MS patient to trial ground-breaking new drug

MS patient from Blandford to trial ground-breaking new drug

3:00pm Wednesday 2nd April 2014 in News By Diarmuid MacDonagh

A 39-YEAR-OLD nurse is the first person in Dorset to trial a ground-breaking new drug that can delay the progress of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Rebecca French, pictured right, who was diagnosed with the condition 10 years ago, has been offered the chance to try Aubagio (Teriflunomide).

The single mother of two who lives in Blandford, has remitting and relapsing MS and was told by her consultant that she would need to start injecting her medication on a daily basis.

I couldnt face injecting myself because of the numbness in my hands which makes it increasingly difficult, she explains.

So when my consultant offered me the chance to trial this new drug which is in tablet form, I thought it was too good an opportunity to miss.

However side effects include hair loss and liver damage.

Rebecca adds: Im aware that I am a guinea pig and that there are lots of potential side effects and I will have to have blood tests every two weeks.

But although it sounds quite scary, it will help to slow down the progress of MS so I feel it is worth it as it can help to reduce the number of relapses by up to a third.

Read this article:
MS patient to trial ground-breaking new drug