News Related to Multiple Sclerosis

1. Pediatric MS Affects Thinking, Memory
   

   May 12, 2008 -- Multiple sclerosis (MS) that strikes during childhood may disrupt a key phase of brain development and appears to have a profound negative impact on a child's ability to think and pay attention. Scientists reporting in the May 12 issue of Neurology say that the earlier MS develops, t

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2. Good News for Oral MS Drug Fingolimod
   

   April 16, 2008 -- Seventy percent of multiple sclerosis patients taking the experimental drug FTY720 -- fingolimod -- were relapse free after three years of daily treatment. The finding comes from an extended phase II clinical trial in which all patients receive the immunity-suppressing drug. Resear

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3. MS Patients Say Mobility Is Top Problem
   

   April 10, 2008 (New York) -- The majority of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) say that trouble walking significantly affects their overall quality of life, yet many do not discuss their mobility issues with their doctors, according to two surveys. The polls were conducted by Harris Interactive on

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4. FDA Warns of Tysabri Liver Risk
   

   Feb. 27, 2008 -- The FDA today announced that Tysabri, a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease, has a new warning about possible risk of liver injury. Doctors should tell patients about the risk and stop Tysabri in patients with jaundice or other signs (such as lab tests) of sign

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5. Does Pot Use Hamper Thinking in MS?
   

   Feb. 13, 2008 -- New research shows that among multiple sclerosis patients, those who smoke marijuana may have slower reaction times on mental skills tests and are more likely to report a history of psychiatric diagnoses. That news, published in today's advance online edition of Neurology, comes fro

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6. Rituxan Shows Promise for MS
   

   Feb. 13 -- The novel cancer and rheumatoid arthritis drug Rituxan may prove to be a highly effective treatment for the most common form of multiple sclerosis, if results from a small, phase II trial are confirmed. In the study, sponsored by the drug's manufacturers, patients with relapsing-remitting

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7. Tysabri May Be Linked to Melanoma
   

   Feb. 6, 2008 -- Two multiple sclerosis patients developed malignant melanoma -- a deadly form of skin cancer -- soon after starting treatment with Tysabri. Tysabri slows the self-destructive immune responses that attack the nervous systems of people with MS. In animal studies, these same immune resp

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8. Eye Scan May Help Spot MS Damage
   

   Oct. 16, 2007 -- A quick eye scan may help doctors check for nerve damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. That news might mean swifter treatment for MS, note MS experts including Peter Calabresi, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine "Treatments for MS cannot reverse the damage but they can a

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9. MS That Runs in Families May Be Worse
   

   Oct. 12, 2007 -- Multiple sclerosis may cause more severe brain damage in patients who have a relative who had multiple sclerosis. Researchers reported that news today in Prague, Czech Republic, at the 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis. The scie

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10. Antibody May Help Heal MS Nerve Damage
    

    Oct. 9, 2007 -- Scientists may have found a way to reverse some nerve damage from multiple sclerosis -- a discovery that may lead to new treatments for MS. Researchers today reported that they've successfully used an antibody to restore nerves' fatty sheath (called myelin) that had been ravaged by M

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