Tehran to host int’l congress on MS

The 7th International congress of multiple sclerosis (MS) will be held at Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex in Tehran on November 4.

The two-day event will bring together domestic and world-renowned experts on basic and clinical research, and offer the latest advances in treatment of multiple sclerosis.

MS is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms.

Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females.

MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin.

In MS, the body’s own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals.