There are new Multiple Sclerosis treatments that show promise for a way to cure or slow the progression of MS. One of these new treatments involves a recently discovered drug. While not approved by the FDA, this new medication might still pave the way to relief for MS patients of today and the future. In fact, living with MS can be very difficult and most people simply want to return to the life they knew before being diagnosed with MS.
Drugs for MS are generally designed to help slow down the progression of the disease. The majority of the medications approved by the FDA for MS are currently meant to be given via injection. Interferon beta, fingolimod, glatiramer, natalizumab, and mitoxantrone are all MS meds used in treatments and are designed to modify the disease. Currently being researched, one new Multiple Sclerosis medicine hopes to receive FDA approval by the end of 2012. This new type of a drug can be taken orally, just like fingolimod, which patients tend to prefer. There are fewer side effects with this new medicine, and it can be taken by patients without the discomfort of having to deal with needles.
There is good news on the horizon about fingolimod; after 3 years of monitoring a group of MS patients, those taking fingolimod were relapse free. This immunity-suppressing medication has changed the lives of many people with Multiple Sclerosis and is one of the top MS meds. Some mild side-effects, such as fatigue, headache, and head colds have been reported. However, these side-effects are a small price to pay to get relief from the pain and discomfort MS patients feel.
Multiple Sclerosis treatments for CCSVI
CCSVI stands for ‘chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency’, and causes blood in both the brain and spine to be constricted and unable to make it back to the heart. If the oxygen-depleted blood is left in the central nervous system, many symptoms may occur and this condition can reach a chronic level. As of present day, there are a few places which offer treatment for CCSVI in Multiple Sclerosis patients. However, the CCSVI Foundation, a nonprofit MS patient advocacy organization, exists to help assists patients in being diagnosed for CCSVI and seeks treatment for it.
The common procedures of treating this ailment are done by inflating a balloon inside the affected vein or veins, or by inserting stents in narrow or deformed veins. This is one of the new Multiple Sclerosis treatments used with the aim of improving blood flow out of the brain and to the heart. CCSVI treatment in MS patients has yet to be approved by regulating authorities, due to the lack of a 100 percent positive link between CCSVI and Multiple Sclerosis.
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