Scientists began to understand in more detail how white blood cells are activated by foreign substances to mount attacks. One activating trigger can be a virus. Scientists also learned that parts of some viruses look so much like normal human tissue that white blood cells will inadvertently attack them when they attack the virus. This is yet another mechanism by which viral infections could lead indirectly to destruction of myelin.

At about the same time, the white blood cell type that causes the actual damage to myelin in MS was finally identified. It is the macrophage (or “Big Eater” in Greek).

The first studies of identical and fraternal twins begun in this decade extended knowledge about the genetics of MS. And psychosocial and mental-health issues, as well as the cognitive changes occasionally caused by MS, began receiving long overdue research attention.

CAT scanning was surpassed by a new technology, the MRI scan, which show the brain in greater detail. The first MRI scans of people with MS were performed in 1981 by Dr. I. R. Young, in England. By 1984, it became apparent that the MRI could actually see MS attacks within the brain, including many which did not cause any symptoms. By 1988 sequential MRI scans showed that MS is a constant, ongoing disease even though symptoms may appear only sporadically.

The 1980s may legitimately be called the “treatment decade” in MS. There was an explosion of clinical trials. Guided by the National MS Society, scientists reached a consensus on the design and conduct of research for new treatments. For the first time the emphasis could shift away from palliation, where the aim is to help people with MS feel as good as possible for as long as possible, and go instead toward attempts to control or cure the underlying MS.

Major clinical trials conducted during this decade led to approvals of the first drugs in history shown to affect the course of this disease.

Reference

Written by Loren A. Rolak, MD. Reproduced by permission from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, USA. © NMSS, 2003