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Spokesperson Questionnaire
We are looking for people with MS to help us...
Multiple Sclerosis Ireland wants to create more awareness of MS in Ireland. We want the public to know more about living with MS and the services of MS Ireland.
All across Ireland we are looking for people who are willing to speak to the media or small public events about their experiences of living with MS.
So we can learn a little bit more about you, please fill in our questionnaire here
All our spokespeople will receive training and support. Your details will not be given to any third party without your consent.
If you have any queries, please contact Taragh on (01) 678 1600 or email taraghd@ms-society.ie
Break down barriers...
European Commission seeks public input on measures to break down barriers to disabled people.
Personal Assistants Policy
The Disability Federation of Ireland is looking for feedback on a new policy they are helping to create.
Gilenya Reviewed By European Medicines Agency
Heart problems after the first dose prompt a review
Our Patron
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.
End of an Era
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.
Rare Gene links Vitamin D and MS
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.