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       #Post#: 1339--------------------------------------------------
       Brain donation may be helping to understand PML
       By: agate Date: August 24, 2016, 7:00 pm
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       This story ran on the Upper Michigan TV station WLUC, August
       24--about a couple whose daughter died at 42 of complications of
       MS that are later described as PML. The couple donated their
       daughter's brain to the NIH and apparently that brain has helped
       in the effort to understand more about PML.
       [quote]Brain donation leads to medical breakthrough
       By Harri Leigh
       HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) -- "Michele, I love you and miss you so
       much," Elaine Loughead said.
       It has been nearly four months since Elaine Loughead said
       goodbye to her daughter. Forty-two-year-old Michele Loughead
       died of complications related to multiple sclerosis on May 3.
       It has been nearly four months since she said goodbye to her
       daughter. Forty-two-year-old Michele Loughead died of
       complications related to multiple sclerosis on May 3.
       "She did a lot in her life," Michele's dad, Mike Loughead, said.
       "She was a professor at Michigan Tech. She was a CPA. She had a
       degree in philosophy."
       Even after her death, Michele's brain is helping to advance
       medical science. She donated it to the National Institutes of
       Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Researchers there found
       patterns in her brain that help explain symptoms seen in other
       patients. In a letter to the Lougheads, they said partially
       thanks to Michele's brain, they finally understand more about
       the development of the infection that ultimately killed her,
       progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).
       "It restores my faith in the medical field that they're
       seriously looking at what causes the PML," Mike said.
       Some researchers have said it is caused by Tysabri, the
       immunosuppressant drug Michele was taking for the MS. It can
       leave the body vulnerable to certain infections, including the
       virus that causes PML.
       Now, Michele's parents are crusading to raise awareness about
       PML and Tysabri. Patients taking Tysabri have between a less
       than one in 1,000 chance to 12 in 1,000 chance of developing
       PML, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The Lougheads
       said patients should know the drug's dangers. In May, the U.S.
       Food and Drug Administration added a warning to the Tysabri
       label that the drug can increase the chance of developing PML.
       "I'm hoping that it also helps doctors to [explain] even more
       diligently the side effects of the drug to people that have MS,"
       Mike said.
       Elaine kept Michelle's memory alive by donating her hair to
       Locks of Love on August 23.
       "My goal at that time was that my daughter would die
       peacefully," she said. "She would not die of grand mal seizures
       and she would not die from aspiration. Now, my goal in life is
       to honor my daughter Michele and to help others."
       Elaine also said she was writing a book, to be called The Legal
       Lethal Drug, about Michele's experience.[/quote]
       The article can be seen here
  HTML http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Brain-donation-leads-to-medical-breakthrough-391097871.html.
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