Epstein-Barr Virus May Be Leading Cause of Multiple Sclerosis (harvard.edu) 32
Harvard's School of Public Health has an announcement...
"Multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, is likely caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers."
Epstein-Barr virus has already been linked to some forms of cancer. But now, as the New York Times put it, "New research proves a virus — one that almost all of us have — 'causes' multiple sclerosis." (More than 90% of adults have the Epstein-Barr virus, and "The very ubiquity of Epstein-Barr has made it especially difficult to isolate as a causal factor...") Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and elsewhere, however, devised a novel way to carry out that study, and they published their findings in January in Science. U.S. military recruits, a group of more than 10 million people, are screened for H.I.V. when their service starts and biennially thereafter. Their blood serum samples are then archived in the Department of Defense Serum Repository and can be retested for other pathogens. Between 1993 and 2013, the researchers identified cases of M.S. among active-duty U.S. military personnel. Then they tested their first serum sample; their last sample before M.S. onset; and one in between. They found that of 801 soldiers with M.S., 800 were positive for Epstein-Barr....
"In practical terms, if you're not infected with E.B.V., your risk of M.S. is virtually zero," says Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard and a senior author of the Science study. "After infection, your risk jumps by over 30-fold." The odds of that increase having occurred by chance are less than one in a million....
That was the strongest evidence yet that Epstein-Barr initiates M.S., but it didn't explain why. Just over a week after the Science paper came out, though, Robinson and colleagues published their own paper in Nature that demonstrated how the virus triggers the disease in some people. Epstein-Barr produces proteins that mimic a protein in the myelin sheath, they found; when the immune system makes antibodies to attack the virus, they also attack the myelin — "the insulation around your neurons," as Robinson puts it. "Like electrical wires, if the insulation gets stripped off, it short-âcircuits," he says. "That's what results in M.S."
This protein mix-up, though, can only explain about a quarter of M.S. cases. And while the Science paper concludes that Epstein-Barr is the "leading cause" of M.S., Cohen says he wants to be careful with the word "cause." He thinks the study proves that the virus is a necessary precondition for M.S., but the fact that so many people have Epstein-Barr and so few of them get M.S. demonstrates that other factors, very likely including genetic susceptibility, must play a significant role in the development of the disease....
What is exciting about the discovery that Epstein-Barr is necessary for M.S. is that it raises the prospect that a vaccine could prevent that disease — as well as other serious conditions — even if we never understand precisely why the virus behaves as it does in a given individual.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Thelasko for sharing the news!
"Multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, is likely caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), according to a study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers."
Epstein-Barr virus has already been linked to some forms of cancer. But now, as the New York Times put it, "New research proves a virus — one that almost all of us have — 'causes' multiple sclerosis." (More than 90% of adults have the Epstein-Barr virus, and "The very ubiquity of Epstein-Barr has made it especially difficult to isolate as a causal factor...") Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and elsewhere, however, devised a novel way to carry out that study, and they published their findings in January in Science. U.S. military recruits, a group of more than 10 million people, are screened for H.I.V. when their service starts and biennially thereafter. Their blood serum samples are then archived in the Department of Defense Serum Repository and can be retested for other pathogens. Between 1993 and 2013, the researchers identified cases of M.S. among active-duty U.S. military personnel. Then they tested their first serum sample; their last sample before M.S. onset; and one in between. They found that of 801 soldiers with M.S., 800 were positive for Epstein-Barr....
"In practical terms, if you're not infected with E.B.V., your risk of M.S. is virtually zero," says Alberto Ascherio, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard and a senior author of the Science study. "After infection, your risk jumps by over 30-fold." The odds of that increase having occurred by chance are less than one in a million....
That was the strongest evidence yet that Epstein-Barr initiates M.S., but it didn't explain why. Just over a week after the Science paper came out, though, Robinson and colleagues published their own paper in Nature that demonstrated how the virus triggers the disease in some people. Epstein-Barr produces proteins that mimic a protein in the myelin sheath, they found; when the immune system makes antibodies to attack the virus, they also attack the myelin — "the insulation around your neurons," as Robinson puts it. "Like electrical wires, if the insulation gets stripped off, it short-âcircuits," he says. "That's what results in M.S."
This protein mix-up, though, can only explain about a quarter of M.S. cases. And while the Science paper concludes that Epstein-Barr is the "leading cause" of M.S., Cohen says he wants to be careful with the word "cause." He thinks the study proves that the virus is a necessary precondition for M.S., but the fact that so many people have Epstein-Barr and so few of them get M.S. demonstrates that other factors, very likely including genetic susceptibility, must play a significant role in the development of the disease....
What is exciting about the discovery that Epstein-Barr is necessary for M.S. is that it raises the prospect that a vaccine could prevent that disease — as well as other serious conditions — even if we never understand precisely why the virus behaves as it does in a given individual.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Thelasko for sharing the news!
TFS Contradicts TFA (Score:2)
TFS:
Epstein-Barr Virus May Be Leading *Cause* of Multiple Sclerosis
TFA:
This protein mix-up, though, can only explain about a quarter of M.S. cases. And while the Science paper concludes that Epstein-Barr is the "leading cause" of M.S., Cohen says he wants to be careful with the word "cause." He thinks the study proves that the virus is a necessary precondition for M.S., but the fact that so many people have Epstein-Barr and so few of them get M.S. demonstrates that other factors, very likely including genet
Re: (Score:3)
No, TFS and TFA are both correct. TFS says "may be leading cause" .. which means 1) there is a significant probability that EBV can cause it, AND, 2) If something causes 25% of cases it is still a cause. That aligns with the TFA. For example, if traffic accidents account for 25% of broken legs .. while no other cause causes over 25% of broken legs .. we can still say "traffic accidents are the leading cause of broken legs." Agree?
There should be some sort of licensing for the Grammar Gestapo to show they h
Re: (Score:2)
You're splitting hairs, but too coarsely; the correct hair to split is that they're saying it is the leading necessary causal factor. But since you don't understand the words as well as you think, you went false-pedant on the word cause.
This is the sort of fake-nerds we get at slashdot these days. Get off my lawn.
There should be some sort of licensing for people writing science articles to show they have basic comprehension.
Sorry Ivan, in the communist utopia you're imagining, you'd have been sent to the gulag for commenting without a clue license.
Re: (Score:2)
Have researchers identified the other "necessary casual factors" to know that E.B.V. is, in fact, one of the leading ones?
Re: TFS Contradicts TFA (Score:2)
That is why they said may be. It is the biggest cause we have strong evidence for.
Re: (Score:2)
>Have researchers identified the other "necessary casual factors" to know that E.B.V. is, in fact, one of the leading ones?
As far as I know (I've spent some time studying this for family reasons) no. Hence the backpedaling on the the use of the word "cause". Biosimilar molecules are a component in autoimmune disorders, but it generally goes hand in hand with some other insult, like a malfunctioning immune system (common with systemic inflammation) or continuous activation through things like leaky gut.
As
If I know slashdot... (Score:4, Funny)
Harvard's School of Public Health: "After infection, your risk jumps by over 30-fold." The odds of that increase having occurred by chance are less than one in a million....
Slashdoter in their basement: "Correlation Doesn’t Equal Causation", mic drop.
Looks like the slashdot big brain debate team schooled another skilled scientist with years of data using witty comeback. Oh well, maybe next time.
Re: (Score:2)
>Slashdoter in their basement: "Correlation Doesn’t Equal Causation", mic drop.
Statistically competent slashdotter - Correlation doesn't necessarily imply causation, but it might and when there's a 3000% change with the variable, it's a big clue that it's worth investigating further.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually statistically competent Slashdotter: correlation *does* imply causation but doesn't indicate which of three possible types of causal relationship exist.
Slashdotter who actually read the article (or the one last week): that's why they took twenty years and analyzed millions of blood samples to demonstrate that infection with EBV occurs before development of MS.
The gold standard (Score:2)
I'm not seeing any of this being validated by fact checkers or cnn -- DEBUNKED
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I knew it wasn't based on the merit of the fact, but on the route taken. I just wasn't clear on the specifics. Thank you.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not seeing any of this
Probably because MSM reported this story last week and it isn't in the coverage anymore.
TWiV discussion ... (Score:1)
Listen to a discussion of this paper on This Week in Virology [youtube.com].
Epstein-Barr virus (Score:1)
Sounds like an STD , that pedophiles might get.
Re: (Score:2)
There's about a 95% chance that you have it.
Re: (Score:2)
Or something you could catch hanging around Trump too long.
Re: (Score:2)
Or hillary, or basically any super rich really.
Everyone is on the Epstein fun list
Re: (Score:2)
15 years of hanging out vs a big donor at a few events makes everybody the same?
How about you loan me $1? let just make that $1000; it's the same thing.
Re: (Score:2)
Bill is probably the "client" for Mr.Epstein rather than Hillary, but it's pretty much not actually a matter of left vs right or any simple trivial stuff like that.
A bunch of this stuff is probably to getting yourself self incriminated to be able to "join the club", so they have blackmail material on you in case you decide to snitch etc..
Small wonder (Score:2)
A virus named after a pedophile can get a bit cranky.
One of many viruses that cause serious harm later (Score:2)
Others include chicken pox (shingles) and HPV (various foul cancers). Could well happen with covid too, sadly.
How is this different from the announcement in Jan (Score:3)
https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
I mean, maybe I'm glad they didn't run a dupe on the same day, but this news is 6 weeks old now.
epidemiology of ms (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
MS is probably more common in black Americans than white.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]
If you have no legs, you won't trip over your feet (Score:1)
This kind of research didn't prove anything but still it is presented as a major breakthrough.
Do I have the Epstein Barr virus? (Score:2)
Any idea how I can find out if I have the Epstein Barr virus.
Peer reviewed? (Score:2)