Two new subtypes of MS found in ‘exciting’ breakthrough
Scientists have discovered two new subtypes of multiple sclerosis with the aid of artificial intelligence, paving the way for personalised treatments and better outcomes for patients.Millions of people have the disease globally – but treatments are mostly selected on the basis of symptoms, and may not be effective because they don’t target the underlying biology of the patient.Now, scientists have detected two new biological strands of MS using AI, a simple blood test and MRI scans.Experts said the “exciting” breakthrough could revolutionise treatment of the disease worldwide.In research involving 600 patients, led by University College London (UCL) and Queen Square Analytics, researchers looked at blood levels of a special protein called serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL).
The protein can help indicate levels of nerve cell damage and signal how active the disease is.The sNfL results and scans of the patients’ brains were interpreted by a machine learning model, called SuStaIn.The results, published in medical journal Brain, revealed two distinct types of MS: early sNfL and late sNfL.In the first subtype, patients had high levels of sNfL early on in the disease, with visible damage in a part of the brain called the corpus callosum.They also developed brain lesions quickly.
This type appears to be more aggressive and active, scientists said,In the second subtype, patients showed brain shrinkage in areas like the limbic cortex and deep grey matter before sNfL levels went up,This type seems to be slower, with overt damage occurring later,Researchers say the breakthrough will enable doctors to more precisely understand which patients are at higher risk of different complications, paving the way for more personalised care,The lead author of the study, UCL’s Dr Arman Eshaghi, said: “MS is not one disease and current subtypes fail to describe the underlying tissue changes, which we need to know to treat it.
“By using an AI model combined with a highly available blood marker with MRI, we have been able to show two clear biological patterns of MS for the first time,This will help clinicians understand where a person sits on the disease pathway and who may need closer monitoring or earlier, targeted treatment,”In the future, when the AI tool suggests a patient has early sNfL MS, they could become eligible for higher-efficacy treatments and be monitored more closely, Eshaghi said,In contrast, those with late sNfL may be offered different types of treatments, such as personalised therapies to protect brain cells or neurons,“The novelties will therefore be twofold: to transform clinical and neurological examinations, which have not changed for centuries, with the aid of AI algorithms, and provide personalised treatments based on disease profile.
”Caitlin Astbury, senior research communications manager at the MS Society, a charity, said: “This is an exciting development in our understanding of MS,“This study used machine learning to look at MRI and biomarker data from people with relapsing remitting and secondary progressive MS,By combining this data, they were able to identify two new biological subtypes of MS,“Over recent years, we’ve developed a better understanding of the biology of the condition,But currently, definitions are based on the clinical symptoms a person experiences.
MS is complex, and these categories often don’t accurately reflect what is going on in the body, which can make it difficult to treat effectively,”There are about 20 treatment options for people with relapsing MS and some beginning to emerge for progressive MS, but for many there are no options, Astbury said,“The more we learn about the condition, the more likely we will be able to find treatments that can stop disease progression,“This research adds to growing evidence supporting a move away from the existing descriptors of MS (like ‘relapsing’ and ‘progressive’) and towards terms that reflect the underlying biology of the condition,This could help identify people at an increased risk of progression – and allow people to be offered more personalised treatment.
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Patriots’ Stefon Diggs faces strangulation and assault charges in Massachusetts
New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with a dispute with his former private chef, police said.News of the charges emerged after a court hearing on Tuesday in Dedham, Massachusetts. Diggs is charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.Diggs’s lawyer, David Meier, said in an emailed statement that Diggs “categorically denies these allegations”.Meier said the allegations never occurred, describing them as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated
Travball emerges, athletics surges, Brisbane basks in success: Australia’s biggest sporting moments of 2025
An Ashes-defining intervention, an NRL showstopper, and new hope forced on the AFL are among our writers’ great moments in Australian sports this yearThe highly anticipated Ashes was quickly torn apart by Travis Head’s cameo at the top of the order that has since turned into a much longer stay. The NRL grand final was another scene for an all-time breathtaking display, as the Broncos joined the AFL’s Lions in making Brisbane the epicentre of Australian sport. Here are our writers’ sporting highlights of 2025.It will be a long time before there is an NRL finals campaign like that of Brisbane in 2025. From an unlikely victory over minor premiers Canberra in golden point, through the dramatic second-half turnaround to end Penrith’s dynasty, to the ultimate destination on grand final day
Cameron Green remains Australia’s golden child but the blessing has become a curse | Brendan Foster
Bazball might be dead, or at least on its last legs, but before its demise it appears to have bewitched cricketing prodigy Cameron Green with its high-risk, at times mindless aggression.Some of the young allrounder’s premeditated shots during the Ashes have made England wunderkind Harry Brook look like their unpretentious former opener, Geoff Boycott.In the second Test, Green was promoted to No 5 and powered his way to 45 while belting England’s short-ball barrage to all corners of the Gabba.Even though his regular backing away towards the leg-stump to counter Brydon Carse’s bouncers was becoming a little reckless and predictable, it didn’t matter because Green was striking the ball so cleanly.Then he started telegraphing his attacking philosophy so early that all Carse had to do was aim at the pegs, because despite Green being two metres tall, his outstretched bat was nowhere near the ball when it smashed into his stumps
The Breakdown | ‘There is no ceiling for these players’: Jamaica targeting 2031 Rugby World Cup
Nigerian influence within English rugby union is strong and getting stronger. But could Jamaican rugby, in time, become just as significant?There is no shortage of talent. Jamaica UK Rugby, a club under the umbrella of the Jamaican Rugby Football Union, has 500 members and counting. There are youth sides and international pathways for sevens and 15s and volunteers, on both sides of the Atlantic, working to help their rugby grow.Phil Davis, a London-based youth coach, approached the Jamaican union in 2021 to see if there was a pathway to the 15s game for a promising young prop called Ben Hatfield
Online school and junior tennis: freedom, focus – and a quiet cost
Elite junior tennis players are flocking to online schools. The model offers flexibility and focus – but raises deeper questions about growth, pressure and childhoodIn a major study released recently in Epidemiology, conclusions were drawn – yet again – regarding how shutdowns and online learning were ultimately very damaging to kids’ emotional and mental health (obviously some cohorts of kids were more affected than others with financial security a big part of the calculation). This is no major surprise as parents and students alike weren’t happy with the remote learning environment.Yet despite this general consensus about online schooling not being as healthy as regular school, a new trend has exploded since Covid: the rapid growth of online schooling for tennis players and other athletes. Parents and their junior athletes feel that by being able to play several hours in the day instead of after school it will accelerate their progress in the sport while still leaving room for academics
Five things England must do to make it two Ashes Test wins in a row in Sydney
Keira Knightley may not spring immediately to mind as a source of inspiration for Ben Stokes’s captaincy but her tactics for dealing with the paparazzi at the height of her fame recalled some of Stokes’s early forays with the armband.Knightley recently explained to Graham Norton that she refused to have anyone follow her, so would stand stock still for hours at a time until the photographers got bored or, better, weirded out. “I do think I freaked them out, they were like: ‘I don’t understand what’s happening here.’”When Brydon Carse came out to bat at No 3 in England’s successful chase in Melbourne, it drew gasps from the crowd in the stadium and saw a spike in social media and texts from those watching at home. “That’s not … Is that Brydon Carse?”Carse made only six runs, largely playing like a man at a silent disco who has his headset tuned to thrash metal
Coral Adventurer passengers return with diverging accounts of cruise ship drama
Oasis reunion and Taylor Swift vinyls fuel boom year for UK music industry
The office block where AI ‘doomers’ gather to predict the apocalypse
AI showing signs of self-preservation and humans should be ready to pull plug, says pioneer
Damien Martyn, former Australian Test cricketer, in hospital in induced coma with meningitis
Glorious Gary Anderson revels in his remarkable renaissance