Each site has a designated clinical principal investigator for the study site. This project is an excellent example of an academic medical center at its best, said Medical University President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. Important research at the basic science level has been carried out in the laboratories of our institution. This research has gone through rigorous peer review, and the results were published in scientific journals. Based on those results, our own faculty members with expertise in clinical research have developed a national clinical trial to test the laboratory findings on patients who would likely benefit. Multiple sclerosis usually begins in early adulthood with symptoms varying in severity and duration.
Remissions are common in early stages of the disease.
Blurred or double vision, inflammation of the optic nerve, muscle weakness and dizziness are some of the initial symptoms. In later stages, patients may endure paralysis, blindness and incontinence. Some 350,000 people in the United States have multiple sclerosis. In multiple sclerosis, inflammatory cells enter the brain and start activating brain cells to produce a variety of toxins that damage myelin sheaths that surrounds nerves. This may prevent the transmission of messages between the brain and the rest of the body.