As of this date, there is still no cure for MS. Multiple new drugs and therapies have been approved over the last few decades, but Multiple Sclerosis IFN injections still show the highest success rate, in general, for most patients. To deal with the demyelination process with MS, IFN – beta drugs demonstrate the most efficacies. These are commonly referred to as the ABC treatments – A being Avonex, B standing for Betaseron and C for Copaxone. Copaxone is not a Multiple Sclerosis IFN beta, however, even though it is usually lumped in with the other two – maybe just because the acronym is easier to remember. But in reality, it should be ABCR – where R stands for Rebif, which is also an MS IFN beta.
What is the Multiple Sclerosis IFN treatment really referring to?
Beta Interferon is of two types, beta interferon-1a and beta interferon-1b. Avonex and Rebif fall into the 1a category while Betaseron is of the 1b type. IFN-b occurs naturally in the human body and is one of the group of biochemicals known as interfurons (IFNs) that regulate the immune system functioning. It reduces the levels of IFN-g that is known to be associated with MS. does block white blood cells from attacking the myelin sheath that insulates the nerves. The destruction of this myelin is what causes the damage associated with Multiple Sclerosis. And along with stopping the flow of new immune cells to the inflammation sites, it stops the T-cells from releasing cytokine signaling molecules that encourage inflammation.
Does MS IFN therapy really work?
The short answer is yes! There have been countless studies on the efficacy of IFN-b in both the relapsing-remitting and the secondary-progressive forms of MS. They have all shown effectiveness at reducing the relapse rates and the disease progression in both types of MS. Some patients argue that it is not effective because even after a year or more of treating their MS, IFN bête has not stopped their disease from progressing. But MS is so unpredictable and acts so differently in individuals that it is impossible to say how much more the disease would have progressed without the treatments. Most of the trials do show that dosage levels do have an impact and it may be that in patients that didn’t show as much progress, a different dose would have had different results. And when a study shows a certain percentage of reduction in lesions in patients on interferon therapy versus placebo, the results are still inconclusive because MS is so individualized. There is no way to tell what may have happened to any one individual without the IFN, so the only thing researchers can do is to average out the results over large numbers of participants. And the averages seem to indicate that disease progression is slowed on average. For now, that is the best that can be done.
