Tag: <span>MS Research</span>

Published June 12, 2010 by

Gilenia, MS Pill, Recommended for Approval by Panel

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:

MS Medications MS Research MS Treatment Reasons for Hope

FDA Food and Drug Administration gilenia ms medication MS Research novartis

Published December 21, 2009 by

About CCSVI aka Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency

If you’ve paid attention to information on the internet related to Multiple Sclerosis this month, you’ve certainly seen references to CCSVI or Chronic Cerebospinal Venous Insufficiency as a proposed of Multiple Sclerosis.

“Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency” is the name given by Dr. Paolo Zamboni to the backward flow of blood into the brain due to constricted veins which should drain blood from the brain. Dr. Zamboni is the Director of the Vascular Diseases Center at the University of Ferrara in Italy.

It’s too early to know whether CCSVI will be found to cause Multiple Sclerosis, but researchers are focusing their attention on it.

A good introduction to CCSVI is found in today’s BuffaloNews.com in an article titled, “Study could hold key to MS treatment”. Dr. Robert Zivaidinov is the Director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center and the principal investigator of the first major study of Dr. Zamboni’s controversial new theory that blockage in the veins that drain the brain cause Multiple Sclerosis.

Dr. Zamboni’s theory is controversial because it stands against the current assumption that MS is an autoimmune disease. The treatment of choice if Zamboni is correct is apparently angioplasty of the brain veins. This has been referred to as ‘liberation therapy’.

Important things to remember

First, while one is tempted to become excited about a potential cure for MS, I recommend against it. A lot of theories and potential treatments have been ruled out. Many more are currently being tested. If you had become excited about each, so far, you would have been disappointed by each.

Second, remember that a “cure” for MS will probably not undo the damage already done to the brain by Multiple Sclerosis … whatever the cause. “Cure” simply means an end to the disease process and progression.

Finally, if Dr. Zamboni’s hypothesis is found valid after further research, I imagine some pharmaceutical companies may have some explaining to do.

Here are links to additional information about CCSVI:

Study could hold key to MS treatment

New York researchers testing MS theory

MS Anger and Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (with Video and Diagrams)

National MS Society Article with Questions and Answers

Etiology of MS MS Research MS Treatment

autoimmune disease CCSVI Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency MS cure MS Research MS researcher neuroimaging

Published June 21, 2009 by

PubMed = Free Multiple Sclerosis Research Articles

PubMed Central is a free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), developed and managed by NIH’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the National Library of Medicine (NLM). All of the articles have been peer reviewed and published in professional journals.

PubMed Central exists by Congressional mandate. Any researcher funded in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health must provide the resulting manuscript to the NIH for publication electronically. Concerned that so many journals were providing free abstracts of research but charging fees for access to full journal articles about research which had been paid for with public funds, the NIH adopted an open access policy.

What does this mean in real terms? It means you can read the full text of 42,807 journal articles related to Multiple Sclerosis.

Here’s the link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed

MS Information Sources

medical information MS Research multiple sclerosis multiple sclerosis research

Published February 10, 2009 by

Nervous System Theory Disproven

Researchers Disprove 15-year-old Theory about the Nervous System

(PhysOrg.com) — A delay in traffic may cause a headache, but a delay in the nervous system can cause much more. University of Missouri researchers have uncovered clues identifying which proteins are involved in the development of the nervous system and found that the proteins previously thought to play a significant role, in fact, do not. Understanding how the nervous system develops will give researchers a better understanding of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders.

Etiology of MS Reasons for Hope

MS Research

Published November 19, 2008 by

Neuron gene linked to Multiple Sclerosis

Neuron gene linked to multiple sclerosis: study from PhysOrg.com
A newly-discovered genetic flaw may lay the nervous system open to assault from the body’s own immune system, leading to multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published Sunday. http://www.physorg.com/news145460691.html

Etiology of MS

cause of multiple sclerosis MS Research