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How the humble hydrangea shrub could hold the key to curing MS, diabetes and arthritis By FIONA MACRAE 05th June 2009 It's bright and beautiful flowers bring a splash of colour to gardens all over Britain. But it seems the hydrangea is more than just a pretty bloom. A drug made from its roots could be used to treat a raft of common diseases, researchers say. The colourful shrub - a staple of Chinese medicine - has the power to 'revolutionise' the treatment of multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and some forms of diabetes and arthritis, scientists claimed yesterday. Hydrangea: The common...

Scientists have been able to reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis using stem cells from patients' own body fat. Some have been left free from seizures and better able to walk after the treatment. Researchers said that the results suggest that the "very simple" injection of their own cells can stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by the progression of the disease. The preliminary findings add to the growing evidence that stem cells could be used to treat the crippling neurological disease, which affects about 85,000 people in Britain. Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a...

NaturalNews) Children who develop multiple sclerosis have substantially lower levels of vitamin D than children who do not develop the disease, according to a series of studies presented at an international conference on multiple sclerosis in Montreal. Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nervous system in which the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells breaks down, leading to problems in the transmission of nervous signals. Symptoms can range from tingling and numbness to tremors, paralysis or blindness. An estimated 2.5 million people around the world suffer from the disease, which is rarely diagnosed before the age of 15....

Courses of a common cancer drug can dramatically reduce the risk of a patient with multiple sclerosis having a relapse or deterioration, work shows. Taking cladribine a few times a year more than halved the chances of a relapse, with few side-effects, the UK study of 1,300 patients found. UK expert Professor Gavin Giovannoni said the drug could revolutionise the treatment of MS. Its manufacturer Merck Serono hopes to seek licensing for its use this year. The drug is already licensed for treating leukaemia. Prof Giovannoni gave his assessment of its potential value to MS patients at a meeting of...

April 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results. The three case studies, described in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine support further clinical evaluation of what are known as stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in MS and other autoimmune conditions. Thomas Ichim, from Medistem Inc., and Dr. Boris Minev, from the Division of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego, worked with a team of researchers to demonstrate the possible effectiveness of SVF cells in...

Scientists have been able to reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis using stem cells from patients' own body fat. Some have been left free from seizures and better able to walk after the treatment. Researchers said that the results suggest that the "very simple" injection of their own cells can stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by the progression of the disease. The preliminary findings add to the growing evidence that stem cells could be used to treat the crippling neurological disease, which affects about 85,000 people in Britain. Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a...

Scientists have found the genetic 'brakes' which could slow down or stop diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer, it is claimed. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said their findings could also lead to new treatments for such illnesses. It was previously thought a select group of 'master' genes was responsible for controlling the growth of cells which can cause the conditions. But the study discovered that there are actually hundreds of genes which interact with each other. Scientists said they believed variations in this network explained why people could develop diseases in different ways. The team hopes that by...

Multiple sclerosis could be prevented through daily vitamin D supplements, scientists told The Times last night. The first causal link has been established between the “sunshine vitamin” and a gene that increases the risk of MS, raising the possibility that the debilitating auto-immune disease could be eradicated. George Ebers, Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford, claimed that there was hard evidence directly relating both genes and the environment to the origins of MS. His work suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and childhood may increase the risk of a child developing the disease.

Bone marrow stem cells may have helped patients with multiple sclerosis.MedicalRF.com / Alamy A stem-cell therapy appears to help some patients with early-stage multiple sclerosis recover, according to results from a preliminary study.Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease where the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system. White blood cells in the body attack the protective myelin sheaths surrounding nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. Although symptoms of the disease wax and wane, they generally grow worse over time and include fatigue, blurred vision and difficulty walking. In the new trial, the patients' immune cells were...

Adult Stem Cells Successfully Reset Immune System for Multiple Sclerosis Patients by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com Editor January 29, 2009 Chiacgo, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Adult stem cells continue to outpace their embryonic counterparts by successfully treating patients with a variety of diseases and conditions. Now, the use of adult stem cells from bone marrow has helped patients suffering from the early stages of multiple sclerosis.A new study shows a research team appears to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their bodies and thereby "resetting" their immune systems.Dr. Robert Burt,...

A drug developed to treat leukaemia may be a powerful new weapon against multiple sclerosis, researchers say. Alemtuzumab appears to stop progression of the disease in patients with early stage active relapsing-remitting MS - the most common form of the condition. The University of Cambridge study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also suggests the drug may enable repair of previous damage. However, it can produce potentially serious side-effects, they warn. The ability of an MS drug to promote brain repair is unprecedented Dr Alasdair Coles University of Cambridge And the researchers stress their work is still at...

NICE, France: In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation elicited high response rates and improved quality of life for up to 6 years. The results of the study were presented here at the 18th Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) by Tatiana Ionova, MD, PhD, Department of Haematology, Pirogov National Medical Surgical Center, Moscow, Russia. During the last decade, high-dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been used with increasing frequency as a therapeutic option for patients with MS. "The aim of the study was to assess...

LONDON -- May 6, 2008 -- The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (Prozac) may help to curb disease activity in patients with the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS). That's the finding of preliminary research published ahead of print in the journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. The research team randomly allocated 40 patients with the relapsing-remitting form of MS to treatment with either 20 mg daily of fluoxetine (Prozac) or placebo for 24 weeks. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging every 4 weeks to check for new areas of neurological inflammation, a hallmark of active disease. In total,...

Genentech and Biogen Idec Announce Top-Line Results from a Phase II/III Clinical Trial of Rituxan in Primary-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) and Biogen Idec, Inc. (Nasdaq:BIIB) today announced that a Phase II/III study of Rituxan(R) (rituximab) for primary-progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) did not meet its primary endpoint as measured by the time to confirmed disease progression during the 96-week treatment period. Genentech and Biogen Idec will continue to analyze the study results and will submit the data for presentation at an upcoming medical meeting. "We are disappointed in the outcome of...

When it comes to understanding, preventing and treating chronic diseases, multiple sclerosis ranks among the most challenging. The word “multiple” is apt in more ways than one. Various suggested causes include early-life exposure to certain viruses or toxic agents, geographic and dietary influences, inherent immunological defects and underlying genetic susceptibilities. MS is highly unpredictable. Rarely are any two patients alike in the presentation, duration and progression of symptoms; even the underlying cause of disability in MS is being reconsidered. And rarely do any two patients respond in the same way to a given therapy, be it medically established or alternative....

CNBC’s Mike Huckman reported on a study just released in the New England Journal of Medicine that found that Rituxan, a joint-venture between Genentech and Biodec intended for use on rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is also useful in treating M.S. According to the study, patients using Rituxan saw a 58% decrease in M.S. flare-ups and a 91% drop in brain legions after just two infusions of the drug. This news has huge upside potential for Genetech, Huckman said. It could be a mixed bag for Biogen because the company makes two other multiple sclerosis drugs whose sales could be...

The identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, U.S. researchers report. The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis, the team's senior author said. "This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role," explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant professor of neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. "This is also very applicable for situations where...

As we celebrate the creation and potential of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, adult stem cell research continues to bear fruit in animal and human studies. The latest is a truly exciting find out of Stanford University: Blood stem cells taken from a donor with a healthy immune system effectively treated multiple sclerosis and arthritis in mice. From the story in the Telegraph: Thousands of patients with arthritis and multiple sclerosis are given new hope today by scientists who have developed a way to alter the immune system.Both conditions are caused when the immune system becomes faulty and attacks the body....

Neurologists at Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital, Ein Kerem, are the first in the world to help multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients by injecting their spinal columns with large numbers of adult stem cells taken from their bone marrow and multiplied in culture. The clinical trial, while "encouraging" and "promising," remains highly experimental, as all the patients have undergone a single injection with no untreated control group for comparison. With the first patients having received it two years ago, it is too early to know how successful it will be in the long term. Prof. Dimitrios Karousis, a...

Patients with common immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis could one day be treated with bone marrow transplants, scientists claimed yesterday. Hopes for the new treatment follow the development of a more efficient transplant technique which avoids the need for radio- or chemotherapy, both of which have potentially dangerous side-effects. Traditional bone marrow transplants are used to treat only life-threatening conditions, such as leukaemia or lymphoma. The treatment infuses healthy adult stem cells into the patient, which then form fresh blood and immune cells. But before the transplant can be done, patients must receive a course of...

A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) is being pioneered near Bristol. Six patients at Frenchay Hospital are being injected with their own stem cells in the hope that they will repair damage to the brain. Approximately 60,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, an incurable disease of the nervous system. Prof Neil Scolding, of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We know stem cells are attracted into the brain, into these areas of damage." He added that he hoped the stem cells would "help those areas to stop getting worse" and "repair damage". 'Lot of hope' Liz Allison,...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- Scientists in England have developed a vaccine that, in early testing, appears to help patients with multiple sclerosis without relying on controversial embryonic stem cells. Pro-life advocates oppose the use of the cells because days-old unborn children must be destroyed to get them. Dr. Amit Bar-Or and researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute developed a vaccine that relies on the insertion of healthy DNA into a patient with the debilitating disease. Bar-Or tested the BHT-3009 on 30 patients where half received the injection and half received a placebo. The London Telegraph reports that the numbers of...

Medical researchers have made a significant advance in understanding multiple sclerosis, a common neurological disease that causes symptoms ranging from muscle weakness to paralysis. The disease is one in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the electrical insulation of nerve fibers. The cause is part genetic and part environmental, but researchers trying to identify the relevant genes have endured repeated frustration. Their approach has been to guess what genes might be involved and see if patients have abnormal versions. This guesswork has produced more than 100 candidate genes in recent years, none of which could be confirmed except for...

HALIFAX, June 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Elizabeth Jeanette MacDonald of Windsor Nova Scotia recently died at the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Zurich Switzerland, possibly with the help of the Right to Die Society of Canada. MacDonald, who lived many years with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), died on June 8, 2007. An obituary listed in the Halifax Chronicle Herald on June 20, 2007 concluded: "Last, but not least, we would like to thank Herr Ludwig Minelli, and the members of Dignitas in Zurich (Bernard and "Gaby", in particular), for helping Elizabeth deliver herself from the burden of a life which had...

Nobody knows what causes , the nervous system disease that affects more than 400,000 Americans, but new research sheds light on why the body is attacking itself and how to reverse it. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how one protein could turn the tide against the degeneration found in the brains of MS patients, and actually reverse some of the worst effects of the disease. The protein - alphaB-crystallin - is not usually found in the brain, but in the lens of the eye. It only develops in the brain in response to nerve cells...

To all Freepers and family members who have MS (multiple sclerosis): how much of the cost of your injectable does your insurance cover, if you use betaseron or copaxane or avonex? I was shocked this year to learn my wife's medicine is now a non-preferred drug and that we pay 30% of the cost, which is $500 a month. Now that's a lot better than paying the full price, but it is still very high. I have always had it covered as a flat co-pay before - say $50. Are there ways to reduce the cost or do I have...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists intrigued by the fact that multiple sclerosis can slip into remission when women are pregnant said on Tuesday a pregnancy-related hormone may offer great promise for treating the neurological disease. Researchers at the University of Calgary said a study involving mice showed that a hormone called prolactin triggers production of myelin, a fatty substance that insulates nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. In multiple sclerosis, the immune system, which normally protects the body, is believed to attack the myelin that coats nerve cells, causing a worsening loss of sensation and movement that can range...

Botox isn't just for helping get rid of wrinkles. There is a new use for it. Dr. Jay Adlersberg has more. If Botox can paralyze the muscles that cause wrinkles, how about using it for tight muscles in other places? That's what some doctors are doing to help patients with cerebral palsy and strokes. Botox is helping children and adults alike. Nine-year-old Andrew Carter is not afraid to fall. And he refuses to let cerebral palsy get the best of him. When Andrew would try to move, his muscles would fight him, jerking him around. It's a condition called spasticity....

Good Poison? Carbon monoxide may stifle multiple sclerosis Nathan Seppa Small amounts of carbon monoxide might alleviate symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a study in mice suggests. The finding may offer a treatment for MS, which strikes when a person's immune system damages the fatty sheaths that protect nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. At first glance, the approach seems fraught with problems. Carbon monoxide inhalation can be lethal. But the body makes the molecule naturally in small amounts when an enzyme called heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1) breaks down a portion of the blood protein hemoglobin. That enzyme might act as...

A prolonged bout of intestinal parasites seems to slow the decline of patients with multiple sclerosis, according to a study released today. The results suggest that immune-modulating molecules from parasites could be developed into drugs to ease autoimmune diseases, and that by conquering parasite infections, modern medicine may have inadvertently increased our vulnerability to these illnesses. Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) occur far more often in developed countries than in developing countries. And parasitic infections, which have been beaten down in the United States, are still common in South America and elsewhere in the developing world, says neuroimmunologist...

Final testing of MS drug launchedBiogen Idec said it has launched final, Phase 3 testing of an oral drug to treat multiple sclerosis. The Massachusetts company, which has a research campus in San Diego, said the drug will be tested in more than 2,000 patients in North America. The studies of BG-12, as the drug is known, are expected to last two years. The drug would be the third in Biogen Idec's portfolio of multiple sclerosis medicines. In June, the company reintroduced the drug Tysabri with partner Elan Pharmaceuticals based on a risk-management plan that stipulated it must be administered...

Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may lower the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), research suggests. Previous studies have suggested vitamin D may have a protective effect - but the evidence has been inconclusive. A Harvard School of Public Health team measured levels of the vitamin in large numbers of US military personnel. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the risk of MS fell as blood levels of the vitamin rose. MS is among the most common neurological diseases affecting around two million people worldwide. The researchers uncovered 257 cases of MS...

With increasing frequency, American citizens and others from around the globe are experiencing newfound freedom from disease, affliction, and infirmity. Individuals' lives are forever changed with the strengthened faith and renewed hope that arise from healed bodies and physical restoration. These seemingly miraculous cures are the result of adult stem cell treatments. Yet the debates in the popular media tend to ignore and obscure the medical breakthroughs made by adult stem cell research--success that has conspicuously eluded embryonic stem cell treatments.[1]  Adult stem cells (or, more accurately, tissue stem cells) are regenerative cells of the human body that possess the...

Stem cell clinic shut down The Birmingham Post - Oct. 07, 2006 A clinic which put patients at risk of contracting HIV and CJD through its use of stem cells classified as unfit for human use has been closed down by Dutch health bosses.The Rotterdam-based Pre-ventief Medisch Centrum (PMC), which charged one Midlands MS sufferer pounds 14,000 for treatment, has been ordered to stop trading immediately by the Netherlands Health Care Inspectorate.The company had been using stem cells provided by UK-registered company Advanced Cell Therapeutics (ACT) to treat patients with Multiple Sclerosis and other debilitating illnesses.During an investigation into PMC,...

You beauty! City pioneers use Botox to fix bladder problems JENNIFER VEITCH PIONEERING surgeons are using the beauty treatment Botox to cure bladder problems in multiple sclerosis sufferers. Until now the procedure, which involves injecting botulinum toxin, has been used to reduce lines and wrinkles. However, at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, it has dramatically reduced incontinence among MS patients, and it could now be trialed on other people who suffer from bladder complaints. Doctors have been injecting tiny quantities of Dysport, a brand of botulinum toxin, directly into the bladder wall. The procedure has cured the bladder problems in 90...

Vitamin shots may help protect multiple sclerosis patients from severe long-term disability, a study suggests. Currently, there is no effective treatment for the chronic progressive phase of MS, when serious disability is most likely to appear. Researchers cut the risk of nerve degeneration in mice with MS-type symptoms by giving them a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide. The Children's Hospital Boston study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience. MS, which affects about 85,000 people in the UK, is a disease of the central nervous system. It causes the break down of the myelin sheath, a fatty protein, which coats...

Embryonic stem cells have not cured or successfully treated a single patient. Contrast that with the more than 70 conditions that are treatable using non-embryonic stem cell therapies. One of the hottest debates in bioethics today surrounds research using stem cells taken from either in vitro fertilization or cloned human embryos. From state legislatures and the halls of Congress to the United Nation, the controversy over whether to ban (or fund) such research rages. Human cloning for embryonic stem cell research creates human embryos virtually identical to a patient’s genetic composition. The embryo’s stem cells are then harvested — a...

Adult stem-cell research may lead one day to cures for terminal and debilitating diseases "I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience." -President George W. Bush1 Few areas of scientific study hold as much potential as adult stem-cell research. This research is already generating medical breakthroughs and treatments for debilitating diseases and disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries, sickle cell anemia and Parkinson's. Indeed, scientists laud stem-cell treatments as the "miracle cure" of the 21st century. Unlike so many areas of biotechnology, adult stem cells do not spark a...

Multiple Sclerosis sufferers were offered the hope of a normal life today after doctors discovered a pioneering drug treatment. A five-year study, which is due to be published in next month's Journal of Neurology, found that patients with the aggressive form of MS had a reduced relapse rate of 90 per cent under the regime. Background • Click here for our short guide to MS A treatment offering fresh hope for sufferers of multiple sclerosis has been discovered by British scientists. They are pioneering a regime which uses a combination of drugs to halt the ravages of the devastating neurological...

06/14/06 -- Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University of Calgary have found that stem cells derived from adult skin can create neural cell types that can be transplanted into and function in mouse models of disease. This research is reported in the June 14, 2006 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. SickKids researchers previously discovered what type of cells can be made from these stem cells (called skin-derived precursors, or SKPs) based on the role played by neural-crest stem cells during embryogenesis. In addition to generating the peripheral nervous system, neural crest stem cells generate...

Patricia is injected with about one million cord blood stem cells Patricia Frost is a desperate woman. The multiple sclerosis she has fought for 14 years has slowly taken over her body and speech.The 66-year-old has not been able to walk for a decade and lost the use of her arms within the past year - leaving her unable to feed, wash or dress herself.  After being told there is nothing more her British doctors can do for her, except to help ease her pain, Patricia decided to take a huge gamble with her health.  Along with her husband,...

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., May 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The results of a study published in the April issue of Stem Cells and Development suggest that human stem cells derived from bone marrow are predisposed to develop into a variety of nerve cell types, supporting the promise of developing stem cell-based therapies to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Stem Cells and Development, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., carries the paper, entitled "Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Express Neural Genes, Suggesting a Neural Predisposition." (online here http://www.liebertpub.com/scd)The surprising results lend a new perspective...

The results of a study published in the April issue of Stem Cells and Development suggest that human stem cells derived from bone marrow are predisposed to develop into a variety of nerve cell types, supporting the promise of developing stem cell-based therapies to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Stem Cells and Development is a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com  ). The paper, entitled "Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Express Neural Genes, Suggesting a Neural Predisposition," is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/scd.  These surprising results lend a new perspective to stem cell...

Before seeking out Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Kathy Hammons could barely care for her children as a result of the effects of lupus, an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks itself. She had been on oxygen for two years, was constantly fatigued, and was overweight from the steroids used to control her disease. "I would say before this option, they [lupus patients] hit a brick wall," Burt said. "They had nothing more, no further treatments." Burt's pioneering research, however, offered a new option. His breakthrough procedure uses a patient's stem cells to treat extremely severe cases...

...The therapy in question is Tysabri, and for many MS patients it appears to halt progression of the degenerative neurological disorder. But a year ago... corporate partners Biogen and Elan "voluntarily" withdrew their drug because of FDA pressure and litigation fear after two patients developed a rare brain infection. That infection might have been linked to Tysabri, since the drug works by suppressing parts of the immune system. But these patients also had other immuno-suppressive therapies, and in any case the MS patients were almost all willing to run the risk.... But shortly before the deadline, the FDA announced it...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A high dose of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone is more effective at limiting relapses and brain lesions than the standard dose, without more side effects, researchers said on Wednesday. "For some people a higher dose may work better," said Dr. Jeffrey Cohen of the Cleveland Clinic's MS research center and lead investigator of a small nine-month trial comparing the two doses. The study, funded by Israel-based Teva, found that a 40 milligram injection of Copaxone reduced inflammatory disease activity 38 percent more than a 20 mg dose. Rates of side effects, mainly...

I just learned from FReeper cgk who has multiple sclerosis that many of her symptoms are returning. Her doctor has determined that she can be treated at home and does not need to be hospitalized at this time. She is grateful for this because it will allow her to stay home with her little girl. Please post your prayers to cgk. Thank You and God Bless you all.

Many players on the field Hailed multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri is in FDA limbo, but researchers continue to attack the disease from all angles. By Mary Beckman Special to The Times March 27, 2006 STEPHANIE YELLIN-MEDNICK got through last year without the tingling in her hands that causes her to drop things or the weakness in her legs that knocks her off balance. Then the Food and Drug Administration pulled the drug that was helping her — Tysabri — off the market because of rare cases of brain infection in a few people taking it. "It was like a rug...

Multiple Sclerosis Drug Combined with Lipitor May Stop or Reverse Disease - Dosages Cut in Half with Fewer Negative Side Effects March 16th 2006 Lipitor Combining treatments may improve outcomes for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), according to research done on mice and published online by the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Scott S. Zamvil and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco found that mice treated with a combination of Glatiramer acetate (GA) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) demonstrated “a significant prevention and reversal of clinical MS severity” of MS symptoms.  Lipitor is a cholesterol lowering drug that has previously been...

The drug trial victim whose head ballooned in size so much that his sobbing girlfriend said he resembled the Elephant Man said he couldn't resist the £2,000 fee for the tests. Mohammed Abdalla, 28, had planned to use his £2,000 fee for being a guinea pig to make his family in Egypt financially secure. He wanted to set up his brother Mahmood in business and look after his father, an imam, and desperately ill mother. Yesterday, as the London bar manager's dreams were disclosed, it emerged that scientists had warned about the damage the drug could do to human tissue...