January 19, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD 65% of Patients Discontinue Therapy Baclofen Within a Year in Study About 10%-20% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) receive baclofen to control their spasticity, but up to half of patients stop the medication in the first six months, a large Swedish population-based study shows. The high rates of discontinuation suggest baclofen has “a low success rate of…
August 22, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD MS Spasticity Therapy Baclofen Helps to Repair Myelin: Early Study Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin ā the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS ā in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. These findings suggest baclofen ā sold as oral tablets,…
June 24, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Why I’m Giving 3 MS Medications Another Try Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.
June 6, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ublituximab, Lyvispah, Diet Study FDA Decision on Ublituximab for Relapsing MS Pushed to Yearās End Ublituximab is similar to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab), which also target B-cells, the immune cells that play a role in the inflammatory attacks that harm the central nervous system of people with MS. Each of…
June 3, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Lyvispah, Dissolvable Form of Baclofen, Now Available in US Lyvispah ā a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen ā is now commercially availableĀ in the U.S. for adults and adolescents, 12 and older, with spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other spinal cord disorders. In people with MS, the strawberry-flavored formulation is particularly suitable to ease flexor…
February 11, 2022 Columns by John Connor The Big Blue Bag and a ‘Cast Away’ Bed Once upon a time, long, long ago, when I was very young, we British children would be asked, “Whatās through the round window?” The line was from a TV series called “Play School.” The swinging ’60s may have been breaking in London, but culturally, this was the happening show…
January 26, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah The Trials and Tribulations of MS Medications “Hey, man, I’m alive. I’m taking each day and night at a time/ I’m feeling like a Monday but someday I’ll be Saturday night.” ā Bon Jovi Multiple sclerosis (MS) medications can generally be separated into two categories: disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and those that help to manage symptoms. While…
December 13, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: DMTs and Age, Lyvispah, Cells Driving MS, Melatonin Worsening of Disability Evident in Older Patients Who Stop DMTs Some neurologists believe that multiple sclerosis (MS) progression slows, or even stops, when people reach their 60s, so they advise patients that there’s no need to continue their disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Personally, I think a DMT age ceiling is…
December 9, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD FDA Approves Lyvispah, Granular Form of Baclofen, to Treat Spasticity The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lyvispah, a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen, to treat spasticityĀ in people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). The strawberry-flavored formulation, developed byĀ Saol Therapeutics, is particularly suitable to ease flexor spasticity, the involuntary bending of the knees and hips toward the…
July 30, 2021 Columns by John Connor The Painful Tooth: My Weekend of Agony Iāve written about trigeminal neuralgia (TN), which entails severe facial pain, many times. Let me count the ways. Please excuse me while I go off and search through my columns. I’ll be a while. Well, it turns out I’ve written specifically about it only three times,…
January 8, 2021 Columns by John Connor Sorry, This Is Not About New Year’s Resolutions. Get Over It! Now I know what it is like to write like Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. Not because I have their talent (if only), but due to the inescapable fact that I’m so high that the children’s Christmas kites flapping in the park are far below me! Oh, it turns…
August 21, 2020 Columns by John Connor ‘Apocalypse Now’: I Love the Smell of Hashish in the Morning Helicopters were whirling in my brain. Turns out, it was a solitary police one. Though it was another hot night, my wife closed my windows in case of a prowler. I’m on the ground floor, after all. It was a dark moment in my life. Another relapse had struck…
July 22, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD FDA Will Review Arbaclofen ER, Potential Oral Therapy for MS Spasticity The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review Ā Osmotica Pharmaceuticals‘ amended request for the approval of arbaclofen extended release (ER) tablets to treatĀ spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), the company announced.
November 21, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: MS and Drowsy Driving Editor’s note: “Need to Knowā is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topicĀ “Are you still driving? Should you be?” from Dec. 27, 2018. At…
June 28, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Less-frequent Dosing with Arbaclofen ER Tablets Decreases Spasticity As Well As Standard Baclofen, MS Trial Data Show Arbaclofen extended-release (ER) tablets taken twice a day can effectively reduce spasticityĀ (muscle stiffness) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with similar potency to that of standard and more-frequently-dosedĀ baclofenĀ (brand name Lioresal), Phase 3 clinical trials show. Latest trial data were presented in two posters during the 33rd Annual Meeting…
March 21, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Why Do I Have Facial Pain? Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topicĀ “What is Trigeminal Neuralgia?” from May 2, 2018. What causes…
February 28, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: What Is Gait? Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?” from…
February 5, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Have You Joined Our MS Forums Yet? It’s been about nine months since we created the MS Forums section on the Multiple Sclerosis News Today website. It’s a placeĀ designed to host conversations about our MS experiences and to find some answers from reliable sources when you have a question. You can even begin your own…
January 20, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Patients with Spasticity Needed for Study of Extended-release Baclofen Capsules A new clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of extended-release baclofen capsules in relieving spasticity related to multiple sclerosis (MS) isĀ calling for 135 people with any form of the disease. The study, taking place in six U.S. states, is sponsored by Sun Pharma, the drug’s developer. Baclofen, an approved MS…