Help for Multiple Sclerosis Victims

Reported November 2009

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- About 2.5 million people are affected by multiple sclerosis, or MS. It's a disease of the central nervous system that disrupts or blocks nerve signals, causing muscle weakness, difficulty walking and other problems that become more debilitating with time. A new drug is not a cure, but it could give patients a more active, independent future.

As a young mom in 1979, Gale Myers was diagnosed with MS. For 30 years, she's fought frustrating, even debilitating symptoms like numbness in her legs.

"That's exactly how my legs felt,“ Myers described to Ivanhoe. “They were so leaden. They were so hard to move."

Now, something's changed.

"My legs feel far less numb than they did,“ Myers described. “My feet feel less numb than they did. I have a fair amount of tingling in my toes. In my case, the tingling means the feeling is coming back."

For two years, Gale's been taking an experimental MS drug called fampridine, which takes a different approach to treating MS.

Current MS drugs target the immune system, trying to stop the response that strips axon nerve fibers -- like removing insulation from an electrical wire -- and releases potassium, making it harder to send electrical signals.

Neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center Andrew Goodman, M.D., says fampridine holds potassium in the axon and helps keep the transmission lines.h

"It's not restoring or repairing the damage, but it's enhancing the way the damaged areas are able to function, and in so doing, people experience real life improvement in their ability to walk, their ability to move their legs,“ Dr. Goodman told Ivanhoe.

Now Myers is feeling stronger, and more hopeful with every step. "It's a very exciting place to be after 30 years,“ Myers said.

Researchers caution that the drug is not a cure, nor does it stop progression of MS, but they believe it could offer MS patients more mobility and a better quality of life. Two phase III studies of fampridine have now been completed and the drug has been submitted to the FDA for approval.

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Andrew D. Goodman, M.D.
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY 14642
(585) 273-1184
andrew_goodman@urmc.rochester.edu

American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
Joseph Catapano
Communications Specialist
(703) 248-4772
http://www.aapspharmaceutica.com
catapanoj@aaps.org

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