Multiple Sclerosis Research

A number of new treatments that may reduce attack frequency and duration or improve neurological functions are either in clinical trial or being explored. Some of these treatments involve combinations of drugs that are already administered to treat MS, while others involve drugs that are employed to treat other diseases. Examples of this are the Neuroprotective drugs, which have been traditionally employed to treat degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and are now being considered for MS.

Some of these new treatments have proved to reduce disabilities, vision problems and frequency of exacerbations. However, they can give some side-effects such as increased autoimmune problems like Thrombocytopenic Purpura, which is the condition of having a low platelet count. Finally, other drugs in clinical trials have been specifically designed for MS, such as Laquinimod, which is an immunomodulator used as an oral treatment of Multiple Sclerosis and Neurovax, which is a vaccine designed to treat MS patients.

New diagnostic and evaluation methods are also being investigated. These include:

the measurement of antibodies against myelin proteins, which could be useful for diagnosisOptical Coherence Tomography (OCT) of the eye’s retina, which could be used as a measure of response to medication as well as brain atrophy

However, there are not yet tests available that can help to predict the prognosis although several approaches have been suggested.