Pringle Lecture
'Opportunities and Challenges in MS: Environment Factors and Potential Therapies'
Watch the lecture
Professor Michael Hutchinson, Consultant Neurologist in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, gave a lecture on current research in environmental factors in MS and new emerging therapies. The lecture took place in the D4 Hotel (formerly the Berkeley Court), Dublin at 7pm on World MS Day, Wednesday 26th May. The lecture will be available to view online, after World MS Day.
Olga Estridge, MS Ireland Services Manager, Professor Michael Hutchinson and Eithne Fitzgerald, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, National Disability Authority
Professor Michael Hutchinson, Consultant Neurologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital and Newman Clinical Research Professor, University College Dublin.
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The Lecture: The lecture in honour of the founder of Multiple Sclerosis Ireland will deal with exciting developments in MS research concentrating on our increased understanding of the role of the environment. MS is becoming more common particularly in women. Although genes play a role in the susceptibility to MS, it is clear that environmental factors are more significant in its propagation and probably responsible for the increased prevalence of the disease. Viruses, notably the Epstein-Barr virus, have been implicated but there is increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is the major environmental factor in promoting the inflammatory process causing MS. A major multi-centre study addressing the effect of high dose vitamin D in MS is urgently required and will be described.
We have entered an era of new effective therapies for MS, these will be discussed. The challenge for medicine will be to ensure that these therapies are delivered to benefit people with MS. In Ireland by combining the energy of people with MS, MS Ireland and health professionals we can contribute significantly to the world-wide fight against this disease.
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The Lecturer: Michael Hutchinson is Consultant Neurologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital and Newman Clinical Research Professor, University College Dublin. He is on the editorial boards of 'Multiple Sclerosis' and 'The International MS Journal'. He devised and with Christian Confavreux, organised the pivotal study of the effects of pregnancy in MS published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1998. He was on the Medical Advisory Board of the AFFIRM study of natalizumab in relapsing multiple sclerosis and presently is on the medical board of the BG00012 study in relapsing multiple sclerosis. He is a referee for a number of Neurology journals and has over 170 publications on a variety of topics including multiple sclerosis, dystonia and hereditary spastic paraplegia.
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