A CONTROVERSIAL new theory that doctors have failed to cure multiple sclerosis (MS) because they are treating the wrong disease has split medical opinion.

Neurologists at Glasgow University claim conventional wisdom about MS is based on a different condition altogether, which explains why no cure has been found for the disease.

MS affects 85,000 people in Britain and is the most common disabling nerve disorder among young adults.

Professor Peter Behan and Dr Abhijit Chaudhuri, who worked with Dr Bart Roep, from Leiden in the Netherlands, believe the prevailing century-old view that MS is caused by immune cells attacking a protein that insulates nerves is wrong.

They claim instead that MS is caused by support cells called astrocytes malfunctioning, possibly due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

The researchers said animal experiments in the late 19th century which underpin the accepted auto-immune theory were critically flawed.

They claim the scientists involved had wrongly believed they had induced an "animal model" of multiple sclerosis, when the two conditions were actually very different.

Prof Behan said: "There are huge differences and they've been skipped over."

He said the so-called animal version of MS either kills or permanently disables animals, while MS "comes and goes" and there are also big differences in the level of inflammation.

Despite this, almost all MS treatments have been based on the animal version.

Dr Behan said: "Not a single human has been cured using these approaches."

The research, which is reported in New Scientist magazine, will be published in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh next week.

Some doctors have backed the claims but others are vehemently opposed.

Dr Israel Steiner, a neurologist at the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, said the animal model had blocked effective progress for decades. He said: "I definitely believe it's high time to reconsider the entire field. It has not led us into understanding the disease or to a better therapy for patients."

However, other scientists dismissed the research.

Dr Stephen Reingold, the vice-president of research at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in New York, said: "It's presented as a comprehensive review but is highly selective."

He admitted that none of the available treatments for MS provided cures, but said some provided relative benefits.

Dr Charles Poser, of Harvard Medical School, in Boston, said the study failed to acknowledge the exact match between the damage in people with MS and that in marmoset monkeys with the animal version.

L'articolo èstato pubblicato su The Scotsman newspaper da Alistair Dalton, la loro corrispondente scientifica.