Genetics of multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system. Your immune, or defense system, attacks the protective covering of your nerves. This can mess up the signals from your brain to the rest of your body. Symptoms often start at an early age. They may get worse as time goes on. Weakness in arms and legs, trouble thinking, and vision problems are a few symptoms. Signs and symptoms vary between people. It depends on the amount of nerve damage. It also depends on which nerves it affects. Current treatments may lower the number of relapses. They may also slow down the disease. There is no cure. Where you live or work may play a role in who gets MS. Changes in certain genes may also play a part. But, we do not how these changes affect disease progress. We do not know which parts of the body it will affect or how people will respond to treatment. Scientists at Vanderbilt will use BioVU to try to learn more about MS. They will look for changes in genes linked to symptoms or treatment response. They will also look for gene changes linked with disease progress. They hope to learn more about how the disease works. Their results may help us find better treatments. They may also help us reduce symptoms in some patients.