UAB Establishes Center For Pediatric-Onset Demyelinating Disease

UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has established a Center for Pediatric-Onset Demyelinating Disease (C-PODD), following action today by the UA System Board of Trustees. Demyelinating diseases are disorders of the central nervous system, affecting the myelin sheaths that support nerve fibers. Multiple sclerosis is the most common form of such diseases.

September 15, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has established a Center for Pediatric-Onset Demyelinating Disease (C-PODD), following action today by the UA System Board of Trustees.

Demyelinating diseases are disorders of the central nervous system, affecting the myelin sheaths that support nerve fibers. Multiple sclerosis is the most common form of such diseases.

Earlier this year, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) designated UAB’s pediatric-onset demyelinating disease clinic as one of six Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence in the country.

“The establishment of this center, coupled with the earlier NMSS recognition, places UAB at the forefront of efforts to better understand these diseases and the effects of early onset on disease progression,” said Jayne M. Ness, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatric neurology and center director.

The center will provide state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary care and support for children, teens and families living with MS and other central nervous system demyelinating diseases.

C-PODD also will build a multi-ethnic research cohort of children and teens from around the country with demyelinating disease. In conjunction with the NMSS and other pediatric MS centers, center researchers will study this patient population with respect to clinical presentation, neuroimaging, laboratory findings, treatment regimens, neurocognitive functioning, quality-of-life measures and long-term functional outcome.

The center also will serve as a resource to provide up-to-date, accurate information about MS and related disorders to patients and families, schools, health care providers, funding agencies, third party payers, the scientific community and the public.

While MS is considered an adult disease, there are 8,000 to 10,000 children who have the ailment, and another 10,000 to 15,000 who have experienced what may be symptoms of MS, according to the NMSS. The disease is more difficult to diagnose in children, and many pediatricians are not familiar with MS. Even when diagnosed, consensus guidelines for treatment exist only in relationship to adult MS, with none for children, largely because there is little information about MS in children.