(U-WIRE) PROVO, Utah - A blood test to diagnose multiple sclerosis sooner is in the research stage by Austrian scientists.

The study released in The New England Journal of Medicine, if confirmed, would help identify the cause of multiple sclerosis in individuals. It would then be easier to treat and possibly prevent the disease, said Lawrence Astle, M.D., staff physician at the Student Health Center.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms are nonspecific. Single episodes of specific neurological symptoms, like numbness in limbs, trembling, loss of vision and stumbling, become continuous with MS, Astle said.

These symptoms occur when myelin is damaged. Myelin is complex and made of a large number of proteins. It wraps and folds around nerves like insulation around a wire.

When insulation is damaged, a shortage occurs, and the electricity goes into the ground. The same is true in the brain when myelin is damaged, he said.

The test performed by the scientists tried to detect two major proteins on the myelin with the presence of antibodies, which destroy it.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder. The body detects an allergy that does not exist and builds up antibodies against, therefore destroying things that need to be there. This causes the disabling symptoms.

Just like only 10 feet of a bridge needs to be ruined for the whole thing to be destroyed, only part of the myelin needs to be destroyed to cause neurological symptoms, he said.

Blood samples from people who had a single symptom of myelin loss, a MRI that detected myelin loss and a spinal tape that suggested loss of myelin were tested.

The study may help doctors predict whether someone that experienced a single disabling symptom will develop multiple sclerosis, he said.

"This blood test is a good step," said Brooke Upp, public relations representative for the Utah State Chapter for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. "Just the fact they are doing studies is great."

A quick and accurate diagnosis is really important, Upp said.

"They can then start on treatments and improve their quality of life," she said.

In Utah, 3,200 people with multiple sclerosis are in touch with the Utah State Chapter. It is not a reportable disease, so they estimate the disease may affect 10,000 Utahans, Upp said. This includes families and caretakers.