It’s rare that new research means rewriting textbooks. But new information discovered by University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers might do just that for neuroscience, immunology, and even anatomy. This discovery also has definite implications for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroimmune conditions like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).
Excerpted from multiple sources.
“The relationship between the brain and the immune system has long puzzled researchers.” “Furthermore, to date, traditional lymphatic vessels had not been found there.” (The Scientist)
Neuroimmune conditions (like ME/CFS) are especially complex because the link between the brain and the immune system is not well understood by research. In other parts of the body, the lymphatic vessels act as sort of a highway for the immune system, taking cells to and from. But in the brain, there was no such understood system, until UVA researchers found one.
“The unexpected presence of the lymphatic vessels raises a tremendous number of questions that now need answers, both about the workings of the brain and the diseases that plague it. For example, take Alzheimer’s disease. “In Alzheimer’s, there are accumulations of big protein chunks in the brain,” Kipnis said. “We think they may be accumulating in the brain because they’re not being efficiently removed by these vessels.” He noted that the vessels look different with age, so the role they play in aging is another avenue to explore. And there’s an enormous array of other neurological diseases, from autism to multiple sclerosis, that must be reconsidered in light of the presence of something science insisted did not exist.” (MedicalXpress)
By a process as simple as staining before dissecting, UVA researchers uncovered surprising information. There are lymphatic vessels in the brain. This may sound like a small announcement but it actually means that previously held assumptions about the actual mechanical function of the brain may have been incorrect. And it means that coming waves of research may uncover new treatments and diagnostic tests for poorly understood or difficult to treat conditions like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).
“The discovery of the central nervous system lymphatic system may call for a reassessment of basic assumptions in neuroimmunology and sheds new light on the aetiology of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases associated with immune system dysfunction.” (Nature)
What do you think? Does this discovery have the potential to change the game for neuroimmune conditions like ME/CFS?
3 thoughts on “Lymphatic vessels in the brain: Gamechanger for Neuroimmune diseases?”
I have MS . I am a VET in DC & would be honored if I could help in the study & will share this with my Dr . of 17 yrs who has fault by my side! …my niece in MT also has MS & was just tested positive for the JC Virus , any help or information could save her , she has 2 small children..
Coupl’a things about Hillary’s vsoiern of events. The mysteriously sudden shut-down of Kaplan and Holmes investigative interest occurred before the insurance companies had a hint there was going to be something big coming along. We were all convinced that local members of the chamber of commerce, who were mucky-mucks in the ski resort industry, must have complained their political friends that bad publicity was wrecking the local businesses, and to tell the CDC that in the interest of protecting the tourist economy at Lake Tahoe, that this mystery malady needed to have a lid put on it . pronto! You could just about put a date on this change of attitude.From what I heard, Kaplan and Holmes had been going through the motions of an investigation, but suddenly every action and expression seemed to shift from mild disinterest to total obstructionism and denial.Yes, the insurance companies did throw up a wall of disclaimers and denials, but that was long enough AFTER Kaplan and Holmes amazing epiphany that absolutely nothing strange was happening at north Lake Tahoe, that I don’t think they instigated the strange loss-of-interest. And not that Dr Jones deserves any credit for being right, but he did have a point about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis having a specific connotation and so it should not be used.We were still reeling with the discovery of a new virus, Human B Cell Lymphotropic Virus what you guys now call HHV6A . This new virus of HBLV was still highly suspect, and to simply apply ME to a similar illness which looked like it might have been caused by HBLV could make it appear that causality for ME was being implied. Having a newly identified virus as a possible culprit was a bit too specific to draw that kind of connection to ME. By this time, the community was so ballistic over the illness that we almost welcomed a trivializing term. A medically impressive one would have been an affirmation that the disease was truly serious, and would have scared the snot out of everyone, making a bad situation much worse. It almost seemed that the CDC had done us a favor by choosing CFS , just to take the heat off for a while.What should the name matter to a scientist?It is the ENTITY and the evidence which is important in the medical world. Not that we liked the name, but never dreamed anyone would seize one word as being the sole symptom, and forget the terrifying illness it represented. That’s not how science is supposed to work, so doctors would never do that . or so we had believed. That’s how I remember it, anyway.Ask Dr Cheney if this sounds like the way he recalls these events.
I have been diagnosed with enyhetrivg from CFS, Fibromyalgia, Toxic Mold Poisoning, MS, ME, Severe Allergies, and now to really add injury to insult, it seems that little tick bite and rash I had when I was six is at the bottom of my immune vulnerabilities. Lyme Disease manifests with so many different symptoms that we get stuck in different classses of patients every time the wind blows. But we don’t get better.Eric Johnson has discovered what I have also, that getting away, to the desert if possible, can give me a boost of recovery . Toxins of any sort are crushing. Certain places are more likely to draw all of my strength and it is almost impossible to get myself out of there. Sometimes only strangers have been available to help.The idea that someone who loves life would miss it, yeah miss your whole life, to get out of a little stress is an imaginary excuse made by people who refuse to understand anything other than their mean little opinions.What disturbs me even more is that I have come to believe that there is a purposeful motive in not helping us. They jumped on the HIV bandwagon with vigor but the toxins known to be found in environmental spraying, or chemtrails, are written off as psychsomatic or minimalized. I really wonder how much there is to hide, and how many people have to fall ill before the general public starts to see that the CDC, the EPA, and even many NGOs are not working on behalf of the public.I did myself a huge favor. I had a complete MMPI done. Now when a doctor tries to discount my symptoms I just mention the American’s With Disabilities Act and say that they are practicing Discrimanation Based on Type of Disability. Some I fire, some fall off of their high horse and have to admit that they don’t know what is happening to me. If they don’t listen the first time I bring in the documents and then say we can start over. I am treated with respect by all of my doctors. The ones that I have fired fear me. Having that MMPI allows me to look into someones eyes and remind them that blood-letting was considered good medicine for centuries. Doctors do not, and never will, know it all. I have learned that most healthy people are afraid to face their own humanity, and we remind them of their vulnerability, and their ignorance.I don’t cry myself to sleep anymore, or question my own perception with shame trying to grab on to me.Our government is corrupt, our lives have been sold to lobbiests. We need to boycott every business that supports the Chamber of Commerce (they pay to be a member) and Big Pharma because that is who profits from our lifelong distruction.Me, I’m a good person, productive inspite the odds, and have a lot to teach any open-minded physician.
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