Milk May Exacerbate Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, New Study Suggests

 Bottles of milk are seen on a milk float during the morning
delivery round in the town of Sawbridgeworth, Britain, April 22, 2020.
REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Bottles of milk are seen on a milk float during the morning delivery round in the town of Sawbridgeworth, Britain, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Milk May Exacerbate Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, New Study Suggests

 Bottles of milk are seen on a milk float during the morning
delivery round in the town of Sawbridgeworth, Britain, April 22, 2020.
REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Bottles of milk are seen on a milk float during the morning delivery round in the town of Sawbridgeworth, Britain, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Researchers at the University of Bonn have found a link between the consumption of dairy products and more severe multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms in MS patients.

Multiple sclerosis sufferers often complain of more severe disease symptoms after consuming dairy products. Researchers have now found a possible cause for this and reported it in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

According to the study, a protein in cow's milk can trigger inflammation that targets the 'insulating layer' around nerve cells. The study was able to demonstrate this link in mice, but also found evidence of a similar mechanism in humans. The researchers therefore recommend that certain groups of sufferers avoid dairy products.

During the study, lead author Stefanie Kürten from the Institute of Anatomy at University Hospital Bonn, injected mice with different proteins from cow's milk, to find out if there was a constituent that they were responding to with symptoms of disease. And the researchers did indeed find what they were looking for: When they administered the cow's milk constituent casein to the animals, the mice went on to develop neurological disorders. Electron microscopy showed damage to the insulating layer around the nerve fibers, the myelin.

In multiple sclerosis, the body's immune system destroys the myelin sheath. The consequences range from paresthesia and vision problems to movement disorders. In extreme cases, patients need a wheelchair. The insulating sheath was also massively perforated in the mice -- apparently triggered by casein administration.

“Casein is a key protein in cow’s milk, so I don’t know how easy its elimination can be to make an alternative suitable for those patients. However, we are currently studying whether a specific type of casein is the culprit behind the aggravated symptoms. In this case, we can only eliminate this type to address the problem,” Kürten told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“But, for now, we recommend MS patients to consume non-dairy substitutes like soy milk, oat milk, and almond milk,” she added.



Tourist Coins Pose Giant Problem at N. Ireland's Famous Causeway Site

Tourists are pictured at the Giant's Causeway, a Unesco World Heritage Site, near Bushmills in Northern Ireland, on July 8, 2025. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
Tourists are pictured at the Giant's Causeway, a Unesco World Heritage Site, near Bushmills in Northern Ireland, on July 8, 2025. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
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Tourist Coins Pose Giant Problem at N. Ireland's Famous Causeway Site

Tourists are pictured at the Giant's Causeway, a Unesco World Heritage Site, near Bushmills in Northern Ireland, on July 8, 2025. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)
Tourists are pictured at the Giant's Causeway, a Unesco World Heritage Site, near Bushmills in Northern Ireland, on July 8, 2025. (Photo by PAUL FAITH / AFP)

Northern Ireland's Giant Causeway draws close to one million visitors a year but their habit of wedging tiny coins in cracks between the rocks -- to bring love or luck -- is damaging the world-famous wonder.

Now authorities are urging tourists to keep their coins in their pockets to preserve the spectacular landscape.

Some 40,000 columns mark the causeway, Northern Ireland's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Geologists say the natural phenomenon was created by an outpouring of basalt lava 60 million years ago.

Legend has it that the causeway was formed by Irish giant Finn McCool.

In recent decades, visitors have pushed thousands of coins into fissures in the rocks.

The gesture is "a token of love or luck", according to Cliff Henry, the causeway's nature engagement officer.

But the coins rapidly corrode and expand, causing the basalt to flake and leaving "unsightly" rust-colored streaks, Henry told AFP.

He pointed to streaks on a rock and gingerly prized out a US cent with a set of keys.

"We get a lot of euros and dollar cents. But coins from literally all over the world -- any currency you can think of, pretty much -- we have had it here," he said.

A report by the British Geological Survey in 2021 revealed that the coins were "doing some serious damage" and something had to be done about it, he noted.

Signs are now in place around the site appealing to tourists to "leave no trace".
"Once some visitors see other people have done it, they feel that they need to add to it," causeway tour guide Joan Kennedy told AFP.

She and her colleagues now gently but firmly tell tourists to desist.

At the exit from the causeway, a US couple said they were "distressed" to hear of the damage the metal caused.

"Our guide mentioned as we came up that people had been putting coins into the stones. It's really terrible to hear that," said Robert Lewis, a 75-year-old from Florida.

"It's kind of like damaging any kind of nature when you are doing something like that, putting something foreign into nature. It's not good," said his wife, Geri, 70.

As part of a £30,000 ($40,000) conservation project, stone masons recently removed as many coins as they could -- without causing further damage -- from 10 test sites around the causeway.

Henry said the trial was successful and is to be expanded across the causeway.

"If we can get all those coins removed to start with that will help the situation and hopefully no more coins will be put in," he said.

"If visitors see fewer coins in the stones and hear appeals to stop the damaging practice, the problem can maybe be solved.

"We know that visitors love and cherish the Giant's Causeway, and many form deep personal connections to it, so we want this natural wonder to remain special for future generations."