Multiple sclerosis: New drug 'most effective'
Details: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ered-FOOD.html
Anyone come across Judy Graham’s book “Managing Multiple Sclerosis Naturally”? Seems to have a good round-up of all the possible help treatments out there. Originally written in 1989, but updated again in 2010.
For anyone interested there seems to be good results from a trial using bone marrow stem cell transplant technology. Panorama on BBC 1 tonight at 8.30pm will be reporting on this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/heal...ime=1453107641
Hopefully there are some larger scale positive outcomes.
Just watched the programme. It’s a major trial taking place in 4 cities: Sheffield, Washington, Stockholm and San Paulo and results expected in a couple of years. Amazing results from the people the programme covered. If these are duplicated in many others, it will be a major breakthrough I think.
Results from another stem cell trial.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2...-patients.html
EDIT: Here is the link to the better article with the charts etc.
Obviously those treatments (to reset the immune system) are highly risky (1 in 10 die) and seem to be last resort kind of options. The article did not mention if she was in remission or essentially cured.
What surprised me is that the article also did not mention what they thought her cause for MS was and whether MS was indeed the cause of her symptoms or just one of the symptoms, caused by something entirely different. The treatment should be personalized, depending on what the assumed causes are.
As far as I understand doctors are not fully confident what causes MS, but have deducted that certain factors play a role in developing it, including genetic factors, immunological factors, environmental factors and pathogens (viral and bacterial factors).
For example, if one finds spirochetes in an MS patients' brain, one can deduct that this patients MS was either caused or exacerbated by pathogens and in such a case an aggressive, longterm antibiotic treatment with meds that cross the blood-brain barrier may be lifesaving. Unfortunately there is too little money in such studies, but I do hope there will be more longitudinal studies on the links between MS, ALS and pathogens.
From Verbier’s second link:
“While promising, the treatment is regarded as extremely high-risk, which places limitations on its widespread use. There are high mortality rates associated with the procedure; one patient out of the initial 24 involved in the clinical trial died from liver failure. It should also be highlighted that 30 per cent of the patients did see their symptoms worsen, likely because their MS was already too far along .”
While it’s a risky procedure I’d like to see a few studies done on using this type of treatment in the much earlier stages of the disease. Not only would patients’ general health probably be better and so better able to cope with the chemo, but I would think (hope) it would have a much better chance of curing them completely. Given the cost of MS drug treatment over the years it may be a more cost effective way to deal with it as well.
Another drug which slows the disease passes its phase 3 trials.
"A drug that alters the immune system has been described is “big news” and a “landmark” in treating multiple sclerosis, doctors and charities say.
Trials, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest the drug can slow damage to the brain in two forms of MS.
Ocrelizumab is the first drug shown to work in the primary progressive form of the disease.
The drug is being reviewed for use in the US and Europe."
"Prof Gavin Giovannoni, from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, was involved in the trials and said: “The results shown by these studies have the potential to change how we approach treating both relapsing and primary progressive MS.”
He told the BBC: “It’s very significant because this is the first time a phase three trial has been positive in primary progressive MS.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38392548
Wish they would come up with more pronounceable, easy to remember names for these drugs though.
More on the immune system therapy.
And another personal experience with the immune system treatment.
Update on the trial here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43435868
Seems very promising and could actually be cheaper than a drug regime. No long term, i.e. 10+ years or more, results yet but will be interesting to see if this is really close to a permanent cure.