Archive for the ‘MS Treatment’ Category.

Best Multiple Sclerosis Treatment May Depend on Disease Subtype

July 22, 2008, 8:59 pm

A recent article on PhysOrg.com reports on animal studies by scientists at the University of Michigan which suggest people who experience the same clinical signs of MS may have different forms of the disease requireing different kinds of treatments.

Share this ...
[BlogBookmark] [Bloglines] [BlogMarks] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Furl] [Google] [Kaboodle] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Rojo] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Yahoo!] More »
Tags: ,
Category: MS Treatment  |  Comment

Prozac/Fluoxetine, Multiple Sclerosis, and Reduced Lesions

May 2, 2008, 11:29 am

Here’s news that gave me reason to create a new category: Reasons for Hope

Driving home for lunch yesterday I caught just enough of Paul Harvey’s broadcast to hear something about Prozac, Multiple Sclerosis and reduced number of lesions on MRIs. I mentioned it to my wife when I arrived home and then searched the web for more information. (I started at PaulHarvey.com, but didn’t have time to relisten to the broadcast. It would be great if the broadcast transcripts were available on Mr. Harvey’s website - and maybe they are, but I couldn’t find them.)

Here’s what I found:

In Fluoxetine Show Promise in Multiple Sclerosis on the Medscape.com web site, the author describes the results of a small study which were presented at ECTRIMS 2007: 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis. The article is dated October 16, 2007, so we’re not dealing with “new” news.

I think the reason Paul Harvey’s broadcast mentioned it is because the study is about to be printed in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The study conducted by Jop P. Mostert, MD, and his colleagues at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, showed a reduction in new gadolinium-enhancing lesions in the study’s patients with relapsing-remitting or relapsing secondary progressive MS who received Fluoxetine (the generic name for Prozac).

Read the article for the study’s details or search the web for Prozac + “Multiple Sclerosis” for additional information.

Here are some of the reason I created the “Reasons for Hope” category for this article:

  1. This study was not funded by any pharmaceutical firm. Funding wasn’t an influence.
  2. Fluoxetine/Prozac has been around for a long time and is generally well-tolerated (unlike other MS treatments).
  3. This isn’t a “new” new thing - Dr. Mostert’s report mentioned that, as early as 1991, psychiatrists were reporting that fluoxetine/Prozac was having a positive effect on MS patients.
  4. A list of Multiple Sclerosis Drug Treatments indicates the medication is already prescribed to MS patients for “depression without anxiety“.  And, as mentioned in the study report, psychiatrists were reporting positive effects of Prozac on MS as early as 1991.

Remember, I’m not offering (nor am I qualified to offer) medical advice, merely reporting what I’ve heard on the radio and read of Mostert’s study. Talk about this with your neurologist.

Caregiver Tip: Do your own research on the impact of Prozac on MS and talk to your doctor. It may be something worth considering.

Share this ...
[BlogBookmark] [Bloglines] [BlogMarks] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Furl] [Google] [Kaboodle] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Rojo] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Yahoo!] More »
Category: MS Treatment, Reasons for Hope  |  Comment

Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis

November 2, 2007, 5:39 am

How did we find information before the Internet? Wondering about the relationship between Betaseron and peroneal neuropathy, I Googled(tm) ["multiple sclerosis" "peroneal neuropathy" betaseron] and found links to three web sites. One of the online resources is excellent. The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, School of Medicine makes available a course syllabus for Rehabilitation Medicine titled, “Clinical Practice of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation” (PDF File).

If you provide care for someone with MS, the chapters you want to read are Chapter 1, “What is Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation?” and Chapter 8, “Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis”. These two chapters should be required reading for MS caregivers.

Chapter 1 clarifies definitions for a group of words we tend to use without discrimination: disease, impairment, disability and handicap. The distinction between disability and handicap is important. Disability is defined as a limitation of performing tasks, activities and roles to the expected level considered normal. Handicap is a lack of societal role fulfillment for an individual due to a disability. Examples of cases are provided which explain clearly how one can be physically disabled without being handicapped.

You may be thinking it odd that I’m intrigued by the difference between “disability” and “handicap”. Not having traveled down this road before, the distinction between the two is enlightening for me.

Chapter 8 is speaks directly to rehabilitation for MS patients. I’ll run through the headings: background, diagnosis, classification, treatment, rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis, impaired mobility and self care, spasticity, pain, cognitive function (”cognitive issues are one of the primary reasons that people with MS are medically retired“), bowel and bladder care, treating fatigue, depression in MS (”in a … survey of 739 patients with multiple sclerosis 41.8% were suffering from depression), and conclusion. Included in the chapter is The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and a list of references.

“Clinical Practice of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation” (PDF File) is now on the MSCaregiver.com list of recommended reading! (I’ll post the official reading list later …)

Share this ...
[BlogBookmark] [Bloglines] [BlogMarks] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Furl] [Google] [Kaboodle] [MySpace] [Reddit] [Rojo] [Squidoo] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Yahoo!] More »
Category: MS Treatment  |  Comment

Multiple Sclerosis Quackery

October 23, 2007, 8:01 pm

A couple of years ago I heard from someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. She had heard about my wife’s MS and had something for me. I don’t remember exactly what it was she was selling, but she assured me it cured MS. And that it was good for a lot of other things. I thanked her for her concern.

There is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis. There’s no magic mixture, no concoction, no gadget, no lotion, no bee sting, no poison, no gas, no deer antler velvet, no chemical, no diet and no organ removal that will cure MS. In fact, MS patients have been killed while participating in false cures.

Be wary of MS “cures”. Every few years, the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies’ Therapeutic Claims Committee analyzes more than 100 alleged “cures” and publishes the results in “Therapeutic Claims in Multiple Sclerosis”. No cure is known.

What are available are medications which modify the disease process, treat exacerbations and manage MS symptoms. Provided under the care of a neurologist or a physician who specializes in the treatment of MS and used in combination, these medications can enhance the quality of an MS patient’s life.

What do you do if a friend tells you of a new “cure” or you read about a weird-science treatment and are tempted to try it? First, avoid getting excited. You’ll be disappointed. Second, talk to your doctor about what you’ve heard or read. Third, visit Quackwatch and read Be Wary of Multiple Sclerosis ‘Cures’.

Caregiver Tip: Quackery kills. The desire for a cure can lead one to false hopes. Avoid Multiple Sclerosis Quackery and follow the treatment regimen prescribed by a neurologist or physician who specializes in MS.

Share this ...