Statins could soon treat multiple sclerosis as ‘momentous’ trial begins – Telegraph.co.uk

Statinscould soon be prescribed to treat multiple sclerosis after a groundbreaking trial began to see if the cheap cholesterol busting drug could delay symptoms.

The 6 million projectis being led by University College London and involves 1,180 people at 30 centres across Britain.

It follows a successful small trial in 2014 which showed a significant reduction in the rate of brain shrinkage and an increase in mobility after two years for people on high doses of simvastatin , which usually prescribed to lower cholesterol.

Charities said the trial was a 'momentous step' forward which offered hope to thousands of people with relapsing MS.

The trial is scheduled to last six years, but because statins are already known to be safe and widely used, the treatment would quickly pass through regulators if it was deemed to be successful.

Lead researcher Dr Jeremy Chataway from University College London's Institute of Neurology, who led an earlier study into the drug, said: "This drug holds incredible promise for the thousands of people living with secondary progressive MS in the UK, and around the world, who currently have few options for treatments that have an effect on disability.

"This study will establish definitively whether simvastatin is able to slow the rate of disability progression over a three year period, and we are very hopeful it will."

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Statins could soon treat multiple sclerosis as 'momentous' trial begins - Telegraph.co.uk