Category Archives: MS Treatment

Researchers have developed whats being hailed as a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a crippling autoimmune disease that attacks the outer sheath of nerve cells, eventually disabling many of those with the neurological condition. The new treatment involves sweeping away immune system cells responsible for MS. In multiple sclerosis, immune system white blood cells, called T cells, become misdirected, attacking the protective myelin sheath on the outside of nerve cells. In healthy individuals, T cells or leukocytes are responsible for destroying tumor cells or those infected with a virus. Myelin speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from the brain and spinal cord to limbs and the optic nerves, which also are insulated with myelin. When the myelin is destroyed, motor neuronal impulses are blocked, resulting in severe disability and blindness in many people with multiple sclerosis. Worldwide, an estimated 2.5 million people are affected by MS. U.S. and German researchers have developed a therapy that stops the autoimmune attack against myelin in its tracks without impairing the normal function of the immune system, according to Stephan Miller, a microbiologist and immunologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Miller says the experimental treatment targets T cells in the brain … Continue reading →

Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis Also Included In: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials;Immune System / Vaccines Article Date: 06 Jun 2013 - 2:00 PDT Current ratings for: MS Treatment That Resets Immune System Shows Promise In Safety Trial 3.5 (4 votes) Another important result is that the therapy does not appear to affect the immune system's ability to defend against infection. Current therapies for MS suppress the entire immune system, leaving patients more vulernable to everyday infections and higher rates of cancer. The results of the phase 1 trial showed the therapy was safe and well tolerated and also reduced immune system reactivity to myelin by 50 to 75%, say the researchers. "The therapy stops autoimmune responses that are already activated and prevents the activation of new autoimmune cells," says co-senior author Stephen Miller in a statement. Miller is the Judy Gugenheim Research Professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago in the US. As the myelin is gradually destroyed, patients experience symptoms ranging from mild numbness in the limbs to paralysis or blindness. In this study, the researchers used patients' own white blood cells to reset their immune system so it stops … Continue reading →

Scientists are claiming a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis after an experimental therapy given to a small group of patients had dramatic results. The therapy involved extracting white blood cells from the patients which were mixed with proteins and re-infused producing a 50-75 per cent reduction in the body's immune response. In multiple sclerosis the immune system attacks the myelin sheath that surrounds the nerve fibres causing symptoms ranging from numbness to paralysis. The new therapy halted the destruction of myelin without affecting the rest of the immune system. The patients were treated in Hamburg, Germany, using the therapy which is the outcome of 30 years laboratory research. It was tested for safety on nine patients by a joint team from North Western University in Chicago, the University Hospital, Zurich and the University Medical Centre, Hamburg. With such a small number of patients testing the therapy for safety only, it is impossible to draw conclusions about its effects. But the researchers found the response improved the greater the dose of white blood cells. Stephen Miller, professor of microbiology-immunology at Northwestern University, said: "The therapy stops autoimmune responses that are already activated and prevents the activation of new autoimmune … Continue reading →

Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG / Santhera Secures Exclusive Rights from NIH for a Novel Approach for the Treatment of Primary Progressive MS . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Liestal, Switzerland, June6, 2013 -Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX:SANN) announced today that it has obtained an exclusive license from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to its rights on a patent granted in the USA for the use of idebenone for the treatment of primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis (ppMS), a currently untreatable disease affecting about 40,000 patients in the Unites States. The NIH is investigating the efficacy of Catena(idebenone) in ppMS in a placebo-controlled PhaseII clinical trial. Lead by the Neuroimmunology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the NIH is investigating the efficacy of Catena (idebenone) in patients with ppMS in a double-blind, placebo-controlled PhaseII clinical trial (IPPoMS trial). Santhera is providing study medication under a clinical trial agreement which gives Santhera the rights to the results. Santhera has now obtained the exclusive rights to the use patent for idebenone in ppMS granted in the USA. Patients who complete the IPPoMS trial can enter into a … Continue reading →

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent Doctors hope a new experimental treatment could halt the progression of multiple sclerosis. For the first time, researchers have reprogrammed the immune systems of MS patients to stop cells attacking the protective layer around nerves in the spinal cord. The destruction of the insulating sheath - called myelin - prevents normal transmission of nerve signals, triggering symptoms of the disease such as limb paralysis. The clinical trial showed that patients' immune systems learned to recognise myelin as harmless. Further studies are expected to start shortly to confirm whether that in turn prevents relapses of the disease. Northwestern University in Chicago, which took part in the research, hailed the study as a "big breakthrough". Researchers, working with scientists in Switzerland and Germany, took billions of white blood cells from nine patients and processed them to carry tiny fragments of myelin. The cells were then re-injected, training the immune system to tolerate myelin. Lead researcher Professor Stephen Miller said results showed the treatment stopped the body turning against itself - without the side effects of some other treatments that suppress the entire immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to infections and cancer. "Our approach leaves the function of … Continue reading →

6 June 2013 Last updated at 02:18 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News An experimental treatment to stop the body attacking its own nervous system in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) appears safe in trials. The sheath around nerves cells, made of myelin, is destroyed in MS, leaving the nerves struggling to pass on messages. A study on nine patients, reported in Science Translational Medicine, tried to train the immune system to cease its assault on myelin. The MS Society said the idea had "exciting potential". As nerves lose their ability to talk to each other, the disease results in problems moving and balancing and can affect vision. There are drugs that can reduce number and severity of attacks, but there is no cure. The disease is caused by the body's immune system thinking that myelin is a foreign body like a flu virus. Researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine developed a technique to retrain the immune system. They took blood samples and coupled white blood cells, a part of the immune system, to fragments of myelin. This was injected back into the patients to make them tolerate myelin. Read the original: Immune … Continue reading →

Scientists have hailed a new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) as a major breakthrough after it was tested on humans for the first time. Early clinical trial results suggest the treatment could prevent patients' bodies from attacking myelin, the insulating layer which forms around nerves, which leads to symptoms including limb numbness, paralysis and blindness. Tests on nine patients in Germany showed that the therapy could reduce the reactivity of their immune systems to myelin by 50 to 75%, leading to hopes the method could delay or prevent the onset of symptoms. Professor Stephen Miller, from Chicago's Northwestern University, which led the study, said the treatment could be the "holy grail" in the quest to prevent the debilitating effects of MS. He said: "The therapy stops autoimmune responses that are already activated and prevents the activation of new autoimmune cells, Our approach leaves the function of the normal immune system intact. That's the holy grail." During the trial patients were injected with their own white blood cells which delivered billions of myelin antigens into their bodies. This encouraged their immune system to develop tolerance to the antigens, and to react less to myelin as a result. Current therapies for MS … Continue reading →

Woking, Surrey (PRWEB UK) 31 May 2013 Inchcape Lexus are celebrating the success of One More Hills first PRO-AM Charity Golf Day, which raised over 53,000 for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatment research! The grand event took place on 21st May 2013 and was hosted at Woking Golf Club. Partnering the event, Inchcape Lexus donated towards the 53,000 total donation and put up a luxury 2013 plate Lexus RX for the prestigious Hole in One Car. The PRO-AM Golf Event featured 20 of the South of Englands leading PGA professionals, including Calum Callan, Craig Cowper and Jonathon Didlick. A total of twenty teams, each with one professional and four guests, enjoyed a fantastic day of golf, playing for great prizes and the kudos of victory! After a close 18 holes, the winning team included Ken Hanna, Stuart Milton, Michael Kelly and Graeme McMahon, with Runners Up Michael Tuohy, Kevin Tuohy, Alan Boe and Steve Harley. To end the day in style, a grand auction was held to boost donations to a massive 53,000 for One More Hill. A UK based charity, which sends all donations from events like the PRO-AM Golf Day to help fund research into treatments for Multiple Sclerosis. … Continue reading →

Public release date: 1-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Susan Lampert Smith ssmith5@uwhealth.org 608-890-5643 University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, Wis. Genetically engineered immune cells seem to promote healing in mice infected with a neurological disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS), cleaning up lesions and allowing the mice to regain use of their legs and tails. The new finding, by a team of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health researchers, suggests that immune cells could be engineered to create a new type of treatment for people with MS. Currently, there are few good medications for MS, an autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects some 400,000 people in the United States, and none that reverse progress of the disease. Dr. Michael Carrithers, assistant professor of neurology, led a team that created a specially designed macrophage an immune cell whose name means "big eater." Macrophages rush to the site of an injury or infection, to destroy bacteria and viruses and clear away damaged tissue. The research team added a human gene to the mouse immune cell, creating a macrophage that expressed a sodium channel called NaVI.5, which seems to enhance the cell's immune response. But because macrophages can also be … Continue reading →

EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --People with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) reported greater treatment satisfaction after starting the oral treatment Gilenya (fingolimod) vs. switching to, or staying on, injectable interferon beta or glatiramer acetate, according to new study data presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) in Orlando, Fla.1 The US phase IV randomized, multi-center, open-label study, called EPOC (Evaluate Patient OutComes), evaluated treatment satisfaction among more than 1,000 patients.1,2 The study compared Gilenya to interferon beta or glatiramer acetate using a 100-point scale based on the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM),1 a validated tool that measures patient satisfaction with medical treatments.3 A higher TSQM score indicates higher satisfaction. At six months, adjusted mean treatment global satisfaction subscale scores (a measure of the overall level of satisfaction with a medication that patients are taking) were 80.4 for Gilenya vs. 61.1 for the injectable disease modifying therapies (DMTs), an increase from baseline by 20.4 vs. 2.9, respectively.1 The mean difference between the two scores was a statistically significant 17.5 (p1 "Patient satisfaction is critical for the management of chronic conditions like MS," said Christopher LaGanke, MD, of North Central Neurology Associates … Continue reading →