The #HeartBrainConnection is real. #MS has a vascular component. London researchers look at how cerebral vessel disease impacts MS progression, and say the mechanisms are "unclear" because few studies have addressed vascular risk factors. Well, the ISNVD is changing that. Happy 2017. Onward.
"Venule and endothelium abnormalities have been documented in MS but the role of arterioles and of other neurovascular unit structures, such as the pericyte, have not been explored. Vascular risk factors (VRF) have recently been associated with faster progression in MS though the mechanisms are unclear since very few studies have addressed the impact of VRF and SVD on MS imaging and pathology outcomes."

Brain Pathol. 2016 Nov 19. doi: 10.1111/bpa.12460. [Epub ahead of print] Review