Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Updates: A Comprehensive Overview

Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating disorder where the body's immune system attacks and destroys the myelin sheaths which protect the nerves. The treatment of multiple sclerosis has evolved very quickly since the early 1990s.

Features

• As of 2009, there are six Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs specifically to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis: Betaseron, Copaxone, Avonex, Rebif, Novantrone and Tysibri. The first available drug was Betaseron, which was made available in 1993.

Theories/Speculation

• All the approved drug therapies for multiple sclerosis are injectable except for Novantone, which is administered intravenously. There is a new study under way for the first multiple sclerosis oral form of therapy.

Significance

• Women are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but new studies show that when men develop the disease it is often in a worse form. There are four different sub-forms of multiple sclerosis: relapsing-remitting, the most common form; primary-progressive, which affects 10 percent of MS patients; secondary-progressive, which normally progresses from relapsing-remitting; and progressive-relapsing, the rarest form.

Considerations

• Before 1993, 50 percent of those diagnosed with the relapsing-remitting form developed a more severe form, secondary-progressive, within 10 years of the diagnosis. The drugs in place help to retard the progression.

Individualized Treatment

• Most people with multiple sclerosis have to find the drug therapy that works best for them and what they tolerate best. A brain and spinal MRI need to be done yearly to track progression of the disease.