An important recognition to Stephen Hauser and Alberto Ascherio for the progress they did in research on multiple sclerosis
Scientific research takes a fundamental step in understanding the Multiple sclerosis Thanks to two scholars who have just received the prestigious for their merits Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. The prize, often defined as the “Oscar of science”was assigned to Professor Stephen Hauser of the University of California, San Francisco, and to Professor Alberto Ascherio Harvard University for their revolutionary discoveries on the disease.
Professor Hauser deeply changed the understanding of the MS, showing that they are cell B of the immune system – And not the T lymphocytes as previously thought – to cause the main damage to the nerve fibers. This discovery opened the way to the development of therapies that act on B cellstoday used all over the world to treat multiple sclerosis.
Parallel Alberto Ascherio he showed with a large -scale study that the infection gives Eptein-Barr virus (EBV) increases the risk of developing Ben’s MS 32 times. Using the overseas health data 10 million US military collected over twenty years, Ascherio has found convincing evidence of the direct link between EBV and the onset of the disease.
New prospects for prevention
The implications of these studies are immense. The discovery of the link between EBV and SM opens the possibility of develop specific antiviral drugs and, above all, a vaccine against the viruswhich could prevent the appearance of the disease. It is a paradigm change: from a purely symptomatic approach we now move on to one possible prevention of multiple sclerosis.
Ascherio, originally from Milanbegan his career as a doctor in Central America and Africa, and then devoted himself to research with the aim of Discover the causes of diseases and prevent them at the root. For years he has been dealing with Neurodegenerative diseasesincluding Parkinson’s, Sla And now too Alzheimerso he hopes to obtain the necessary funding to carry out promising studies.
His methodical approach, collaboration with other researchers and the profound belief in the value of one’s work are the basis of a success that is changing the future of medicine. Thanks to their results, Hauser and Ascherio are bringing the world a step closer to a definitive cure for multiple sclerosis.
