Fundraisers and donations enable MS research to continue each year. This research enables the chance of a Multiple Sclerosis breakthrough to be more likely. Thanks to the many individuals and corporations who have provided funds over the years, research on the cause of MS has created many new medications and led to beneficial discoveries about this disease. Not all breakthroughs have to be absolutely mind-boggling to be beneficial to the MS community. There are times when news spreads around the MS community, raises hopes, and then gets squelched by a higher up force, such as the government or negative results from further studies.
However, when continuous research produces positive results, such as new meds with few to no side effects, this type of breakthrough is the kind everyone enjoys hearing about. The latest news that has the MS community humming with positive vibes involves a drug called ‘fingolimod’. It is the first MS drug that doesn’t have to be given via injection, but is in pill form instead. Most recipients of this drug have mild to no side effects and fingolimod has also shown to greatly reduce flare-ups. In fact, individuals in the early stage of MS who have begun taking fingolimod have had few to no flare-ups at all.
Although this drug was first tested in 2007, it took up until the fall of 2010 to receive approval from the FDA. Once approved, fingolimod was considered to be the Multiple Sclerosis breakthrough 2010 and made available to any MS patient who wished to try it out. Most individuals have had positive results and feel an overall improvement has been made in their physical being.
Multiple Sclerosis Breakthrough 2009
A particular breakthrough which occurred in 2009 is still being researched, but those involved with the preliminary studies show nothing but positive results. It was actually an act of love that caused this breakthrough to occur in the first place. Paolo Zamboni’s wife was diagnosed with MS in 1995 and he set out to use his knowledge gained through the years to determine the cause of MS. The professor of medicine researched until he found what he thought to be the cause; a lack of blood to the cerebrospinal area. The treatment for CCSVI, or chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, has yet to be approved by the FDA.
People are able to find centers that offer surgery for CCSVI in some countries, but this Multiple Sclerosis breakthrough has yet to be recognized as a sure thing. Despite this, the number of active brain lesions in MS patients who took part in the study was reduced from 12 to 50 percent. After 2 years had passed, 73 percent of these patients showed no symptoms at all.
