Let’s start with sedation: the omicron * does not * cause MS. But a new and comprehensive study reveals that a different virus – indeed. And this also has implications for dealing with the corona. And no, that’s not a euphemism for something else.
Epstein-Barr virus is one of the most prolific viruses of the human race. Almost all humans today are infected with the virus during their lifetime and most will not differentiate between it and normal winter illness, if any. For some, it will cause “kiss disease”: fatigue, sore throat and fever, mostly, lasting for several months.
Doesn’t sound that awful until now, does it? But Epstein-Bar has hidden secrets he has begun to reveal in the past decade. Specifically, he enjoys a special advantage over his cousins: he is able to penetrate the B cells of the immune system, and there he thrives, well, forever. From the moment he enters – he does not leave the body. And so, throughout the rest of the carrier’s life, he can occasionally return to activity and cause new troubles.
What trouble? Severe. There are strong suspicions about its association with a number of cancers such as Burkit and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, although it is still unclear how exactly it increases the chance of developing these diseases. And now, at last, a particularly strong piece of evidence has been obtained for Epstein-Barr’s association with another accursed disease we are already well acquainted with: multiple sclerosis. And not just any connection: A study of ten million military personnel in the United States revealed that almost every case of multiple sclerosis began after being infected with a virus. [1]
What is MS? In two words: a cursed disease. It develops when the immune system gets confused on purpose and begins to attack the fatty layer around the nerves. The result is an accumulation of symptoms over time, ranging from fatigue and weakness to difficulty speaking, partial blindness and difficulty walking.
Although researchers have already suspected that the virus is responsible for some cases of multiple sclerosis, it was difficult to prove it for a simple reason: more than ninety percent of the world’s citizens carry the virus. This means going through the medical data of a huge number of people to find out if the few who have not been infected with the virus are at a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis.
In a recent study, researchers reviewed the medical records of ten million soldiers in the United States military. All of these soldiers undergo regular blood tests that are kept refrigerated so that they can be examined at a later stage and identified if they contain the Epstein-Barr virus.
Of all the soldiers, only about five percent did not carry the virus when they were first tested. Of all the ten million, nearly a thousand – 955 – developed multiple sclerosis later in life. And now for the big finding: Of all the nearly 1,000 MS patients, only one did not carry the virus. Several dozen of them did not carry the virus when they were first tested, but were later infected with it, before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Those with a keen eye must have noticed that infection with the Epstein-Barr virus does not necessarily cause the development of multiple sclerosis. In fact, the chance of a carrier of the virus developing the disease is a little less than one in ten thousand. This is not an unusual phenomenon. Other viruses also cause severe side effects with a relatively low frequency: for example, only a small proportion of those infected with the polio virus develop permanent disability, similar to the fact that only a few of those infected with the corona virus find their way to the hospital. Why? It is not clear.
Despite our lack of understanding about the exact mechanism by which the virus causes multiple sclerosis, and despite the fact that the disease is relatively rare, this is evidence with enormous weight regarding the connection between it and the Epstein-Barr virus. In fact, it implies that almost all cases of multiple sclerosis in the world are caused as a result of infection with the virus. This means that if we succeed in finding a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus, we will also find a solution to a disease that makes the lives of almost 2.5 million people worldwide miserable. And as written in the review of the study –
“Now that the primary trigger for multiple sclerosis has been identified, it may be possible to eradicate the disease.” [2]
The coveted eradication will not come in the next year or two, but we may approach it well ahead of expectations, mainly due to the dizzying success of mRNA vaccines in the past year. Moderna and Pfizer were the first pharma companies to produce successful mRNA vaccines. Now Modern has announced – again, right in early 2022 – that it has begun testing the mRNA vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus in humans [3]. It is no exaggeration to say that if the trials are successful, then MS will become a thing of the past – the kind of shocking stories that our future children will have a hard time believing were possible before they were born.
Last but not least, I promised a few words about the corona virus. The fact that the Epstein-Barr virus causes multiple sclerosis – even if only very rarely – underscores once again how difficult it is for us to understand the full effects of viruses on the body. This is all the more true for a new virus we have never encountered before. That is, the corona virus.
There is no need to go into horror scenarios regarding the possible long-term impact of the corona. Even if the infection with the virus causes only a percentage of the patient to develop unusual symptoms years after infection, the medical books will benefit from the addition of a new disease on a scale at least as extensive as that of multiple sclerosis.
What’s my point? Do not get infected with the virus. There is a thought today in Israel and around the world that “we are all infected.” This is not unreasonable (in general), but there is also no reason to try to be infected intentionally, or not to minimize the chance of being infected where possible. And of course – get vaccinated. The vaccine dramatically reduces the risk of serious illness, and thus also certainly reduces the risk of long-term damage to the body.
But leave the corona for a moment, and let’s return to the main issue: thanks to medical science, we now know the origin of one of the sick evils that disrupts the lives of millions, and soon we will also be able to deal with it effectively. And after that – the sky is the limit. Medical science may still be advancing slowly, but the pace of discovery and answer development is only growing. I would not be surprised if by the end of the century – and in my opinion long before that – we succeed in eradicating much of the metabolic and genetic diseases that have plagued humanity since time immemorial.
More on the subject on the Knowledge website: