Free Republic

A combination of metformin, a common diabetes drug, and clemastine, an antihistamine, can help repair myelin—the protective coating around nerves, which gets damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) causing symptoms like fatigue, pain, spasms and problems with walking. This is according to early findings from the phase two clinical trial, CCMR-Two. Previous evidence from animal studies showed that metformin enhances the effect of clemastine on myelin repair, but until now the two drugs had never been tested together in people. "I am increasingly sure that remyelination is part of the solution to stopping progressive disability in MS," said Dr. Nick Cunniffe....

A team of researchers has found that a drug used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) is potentially effective as a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. The team studied ponesimod, an oral medication that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to treat relapsing forms of MS. The medication reduces inflammation in the brain by targeting a specific receptor in the immune system to help regulate the body's response and prevent it from attacking the central nervous system. This receptor is activated by a lipid termed sphingosine-1-phosphate. Said Bieberich. "Since this drug is already in clinical use for therapy of...

Multiple sclerosis patients who were severely disabled are walking, working and even downhill skiing again following a breakthrough therapy which completely destroys, then rebuilds, the immune system. The trial, which is the first in the world to show complete long-term remission from the debilitating disease has been hailed by experts as ‘exciting’ ‘unprecedented,’ and ‘close to curative.’ Although it is unclear what causes MS it is thought that the immune system attacks the protective coating which surrounds nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord leading to inflammation, pain, disability and in severe cases, early death...