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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, often resulting in significant neurological disability. The causes of MS are not known; however, the incidence of MS is increasing, thereby suggesting that changes in lifestyle and/or environmental factors may be responsible. On this background, the Environmental Risk Factors in MS Study or EnvIMS study was designed to further explore the etiology of MS. The design and methodology are described, providing details to enable investigators to (i) use our experiences to design their own studies; (ii) take advantage of, and build on the methodological work completed for, the EnvIMS study; (iii) become aware of this data source that is available for use by the research community. Methods: EnvIMS is a multinational case-control study, enrolling 2,800 cases with MS and 5,012 population-based controls in Canada, Italy, Norway, Serbia and Sweden. The study was designed to investigate the most commonly implicated risk factors for MS etiology using a self-report questionnaire. Results/Conclusions: The use of a common methodology to study MS etiology across several countries enhances the comparability of results in different geographic regions and research settings, reduces the resources required for study design and enhances the opportunity for data harmonization. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of the oligoclonal IgG bands (OCB) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was a major step forward in the understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. Separation of IgG molecules produced by different B cell clones was not possible until agar electrophoresis was invented in 1950. The key observation that led to the discovery of OCB can be dated back to 1959, when Karcher, van Sande and Lowenthal reported that agar electrophoresis subdivided CSF γ-globulins from a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis into several individual fractions, which were distinguishable with densitometry. OCB were detected in CSF from patients with trypanosomiasis, neurosyphilis and MS by the same research group in 1960. The discovery of OCB was preceded by the detection of intrathecal IgG synthesis with Tiselilus’ moving boundary electrophoresis by Kabat in 1942. This method did not allow separation of IgG molecules produced by different B cell clones, and it is therefore a misconception that Kabat discovered the OCB. The discovery of OCB led to the still prevailing concept that MS is mediated by clonally expanded lymphocytes, and provided the basis for modern diagnostic procedures in MS. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is prevalent in areas with many inhabitants of Scandinavian descent, and a ‘Viking gene’ hypothesis has been suggested for the dissemination of the disease. It is therefore relevant to search Norse sagas for descriptions of clinical pictures which could have been MS. The saga of Bishop Thorlak describes a woman named Halldora, who suffered from transient paresis between 1193 and 1198. The diagnosis is uncertain, but the story shows that symptoms associated with MS were known in Iceland at the end of the 11th century. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]