Radio Shows | A Drug That Could Halt MS | mp3 … wma … wav

What do Annette Funicello, Clay Walker and Montel Williams have in common?

They're more famous than us?

That's true but unfortunately they also share something else, they all live with MS, Multiple Sclerosis. The disease can leave some people chair bound but the symptoms and severity actually vary quite a bit from person to person.

MS is one of several autoimmune diseases where the immune system attacks the body. In this case, it attacks an insulating substance called myelin which surrounds nerves in the central nervous system.

There are two kinds of MS.

The most common which involves the brain and brain stem involves acute attacks that can last days or weeks followed by symptom free periods.

Some people will then develop the chronic progressive form of MS where they gradually get worse without clear periods of attacks. This form of MS involves the spinal cord.

But researchers have made a remarkable discovery about a drug which is normally used to treat leukemia. In a study, the drug called Alemtuzumab seems to stop MS from advancing when given to patients in the early stages.

It cut their risk for getting worse by at least 65 percent compared to standard treatments.

They also suffered fewer attacks and recovered some functions they lost. Some of the damaged brain tissue may even have been repaired leaving people in this study less impaired than they were when the study started!

That is amazing!

These patients were also at least 75% less likely to have relapses when compared with patients on interleukin beta 1a, a drug now used in MS therapy.

More research is needed before Alemtuzumab can be used to treat MS.Once that happens, it will hopefully change the lives of millions around the world.

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