Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Exploring Your Options

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Updated December 15, 2014.

Multiple sclerosis drugs can alter the course of multiple sclerosis by slowing the progression of the disease. And since my diagnosis, I have heard more than once that I picked a great time to have multiple sclerosis because of the variety of MS drugs now out on the market. Betaseron, Copaxone, Avonex and others work to modify the disease, but are all different from one another to some degree. Before working with your doctor to choose an MS drug that is right for you, you should review the differences in these medications carefully.

It is just since the mid-1990s that there has been any treatment for multiple sclerosis itself prior to this, doctors and patients relied on corticosteroids to shorten relapses, medications to address different symptoms, and physical and occupational therapy to adjust to and slow disability. The disease-modifying drugs have been shown to do just what they claim modify the actual course of MS.

They do this by reducing the number and frequency of new lesions, especially the ones that cause relapses.

One thing to remember when looking at the different medications is that effectiveness is reported based on a two-year period. However, longer-term data is starting to become available for some of the older drugs (Copaxone, Avonex, Betaseron and Rebif), and the results seem to support the assertion that these drugs are even more effective over a longer period.

There are many considerations when deciding which therapy to begin, including: side effects, type of MS you have, ease of use and any necessary monitoring. Your neurologist will probably have an opinion on which therapy he thinks will be best for you, based on the considerations mentioned, as well as his own experience with patients like you.

Sources:

Multiple Sclerosis: Hope Through Research ; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

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Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Exploring Your Options