Sympathy for the devil

Way back when I was first diagnosed - almost 16 years ago now - I read a lot about MS research and break-throughs and promising new treatments.

For a newbie, it was all a bit overwhelming and I'd struggle to tell you now which of the things I read about have come to pass, which ran out of funding and which have been consigned to the MS dustbin.

But today being the day it is (Halloween, not potentially-but-actually-not-really-Brexit-Day) I have been thinking about one of those early bits of reading that has stuck in my mind.

This was the strangely charming 2006 study which identified a pair of "angel and devil" genes which fight to make an MS patient healthy or ill.

The research explained that one of the genes thought to be responsible for MS is one called DR2b.
And in a plot twist worthy of the best Hammer horrors (or American soap operas), scientists discovered that this gene is the "evil twin" in a pair of DR2 genes.

Evil, moustache-twirling DR2b exacerbates MS symptoms, but its partner gene - DR2a - heroically tries to dampen them down and counteract DR2b's effects.

At the time, the scientists leading the research stated: "The DR2b gene clearly tells the immune system to go hard into battle against the body's own tissue, so it starts to work in a way that actually damages the person.

"For this reason, natural selection has eliminated the gene on its own, but allowed it to be inherited only when it is accompanied by another gene (DR2a) which tempers its effect."

I have no idea whether research into the angel and devil genes is still going on. The MS Society is funding research into the HLA-DR gene and Vitamin D, but I'm unsure if this is the same gene, or simply a similarly named one.

But I think the study has stuck with me for all this time because of the image it creates. The endless epic battles between a malevolent horned devil and its benevolent haloed companion represent the to-ing and fro-ing of life with MS so well.

And while it's obviously not pleasant to know that I may have a devil lurking within, it's also rather lovely to believe there's an angel looking after me too.

:: Sympathy for the devil by the Rolling Stones