Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of dancing with Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis in an inclusive dance group called ReDiscoverMe (RDM). Methods Participatory... Show morePurpose The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of dancing with Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis in an inclusive dance group called ReDiscoverMe (RDM). Methods Participatory research approaches and interpretative phenomenological analysis were used to make sense of the lived experience captured in interviews and observations. Arthur Frank's conceptual framework on embodied storytelling from his book The Wounded Storyteller was the study's theoretical lens. Themes are both described and represented in images made by an RDM participant. Findings Dancing in a nonjudgmental environment was described by participants as a way to rediscover themselves while continually adapting to living with chronic illness. We interpreted this experience of rediscovery as an active, recursive process involving three "movements": escaping, expanding, and embracing. Through these movements, participants could rise above the self and illness. Conclusions The lived experience of dancing in this group was characterized by transformations of the body, self, and life. Through escaping, expanding, and embracing, participants could more easily embrace the body's contingency, integrate the self and body by becoming dancers, connect with others living with illness, and produce desire through passion. Participants could therefore experience illness as a journey and gain something from the experience. Show less
Nagtegaal, M.A.; Hermann, I.; Weingärtner, S.; Martinez-Heras, E.; Solana, E.; Llufriu, S.; ... ; Bresser, J. de 2023
T2-hyperintense lesions are the key imaging marker of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have shown that the white matter surrounding such lesions is often also affected by MS. Our aim was... Show moreT2-hyperintense lesions are the key imaging marker of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have shown that the white matter surrounding such lesions is often also affected by MS. Our aim was to develop a new method to visualize and quantify the extent of white matter tissue changes in MS based on relaxometry properties.We applied a fast, multi-parametric quantitative MRI approach and used a multi-component MR Fingerprinting (MC-MRF) analysis. We assessed the differences in the MRF component representing prolongedrelaxation time between patients with MS and controls and studied the relation between this component’s volume and structural white matter damage identified on FLAIR MRI scans in patients with MS.A total of 48 MS patients at two different sites and 12 healthy controls were scanned with FLAIR and MRF-EPI MRI scans. MRF scans were analyzed with a joint-sparsity multi-component analysis to obtain magnetization fraction maps of different components, representing tissues such as myelin water, white matter, gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid. In the MS patients, an additional component was identified with increased transverse relaxation times compared to the white matter, likely representing changes in free water content. Patients with MS had a higher volume of the long- component in the white matter of the brain compared to healthy controls (B (95%-CI) = 0.004 (0.0006–0.008), p = 0.02). Furthermore, this MRF component had a moderate correlation (correlation coefficient R 0.47) with visible structural white matter changes on the FLAIR scans. Also, the component was found to be more extensive compared to structural white matter changes in 73% of MS patients.In conclusion, our MRF acquisition and analysis captured white matter tissue changes in MS patients compared to controls. In patients these tissue changes were more extensive compared to visually detectable white matter changes on FLAIR scans. Our method provides a novel way to quantify the extent of white matter changes in MS patients, which is underestimated using only conventional clinical MRI scans. Show less
Hiele, K. van der; Gorp, D.A.M. van; Heerings, M.A.P.; Van Lieshout, I.; Jongen, P.J.; Reneman, M.F.; ... ; Visser, L.H. 2015
Activation of microglia, the macrophages of the central nervous system, is a key element in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesion development and is characterized by enhanced expression of both classes of... Show moreActivation of microglia, the macrophages of the central nervous system, is a key element in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesion development and is characterized by enhanced expression of both classes of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. This enhanced expression results from increased levels of several transcription factors involved in MHC gene expression. In addition, microglial activation in MS is characterized by enhanced motility. We show that the expression of the chemokine receptor CCR5, a mediator of cell movement, is increased on microglia, macrophages and astrocytes in MS lesions. Additionally, we have determined that CCR5 transcription is regulated by the transcription factor CREB-1, which is also involved in MHC gene expression, and is highly expressed in MS lesions. Because of their immunomodulatory properties, statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) are recently being considered as a possible treatment for MS. We have determined that statins decrease expression of amongst others MHC and CCR5 molecules by inhibiting the transport of these molecules to the cell surface. In addition, we show that statins reduce the motility of microglia and inhibit the differentiation of blood-derived monocytes into dendritic cells, indicating that statins indeed affect critical immune functions and might prove to be beneficial for treatment of MS patients. Show less
