Measuring myelin in the spinal cord in MS
- Lead researcher:
- Dr Rebecca Samson
- Based at:
- Institute of Neurology, UCL
- MS Society funding:
- £83,441
- Status:
- Complete
About the project
Researchers know that damage to myelin in the spinal cord is linked to disability in MS, but finding and measuring this damage is technically difficult. Researchers will scan spinal cord samples from people with and without MS to develop a protocol for measuring myelin loss in the spinal cord. They will compare this new technique with other established techniques to see if it can detect similar levels of damage in the brain and spinal cord. Once the technique has been developed, researchers will test it out on 30 people with MS and 30 healthy volunteers to see how well damage in the spinal cord is linked with disability.
How will it help people with MS?
We hope this research will lead the way in developing a new technique to measure myelin loss in the spinal cord. This new technique could provide researchers with better tools to do larger studies on myelin damage in the spinal cord, helping us to understand the underlying causes of myelin damage and how this contributes to disability.
The difference you can make
Help us fund research into understanding myelin damage and how this leads to disability in MS.
The next research breakthrough is in reach
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