Dr. Rafael González Maldonado

The Strange Case of the Missing Myelin: (Decoding Multiple Sclerosis) Dr. Rafael González Maldonado

The Strange Case of the Missing Myelin is a scientific text. The volume of information and the rigor with which it is expounded are determinant. It is not journalistic narrative, yet it uses language honestly to allure and hold the interest of the reader. The author resorts to a wide range of tools. The enigmatic chapter headings urge the reader on to decipher their meaning. The short paragraphs prevent fatigue. The anecdote, the diaphanous wording so quick to offer an explanation when technical terms come up, the literary quotes and historical or mythological footnotes, all contribute to pleasure ful reading. And so the didactic intentions of the author are fulfilled. The analogy with the myth of Actaeon, King of Tebas, who was devoured by his hounds ate the wrathful orders of Diana, strikes me as beautifully appropriate. Were the dogs unable to recognize their master? Or was it because the goddess had covered him with a deerhide that the dogs misdirected their aggressivity? This is precisely the nature of the mystery to date that would explain the antigen-antibody interrelation and the lack of recognition of the body´s own myelinic antigens (Actaeon) by the misdirected immune system (the dogs). Never was there a more elegant literary portrait of the immunological conflict behind multiple sclerosis. Prof. Eduardo Varela de Seijas (extract from Prologue).