Fertility Treatment Tied to Higher Relapse Rate in Women With MS

Risk is still higher if in vitro fertilization attempt is unsuccessful, small study found.

WEDNESDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who undergo in vitro fertilization therapy are more likely to suffer a relapse of their MS condition, according to the results of a small new study.

The use of synthetic hormonal chemicals, such as gonadotropin, during fertility treatments may be to blame for the increased relapse rate, the study authors suggested. They said women with MS should be warned about their greater risk for relapse following in vitro fertilization, particularly if the treatment is unsuccessful.

The study by researcher David-Axel Laplaud of INSERM, Nantes, France, and colleagues was published online June 11 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Previous research suggests that sex-hormone therapy and pregnancy affect the MS relapse rate, according to a journal news release.

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Multiple Sclerosis: Physical Therapy

WebMD Medical Reference

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

The symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) can affect your ability to move around. You may be experiencing tightness, pain, and weakness, especially in the muscles and joints. Physical therapy may help.

Physical therapy cannot cure the primary symptoms of MS (such as weakness, tremors, tingling, numbness, loss of balance, vision impairment, paralysis, and bladder or bowel dysfunction), but therapy can enable you to compensate for the changes brought about by MS. These "compensatory treatments," as they're called, include learning about new movement techniques, strategies, and equipment.

Physical therapy can also be very helpful at lessening secondary symptoms of MS. A physical therapist can teach you exercises to strengthen and loosen muscles. Many of these exercises can be performed at home. The goal of physical therapy is to improve your independence and quality of life by improving movement and function and relieving pain.

Physical therapy can help with:

• Balance problems
• Lack of coordination
• Fatigue
• Pain
• Immobility
• Weakness

How Do I Find a Physical Therapist?

How Many Visits Will I Need to Get Relief?

For answers to the above, click here to read more

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Teva Announces Top-Line Results from GALA Phase III Trial Evaluating a New Dosage for Glatiramer Acetate Given Three Times Weekly for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) today announced positive top-line results from the GALA (Glatiramer Acetate Low-Frequency Administration) Phase III clinical trial assessing the efficacy, safety and tolerability of 40 mg/1 ml glatiramer acetate injection (GA) administered subcutaneously three times a week compared to placebo in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis(RRMS) patients. Study results showed that GA 40 mg/1 ml significantly reduced disease activity, while maintaining a favorable safety and tolerability profile.
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UPDATED INFORMATION of : Masitinib Treatment FOR Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

AB Science SA (Paris:AB)(NYSE-Euronext-FR0010557264-AB), a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of protein kinase inhibitors, announces the publication of results from the human phase 2 study of masitinib carried-out in the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis. The article, ‘Masitinib treatment in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis: a randomized pilot study’, is freely accessible online from BioMed Central's peer-reviewed journal BMCNeurology (http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/12/36/abstract).

•Phase 2 study establishes proof-of-concept that oral masitinib has potential therapeutic benefits in patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis

•Overall, results add new scientific data to the important question of the potential role of anti inflammatory agents in the management of progressive multiple sclerosis

•A phase 3 study has been initiated based upon these promising results

Read more: http://www.pharmiweb.com/PressReleases/pressrel.asp?ROW_ID=59968#ixzz1xh9qoRzl

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Fight MS By Replacing Fatty Acids

By delving into the components of protective nerve coatings that get damaged in multiple sclerosis, scientists have identified a handful of lipid molecules that appear to be attacked by an immune system run amok.

Bolstering the supply of these lipids might help preserve these nerve coatings and, in the process, knock back the inflammation that contributes to their destruction, researchers report in the June 6 Science Translational Medicine.

In MS patients, rogue antibodies assault myelin, the fatty sheath that insulates nerves and facilitates signaling. Inflammation exacerbates the attack on myelin and the cells that make it. But other details of MS, including the roles of myelin lipids, have been less clearly understood.

“I think this is a very good study,” says Francisco Quintana, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School. “Overall, there are not many papers on lipids in MS. Technically, they are challenging and require a lot of expertise.”

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Sanofi applies for Lemtrada MS drug approval - a Once a Year medication

PARIS, June 12 | Tue Jun 12, 2012 2:46am EDT

(Reuters) - Sanofi said its Genzyme unit had submitted applications to regulators in the United States and Europe for its Lemtrada multiple sclerosis treatment as the pharmaceutical group attempts to offset declining revenue with new drug offers.

Sanofi, which has worked on the drug in collaboration with Bayer, submitted a supplemental biologics licence application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Agency for Lemtrada.

Sanofi acquired Lemtrada through its $20.1 billion takeover of U.S. biotech group Genzyme last year, when it was already developing MS pill Aubagio. If approved, both drugs could end up reaching the U.S. and European markets by the end of the year.

Unlike older MS drugs that have to be injected daily or weekly, Lemtrada is given just once a year.

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A pictorial view of MS Symptoms

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Novartis Says MS Drug Gilenya Shows Long-term Efficacy, Safety In Extended Study

6/11/2012 2:14 AM ET

(RTTNews) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NVS: News ) on Monday said a new data for multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya (fingolimod) showed long-term efficacy benefit and a consistent safety profile.

Gilenya, licensed from Japan's Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., is the only oral therapy approved to treat people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.

The data from single-arm extension of phase III head-to-head TRANSFORMS study showed sustained reduction in relapses and rate of brain volume loss in patients on continuous Gilenya treatment for up to 4.5 years, the company noted

The results also showed improved efficacy for patients switched to Gilenya from Avonex (interferon-beta-1a IM), a commonly prescribed MS treatment from Biogen Idec Inc. Novartis noted that reductions in relapses and MRI measures were observed in these patients.

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Learn about the Swank Diet

About the Swank Low-Fat Diet for the Treatment of MS

We are about to show you a sensible plan for balanced nutrition developed over a 50-year period of research with hundreds of MS patients. After reading the following, you may wish to print out our Quick Reference and Diet Recording Form to keep handy as you learn the diet. To learn even more, read Dr. Swank's groundbreaking book.

THE DIET

60 years ago Dr. Roy Swank discovered that a low-fat diet, very low in saturated fats and polyunsaturated oils, helps MS patients live healthy and productive lives. Also low in red and other fatty meats, high in grains, fruits and vegetables, it is simple to follow and in many cases alleviates chronic symptoms. Some of his very first patients are still ambulatory and leading independent lives thanks to following Dr. Swank's regimen for the last half-century.

There was a time – say, around the time your great-great-grandparents (give or take a great) were around – when if we ate bread, we knew the person who grew the wheat. We were, after all, an agrarian society. As industrialization overtook the farming lifestyle, the population moved from the country and in many cases became wealthier as city economies boomed. We began to eat more meat and the fat content of our diet increased rapidly. The food industry became industrialized, and heavily processed foods grew to dominate the U.S. food supply. (We sadly note this occurring in China and India today.)

With this rise in fat consumption, ills like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis have also risen to affect more and more of the population.

For the most benefit, the Swank MS Foundation advocates adoption of the diet as soon as possible after MS is diagnosed. Hand-in-hand with the diet are other important ingredients to living a healthy life: adequate rest, reduced stress, and an optimistic, attitude that having MS is above all a call to live life to its best and fullest.

Adopting the Swank MS Diet may at first seem to require much discipline and dedication, but after an initial adjustment period it will be second nature as any diet. But about 60 years and thousands of healthy lives later, Swank's discovery has proven to be physically rewarding and surprisingly easy to follow.

READ MORE, click here: http://www.swankmsdiet.org/ 

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Ft. Worth Chiropractor Uses Atlas Orthogonal Adjustments for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

FT. WORTH, Texas, June 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 
Ft. Worth chiropractor, Dr. Chris Michlin is the only board-certified Atlas Orthogonal adjustment doctor in North Texas, and he uses this technique to treat patients suffering from neck pain, back pain and conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). A chiropractic Atlas Orthogonal (AO) adjustment realigns the Atlas vertebra at the very base of the skull. According to Dr. Michlin, when this vertebra is improperly aligned, nervous system impulses from the brain to the rest of the body are interrupted, which can cause pain. Dr. Michlin reports that he has helped patients experience relief from conditions such as sciatica, headaches, migraines, fibromyalgia, autism and multiple sclerosis (MS) with this specific type of adjustment.

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Wisconsin company may be on the verge of CURING MS

The writer of this article has much to learn -- Deadly disease???

Apr 30, 2012 - By Alysha Schertz

Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating, often deadly disease that attacks the body's central nervous system. It can devastate a victim's brain, spinal cord, optic nerves and vision.

Approximately 400,000 people in the United States are living with MS. Worldwide, more than 2.1 million people are afflicted with the disease, many with different symptoms and levels of severity.

The disease is unpredictable. While treatments and medication currently on the market can help slow down the attacks, there is no cure.

Yet.

But the cure for MS just might be sitting right in southeastern Wisconsin's backyard.

Endece LLC, a Mequon-based drug discovery company, recently formed Endece Neural, a subsidiary company focused on neurological drug development. More specifically, Endece Neural is pursing the development of a drug that could help repair and even reverse the damage caused by MS.

Endece's work is getting some attention in the world of MS research.

"We're very excited about the Endece compounds," said Jay Tung, president of drug discovery at the Myelin Repair Foundation in San Francisco.

Endece hopes to collect enough data so the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will accelerate clinical testing enough to have the drug on the market in five to seven years.

"We've already proven that our compound and even our backup compounds work in in vitro (in Petri dish) environments," said James Yarger, chief executive officer of Endece. 

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Merck Serono to Introduce RebiSlide(TM), the Rebif(R) Multidose Manual Pen-injector for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Merck Serono, a division of Merck, Darmstadt, Germany, announced today the forthcoming introduction of the new injection device RebiSlide(TM) in Europe and Canada, followed by other countries. RebiSlide(TM) is a multidose manual injection pen for the self-administration of Rebif(R) (interferon beta-1a), a disease-modifying drug used to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

"RebiSlide(TM) is the latest addition to Merck Serono´s range of injection devices for the self-administration of Rebif(R) to meet the needs of patients looking for a compact and multidose device, " said Belen Garijo, Head of Global Operations at Merck Serono. "The introduction of RebiSlide(TM), alongside other innovative devices such as the electronic multidose device RebiSmart(TM) and the single-use pre-filled pen RebiDose(TM), underscores our commitment to continuous advancement in multiple sclerosis treatments, by offering patients different administration options to suit their individual needs."

RebiSlide(TM) is a manual multidose injection device for MS therapy and was designed to offer an alternative way of injection for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis looking for a portable and multidose device. RebiSlide(TM) uses the multidose cartridges of Rebif(R) containing a week´s supply of Rebif(R) therapy (three doses of 44 micrograms or three doses of 22 micrograms). The device contains a dose window, which allows users to select the dose of injection prescribed, including dose titration (8.8 micrograms or 22 micrograms).

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A receptor may hold key to multiple sclerosis treatment

June 8, 2012 - Cornell University News

A receptor recently discovered to control the movement of immune cells across central nervous system barriers (including the blood-brain barrier) may hold the key to treating multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disease of the central nervous system.

In MS, immune cells enter the central nervous system and attack and destroy the myelin sheath surrounding the axons of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in blindness, paralysis, incontinence and many more symptoms.

The research, appearing last month online and in print June 1 in the Journal of Immunology, reveals how the A2A adenosine receptor expressed on blood-brain barrier cells acts as a gateway, allowing immune cells to enter the brain, where they can cause havoc in people with MS.

The blood-brain barrier is composed of specialized cells that selectively prevent substances from passing from the bloodstream into the brain.

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To Review: Video Coverage of the American Academy of Neurology 2012 Meeting

The information of this Neurology Meeting took place at the end of April. We are posting this so you can see what took place.

MSWorld, Inc. is covering the 2012 AAN (American Academy of Neurology) Meeting in New Orleans, LA with Dr. Daniel Kantor, President of the Florida Society of Neurology and medical advisor to the MSF. Video updates will be added below in chronological order; the newest updates are at the end. Check back throughout the week for new coverage! 


Click here to see the video updates: http://www.msfocus.org/news-details.aspx?newsID=209

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