Multiple sclerosis can range from relatively mild to somewhat disabling to devastating. Many researchers believe MS is an
autoimmune disease — meaning the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues.
In the case of MS, it is the nerve-insulating myelin sheaths that come under assault. This causes inflammation and injury to the sheath and ultimately to the nerves that it surrounds. The result may be multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis).
Eventually, this damage can slow or block the nerve signals that control muscle coordination, strength, sensation and vision. Most people experience their first symptoms of MS between the ages of 20 and 40. Often, the first symptom is blurred or double vision, red-green color distortion, or even blindness in one eye.
Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance. These symptoms may be severe enough to impair walking or even standing. In the worst cases, MS can produce partial or complete paralysis.
About half of all people with MS experience cognitive impairments such as difficulties with concentration, attention, memory and poor judgment. These symptoms are usually mild and are frequently overlooked. Depression is another common symptom of MS. There is no cure for MS.
An experimental drug therapy for multiple sclerosis could mean more years with better functioning for MS patients. The drug is called NeuroVax.
NeuroVax works by stimulating the body’s own immune system to regulate its own destructive activities on the nerve sheaths, Arthur Vandenbark, is a research scientist at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Portland, Ore., said.
“We’re taking a part of the target, the destructive cell, and we’re using it to stimulate a different part of the immune system to attack the destructive cell,” Vandenbark said. “What we’re trying to do with this vaccination is increase the number of regulatory cells to a point where we can fully control an outbreak of the destructive cells.”
The drug causes very few if any side effects, Vandenbark said.
The experimental injection is given every month, which differs from current treatments in that they must be administered weekly or daily.
“The fact that we would not have to give the drug as often would be a definite benefit to the patients,” Vandenbark said.
A phase III clinical study of NeuroVax shows the drug to be effective. A total of 20 subjects were included in the preliminary tests. Researchers compared responses to three different injections — one being NeuroVax. The group of patients receiving NeuroVax showed significant response compared to the other two groups.
It will be many years before this experimental drug would be available to the public. Larger studies will be needed before the FDA can consider it for approval.
Ivanhoe Broadcast News