" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 159, 194); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(0, 159, 194); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 159, 194); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 159, 194); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em;" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-label" style="clear: both; color: #009fc2; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 1em;"&gt;Figure&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS014067361061104X/images?imageId=gr1&amp;amp;sectionType=lightBlue" style="color: #009fc2; margin-left: 0.75em; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;Full-size image&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;(26K)&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-label" href="http://download.thelancet.com/ppt/journals/0140-6736/PIIS014067361061104X.ppt?ll=gr1" style="clear: both; color: #009fc2; font-weight: bold; margin-left: 0.75em; margin-top: 1em; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Download to PowerPoint&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-caption"&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-simple-para" style="margin-bottom: 0em;"&gt;Purchase of sunscreen products by volume per head over time in the USA and UK&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib3" name="back-bib3" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;3&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib4" name="back-bib4" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;4&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-para" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"&gt;The contradiction suggests that increased population exposure to sunscreen does not translate into a reduced risk of skin cancers. This finding is particularly important for public health measures to prevent NMSC (and melanoma). It could be that sunscreens are being improperly used, or that they are ineffective in the prevention of skin cancer, or that other factors not related to ultraviolet (UV) light are leading to an increased risk of NMSC and melanoma.&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib1" name="back-bib1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-para" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"&gt;Sunscreen has the potential to have negative effects since synthesis of vitamin D relies on UVB radiation.&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib5" name="back-bib5" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;5&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Since vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases,&lt;a class="ja50-ce-cross-ref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#bib5" name="back-bib5" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;" title=""&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-sup" style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 0.8em; vertical-align: 0.3em;"&gt;5&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;it is crucial that the effectiveness of sunscreens and their use are thoroughly investigated.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-para" style="margin-bottom: 2em;"&gt;We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div id="yoasNoAbstractFragment" style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bibliography" id="References" style="color: #404040; float: left; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-top: 0px; width: 767px;"&gt;&lt;h2 class="ja50-ce-section-title" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(178, 178, 178); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #009fc2; font-size: 20px; padding-bottom: 5px;"&gt;References&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bib-reference" id="bib1" style="margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-bib" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-bib1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;1&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-contribution"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-authors"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-author"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-surname"&gt;Madan&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-given-name"&gt;V&lt;/span&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-author"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-surname"&gt;Lear&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-given-name"&gt;JT&lt;/span&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-author"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-surname"&gt;Szeimies&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-given-name"&gt;RM&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;Non-melanoma skin cancer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-host"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-issue"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;Lancet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-date"&gt;2010&lt;/span&gt;;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-volume-nr" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;375&lt;/span&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-pages"&gt;673-685&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="ref-int-link" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61196-X/abstract" style="color: #333333; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Summary&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="ref-int-link" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61196-X/fulltext" style="color: #333333; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Full Text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="ref-int-link" href="http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS014067360961196X.pdf" style="color: #333333; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;PDF(932KB)&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;|&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="crossref" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61196-X/fulltext" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;CrossRef&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="pubmed" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&amp;amp;cmd=Search&amp;amp;term=Lancet[Jour]+AND+375[Volume]+AND+673[page]" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;PubMed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bib-reference" id="bib2" style="margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-bib" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-bib2" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;2&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-contribution"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-authors"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-author"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-surname"&gt;Stern&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-given-name"&gt;RS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;The mysteries of geographic variability in nonmelanoma skin cancer incidence&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-host"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-issue"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;Arch Dermatol&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-date"&gt;1999&lt;/span&gt;;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-volume-nr" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;135&lt;/span&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-pages"&gt;843-844&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="crossref" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archderm.135.7.843" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;CrossRef&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="pubmed" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&amp;amp;cmd=Search&amp;amp;term=Arch%20Dermatol[Jour]+AND+135[Volume]+AND+843[page]" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;PubMed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bib-reference" id="bib3" style="margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-bib" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-bib3" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;3&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-contribution"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-authors"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-collaboration"&gt;Euromonitor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;Cosmetics and toiletries: sun care&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-host"&gt;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-inter-ref" href="http://www.euromonitor.com/Sun_Care" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.euromonitor.com/Sun_Care&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-comment"&gt;(accessed May 25, 2010).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bib-reference" id="bib4" style="margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-bib" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-bib4" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;4&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-contribution"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-authors"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-collaboration"&gt;United Nations&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;World population prospects: the 2008 revision&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-host"&gt;&lt;a class="ja50-ce-inter-ref" href="http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp2008/index.htm" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp2008/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-comment"&gt;(accessed May 25, 2010).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-bib-reference" id="bib5" style="margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-bib" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-bib5" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;5&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-contribution"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-authors"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-author"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-surname"&gt;Holick&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-given-name"&gt;MF&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;Vitamin D deficiency&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-host"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-issue"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-title" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-maintitle"&gt;N Engl J Med&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-date"&gt;2007&lt;/span&gt;;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-volume-nr" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;357&lt;/span&gt;:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-sb-pages"&gt;266-281&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="crossref" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra070553" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;CrossRef&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ref-link-sep"&gt;&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a class="pubmed" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&amp;amp;cmd=Search&amp;amp;term=N%20Engl%20J%20Med[Jour]+AND+357[Volume]+AND+266[page]" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"&gt;PubMed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-affiliations" style="border-top-color: rgb(178, 178, 178); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; color: #404040; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 19px; margin-top: 3em; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0pt; padding-right: 0pt; padding-top: 1em;"&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-affiliation" id="aff1" style="margin-top: 0.5em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-aff" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-aff1" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-label" style="clear: both; margin-top: 1em;"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-affiliation"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="ja50-ce-affiliation" id="aff2" style="margin-top: 0.5em;"&gt;&lt;a class="back-aff" href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61104-X/fulltext#back-aff2" style="color: #009fc2; text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-label" style="clear: both; margin-top: 1em;"&gt;b&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ja50-ce-affiliation"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-3001728960643634247?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/3001728960643634247/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/questionable-effectiveness-of-sunscreen.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/3001728960643634247'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2651359745866154512/posts/default/3001728960643634247'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/questionable-effectiveness-of-sunscreen.html' title='The questionable effectiveness of sunscreen'/><author><name>Alan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06734092113694509567</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651359745866154512.post-8806191821443785328</id><published>2010-07-25T05:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-07-25T05:12:38.560-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Multiple sclerosis and vitamin D: a review and recommendations.</title><content type='html'>&lt;h1 style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3333em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.125em; margin-bottom: 0.375em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.375em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"&gt;Multiple sclerosis and vitamin D a review and recommendations.&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.8em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Solomon%20AJ%22%5BAuthor%5D" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;Solomon AJ&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Whitham%20RH%22%5BAuthor%5D" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: black; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;Whitham RH&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.8em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.8em;"&gt;A relationship between vitamin D and several diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), has recently received interest in the scientific community. Vitamin D appears to have important actions beyond endocrine function, particularly for the immune system. Risk of development of MS, as well as disease severity, has been associated with vitamin D in a variety of studies. There remains a need for prospective studies to further establish this relationship. Given the current evidence of the potential benefits of vitamin D, it appears to be reasonable and safe to consider vitamin D supplementation at dosing adequate to achieve normal levels in patients with MS and clinically isolated syndrome.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.8em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.8em;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;"&gt;Department of Neurology, Oregon Health &amp;nbsp;Science University, 3181 Southwest Sam Jackson Park Road, CR 120, Portland, OR 97239, USA. solomoan@ohsu.edu&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.8em; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0.8em;"&gt;source :&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20556546" style="color: #0079c2; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20556546&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2651359745866154512-8806191821443785328?l=mcl1929.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/feeds/8806191821443785328/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://mcl1929.blogspot.com/2010/07/multiple-sclerosis-and-vitamin-d-review.html#comme
