MS news: February 2014

The positives so far…

1. Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Drug Copaxone Gets FDA Approval For Bigger Dose, Fewer Injections
   BioNews Texas – Copaxone injection for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis There is new news regarding a widely-used treatment for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. According to the latest reports released by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the FDA has approved the company’s concentrated 3-times-per-week formulations of Copaxone, and that the formulation will now be available in 40 mg dosages.
2. Secondary Progressive MS Trial of Lamotrigine Tested For Neuroprotection Benefits
   BioNews Texas – The research team proposed that delaying nerve cell destruction can limit the rate of disability in secondary progressive MS patients. The supporting study, which was completed after two years of testing, was aimed at employing nerve cell blockers like lamotrigine to monitor the rate of worsening disability in secondary progressive MS patients.
3. Protein May Repair Brain Tissue Damaged by Multiple Sclerosis, Study Says Science World Report – Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, destroying tissue and cells along the way. Previous research and practices have found that therapies can help with relapses of MS, but cannot help repair the tissue and cells that have been affected.
4. Petition for MS drug to be tabled in the Senate next week
   ABC Online – Sufferers from progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) are ramping up a campaign to have a new drug listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme when its Advisory Committee meets next month.
5. New Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trial to Test Clemastine As Treatment
   BioNews Texas – Multiple Sclerosis is an inflammatory disorder in which the immune cells attack the myelin sheath of the nervous system. Due to loss of insulation, valuable neurological information is not properly integrated, leading to worsening physical as well as mental symptoms.
6. Genzyme’s multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada receives Mexican approval
   pharmabiz.com – “The approval of Lemtrada in Mexico is an important step forward for MS patients, who remain in great need of new treatment options that may offer greater efficacy,” said Miguel A Macias, MD, Department of Neuroscience, University of Guadalajara.”
7. Biogen’s Multiple Sclerosis Drug Tecfidera Set For Release In Europe
   BioNews Texas – Biogen Idec Inc. just announced that its new multiple sclerosis (MS) drug, Tecfidera, received approval to be marketed in Europe.
8. Researchers Ponder Whether Infections Are Driving T-cells To Increase Multiple Sclerosis Progression
   BioNews Texas – Scientists recently uncovered a key finding that CD4 T cells are not involved with Multiple Sclerosis progression after recent trials revealed that a depleting CD4-specific antibody failed to affect MS.  The question is: did the depleting CD4 specific antibody fail to affect MS, or was the experimental design flawed?
9. New Multiple Sclerosis Study Reveals Impact of Disease On Maintaining Employment
   BioNews Texas – The acceleration of the disease’s pain index and cognitive atrophy clearly leads to impairment in one’s professional life — an issue that has been documented countless times anecdotally on MS blogs and in physician’s notes.
10. Queensland doctors find therapy to halt progression of multiple sclerosis
    NEWS.com.au – The treatment is based on Professor Pender’s research showing MS patients have decreased immunity to the Epstein Barr Virus.
11. FDA Approves Copaxone 3 Times a Week for MS
    WebMD – Feb. 4, 2014 — If you have multiple sclerosis (MS) and take the drug Copaxone, you may now be able to take it three times a week instead of every day.
12. Biogen’s MS Drug Approved in Europe
    Drug Discovery & Development – … oral treatment for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the most common form of multiple sclerosis (MS).
13. Multiple Sclerosis Myelin Repair, Neuroprotection Drug To BeTested In New Research Collaboration
    BioNews Texas – Scott Johnson, CEO, President and Founder of the Myelin Repair Foundation in a MRF release, hails the research collaboration with the NIH as an exciting achievement and powerful new beginning, that marks another major milestone to advance one of MRF’s potential compounds into clinical development.
14. New knowledge about treating multiple sclerosis
    Medical Xpress – (Medical Xpress)— A study carried out at Victoria, and recently published online in the international scientific journal PLOS ONE, holds promise for patients suffering from secondary progressive MS, an advanced form of the disease, which causes nerve degeneration leading to impaired vision and coordination, and eventually, paralysis.
15. What Is MS Doing To My Face?
    Everyday Health – I often joke that I never hear the old line, “But you look so good.” If humor is the best medicine, I guess I self-prescribe the self-effacing brand.
16. Research breakthrough offers hope for MS Suffers
    Gatton Star – TWO research breakthroughs could provide new hope for almost 4000 people living with Multiple Sclerosis across Queensland. In the first, a Queensland researcher has published results of a new treatment that involved using a glandular fever vaccine along with immune cells from blood to ease symptoms in a 43-year-old man with MS.
17. Women with MS or depression have changes in brain anatomy
    Health and Beauty News (blog) – The results of this research are published in Human Brain Mapping. “Patients with medical disorders – and especially those with inflammatory diseases such as MS – often suffer from depression, which can cause fatigue. But not all fatigue is caused by depression.
18. Comparison of cognitive tests shows SDMT effective in differentiating employment status in MS individuals
    News-Medical.net – Researchers at Kessler Foundation have studied the measurement tools used in multiple sclerosis for their effectiveness in predicting employment status.
19. 5 most incredible discoveries of the week
    USA TODAY – A newly found area of the brain related to decision-making and an intriguing discovery about multiple sclerosis make the list: it seems that a rare strain of a common food bacterium produces a toxin that attacks the brain in the same way that MS does. It could be a major trigger for the disease, and the find and raises hope of a vaccine.
20. Seattle Seahawks Mascot Blitz Has MS, Raises Funds for Research
    Healthline – Ryan Asdourian, the man behind the Seattle Seahawks’ beloved mascot “Blitz”, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2008 while working at Microsoft, where he is currently a communications manager.
21. Blood Tests May Detect Multiple Sclerosis Before Symptoms
    Scientists recently discovered an antibody in the blood of people with multiple sclerosis may be present long before the disease and its symptoms …
22. Marathon man from Leamington looks to London Marathon to continue his fundraising effort
    Seeing his wife living with the effects of multiple sclerosis has encouraged a Leamington man to run the London marathon to help fund treatment and …
23. Kessler Foundation MS researchers find task meaningfulness influences learning and memory
    Kessler Foundation researchers have found that among persons with multiple sclerosis, self-generation may be influenced by variables such as task …
24. Multiple Sclerosis Patients Can Still Thrive in the Workplace, Thanks To Slight Adjustments By …
    Multiple sclerosis in the workplace A EurActiv Special Report by Henriette Jacobsen notes that, while many people who suffer from multiple sclerosis …
25. New chief executive officer takes over MS-UK charity
    The charity, which offers advice, information and therapy to people with Multiple Sclerosis, is based at the Hythe – just a couple of miles from where …
26. Multiple Sclerosis Among Top Research Topics For “Year of the Brain” in Europe
    The European Brain Council (EBC) has declared 2014 the “Year of the Brain,” with Multiple Sclerosis as a main research focus for the consortium
27. B Cell Study May Lead to Treatment Options for Progressive MS
    The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation announced a $3.6 million grant to …
28. New Multiple Sclerosis Study Shows Strong Connection Between Sleep Apnea and MS Related …
    Multiple sclerosis and sleep apnea According to the results of a recent study, sleep apnea has been found to be a common symptom in Multiple …

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