MS Ireland is delighted to announce that Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, has accepted our invitation to become our patron. The President will be the sole patron of MS Ireland, succeeding Mary McAleese as the previous patron of the Society.
It is with great sadness that we announce our charity shop in Bray, Co. Wicklow will close its doors for the last time on FRIDAY 23rd of December.
Researchers say a variant gene which reduces vitamin D levels could be directly linked to MS.
News article from BBC News Health
A rare genetic variant which causes reduced levels of vitamin D appears to be directly linked to multiple sclerosis, says an Oxford University study.
UK and Canadian scientists identified the mutated gene in 35 parents of a child with MS and, in each case, the child inherited it.
Researchers say this adds weight to suggestions of a link between vitamin D deficiency and MS.
The study is in Annals of Neurology.
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).
Although the cause of MS is not yet conclusively known, both genetic and environmental factors and their interactions are known to be important.
Oxford University researchers, along with Canadian colleagues at the University of Ottawa, University of British Columbia and McGill University, set out to look for rare genetic changes that could explain strong clustering of MS cases in some families in an existing Canadian study.
They sequenced all the gene-coding regions in the genomes of 43 individuals selected from families with four or more members with MS.
The team compared the DNA changes they found against existing databases, and identified a change in the gene CYP27B1 as being important.
When people inherit two copies of this gene they develop a genetic form of rickets - a disease caused by vitamin D deficiency.
Just one copy of the mutated CYP27B1 gene affects a key enzyme which leads people with it to have lower levels of vitamin D. Read full article here.
We are very excited at MS READaTHON HQ... Only ONE days to go before the 'Great Prize Draw'. Tune in on Thursday, 15th December to RTE 2 Elev8! All lucky winners will be announced on the day :)
Diana Cassidy of the Shiatsu Society of Ireland seen here presents a cheque for €1184 to Patricia and Carmel, MS Ireland, Cork.
Very BIG THANKS to all at Mean Scoil Nua an Leith-Triuigh, Kerry who organised their first ever 'Literacy Week'. Well done guys from everyone at MS READAaTHON H.Q.
CONGRATULATIONS to our two lucky winners, Rachel Douglas and Sue Carroll. They both win a signed copy of "Sally Go Round the Stars” by Sarah Webb & Claire Ranson.
Now, if you want to be in with a chance of winning some MS READaTHON goodies, simply answer the question below and you could win some pretty great books.
Lucinda Creighton TD and Irish International rugby player Jerry Flannery launch MS Ireland's Reach for a Star Campaign
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