Philip Anthony McMillan
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK
Title: Dementia is a disease of the ependymal layer: Novel theory from looking at cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis.
Biography
Biography: Philip Anthony McMillan
Abstract
The intricacies of dementia are explored in relation to varied studies on brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis and used to delineate the primary pathology of the latter.
The theory examines the high frequency of cognitive impairment (Jongen 2012) in Multiple Sclerosis and its early manifestation during the disease. The fact that there is associated brain atrophy cannot be explained by the degree of damage to neurons. (Carlos 2015) noted a 5 to 10 times greater rate of atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis.
The cognitive changes with Multiple Sclerosis are then correlated embryologically to the subependymal zone (Kazanis 2009) explaining the pathology of brain atrophy and why we have not made more progress through research.
Our understanding of the blood CSF barrier and the brain CSF interaction is poorly understood and probably holds the key to the symptoms of dementia (Erikson 2013). This interaction between the CSF and brain interstitial space is coordinated by the ependymal and subependymal zone of the brain.
This is a novel concept that will aim to explain the links of all forms of dementia, as well as directing fertile areas for research.