Independent Reasoning, Not Prayer or Groupthink, Guides Fight Against Ravages of MS

A new class of drugs shows promising signs of reversing the damage of the frightful disease multiple sclerosis (MS), reports Michael Booth for the Denver Post. New drugs including Gilenya and Tysabri are proving increasingly effective in treating the disease.

The web page for Tysabri describes the basics of how MS functions and how the drug may help counteract it:

MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. . . . In patients with MS, white blood cells, an important part of the immune system, move from the blood circulation into the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal chord. . . . Once in the brain, these white blood cells can attack nerve cells, stripping away the layer of insulation known as the Myelin Sheath. . . . Although Tysabri’s exact method of action is not fully understood, one of the ways that it may work against MS is by . . . [preventing] white blood cells from crossing the blood-brain barrier. Tysabri may also have additional effects within the brain and central nervous system, helping to block other processes that increase inflammation and lead to nerve damage.

It is worth noting that, contrary to the views of religionists and socialists, researchers make such progress in fighting disease, not by praying to a “deity” or channeling the “collective consciousness,” but by using their independent reasoning minds to investigate the facts of reality. It is also worth noting that their doing so makes them moral heroes.

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Related:

• Herman Boerhaave: The Nearly Forgotten Father of Modern Medicine
• The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450, 2nd ed. by David C. Lindberg
• The Real Key to Fixing Science Education

Image: iStockPhoto

About Ari Armstrong

Ari Armstrong blogs at AriArmstrong.com, and he has written for publications including the Denver Post and Complete Colorado. He is the author of Values of Harry Potter: Lessons for Muggles, a book exploring the heroic fight for life-promoting values in the Potter novels.

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