January 13, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Patients Treated in Clinical Practice with Fingolimod Show Benefits New research evaluating fingolimodās clinical efficacy, safety, and tolerability in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) largely supported its use, finding that the oral drugās efficacy in a real-world settingĀ was comparable to results observed in Phase 3Ā clinical studies. The research article, āEfficacy and Safety of Fingolimod in an Unselected…
January 13, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Progression Halted Using Stem Cells Derived from Gum Tissue A new source of stem cells, the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from the human periodontal ligament (hPDLSCs), offers a potential treatmentĀ capable of halting multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. The study, āAlternative source of stem cells derived from human periodontal ligament: a new treatment for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis,ā was published…
January 12, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Study Questions Safety of Bacteria Commonly Used as Vaccine Adjuvant In a recent study, a team of researchers argued that, contrary to what has been proposed, subclinical Bordetella pertussis colonization is an important cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, āThe potential role of subclinical Bordetella Pertussis colonization in the etiology of multiple sclerosis,ā was published in the journal…
January 12, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Researchers Share Findings on Fall Risk and Balance Improvement The 5thĀ International Symposium on Gait and Balance in MS, held in September 2015, focused entirely on research into balance and its lossĀ in multiple sclerosis (MS). Nearly 100 clinicians, scientists, engineers, and others sharing this research interest gathered to discuss why and how often MS patients fall, and how to…
January 11, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Researcher to Be Honored by International Neuropsychological Society Ralph H. Benedict, PhD, professor of neurology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo (UB), has been selected by The International Neuropsychological Society (INS) to receive the 2016 INS Mid-Career Award, also called Arthur Benton Award, for his work on…
January 11, 2016 News by Charles Moore Can Cannabinoid Chewing Gum Treat Multiple Sclerosis Pain and Spasticity? MedChew Rx, by AXIM Biotechnology,Ā the world’s first patented cannabinoid release chewing gum for pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS), is movingĀ into clinical testing. If all goes well, the company plans for a global release date ofĀ 2017. Medical cannabis is believed to have considerable promise as a therapy for…
January 8, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Patients and Caregivers Invited to Take Part in Meditation Study A new randomizedĀ andĀ controlled trial is recruiting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to investigate the effect of a mindfulness-based telemedicine intervention program on patients and their caregivers. The clinical study’sĀ protocol was recently published in the journal Trials,Ā titled “A telemedicine meditation intervention for people with multiple sclerosis…
January 8, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Rise in MS and Autoimmune Disease Linked to Processed Foods In a new study, researchers found that additives common to processed foods can damage the tight junctions that protect the intestinal mucosa, and which are essential to theĀ intestinalĀ tolerance and immunity balance that works to prevent autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, titled āChanges in…
January 7, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Drug Under Study No Longer Being Given in Higher Doses to Patients Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech have discontinued the use of higher doses of the drug laquinimod in two ongoing multiple sclerosis (MS) studies. The decision was based on a recommendation byĀ the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC)Ā that isĀ supervising the clinical trials afterĀ cardiovascular events, none of which were fatal,…
January 7, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Entropy in MS Patients’ Brains Seen to Mirror Level of Disability A recentĀ study published in the journal PLOS ONEĀ described a new technique with the potential to spot brain changes in multiple sclerosis (MS) before the onset of symptoms. The technique, which measures brain dynamic activity and brain entropy, mayĀ lead to theĀ development of diagnostic ā and possibly prognostic ā…
January 6, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Multiple Sclerosis Association of America Appoints New President and CEO The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), a national nonprofit organization and leading resource for the multiple sclerosis (MS) community, recently announced thatĀ Gina Ross MurdochĀ has been namedĀ the association’s new president and CEO. Ms. Murdoch is nowĀ the MSAAās leader in areas comprising strategic progress, programmatic growth, and business development strategies.
January 6, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Potential Mechanism in MS Pathogenesis Seen in Study Researchers found that a group of untreated patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) carry a specific group of hyperactivated immune cells, the inflammatory CD8+ T cells, suggesting a potential common mechanism contributing to disease pathogenesis. The study, āA Preliminary Comparative…
January 5, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Volunteer Yoga Instructor Helps Multiple Sclerosis Patients Gail Pickens-BargerĀ is aĀ doTERRAĀ Elite Wellness Advocate who has been helping students to improve their fitness for 15 years. The yoga instructor is now also dedicated to serving the fitness goals of a particular population ā patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is aĀ demyelinating diseaseĀ in which the insulating layer (called myelin) that…
January 5, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Review Highlights Long List of Unmet Needs For MS Patients In a special feature publishedĀ in the journal American Health & Drug Benefits, authorsĀ Stanton R. Mehr, President of SM Health Communications, and Marj P. Zimmerman, President of RxDirections, discuss the many unmet medical needs multiple sclerosis (MS) patients still face in dealing with the…
January 4, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Pilot MS Study Suggests High-Dose Vitamin D Supplements Are Safe and Beneficial Results from a small pilot study indicated that high-dose vitamin D supplementation is safe and tolerable in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and that it can reduce the presenceĀ of autoimmunity-causing immune T cells. Patients are now being recruited for a larger clinical trial. The study, entitled āSafety and immunologic…
January 4, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New Study Focuses on Sleep Troubles and Quality of Life in MS Patients A new studyĀ investigated the influence of sleep disturbance, fatigue and disability on the quality of life (QOL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Health-related QOLĀ measurements are important tools for assessing the impact of a disease on self-reportedĀ physical, mental, emotional, and social functioning. Most studies show that QOL is not related to…
December 30, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD NIH Grant to Advance Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Targeting Remyelination Novoron Bioscience, Inc., a biotech company focused on developing therapies for disorders of the central nervous system, recently announced that it has received a $680,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to assess the potential of a new therapeutic approach to induce remyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is…
December 29, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Patients Are Adequately, But Not Optimally, Treated for Depression A new Canadian study, published in the International Journal of MS Care, has concluded that the majority of patients with concurrent multiple sclerosis (MS) and depression are receiving antidepressant treatment. Despite this, however, many of these patients continue to report depressive symptoms. MS and depression co-occurrence is…
December 29, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Fatigue, Cognitive Impairments Are Main Reasons Patients Lose Their Jobs Difficulties with cognitive function and fatigue are the main reasonsĀ patients withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā struggle to stay gainfully employed, a new study published in theĀ December edition of theĀ International Journal of MS CareĀ has found. The study is titled āFactors Associated with Employment Status in Individuals with…
December 28, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Multiple Sclerosis Takes a Physical and Psychological Toll on Caregivers, Too People caring for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients can have substantial physical and psychological health concerns, and their care can adversely impact their employment, according to researchĀ findings recently published in the International Journal of MS Care. The study is titled āCare Partners and Multiple Sclerosis,…
December 28, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Top 10 Multiple Sclerosis Articles of 2015 Multiple Sclerosis News Today has reported the latest therapies, clinical trial developments, and events in multiple sclerosis (MS) on a daily basis throughout the past year. As 2015 comes to an end, hereĀ are the year’s 10 articlesĀ most widely readĀ byĀ Ā Multiple Sclerosis News TodayĀ readers, each with a brief summary of the developments…
December 22, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Patients Show Better Gait and Balance with Dalfampridine Treatment In a new study, researchers evaluated the effect of dalfampridine treatment in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and observed significant improvements in not only walking speed and distance, but also in gait and balance. The paper, titled āDalfampridine Effects Beyond Walking Speed in Multiple Sclerosis,ā was published in the…
December 22, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Experimental RRMS Therapy to Be Tested in a Phase 2b Clinical Trial GeNeuro, a company developing therapies for neurological and autoimmune disorders, recently announced the initiation of a Phase 2b clinical trial to assess its lead investigational antibody GNbAC1 in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The trial, called āCHANGE-MS,ā plans to enroll 260 patients across 68 centers acrossĀ theĀ European Union and…
December 21, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD MS Active and Inactive Lesions Differ in Levels of Enzymes that Drive Glucose Metabolism A research team recently showed that key enzymes of energy metabolism pathways are differentially expressed in active and inactive multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, and may contribute to axonal degeneration in MS. The study, titled āDifferential expression of glucose-metabolizing enzymes in multiple sclerosis lesions,ā was published in the…
December 21, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Researchers to Be Among 200 Specialists at January Symposium on Glial-Neuronal Interactions The upcoming 9thĀ annual āGlial-neuronal Interactions in Health and Diseaseā symposium will bring together nearlyĀ 200 neuroscientistsĀ ā focused onĀ neuron and glial cell interaction and its affect on diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) ā to discuss the latest findings in this area of brain research. The daylong symposium is to be held…
December 18, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Patients Using New Web-based Program to Manage and Integrate Care A team of researchers from the Netherlands haveĀ developed an interactive web-based program called MSmonitor that offers multiple sclerosis patients a way to manage and better integrate the multidisciplinary care they require.Ā Pilot data from a study of its useĀ is detailed in the article,Ā āThe interactive web-based program MSmonitor for…
December 18, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New MS Drug Therapy Based on Monomethyl Fumarate Moving Along in Testing Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on therapies for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced that it has successfully met its 2015 goals for their product and late-stage pipeline drug portfolio, including ALKS 8700, a monomethyl fumarate (MMF) drug candidate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis…
December 17, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc MS Study Uncovers a Process Leading to Neuroinflammation in the Brain In a new study, researchers from the University of Toronto, Canada, uncovered the process behind the formation and maintenance of tertiary lymphoid tissues (TLTs), structures found in the meninges in the brains of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Their findings, reported inĀ the article āIntegration of Th17- and Lymphotoxin-Derived Signals Initiates…
December 17, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD New MS Drug Shows ‘Excellent Profile’ in Preclinical Tests Against Approved Therapy Akaal Pharma, a developer of small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), recently announced highly positive preclinical trial results on the safety and efficacy of its drug candidate AKP-11 when compared to Gilenya (fingolimod, FTY-720), an oral MS drug approved by…
December 16, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Physical Therapy in Need of Proper Study, Experts Say The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ announced that a panel of expertsĀ led a comprehensive review of 142 published studies addressing rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis (MS), and found evidence suggesting that weekly in-home or outpatient physical therapy offers benefits ā but, mostly, it found a lack of well-designed studies into…