According to some researchers, experts looking for the origins of multiple sclerosis (MS) may have been looking in the wrong place all along. They argue that the terrible disease may be caused by blockages along blood vessels, which physically prevent blood from reaching the brain, thus producing all the effects that the condition has. This idea is currently under investigation at the University of Buffalo, in the United States, where researchers say they were intrigued by the results an Italian scientist obtained while studying the correlation between blood vessel thickness and MS.

The BBC News reports that researcher Dr Paolo Zamboni found that 90 percent of all multiple sclerosis cases he analyzed were caused by narrower than usual veins. The American team says that the results of their colleague are intriguing, and definitely worth investigating. The Italian scientist showed in his work that the restricted blood flow, which results from the damaged circulation pattern, is responsible for starving the human brain of the amounts of oxygenated blood it needs to sustain all of its operations. When this happens, consequences appear, and MS could be one of them, research shows.

In multiple sclerosis, the patients' central nervous system becomes unable to communicate with the rest of the body, or does so erratically, mostly because of demyelination and scarring of the fatty layers of myelin. The latter is the compound that protects the neurons and insulates them. This ability is absolutely necessary in order for the nerve cells to remain able to transmit neural impulses (electric signals), which ensure communications inside the body.

“When I was in medical school, we thought peptic ulcer disease was due to stress. We now know that 80% of cases are due to a bacterial infection. Dr Zivadinov's work may lead to a whole different way of thinking about MS,” says Kaleida Health chief medical officer, scientist Margaret Paroski. She was referring to Dr Robert Zivadino, who is the leader of the UB team that took on the task of recreating Zamboni's work. The researchers may really be on to something here, as evidenced by the fact that patients treated with drugs and techniques that prevent veins from constricting showed a decrease in the intensity and frequency of MS-related symptoms.