A study that will be published in the July 8 issue of the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” states that a way to stop multiple sclerosis in its tracks has been discovered for mice. The scientists that made the study discovered that the mice that were given the equivalent of 6 to 8 cups of coffee a day were able to fight “experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis,” which simulates MS for rodents.

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease, a class of disorders that manifest by the immune system attacking different tissues of the body. In Ms’s case, killer T-cells attack the myelin, which protects the nerve fibres of the central nervous system. As this happens, patients start to experience symptoms as weakness, numbness, incontinence and speech problems.

The study discovered that coffee blocked the T killer cell’s entrance in the central nervous system by binding to a certain chemical receptor that grants the access. With no T killer cell in the area where myelin is found, there wasn’t any chance of damage to it, even though the white blood cells were programmed to attack.

Promising at it may sound, scientists have reasons for not calling it a breakthrough until further test will be carries out. Previous discoveries that stopped EME in mice have been made, but translating them into a cure for humans has proved to be impossible. Another thing that scientists will need to know is whether the chemical receptor that coffee binds to has the same function for humans as it has for mice.

If human tests will prove that the treatment works, scientists consider that it can be used for other autoimmune deficiencies too.