This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (7)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Immunologic Disorders  • Neurology  • Herpes  • Alert me on articles by topic

Donald H. Gilden, MD

JAMA. 2001;286:3127-3129.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease of humans. In the United States alone, the prevalence is 250 000 to 350 000 cases.¹ Based on data accumulated in 1994, the annual cost was estimated at more than $34 000 per person, translating into a conservative estimate of a national annual cost of $6.8 billion and a total lifetime cost per case of $2.2 million.² Most MS patients are young. Disease usually begins between ages 15 and 45 years and has a relapsing-remitting course, although a substantial proportion of patients develop chronic progressive disease.

The pathologic hallmark of MS is the plaque, an area of white matter demyelination often accompanied by inflammation. The inflammatory infiltrates are composed of T lymphocytes, some B cells and plasma cells, and activated macrophages or microglial cells.³ Although it is generally believed that inflammation is an obligatory and possibly primary feature of demyelination . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Departments of Neurology and Microbiology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver.

RELATED ARTICLE

Epstein-Barr Virus Antibodies and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis: A Prospective Study
Alberto Ascherio, Kassandra L. Munger, Evelyne T. Lennette, Donna Spiegelman, Miguel A. Hernán, Michael J. Olek, Susan E. Hankinson, and David J. Hunter
JAMA. 2001;286(24):3083-3088.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Acinetobacter Immune Responses in Multiple Sclerosis: Etiopathogenetic Role and Its Possible Use as a Diagnostic Marker
Ebringer et al.
Arch Neurol 2005;62:33-36.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

An altered immune response to Epstein-Barr virus in multiple sclerosis: A prospective study
Sundstrom et al.
Neurology 2004;62:2277-2282.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Vaccinations and Risk of Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases in Adults
DeStefano et al.
Arch Neurol 2003;60:504-509.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Is Multiple Sclerosis Linked to EBV?
JWatch Infect. Diseases 2002;2002:7-7.
FULL TEXT