Natural History Study of Synucleinopathies

At the 2016 International Congress on MSA, over 130 experts in the field came together for a 2-day intensive meeting in Salerno, Southern Italy. The congress faculty covered MSA from all angles with each speaker describing how advances in MSA research are shaping the way we now approach this degenerative brain disease. The scientific program took us from the bench to the bedside. It provided an update into why the brain cells die and how we might protect them to stop the progressive movement and balance impairment, together with loss of bladder and blood pressure control.

Pathogenesis

The recent discovery that MSA maybe a prion disease, caused by the spread of the mis-folded rogue protein alpha-synuclein (read more here) has sparked a flurry of interest in the underlying cause of the disease. The Congress opened with a session dedicated to the pathogenesis of MSA. Dr. Janice Holton discussed the…