*Note MS Drug Article* New Treatment For Aggressive MS

[Guest guest]

I can vouch that this Neuro (Dr. Boggild) is very good, because he

sees my Brother. I cannot of course vouch for the treatment

personally, but I know 2 good Friends who have done very well on it.

There are of course side effects to consider, let's make that clear,

but hopefully this will offer hope for many.

I also have to state that this Neuro is VERY patient-centred and VERY

critical of the drug companies and their quest to make money over

safety in some cases.

Of course, some will have reservations about this treatment which I

fully understand, but all this Neuro and his team can do is pass on

what they have found.

My Brother has not tried it, and this Neuro wants to hang-fire with my

Brother at the moment re any MS treatment to monitor how things go

early on rather than subject him to any of the treatments (and side

effects) if he doesn't deem it necessary.

Just thought I'd give you some background:

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=18900

A new combination treatment regime, for patients with aggressive forms

of multiple sclerosis (MS), is offering new hope to a group of

patients who would otherwise be at high risk of early disability

according to British research due to be published in the Journal of

Neurology.

The treatment regime, consisting of a limited course of mitoxantrone

(an immunosuppressant normally used to treat cancer) followed by

long-term glatiramer acetate (Copaxone - one of two classes of disease

modifying drugs for use in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis),

has proven so successful in this early trial that a full controlled

study is now being initiated at 10 centres across the UK to examine

the combination further. Investigators are now looking to enrol

suitable patients with MS.

In this 'open' trial the combination was found to provide a rapid and

sustained suppression of relapses in MS patients experiencing

frequent, recurrent and disabling attacks (90% reduction in annualised

relapse rate maintained, to date, for a mean of 36 months). It was

also shown to improve, or at least stabilise, existing levels of

disability in the 27 patients who had extremely active forms of the

disease. Follow up in early patients now extends to over 5 years.

The patients treated with this new protocol, developed by a research

team at the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool,

had all been diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS for less than 5

years and showed clear signs that their disease was likely to progress

quickly producing early and severe disability.

Dr Mike Boggild, Consultant Neurologist at the Walton Centre and

principal investigator of this research commented:' This novel

treatment regime has proved remarkably effective in a group of

patients with early MS and a poor prognosis. Though there are certain

risks, associated particularly with the use of Mitoxantrone, we have

been able to limit these by using this agent for just a short

'induction' period and, balanced against the high risk of early

disability for these patients, the outcomes we have seen appear to

justify this approach. The effect is so striking that we suspect the

two drugs may be acting synergistically'

Ayres, 28 from Warrington is a patient who has benefited from

the new treatment protocol. She said: 'Lying paralysed in hospital, I

truly believed that I would never get the chance to travel again, let

alone go back to university to study. Without mitoxantrone and

Copaxone treatment, I simply don't think it would have been possible -

it is not an exaggeration to say that I feel as though the treatment

has given me my life back. I have been able to take up my beloved

backpacking again and I am currently studying for a PhD. MS really

doesn't spell the end of your life'

Mitoxantrone, the first immunosuppressant to be approved by the United

States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in MS, has

previously been shown in randomised controlled studies in the US to

reduce relapses in MS, but due to its potential toxicity its use is

limited. Previous attempts to extend its effectiveness with subsequent

use of interferon-beta have been disappointing, so researchers at the

Walton Centre decided to use the alternative class of disease

modifying drug, glatiramer acetate (Copaxone).