How can milk affect multiple sclerosis?

Cow's milk can worsen the course of multiple sclerosis. Researchers from the University of Bonn and Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany came to this conclusion, journal PNAS writes.

Experiments on mice have shown that casein protein in cow's milk can provoke disorders in the outer layer of nerve cells. For this purpose, specialists injected test subjects with casein enhancers, which caused neurological disorders in the animals.

Studying this process under a microscope showed damage to the myelin sheath covering the nerve fibers. The researchers then added the mice's casein antibodies to human brain tissue. They found that they accumulated in the cells responsible for myelin production in the brain.

Scientists believe that multiple sclerosis patients may have developed a casein allergy at some point. When fresh dairy products are consumed, their immune system begins to produce large amounts of casein antibodies, damaging the myelin sheath at the same time. However, milk can only have this effect in patients with multiple sclerosis who are allergic to casein, among other things.

Cow's milk can also increase the risk of multiple sclerosis in healthy people, but only if there is an allergic reaction. Nevertheless, hypersensitivity to casein does not necessarily lead to the development of the disease: other risk factors are also necessary, experts say.

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