The history of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the United States, first called the Society for the Advancement of Multiple Sclerosis Research, is told in one very specific way, in a brochure published on the NMMS page. Their focus is on the immunology of MS.
With remarkable foresight, the very first research grant from what was then called The Society for the Advancement of Multiple Sclerosis Research was awarded to study the immunology of MS—the relationship between the body’s immune system and the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). This 1947 grant went to Dr. Elvin Kabat at Columbia University. He subsequently identified abnormal immunologic proteins in the spinal fluid of people with MS. These proteins appeared in patterns known as oligoclonal bands.
But this is only part of the history. The founding neurologist and first honorary chairman of The Society for the Advancement of Multiple Sclerosis Research is never mentioned by the National MS Society. In fact, this neurologist was responsible for bringing immunology into MS research. He invited Dr. Elvin Kabat to work on MS research with him at Columbia University, and hired this young researcher in 1940. He was responsible for helping select him for the first research grant made by the MS Society.
Who was this neurologist? His name was Dr. Tracy J. Putnam, and he created an animal model of multiple sclerosis by occluding the venous sinus in dogs. He believed MS was a disease of blocked venous blood flow, which created the immune response in the central nervous system.
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