Tag Archives: disease

Why You Should Care About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS, is a chronic and progressive disease. The symptoms can range from tremors, double vision, blindness, inability to speak, and in some severe cases, paralysis and death. One’s symptoms depend on where MS has targeted, and there is no cure as of today. 

MS gets its name from the plaques, or “sclera”, that form in the brain where cells have been destroyed. The word “sclera” is Greek, meaning “skleros” = hard. These sclera may occur anywhere in our brain. Typically, the location of the sclera is the reason for a certain symptom. For example if sclera form near or on the optic nerve, which is responsible for sight, then symptoms of blindness or double vision may arise. 

To better understand the full force of the disease, we need to discuss how it occurs in the first place.

Our central nervous system (CNS) consists of our brain and spine, and in the CNS we have helpful messengers that transmit signals between each other to tell our body to move, breathe, and basically survive. These helpful messengers are called Neurons. Neurons have a “head”, “body”, and “tail” end. Messages are received at the head, which is composed of dendrites and the cell body, and transmitted down the body (axons) to the tail (axon terminal), which finally sends the signal over to the soma of the adjacent neuron. 

The axon has a protective blanket around them called myelin, and myelin is created by a special type of cell called an oligodendrocyte. MS is a disease that is caused by one’s own immune system targeting their own oligodendrocytes and myelin, resulting in the neuron losing its armour. Without it, it can no longer send signals down to its neighbours! 

MS itself does not target the oligodendrocytes, but rather our own immune system does. Our immune system is our bodies form of protection against harmful substances (known as antigens) that may have entered our body. The antigens are recognized by our immune system and eliminated to protect us. For an unknown reason, our immune system causes an autoimmune reaction against the oligodendrocytes. An autoimmune reaction occurs when one’s body mistakes it’s own healthy cells for antigens.

So, why should we care about all this? 

The problem is that scientists are still unsure what actually causes MS. We know the “where” and the “how”, but not the “why”. There are speculations in the field with convincing evidence pointing to autoimmune reactions that target the oligodendrocytes being the “cause” of MS. However, without knowing 100% why MS occurs, scientist cannot formulate a cure! Doctors have been prescribing medication to improve quality of life by treating individual symptoms, but this is only a short-term solution and varies from patient-to-patient. 

MS can be a very frustrating experience for patients because the symptoms can be so diverse, and their doctors may not be able to give them a proper diagnosis for years! Because of this, many afflicted individuals are told that their symptoms are “in their heads” or given an improper diagnosis. 

There is a dire need for more funding and research on MS. 

For more information, please take a look at a crash course video posted on youtube by “Osmosis”.

YouTube Preview Image

Written by Taranom Behzadi

Weekend catch-up sleep is not the cure we hoped it to be

 

Header image

Image by Free-Photos on Pixabay

Most of us have probably caught ourselves fantasizing about the best part of the weekend – sleeping in. After a hectic and crazed work week, our sleep-deprived states eagerly await the feeling of refreshment that comes along with those extra hours of shut-eye. However, recent evidence found by Depner and his colleagues in an early 2019 study shows that paying back our sleep debt on the weekends still come with a health cost.

The effects of sleep deprivation

On a basic level, we all know (and feel) that an insufficient amount of sleep leads to health complications. There have been numerous studies and data to support that people who fail to get enough sleep are at a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, along with a plethora of other health-related issues such as mood disorders and decreased immune function, all of which are documented in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The following video by TechInsider, featuring professor of neuroscience and psychology Matthew Walker, goes more into depth about the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain and body.

Sleeping more on the weekends cost us

To combat these potential health risks, most people try to get more sleep on the weekends in order to boost up their daily sleep average, which is currently recommended to be between 7-9 hours for adults. Unfortunately for those of us who do, the paper published by Depner and his colleagues in Current Biology shows that “weekend recovery sleep” is not an effective strategy in combating sleep deprivation. In fact, the paper points out that these extra sleep hours may increase weight gain, promote excess caloric intake, and negatively impact how the body handles insulin.

On another note, a study published in Stress and Health in 2010 found that maintaining a consistent sleeping pattern proves to be beneficial for us, and that getting those extra hours on the weekend alone are not enough to combat sleep deprivation as they may disrupt our internal clocks, making it even harder for us to fall asleep and to wake up.

What we can do to combat sleep deprivation

Since getting extra sleep on the weekends is not our cure to sleep deprivation, the best we can do for now is to try and maintain consistent sleep schedules by distributing that extra sleep we would get on the weekends to weekday nights.

Sandra Yoo

Sept 29, 2019

Revised Oct. 21, 2019