Really, it’s all about the cash for medical researchers. If they can get some sustained funding then they don’t have to spend all their time applying for grants. They can actually do the science - that could one day benefit us all.
So, cheers to the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. It has awarded 39 million dollars to 41 health researchers in the province.
One of those researchers is Shalina Ousman. She’s looking into multiple scleroris and how the body might be able to use it’s own healing mechanisms to fight the disease.
She says, “Every time the body encounters an injury – a bruise, a cut – your body mounts normal healing mechanisms so your cut will seal. And so our hypothesis is in MS there must be healing mechanisms that are in place, but are obviously not enough to overcome the injury – people still have MS. So what the lab is trying to indentify is what are the natural healing mechanisms in MS, why are they unable to overcome the injury of MS and can we in some way harness and boost this activity of these healing mechanisms to overcome the MS disease.”
Ousman’s research could one day lead to new treatment options for multiple sclerosis.
This is so exciting for me! I have had MS for 12 years now and at this point don’t qualify for any studies as I am not newly diagnosed. This gives me hope that something can come out of this new research at my stage. My neurologist is out of the MS Clinic at the Foothills Hospital so I’m sure he is well aware of this information. I will be going to see Dr. Ousman on the 5th of May to hear what she has to say about the new research.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:41 pmI’m so excited!!!
Diane