Childhood MS Under The Spotlight At Children's Hospital

Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 21 Apr 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The first major UK scientific study into multiple sclerosis (MS) in children was launched on Saturday (18 April) marking a significant step forward in the understanding of the debilitating condition.

The paediatric MS study led by Birmingham Children's Hospital will follow a group of children for five years and will cost around £400,000, jointly funded by the MS Society and Action Medical Research.

The project was unveiled at a paediatric MS study day, organised by the Society, which gave families of children with MS from across the UK the chance to find out from exerts the latest developments in MS research.

It is hoped that the study will give scientists an insight into how MS progresses from an early age, and increase understanding of the condition among doctors caring for children and young people.

Biomedical Research Manager for the MS Society, Dr Doug Brown, said: "If we can pin down what happens very early on in MS, this will give us vital clues as to how the condition develops in adulthood.

"MS isn't considered to be a childhood condition but we need to beat this misconception because it makes life tougher for those young people who live with it day in, day out."

MS is the most common disabling neurological condition in young people but there is an assumption it is an older person's condition and that it cannot be diagnosed in children. This is one of the many myths the MS Society hopes to dispel during MS Week (27 April to 03 May).

Awareness of MS in children - who have been known to show symptoms at just 13 months old - is very low leading to delays in diagnosis and poor treatment and care.

Current knowledge and research into the number of children affected by the condition is severely lacking, but studies so far suggest that onset of MS occurs before the age of 16 in 0.4 to 10.5 per cent of cases, which could be anything up to 9,000 people in the UK.

The study, led by Dr Evangeline Wassmer, aims to find out how many children are affected by demyelination (a first MS-like illness) and MS in the UK, and to identify which children are more likely to develop MS after an initial demyelinating event.

Action Medical Research, a charity dedicated to preventing disease and disability, agreed to fund half the costs of the study as part of its strategy to focus on child health, often a neglected and underfunded area of research.

Dr Tracy Swinfield, Director of Research at Action Medical Research said: "MS in children is poorly understood and we are delighted to be supporting this major scientific study into this difficult condition."

Source
Multiple Sclerosis Society

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