Neurologist’s work attracts attention

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33965, 4 October 1975, Page 22

Neurologist’s work attracts attention

Research into multiple sclerosis by a neurologist at the University of Otago has attracted the attention of international scientists. Dr M. Pollock, of the Wellcome Medical Research Institute, presented findings of his two years research to the first meeting of the Peripheral Nerves Society at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, late last month. Results of his studies, which challenged some traditional theories about multiple sclerosis, had a great impact on the 250 delegates, Dr! Pollock said in Dunedin on Monday soon after his return from the United States. He said it had been widely believed that sclerosis sufferers had no abnormalities outside the brain and the spinal cord. The typical abnormality in multiple! sclerosis was considered to be the loss of nerve-insulating material from around the I brain or spinal cord. ABNORMALITIES FOUND However, research at the! Wellcome Institute had[ shown abnormalities in some! of the peripheral nerve; samples taken from 10 j patients in the South Island.

In the past, nerve changes had been attributed to malnourishment and non-specific causes, and although these could be the result of damage

higher in the nervous system, Dr Pollock believes the fundamental attack might not be on the spinal cord or brain. At the meeting in Minnesota he delivered a paper entitled “Peripheral Nerve Changes in Multiple Sclerosis.” Although it was received favourably there were serious criticisms of findings that “were not yet conclusive.” said Dr Pollock. The next stage of research would be to see if peripheralregion nerve changes could be found in patients who had suffered strokes or had paraplegia. Dr Pollock hopes to get a number of patients who have

suffered strokes and take small samples of sensory nerve using the same electron-microscope techniques used for the multiplesclerosis group. Should his research prove conclusive it might be a major breakthrough for sclerosis sufferers, he said. Evidence of nerve changes in peripheral areas such as arms and the ankles might allow the disease to be studied at various stages of its life, and would enable scientists to get to the cause of the disorder. SAMPLES ACCESSIBLE It was possible to take pieces of nerve from outer regions for studying but not samples of insulating material around nerves of the brain or spinal cord. Dr Pollock said he was the only scientist at the meeting who had carefully looked at peripheral nerves of multiplesclerosis, but he now expected strong competition in [the field. The meeting of the Peripheral Nerves Society was combined with the fifth International Congress of Electromyography (the study of electrical function of nerves [and muscles).