I have wondered what the cause or causes of Multiple Sclerosis are since I was diagnosed twenty years ago, but the truth is there are no definitive answers. The disease has never made sense to me, and I am the type that questions everything, but not having answers is frustrating. If you think about it, most diseases have a logical cause and some, not all may be avoidable. Of course, I do understand some diseases are genetic or at least have some answers to what the causes might be, but when I asked my Neurologist 20 years ago for answers, he did not have any and he was a brilliant man.

What I have known and thought to be true about Multiple Sclerosis is it is a disease which the immune system attacks that protective sheath (myelin) which covers nerve fibers. MS is a chronic, progressive disease that involves damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. No matter how you look at this disease, there currently is not cure. It does have the potential to be debilitating and can include relapses without notice.

Recently, my husband shared a thought-provoking article with me about possible causes for MS and it made me think about the past. This article was written at The University Chicago Press Journal in December of 2011. In this article, it suggests MS is a dysfunction of the metabolism of lipids. Maybe not thinking about MS as a neurological condition, but more as a dysfunction of the metabolism of lipids would provide clearer reasons and causes. If this is true about MS, there might be ways to correct the issues and changes would be helpful for this unpredictable illness.

One part of this article talks about homeostasis, which is a part of cells, tissues, and organisms that allows for the maintenance and regulation of the stability and constancy that is needed to function properly. It is well known that stress can and does cause major problems with those of us with MS, which is why the next part had me thinking deeply about what caused me to have MS. The homeostasis of lipid metabolism collapses during an acute-phase inflammatory response that was triggered by a pathogen, trauma, or stress, which may have started a feedback loop of increased oxidative cytoxic foam cells that crossed the blood brain barrier, and both catabolize myelin and prevent remyelination.

If we start recognizing MS as a chronic metabolic disorder it would irradiate four major aspect of disease onset and progression including pathophysiology, genetics, environmental and pathogen triggers, and the sex ratio. If you have Multiple Sclerosis, can you think of any specific time before being diagnosed where you had a traumatic event or a stressful time? Has it ever crossed your mind that a traumatic event from the past triggered your disease? I know there were times in my past that were traumatic and stressful, it would make sense that even though my diagnosis was decades later the negative events contributed to my disease.

Part of me thinks this article was a stretch and I am not sure how much I believe every word of the article. Experts have researched MS for decades and still do not have answers. I am not sure how much people at the University of Chicago Press would have answers that experts do not have. There is a huge difference between hard facts and thoughts, and I need hard 100% true facts before I will believe anything. I have wanted to know the causes of MS for two decades, but at the same time want proof of these causes.

Please know that I am not a medical professional in any way, but the information in this post was all based on an article that I read. I know what my views are on the article I read, but I would love to know your thoughts on the information in this post. I am always a little hesitate about information without know for a fact the information is true.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed this post, and I am looking forward to reading what your thoughts and I promise to respond to your amazing comments as quickly as I can. I hope you are having a nice and safe weekend! Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa