MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Neurons are the agents of signalling in our bodies, but they don’t work alone. Axons, which carry signals away from the neuron’s cell body, are coated in a sheaf of myelin. Myelin sheaves are produced in the central nervous system by cells called oligodendrocytes, enabling myelin’s function of protecting and facilitating nerve conductivity. In multiple sclerosis, an abnormal immune response within the central nervous system strips away the protective myelin and causes lots of nerve scarring, or sclerosis, which gives the disease its name. Research efforts are underway to treat the disease by encouraging myelin regeneration.