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American Morning
House Call: MS Test
Aired July 11, 2003 - 09:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More than 2.5 million people worldwide suffer from MS, 400,000 in this country alone. There is no cure. But early diagnosis certainly might be the key in fighting it.
Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta back with us now to tell us about a new test that may predict MS.
Good news here, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be, Bill.
It's a very unpredictable disease. Very hard to tell who is going to develop MS. Typical pattern, some may have a numb arm or a little bit of blurry vision for a bit. Is that going to turn into MS? That's a question that's plagued doctors and neurologists for quite some time.
Just a little bit of background real quick by way of an animation to show what really happens with MS. Again, if you think about the nerves with the little coating around it. That coating much like the coating on a wire, allows nerves to actually transmit their signal. If that coating gets damaged, then the signal cannot travel as fast or as well. That can lead to the symptoms of MS. Again, things like a numb arm, blurry vision, even more significant symptoms, as many of us have seen.
Some of the symptoms of MS, you can take a look there, fatigue, pain cognitive problems, weakness, also, again, the blurry vision, numbness, heat sensitivity and dizziness.
Bill, as you mentioned, a new test out there. Bill, here's the key. If someone comes to the doctor's office with some vague symptoms, not really sure what that mean, could it be a stroke or a tumor, or could it be something else? Well, it's been really hard to figure that out sometimes once a stroke is ruled out. Now scientists have come up with a blood test in Austria after looking at 103 patients.
What they've found is this blood test, look at this graphic -- a blood test that basically shows if you have any neurological symptoms or MRI abnormalities -- that's some abnormalities on an MRI scan -- you may have what are known as these positive antibodies in the blood test. So they actually do a blood test on the people who have these symptoms, and show that within seven months, people who have a more positive blood test are more likely to develop MS. Could be important news, Bill. Hard to say at this point. It's obviously needs to be done on larger numbers than 103 patients -- Bill. HEMMER: Indeed you're right. Basic question for you -- what causes MS, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's a good question, actually. And it's really not known for sure. You saw the animation there showing that the coating around these nerves gets damaged for some reason. That's what we know happens. But as to why it happens exactly, a little less clear. That's something obviously researchers working on as well -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hope springs eternal for a lot of folks, 400,000 in this country alone. Thank you, Sanjay.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 11, 2003 - 09:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: More than 2.5 million people worldwide suffer from MS, 400,000 in this country alone. There is no cure. But early diagnosis certainly might be the key in fighting it.
Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta back with us now to tell us about a new test that may predict MS.
Good news here, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be, Bill.
It's a very unpredictable disease. Very hard to tell who is going to develop MS. Typical pattern, some may have a numb arm or a little bit of blurry vision for a bit. Is that going to turn into MS? That's a question that's plagued doctors and neurologists for quite some time.
Just a little bit of background real quick by way of an animation to show what really happens with MS. Again, if you think about the nerves with the little coating around it. That coating much like the coating on a wire, allows nerves to actually transmit their signal. If that coating gets damaged, then the signal cannot travel as fast or as well. That can lead to the symptoms of MS. Again, things like a numb arm, blurry vision, even more significant symptoms, as many of us have seen.
Some of the symptoms of MS, you can take a look there, fatigue, pain cognitive problems, weakness, also, again, the blurry vision, numbness, heat sensitivity and dizziness.
Bill, as you mentioned, a new test out there. Bill, here's the key. If someone comes to the doctor's office with some vague symptoms, not really sure what that mean, could it be a stroke or a tumor, or could it be something else? Well, it's been really hard to figure that out sometimes once a stroke is ruled out. Now scientists have come up with a blood test in Austria after looking at 103 patients.
What they've found is this blood test, look at this graphic -- a blood test that basically shows if you have any neurological symptoms or MRI abnormalities -- that's some abnormalities on an MRI scan -- you may have what are known as these positive antibodies in the blood test. So they actually do a blood test on the people who have these symptoms, and show that within seven months, people who have a more positive blood test are more likely to develop MS. Could be important news, Bill. Hard to say at this point. It's obviously needs to be done on larger numbers than 103 patients -- Bill. HEMMER: Indeed you're right. Basic question for you -- what causes MS, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's a good question, actually. And it's really not known for sure. You saw the animation there showing that the coating around these nerves gets damaged for some reason. That's what we know happens. But as to why it happens exactly, a little less clear. That's something obviously researchers working on as well -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hope springs eternal for a lot of folks, 400,000 in this country alone. Thank you, Sanjay.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
