Jessica Dean's Healthy Living: Promising MS Medication
By: KARK 4 Today
Updated: September 20, 2012
Doctors don't know what causes MS, but promising research shows a new drug may play an important role in managing the disease that often hits women during the prime years of their lives.
Researchers at The Cleveland Clinic have been studying a medication called BG-12...
The first benefit over other MS treatments is that it comes in pill form. Patients often must get injections or infusions now, which can come with serious side effects.
In phase iii studies -- BG-12 was shown to cut the number of MS relapses in half. That's not all...it also decreased new scars on the brain by 70 to 80%. The drug also seemed to slow progression of disability associated with the disease.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision about the drug by the end of this year.
Researchers at The Cleveland Clinic have been studying a medication called BG-12...
The first benefit over other MS treatments is that it comes in pill form. Patients often must get injections or infusions now, which can come with serious side effects.
In phase iii studies -- BG-12 was shown to cut the number of MS relapses in half. That's not all...it also decreased new scars on the brain by 70 to 80%. The drug also seemed to slow progression of disability associated with the disease.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision about the drug by the end of this year.
