NEWS - Provigil doesn't help MS fatigue but aspirin might

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Provigil doesn't help MS fatigue but aspirin might

Last Updated: 2005-04-22 15:46:45 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Provigil, a drug used to treat the sudden-sleep

disorder narcolepsy, does not affect fatigue experienced by people with

multiple sclerosis (MS), results of a trial suggest.

However, a separate study found that aspirin may be of some benefit. Both

studies appeared in the medical journal Neurology.

Two small pilot studies recently showed a positive impact of Provigil,

technically known as modafinil, on MS-related fatigue, note Dr. Bruno

Stankoff, at Hopital de la Salpetriere in Paris and members of the French

Modafinil Study Group, in the first study.

To further investigate, the group randomly assigned 56 patients scoring 45

points or more on a fatigue scale to modafinil, and 59 to an inactive

placebo.

Both groups experienced decreased fatigue during the 35-day trial, but

change in fatigue scores did not differ significantly between the two

groups.

In the second study, Dr. Dean M. Wingerchuk and colleagues point out that

some MS patients using aspirin for other purposes report reduced fatigue.

In crossover trial, 30 patients with MS-related fatigue took either aspirin

twice daily or placebo for 6 weeks in random order, separated by a 2-week

" washout " period.

Average scores on one fatigue scale were lower during aspirin treatment

(38.1 versus 42.5), but responses did not differ significantly on two other

scales.

Commenting in a related editorial, Drs. R. Schwid of the University

of Rochester, New York, and T. Jock Murray of Dalhousie University in

Halifax, Nova Scotia, observe that " until we make progress in distinguishing

fatigue from other MS symptoms, in identifying its mechanisms and in

measuring it accurately, we will not make substantial progress in treating

this disabling symptom. "

SOURCE: Neurology, April 12, 2005.

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Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org