You hold an MRI result in your hand, whether it’s yours or a loved one’s, and you feel like you’re reading a medical encyclopedia. The terminology is not very clear to a layperson, and the more complex and foreign the description sounds, the more terrifying it usually is. You read: "non-specific MR image, vascular or demyelinating changes." Or: "areas of non-specific vascular demyelination." What is this demyelination? And why "non-specific"?

 

What is demyelination?

The insulation of electrical wires, the "rubber" sheath surrounding the wires, ensures the proper functioning of the installation. Thanks to it, the electric charge does not escape outside the wire, flows along the proper path, and touching the cable by a person does not risk electrocution. This information might be quite obvious to you – so why do I mention it here?

It’s because these cables are reminiscent of information transmission in our brains. Neurons (nerve cells) transmit data through axons in the central nervous system (CNS) or peripheral nervous system (PNS) as electrical signals. Skipping medical terminology and complex descriptions, in a simplified form: axons are like cables and have their own insulation, known as myelin or the myelin sheath.

Just like the insulation of electrical wires, the myelin sheath can also be damaged. This is called demyelination. When myelin (composed of lipids and proteins) is destroyed, the flow of electrical (nerve) impulses between neurons is disrupted. Nerve fiber bundles are close to each other, and when the insulating myelin sheath is damaged, electrical short circuits can occur between them. Moreover, it leads to a slowdown in the rate of information flow in the CNS/PNS – as the information "escapes" through leaks in the myelin.

 

Symptoms of demyelination: what does it lead to?

Myelin damage is identified in MRI results as demyelinating changes. Unfortunately, these are serious in consequences. The disrupted transmission of nerve impulses hinders or prevents the body from performing the "activity" encoded in the given impulse. This could involve memory retention, feeling temperature and pain, as well as movement or speech.

There can be numerous complaints reported by the patient, leading the doctor to suspect myelin sheath damage and order an MRI. Much depends on what the damaged nerve cells are responsible for. Since the central and peripheral nervous systems account for a vast range of body functions, demyelination symptoms are highly varied and not characteristic. Non-specific. Among the most common symptoms are:

• Visual disturbances – including double vision, blurring, or pain when moving the eyeballs, wavy vision.
• Tingling or numbness in the limbs – or both.
• General fatigue.
• Muscle weakness – feeling of loss of physical strength, frequent cramps.
• Balance disorders.
• Frequent infections – sometimes lasting much longer than they should.

And many, many other abnormalities, unfortunately not pointing clearly to a specific disease. More on this in my article Multiple Sclerosis – "Multiple Sclerosis - Correct Diagnosis as a Chance for Cure"

However, questions remain regarding what causes demyelination in the brain, how it develops, and whether there is an effective method to halt and reverse the damage it has caused to the nervous system.

 

What causes demyelination?

The question of what leads to demyelination has been asked for years not only by doctors and scientists but also (or rather: especially) by patients. They are the ones experiencing the daily struggle of living with the effects of so-called demyelinating diseases, wondering: what makes my cables short circuit again???

The problem is that it is still not fully understood, and the extent of current knowledge depends on the specific demyelinating disease. Some are better understood, others less so – medicine is constantly evolving. On one hand, we as patients try to remember this, and on the other: we feel frustration and significant concern. Because if the demyelination process is not yet fully understood by researchers, how can we be sure that the already widely described cases are correctly and comprehensively explained?

 

Where do the most common demyelinating diseases come from?

Neuroborreliosis, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis are just a few of the diseases familiar with myelin damage. Among these, MS is considered the most common demyelinating disease, where the cause is autoimmune: the immune system attacks the proteins that are components of myelin, mistakenly identifying them as enemies. Multiple sclerosis thus falls into diseases where the body destroys itself.

Unfortunately, the causes of demyelination in all diseases have not been detected. As Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska from the Brain Disease Center and the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at GUMed (who studies the mechanisms of myelin damage) indicates, in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, it is still unclear whether the dysfunction of oligodendrocytes (glial cells that form myelin sheaths around axons) causes the disease or the disease leads to their dysfunction.

Here we have the classic question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? And furthermore, we have a significant problem. Since multiple sclerosis is one of the best-known (at least in theory) demyelinating diseases, there is a high risk of its misdiagnosis. Is there myelin damage? Yes. Is myelin damage present in MS? Yes. Do we have a low budget for diagnostics? Yes. So, we end up with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

 

Is it Possible to Treat Demyelination?

Currently, there is no effective drug, no miraculous pill that will regenerate what has been damaged or destroyed over the years within a few days. Our body does not work like that. When we damage our skin, it also takes time for it to return to its original state. The only thing we can do is help our body regenerate skin cells.

Similarly, with demyelination, many doctors claim that it cannot be rebuilt. Fortunately, their numbers are dwindling, and more and more are starting to prescribe agents supporting the myelin regeneration process.

 

Supporting Myelin Regeneration

Are there any studies showing unequivocally that myelin cannot regenerate and we cannot prevent further vascular demyelination? Well, there aren’t any.

Over the years, research on what should be done to support myelin regeneration has been observed.

Example 1: One of the doctors who wondered about the cause of myelin breakdown was Dr. Frederick Robert Klenner. He noticed during studies that animals fed a diet deprived of B vitamins experienced myelin sheath breakdown. The studies on this were published in the medical journal "Archives of Pathology" as early as 1932.

Example 2: Another doctor who focused on the problem of demyelination was Dr. H.T.R. Mount from Canada, who observed patients with multiple sclerosis for nearly 30 years. He administered B vitamins, as well as fat-soluble vitamins A and D. The condition of all patients improved, including the disappearance of symptoms. His results and observations were published in the medical journal "Canadian Medical Association Journal" in 1973.

Example 3: It is also worth returning to the already cited Dr. Aleksandra Rutkowska. She is currently seeking therapies that stimulate myelin sheath regeneration. According to her research (DOI: 10.1186/s12974-017-1025-0), activating the EBI2 receptor (a protein found in B and T lymphocytes) accelerates the myelin regeneration process.

These studies confirm that the demyelination process is not irreversible and that myelin regeneration can be effectively supported. Furthermore, the first two confirm that appropriate supplementation can improve the health condition of a patient with demyelination symptoms.

 

Supplements Supporting Myelin Sheath Regeneration

From 1973 to today, numerous studies and observations have been conducted, indicating that myelin can regenerate. One of the latest studies on treating multiple sclerosis and myelin regeneration was the clinical trials led by Dr. Tourbah, based on high doses of biotin.

In patients receiving appropriate doses of biotin (300 mg), there was significant improvement in disability according to the EDSS scale measuring motor dysfunction. One of the recommended dietary supplements supporting myelin regeneration and nervous system recovery is Revimyelin®, based on my experiences and knowledge – as someone who has struggled with multiple sclerosis for years.

Author: Andy - CEO of Biomelius LTD, who was diagnosed with MS in 2017