The approval from the FDA for Ampyra for MS patients came in January of 2010, but research has been ongoing for decades. Ampyra is the brand name for the slow release form of 4-aminopyridine, known as 4-AP. The studies of the link between 4-AP and demyelination go back as far as 1980. In fact, the possibilities of using Ampyra for Multiple Sclerosis treatment really got its start in agriculture. This is yet another example of research leading to accidental discoveries that end up opening entirely new avenues of understanding the way he body works.
4-aminopyridine chloride, sold as Avitrol, is used as a bird repellant by baiting some birds in a flock with it, where the drug acts on the central nervous system to change their behavior. This behavioral change frightens off the other birds, who always act in unison as a flock.
