She says some scientists might hope Sriram is wrong, so they can be the ones to find a cure instead. With a modest smile, Sriram doesn't explicitly assign ulterior motives to his many doubting peers. But he's unusually frank about where they stand. But in their heart of hearts they think I'm wrong. Among the most prevalent diseases of the central nervous system, MS affects nearly 2.5 million people around the world, including 2,000 here in Middle Tennessee.
Nerve fibers help communicate impulses to and from the brain.
When MS damages the protective covering of those fibers, basic and routine functions are disrupted. Although multiple sclerosis was identified more than 100 years ago, nobody knows what causes it. Researchers have long suspected that MS is an autoimmune disease, along the same lines as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. The cause of suspected autoimmune disorders remains unknown, although with MS, most scientists believe that a pathogen or some kind of genetic deviance prompts the immune system to betray the body. Some ethnic groups are more prone to acquiring the disease than others.