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A new study found a pro-inflammatory diet is associated with an increased risk of relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The researchers found a more pro-inflammatory diet is associated with a higher risk of relapses and more inflammatory brain lesions for MS patients in the years following their first disease attack. MS is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation that can damage nerve cells. A pro-inflammatory diet as per the study includes foods containing high amounts of fats and proteins. These foods are thought to drive chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation that could affect the course of MS. The...

A drug called teriflunomide may delay first symptoms for people whose magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans show signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) even though they do not yet have symptoms of the disease. Called radiologically isolated syndrome, the condition is diagnosed in people who do not have MS symptoms but who have abnormalities in the brain or spinal cord called lesions, similar to those seen in MS. MS is a disease in which the body's immune system attacks myelin, the fatty white substance that insulates and protects the nerves. Symptoms of MS may include fatigue, numbness, tingling or difficulty walking....

UPDATE: I did not know about the Nashville school shooting until after I sent out this story. I did not intend to make a political statement of any kind about the victims from the Covenant School. I pray for the families and the school.As president, Donald Trump privately pushed for banning AR-15-type rifles, according to a new report. Trump was — and is — a big defender of Second Amendment rights. So the new revelation is surprising that he tried to renew the “assault weapon” ban during his first two years in office. The news about Trump is buried in...

At least 23 people died overnight after a tornado ripped through central Mississippi, destroying homes and leaving at least one town in ruins. Officials said dozens more were injured and at least four people are still missing after what was likely multiple tornadoes tore through the region in the dead of night, according to the Mississippi Department of Emergency Management. The agency said that the numbers are expected to rise.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who follow a Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk for problems with memory and thinking skills than those who do not follow the diet, according to a preliminary study. The Mediterranean diet includes a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish and healthy fats such as olive oil, and a low intake of dairy products, meats and saturated fatty acids. The study involved 563 people with MS. They were assigned a score of zero to 14 based on their responses with higher scores given to those who more closely followed the diet. Participants took...

Multisite chronic pain is causally associated with a higher risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not with other autoimmune diseases (AIDs), according to a study. Yidan Tang and colleagues used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method to determine the causal relationship between chronic pain and AIDs, namely amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), celiac disease (CeD), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), MS, RA, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), type 1 diabetes (T1D), and psoriasis using genome-wide association study summary statistics. The researchers identified associations between multisite chronic pain and a higher risk for MS and RA (odds ratios, 1.59 and...

What if an over-the-counter allergy medicine could help halt and even reverse multiple sclerosis? And if it did, could patients return to their full capacity? Those were some of the questions posed by Jonah Chan, Ph.D., and Ari Green, MD. The two had discovered in the lab that the medication clemastine—originally approved as an antihistamine—could repair myelin, the protective insulation around nerve fibers that is damaged in MS. That early discovery in Chan's lab, in which clemastine was shown to stimulate the differentiation of myelin-making stem cells, led to clinical trials to test the therapy in people. Surprisingly, these were...

colorado Two police officers were shot and killed at a Motel 6 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, early on Wednesday morning, authorities confirmed. The officers were responding to a call for a welfare check made to the Bay St. Louis Police Department from the motel, which is located along a stretch of interstate Highway 90 that runs through the Gulf Coast city, officials said. The slain officers were identified as Branden Estorffe, 23, and Steven Robin, 34, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety confirmed in a statement. The officers arrived at the Motel 6 before 4:30 a.m. local time on...

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State University on Wednesday confirmed the death of football player Samuel Westmoreland, 19, of Tupelo, Mississippi. “One of the most profound lessons I’ve learned while leading this great university is that the tragic loss of one of our students diminishes all of our students—and all of us at Mississippi State feel the impact of Sam Westmoreland’s death,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. “My prayers are with Sam’s family and friends, with his MSU teammates and coaches, and with the Tupelo community during this most difficult time.” MSU Head Football Coach Mike Leach said: “The Mississippi State...

Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Democratic mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, promised to make the capital “the most radical city on the planet” during his 2017 campaign, but so far he’s been unable to even solve even the city’s basic infrastructure problems and the city’s running water is now unsafe to drink. He campaigned on plans to introduce universal basic income and alternatives to policing, to replace vacant lots with urban farms and to resolve chronic issues with the city’s water and roads in order to break the “cycles of humiliation” he said black residents experience in Jackson, the most heavily black large...

No named tropical cyclones since early July through late August, 2022. Nothing of concern down the visible pipeline. But La Niña still strong. What gives?

the much awaited Illinois June 28 Primary Election Day is upon us. Here's where we'll be keeping track of live updates from Election Day across the Chicago area, along with what you need to know about who's on your ballot ...

ILLINOIS's highest-profile GOP primary is the race between Republican Reps. Rodney Davis and Mary Miller in the new 15th District, one of the nation’s six incumbent-versus-incumbent primaries. ... < > 13th District in south-central Illinois to be a D+7 seat ... But the GOP could still hold this seat in a Republican-leaning midterm environment. Republicans look likely to pick either former federal prosecutor Jesse Reising or nonprofit president Regan Deering, as they’ve raised the most money and are on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s list of candidates to watch.

Under-counts may have cost Florida and Texas another House seat. Well, well. Remember how Democrats accused the Trump Administration of trying to rig the 2020 Census? Now a Census Bureau study reveals that Republican-leaning states may have been hurt by mistaken under-counts. On Thursday the bureau published the results of its post-enumeration analysis, which it does after every Census to identify errors in the count. Its study found that 14 states were over- or under-counted by statistically significant margins. Compare that to 2010 when the bureau’s post-hoc analysis found that all the state population counts were more or less accurate....

A treatment designed to attack a common virus that hides in our bodies could ease the decline caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new trial results. Excitingly, it may even reverse some of the symptoms. A phase 1 clinical trial by the California-based immunotherapy company Atara Biotherapeutics confirms latent Epstein-Barr (EBV) infections are viable targets for treating MS in at least some patients, reinforcing a curious link between the virus and a deadly illness that affects millions around the world. Out of the trial's 24 volunteers, 20 showed signs of either improvement or at least a halt in their...

For well over a year, the public has known about Brett Favre receiving $1.1 million in Mississippi welfare funds for apparent no-show appearances, which he has since paid back. Now, a new report from Mississippi Today has more details that tie Favre to potential political corruption in Mississippi. Favre, who played collegiately at Southern Miss, was linked on Monday to a scandal involving former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. Mississippi Today reported connections between Favre, a drug company he invested in, public welfare funds, and Bryant. The hall of fame QB reportedly hoped to make a significant amount of money from...

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have identified why certain cells in the body, known as Th17 cells, go rogue and promote the onset of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). In a new study published in Nature Communications, scientists have discovered a previously unknown and nasty side effect of a bacteria-fighting weapon in the immune system’s arsenal called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETs are responsible for directly enhancing the production of harmful Th17 cells. “This discovery is significant as it provides a novel therapeutic target to disrupt these harmful inflammatory responses,” lead author Dr. Alicia Wilson, from...

A research team has found high levels of three toxic metabolites produced by gut bacteria in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma samples of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The findings further scientists' understanding of how gut bacteria can impact the course of neurological diseases by producing compounds that are toxic to nerve cells. Previously published evidence has supported the concept that an imbalance in the gut microbiota—the community of organisms that live in the human intestines—may underly a range of neurological disorders. "Our findings suggest that MS patients' gut bacteria produce and release large amounts [of] p-cresol-sulfate, indoxyl-sulfate and N-phenylacetylglutamine into...

CNN anchor John King revealed that he "was having a lot of trouble functioning" working to cover the 2020 election as he dealt with multiple sclerosis. "I hope nobody noticed it, but election week in America was probably one of my worst weeks last year," King said Wednesday morning. "I was having a lot of trouble functioning." King manned CNN's electoral map for days after Election Day last November, as results slowly came in across the country until President Biden was projected as the winner the following Saturday. He at times provided insight and analysis on the vote totals and...

For most of the time since the first description of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1868, the causes of this disabling disease have remained uncertain. Genes have been identified as important, which is why having other family members with MS is associated with a greater risk of developing the disease. A recent study my colleagues and I conducted found that several types of infection during the teenage years are associated with MS after age 20. Our study didn't investigate whether people who are more likely to have genetic risks for MS were also more likely to have worse infections. This might...