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Diagnosing More Than Just MS
Common Diseases in Clinical Cohorts - Not Always What They Seem Rahimov, F., Jacobs, B.M., Lee, J.S., Mahi, et al. N Engl J Med; 2025; Issue 16 Pages 1589-1598 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41124632 Genetic testing to detect variant genes Introduction: Diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) can be difficult . None of the symptoms or signs of MS are unique to that illness. Weakness, numbness, gait imbalance, tremors, fatigue, bowel and bladder difficulties can be caused by o
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Apr 64 min read
Progress in Treating Progressive MS
Anti-BCMA CAR-T therapy in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis. Qin, C., Dong, M-H, Zhou, L-H et al. Cell 188 , 6414–6423 e6411 (2025) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41101309 https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674 Structural Elements of a Chimeric Antigen Receptor Introduction : This is a very LONG blog. It deals with complex issues that I tried to put into context. The “Discussion” section at the end of the blog summarizes the issues and may be easier to d
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Feb 226 min read
Gut Bugs That May Trigger MS Relapses
Multiple sclerosis and gut microbiota: Lachnospiraceae from the ileum of MS twins trigger MS-like disease in germfree transgenic mice-An unbiased functional study. Yoon H, Gerdes LA, Beigel F, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2025;122: e2419689122. Identical Twins Discordant for MS Introduction : Research on finding a “cure” for MS has mostly involved studies of the immune system. While the immune system plays a major role in the disease, and great success has been achieved
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Dec 20, 20256 min read
Cholesterol, Premature Aging and Progressive MS - Pathway to a New Therapy?
Increased cholesterol synthesis drives neurotoxicity in patient stem cell-derived model of multiple sclerosis R. B. Ionescu, A. M....
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Jan 21, 20256 min read
Can the "revolving door" hypothesis explain MS?
Patient iPSC models reveal glia-intrinsic phenotypes in multiple sclerosis B. L. L. Clayton, L. Barbar, M. Sapar, K. Kalpana, C. Rao, B....
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Dec 9, 20245 min read
Can "inverse vaccination" reverse MS, or at least halt progression?
'Inverse vaccines' could treat autoimmune disease – from multiple sclerosis to celiac disease C. Arnold Nat Med 2024 Vol. 30 Issue 5...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Oct 30, 20245 min read
Meaningful Magnets in MS - How New, More Powerful MRIs Are Changing Our Understanding of MS
Recent Advances in Neuroimaging of Multiple Sclerosis and Related Demyelinating Disorders Neuroimaging Clin N Am 2024 Vol. 34 Issue 3...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Jul 21, 20246 min read
CAR-T cells-A new treatment for MS? Or maybe not.
A CAR-T therapy for multiple sclerosis enters US trials for first time Asher Mullard Nature, 22 February 2024 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Jun 13, 20247 min read
Changing Insights Demand Change
New insights in MS challenge current concept of disease categorization
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Apr 8, 20236 min read
Important Progress in Progressive MS
Identification of early neurodegenerative pathways in progressive multiple sclerosis M. Kaufmann, A. L. Schaupp, R. Sun, F. Coscia, C. A....
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Nov 15, 20227 min read
Why does MS vary in severity? A very important new clue!
The Genetic Basis of Multiple Sclerosis Severity Suggests Central Nervous System Involvement A. Harroud, on behalf of the...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
May 26, 20224 min read
Can this virus really cause MS?
Paper #1: Longitudinal analysis reveals high prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus associated with multiple sclerosis Kjetil Bjornevik,...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Mar 18, 20227 min read
When does MS really start?
Paper #1: Embedding electronic health records onto a knowledge network recognizes prodromal features of multiple sclerosis and predicts...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Feb 1, 20226 min read
Telemedicine-A Pandemic Positive
Paper #1: Providing Person-Centered Care via Telemedicine in the Era of COVID-19 in Multiple Sclerosis J. R. Abbatemarco, J. Hartman, M....
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Dec 30, 20218 min read
Hydroxychloroquine as treatment for progressive multiple sclerosis? Maybe!
Hydroxychloroquine for Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Marcus W Koch, Sharanjit Kaur, Kayla Sage, Janet Kim, Myriam Levesque-Roy,...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Dec 3, 20215 min read
I have MS and wish to become pregnant. Now what?
Treatment of Women with Multiple Sclerosis Planning Pregnancy Krysko, K. M., Bove, R., Dobson, R., Jokubaitis, V. Hellwig, K. Curr Treat...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Oct 20, 20213 min read
Predicting Progression: Identifying Risks for Transition to Progressive Disease
A novel prognostic score to assess the risk of progression in relapsing−remitting multiple sclerosis patients Anna Isabella Pisani,...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Aug 16, 20215 min read
A Reasonable Approach to the Treatment of MS
Improving quality, affordability, and equity of multiple sclerosis care Annette Langer-Gould, Shilpa Klocke, Brandon Beaber, Sonu M....
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Aug 7, 20216 min read
The Challenge and Hope of Myelin Repair
Paper #1: Promoting remyelination in multiple sclerosis Nick Cunniffe and Alasdair Coles Journal of Neurology (2021) 268:30–44...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Jul 22, 20217 min read
Getting the skinny on MS
Paper #1: Leptin levels are associated with multiple sclerosis risk Martin Biström , Johan Hultdin , Oluf Andersen et al Multiple...
Gary Birnbaum, MD
Jun 2, 20217 min read
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