Month: <span>June 2010</span>

The front page of online version of The New York Times has a link to “From M.S. Patients, Outcry for Unproved Treatment“. It reports on Multiple Sclerosis and CCSVI (aka Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency) providing information about patients and doctors who are trying the “liberation procedure”.

The most sobering sentence? “These critics warn that multiple sclerosis has unpredictable attacks and remissions that make it devilishly hard to know whether treatments are working — leaving patients vulnerable to purported ‘cures’ that do not work.”

I hang on to hope with the resignation of a skeptic and await solid science.

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The title gives it away, but with which medical professional is a Multiple Sclerosis patient likely to have the most contact?

In my experience, it has been her pharmacist. Most medications are refilled monthly. Between quarterly or annual visits to the neurologist, I believe most concerns about Multiple Sclerosis are related to medications. And in my experience, the pharmacist is the more accessible, knowledgeable source of information about medications and their effects.

The most helpful professionals on my wife’s “treatment team” are the pharmacists at our local pharmacy. In fact, I imagine they know more about the current status of my wife’s health than does her neurologist. The pharmacists are so helpful, they’re on speed dial in my cell phone.

Here are some examples of how forming a relationship with a good pharmacist will make your role as a caregiver much, much easier.

1. Pharmacists know about drugs. Take advantage of the medication education a pharmacist will provide when a new medication is prescribed. Medications come with fact sheets (written in fine print). If you ask, a pharmacist will explain them for you in plain English. Examples of a few important questions to ask about each new medication include:

  • What is this medication for?
  • Will the patient’s other medications interact with this new drug?
  • Do other medications she is taking effect when this one should be given?
  • What side effects should we worry about?
  • What if she forgets a dose?
  • With or without food?

2. Pharmacists really understand drug interactions. It is important to ask a pharmacist about the potential consequences your patient’s prescribed medications may have with over-the-counter medications for such things as cold or allergies. Some drugs interact with each other to complicate or compound the side effects. The last thing you want is to create a problem while trying to treat symptoms of a cold. Pharmacists love to talk about drugs. It’s the reason they went to school for a long time! Take advantage of their knowledge.

3. Pharmacists know what works. Doctors specialize in your body. Pharmacists specialize in what medications do and can do to your body and its processes. More than once a good pharmacist has intervened on a patient’s behalf when he or she noticed the physician’s prescription may not be appropriate. A phone call to the doc is usually all it takes to fix the problem.

4. A good pharmacist can make traveling easier. Ever forget to take important medications on a trip? If you call your home pharmacist. he or she may be able to work with a local pharmacy where you are visiting to provide enough medication for your visit.

5. Your pharmacist can also be a great ally for you in your efforts to communicate with your insurance company about medication authorizations. Pharmacists really understand the whole medication approval process and can give you pointers about relating to insurance companies or provide information on your behalf.

6. Finally, my pharmacist serves an excellent gumbo from his front porch each Halloween night and sets tables in his yard for all the trick or treat parents!

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If you’ve ever wondered how new Multiple Sclerosis drugs are developed, evaluated, and finally approved for the market, Bloomberg.com offers a link to the video of the FDA Committee Meeting on Novartis’s new Gilenia, the first pill for Multiple Sclerosis.

After drug testing and before the FDA approves a new medication, a panel of health experts considers the drug studies and, if the panel is satisfied, recommends approval to the FDA for approval. The FDA usually does as the panel suggests.

The panel reviewing Gilenia recommends it as safe and effective for controlling tremors, concentration problems and other symptoms of relapsing remitting MS.

If the medication’s side effects do not derail the FDA’s approval later this year, Gilenia will be a welcomed medication for MS patients because it is the first MS treatment available in pill form. Approval would mean no more routine injections or infusions for those who take it — no more needles or injection site reactions.

Reported side effects of Gilenia include eye disorders, heart problems and lung problems. In spite of these, the panel recommend approval of the drug for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

With each medication they choose to take, MS patients are faced with the persistent question, “Will my MS treatment be worse for me than the long term effects of the disease?” Because this is a new medication, there really isn’t an answer to this question yet. Not enough people have taken it for enough time for researchers to know the long term effects.

In light of the side effects, the panel did recommend Novartis study the effectiveness of lower doses of Gilenia.

More information about Gilenia:

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