Popular MS drug may not prevent disability from progressing in patients

VANCOUVER -- Researchers in Vancouver suggest a widely used treatment for the most common form of multiple sclerosis may not prevent the progression of disability.

Multiple sclerosis attacks the brain and spinal cord, and can cause neurological issues which range from mild problems to serious disability, such as paralysis.

The drugs which were studied, known as beta interferons, have been used to treat the relapsing-remitting form of MS since 1995.

But a new study from the UBC Hospital MS Clinic and Brain Research Centre published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the drugs arent preventing the progression of disability.

However, the researchers warn that the studys results werent meant to suggest that MS patients stop taking the drugs as the medications are still effective at reducing relapse rates.

Dr. Helen Tremlett, one of the studys authors, says the finding is just coming to light because in the past, not enough time had elapsed from when the drugs were approved to treat the disease.

A total of 2,656 patients with MS were looked at. Of those, 868 were treated with the beta interferon drugs and were compared with both contemporary and historical cases of patients who went untreated.

Tremlett said researchers were trying to figure out whether taking the medications would reduce a patients risk of needing a cane to walk.

Our main finding is that, among patients with relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis, which is the most common form of MS, we found that exposure to a group of drugs known as the beta interferons were not strongly associated with a reduction in progression of long-term disability, Tremlett said.

Relapsing-remitting MS is a form of the disease characterized by clearly defined attacks that worsen a patients neurological function. These flare-ups or relapses are followed by a period of partial or complete recovery.

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Popular MS drug may not prevent disability from progressing in patients