How does NMO Differ from MS? The Discovery of NMO IgG
Sean Pittock: At Mayo clinic, we’ve had an interest in NMO for about the last 10 years. The discovery of NMO-IgG and the concept that the target antigen in NMO…
Sean Pittock: At Mayo clinic, we’ve had an interest in NMO for about the last 10 years. The discovery of NMO-IgG and the concept that the target antigen in NMO…
Brian Weinshenker, MD: With neuromyelitis optica, the main disability that occurs, occurs as a result of attacks. It’s different than MS. MS, the attacks tend to be mild. Patients are…
Michael Levy, MD: The power of an embryonic STEM cell is that it’s this completely undifferentiated STEM cell that can turn into whatever you want to turn it into, if…
Benjamin Greenberg: Our US healthcare system is great in a lot of respects and unfortunately throws up a lot of obstacles to care. One of the things where it’s an…
Brian Weinshenker: Why do some patients recover well and others not recover from attacks? Bottom line is that we don’t know. Ultimately when nerves are killed, that leads to permanent…
Brian Weinshenker: Well, the two major groups we talk about are monophasic, and this does seem to be a real thing where patients get optic neuritis typically in both eyes…
Sean Pittock, MD: Currently, we need much better drug studies, even if you just take, for example, the currently used drugs. Sean Pittock, MD: I’ll just give you very briefly,…
Brian Weinshenker: About 25% of patients with neuromyelitis optica have other autoimmune diseases. We’ve seen almost every autoimmune disease you can imagine. The most common tend to be Lupus and…
Benjamin M. Greenberg: It’s amazing when dealing with rare disorders. The first response is always, “What is that?” Because nobody has heard of these conditions and patients feel like they’re…
Brian Weinshenker: What is happening when a patient starts having symptoms, say for example in their eye, actually typically with optic neuritis, although it’s variable, it’s usually the center part…
Brian Weinshenker: The pain you’re describing there, we call neurogenic pain, or pain from the nervous system. The way I explain it to patients is, the brain likes to get…
Interviewer: Victoria Jackson, you’re a great entrepreneur. You began with your… working, I gather, in a cosmetics department before you became a cosmetics entrepreneur. And one of the things that…