Multiple sclerosis
A world-first trial is being launched in the UK into whether drugs already on the market can prevent multiple sclerosis (MS) from worsening and even reverse the disabilities it causes.
The Octopus trial will investigate the potential benefits of using a number of different medications at once, in the hope of finding effective new treatments up to three times faster than if the medicines were trialled separately.
Approval has been given for use of a multiple sclerosis (MS) medication in Scotland, with a final decision on its introduction in England and Wales expected later this year.
The medication ozanimod, or Zeposia, has been given approval by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) for people with active relapsing remitting MS. Ozanimod is a disease modifying therapy which is taken as a tablet and traps immune T-cells in the body’s lymph nodes.
Vision in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) could be improved through the use of medication, a new study has found.
A mice study investigated the effect of indazole chloride (IndCl) on the pathology and function of the afferent visual pathway for the first time, which includes the eyes, optic nerve, and all brain structures responsible for receiving, transmitting, and processing visual information. "IndCl has been previously shown in mice to reduce motor disability, increase myelination, and neuroprotection in the spinal cord and corpus callosum," says Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, a professor of biomedical sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine and the study's lead author.
The effect of medication Tysabri on cognitive fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is to be analysed in a new research study.
The study will look at how the medication, also known as natalizumab, impacts cognitive fatigue in individuals with relapsing and remitting MS. Most people living with MS report symptoms of cognitive fatigue, which can adversely affect their ability to perform activities in their everyday lives. Statistics show that over 40 per cent consider such fatigue their most troubling symptom.
The types of nerve cells which are lost through developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have been identified for the first time, in a breakthrough which could yield the development of new nerve-protecting treatments.
In a new study, researchers found that the inhibitory interneurons are lost in people who have MS. Previously, it was only known that myelin, the protective coating around nerves, is damaged in MS - but pinpointing the selective loss of specific nerve cells has now been established. The research, from the MS Society Edinburgh Centre for MS Research, could now lead to steps forward in the development of treatments to help protect the nerves most at risk.
Dedicated support for people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is set to be increased through the addition of more specialist nurses and champions into the NHS and major investment in the development of an advice line.
The MS Trust is the only charity which provides additional specialist MS nurses into the NHS, and while it was forced to pause the initiative at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now set to resume its NHS Specialist Nurse Programme with plans to create five additional roles.
Having felt so let down by the lack of support and guidance available to people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), podcaster and campaigner Jessie Ace has now produced a book - My Enabled Warrior Tracker - in the latest step on her crusade to empower those with chronic conditions. NR Times learns more.
Diagnosed with MS aged only 22, having just graduated from university and - with a book deal already secured - about to embark on a career as an illustrator, Jessie Ace knows only too well how devastating and scary the outlook can seem.
“I thought my world had ended, but the worst part of it all was not knowing where to turn, or who to turn to. There was a total absence of information about what I should do from that point onwards,” she recalls.
Michael was a high-flying company director when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis earlier this year. Only shortly afterwards, amidst the economic impact of the pandemic, he lost his job. Here, he describes the devastating reality of such a double blow, and why he is determined to find the confidence to get him through.
“I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis just before lockdown. Five months later, I was made redundant. The two events weren’t linked, but both have been central to the real uphill battle I feel I’m fighting at present.
The drug siponimod (Mayzent) has been approved by NICE for active secondary progressive MS in England and Wales.
MS charity the MS Trust hailed the news a “significant advance in the treatment of progressive MS”. Siponimod (Mayzent), an oral treatment taken once daily, has been approved for people with secondary progressive MS who continue having relapses or show signs of MS activity on MRI scans. In clinical trials for secondary progressive MS, siponimod delayed disability progression by 26 per cent compared to placebo, the MS Trust reports.
The MS Trust has launched 'MS Trust...in us' - a campaign supporting people with MS and their health professionals, during the pandemic and beyond.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the whole MS community, with delays in specialist healthcare services and treatments, not to mention the isolation and loneliness of life in lockdown. The MS Trust has launched ‘MS Trust…in us’, to help raise funds to restore MS specialist healthcare services in the UK, "getting them back on track to ensure people with MS can get the care and support they need and deserve, during the pandemic and beyond".
