First, thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
I'll get to the point, MS is an autoimmune disease that for 25 years has not been cured under the THEORY that the immune system is attacking the myelin sheath around your nerves. However, no ONE factor that causes your immune system to become overactive has ever been found. Current, drugs do not halt progression of the disease. I think it is time for some other THEORIES to be thrown into the ring of possibility. I think that it is quite possible that this autoimmune disease is a vitamin ABSORPTION problem.

Lets look at some data
1.) Estriol(good estrogen) seems to be helping SOME women with MS. They do NOT know WHY?? http://www.sltrib.com/health/ci_8872392

2a.) High Dose Naltrexone has been used for heroin addicts by taking away the high you get from the heroin in HIGH levels 50mg. However, Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) was studied by Penn State University on Crohn's disease. Patients did not have any adverse blood workups but IMPROVED by 89%.
http://live.psu.edu/story/17985

2b.) An Penn State is also studied LDN on mice with disease like MS with spectacular results per Ian one of the researchers (publication coming out in Montreal this fall 2008). NO one knows WHY???

3a.) Government study shows that MS and RA are aged' or weak immune system NOT an OVER active one.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16126966?dopt=Abstract

3b.) Mayo 2000 study on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and NIAH 2004 study of RA both point to the fact that the immune system is prematurely aged and that current immune inhibitor theory may have missed the boat per the 2000 study. I have links on these if you can't find them.
http://www.niams.nih.gov/News_and_Events/Spotlight_on_Research/2004/ra_marker.asp

4.) Many suffer from what they callbrain fog where you retain long term memory but their short term memory is shot. Sounds like the initial signs of dementia or Alzheimers.

5.)Many who have MS have other disease processes. I have communicated with a number of people that say they had these problems before they were diagnosed with MS. This would include but is not limited to:
4a.) Pernicious anemia which is a B12 and or Folate deficiency, see link below about study where P anemia is caused by lack of Intrinsic factor or receptor problem.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6183723/description.html

5b.) Anemia deficiency of iron or folic acid.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-anemia-basics?page=2

5c.) Osteoporosis which is due to lack of calcium, phosphorus OR vitamin D. Steriods can reduce absorption of B12 and vitamin D. However, many like my husband have low vitamin D levels even though he has only had steriods twice... over two and a half years ago. Why does he still have vitamin D levels that boarder on deficient even after taking 1400 IU of Vitamin D per day??
http://www.disaboom.com/Health/multiplesclerosis/Research/osteoporosis-and-other-hidden-diseases-in-ms-part-one.aspx

4d.) Muscle twitches that even in healthy people can be caused by vitamin deficiencies such as calcium or vitamin D.
http://www.doctorslounge.com/neurology/forums/backup/topic-861.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/722004/muscle-disease/58895/Vitamin-D-deficiency

4e.) Vitamin D deficiency
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/eto/content/eto_5_3x_vitamin_d.asp?sitearea=eto
Latitudes further away from the equator do not get much UV light through earth's atmosphere in the winter months. This can be a problem for many people who live in the northern US and Canada and don't take in much vitamin D in foods.
So sun is a factor in getting vitamin D but not the only one since you have to eat and absorb these nutrients.
Might this explain why MS is more prevalent in northern climates??
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9316607
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/60762.html


4f.) B12 deficiency for some unknown reason. B12 is required for DNA and myelin synthesis. So if you have an ABSORPTION problem with this vitamin or once in your body you can not break it down into one of 2 necessary coenzymes you can NOT repair myelin. IF you are deficient enough in B12 at the cell level (level beyond blood) it damages the myelin all on it's own.
http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitaminb12.html

Knowing all of this lets re-approach the above data.
1.) Per the University of Utah Physiology department Estriol is a requirement for B12 absorption.

2.) LDN was studied by Penn State University on Crohn's disease. Patients did not have any adverse blood workups but IMPROVED by 89%. Repairing the GI track is key to better ABSORPTION of ALL vitamins.
Per below link 75% of immune system is in the gut seems like this might not be a bad place to investigate further to find out if it is a major role in MS. http://www.townsendletter.com/Nov2004/womenhealth1104.htm

3.) IF you get hardly any B12 at all then you will steadily lose function because the shear lack of this vitamin does damage to your nerves and thins the myelin. It would be easily damaged. If you are getting some B12 you might be able to get by until an outside agent such as a cold bug comes and does damage to your body, which at this point you can not repair. Or the battles between you immune system attacking said agents do damage. This gives a plausible explanation to WHY some people are remitting, relapsing while others are primary/secondary progressive. I mean if you have a government study that says MS is a prematurely aged immune system could that not be due to malnutrition at the cell level? If meth addicts can age the outside of their bodies (lose of teeth, hair and bad skin) with 2-3 years of not eating what would a vitamin deficiency do to your insides after 20-30 years??

4.)The below article is entitled 'Ties Vitamin B12 And Folate Deficiencies With Alzheimer's Disease Another symptom that may very well have something to do with vitamin deficiency. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/05/010508083559.htm

5.) Seems like many with MS have other disease processes that are due to vitamin deficiencies. So I do not believe it takes that great a leap to think MS has an absorption problem as part of its root cause. In this theory different people will have different break(s) in their absorption chain (see absorption flowcharts). This might be why no ONE factor has been found to cause MS. This would include a viral or bacterial agent. There won't just be one cause. It could be any one break in the processes it takes to absorb key nutrients like vitamin B12 and/ or vitamin D.

THIS THEORY explains many things that the current theory has NO reason for after decades of research..
If you found this theory thought provoking then please let me investigate it further with diagnostic blood tests.
Sincerely,
Your NAME