The first person I ever know who had MS was my friend Molly Frederick. She and I "came up", as it were, as disabled folks together, just learning what it was like to have a disability, to accept it, adjust to it, admit it even. We understood, as very few people did in our lives at that time, about the suddenness of an exacerbation (for her) or a sudden onset of pain (me) and learned about things like patience, like accessible bathrooms, like how to tell your disappointed date you couldn't go out that night, even though you were "fine" a few hours before. She educated me in so many ways; I hope I was a good friend to her and that she got stuff from me too.

My friend Regina had MS that was mostly in remission when i knew her but we still had tons to talk about, both in and out of disability. I knew these women when I worked at CIL in Berkeley. I remember arguing with Regina to get a handicapped parking permit. "Regina", I said, "if you're having a good day you don't have to use it." Oh, she said. Apparently that hadn't occured to her. Snort. When Regina got pregnant, well, her symptoms went away. We were both fascinated and amazed at what your body could do when it had a mind to do it.

That was 30 years ago. I know several other people with MS. It is a disease, condition, syndrome with a mind of its own that affects everyone so differently . This may all be old news to all of you. But there's a reason why I'm talking about MS tonight. A big one.

Go here please: http://bit.ly/uUn5tE. This is an article which is amazing, astonishing. The entire foundation of what we know about MS may be changing. This post, by Nicola Griffith (who lives with MS)is simply amazing news. Read it, read it, read it. The actual article will be released on Friday, but Nicola does a great job explaining what is going on.

One thing that has long been an issue about MS is how much more common it is in the "developed" world, and how rare it is in the Third World. I've no idea yet, having not read the details and taken this all in, whether this explains it but oh, this is fuck-all astonishing news. And yes, it may explain much. I remember Molly telling me about her reactions to everything from certain foods, to weather. So weird.

A major catch about MS has been that without knowing WHAT causes it (as we know about so many other diseases and conditions), it's pretty impossible to go after it, impossible to stop, cure, even lessen. The "immune system" links have long been promising - so we all thought - and it was always held that if we can unlock cancer OR RA or lupus OR MS, we might have a better, clearer shot at them all. And now this.

Please pass this on. If it's not relevant to you and yours, someone a third or fourth degree of separation from you will want to know. Even from a scientific POV.

And I will note for the gods of serendipity and circumstance how amused and keen I am on the fact that the story is coming out of - of all places - John Jay School of Criminal Justice. While no, that was not my graduate program (I went to SUNY Albany) and I'm not sure how exactly this connects (I have to read more), I am trilled that the CrimJ universe had something to do with this. It's a small world, ya know.

More later.