MS may be reversed, study suggests

could be reversed using stem cells that repair injury in the central nervous system, a study shows. Researchers have identified a mechanism essential for regenerating insulating layers, known as myelin sheaths, that protect nerve fibres in the brain. In additional studies in rodents, the team from Edinburgh and Cambridge showed how this mechanism can be exploited. The process can be manipulated to make the brain's own stem cells better able to regenerate new myelin. This discovery is very exciting as it could potentially pave the way to find drugs that could help repair damage caused to the important layers that protect nerve cells in the brain. Professor Charles ffrench-Constant MS Society Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research, University of Edinburgh - Nerve fibres. In multiple sclerosis, loss of myelin leads to the nerve fibres in the brain becoming damaged.