Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people worldwide, yet an effective treatment for the condition has not yet been discovered by researchers. A quarter of MS patients present with early symptoms in the eye, which tend to worsen over time. In recent developments, researchers have identified a common condition that is believed to increase the risk of MS by 32 times.

MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that presents with widespread symptoms. The causes of this condition have been investigated for decades, yet few studies have managed to yield conclusive results. Now, a large-scale study on US military personnel indicates that a highly contagious kissing disease can trigger MS. Researchers hope the findings could pave the way for effective treatments, which could substantially eradicate the condition that currently afflicts 100,000 people in the UK.



Multiple sclerosis occurs when the body's immune system learns to attack its own nerve fibers in the same way it learns to attack invading pathogens.

The attack usually affects the fatty myelin coating that wraps nerves located in the brain and spinal cord, causing a cascade of neurological complications.

Without this lipid-dense chemical, signals traveling between nerves slow down or fail to reach them.

This pattern of mis-learning has long confounded researchers, with no causality established.

But Harvard scientists claim to have found 'compelling evidence' for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

EBV, also known as Kissing's disease, is a member of the herpes family that affects nine out of ten people in their lifetime.

Study author Professor Alberto Escherio said: "The hypothesis that EBV causes MS has been investigated for many years by our group and others.

"But this is the first study to provide compelling evidence of causation.