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@Leeb 

Last reply

Leeb

Research Without Urgency?

I recently came across the below: https://scitechdaily.com/can-this-medication-reverse-multiple-sclerosis-brain-biomarker-shows-it-can/ Please note the section "Ten years following the discovery of a common antihistamine, clemastine, as a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis by scientists at UC San Francisco" Ten years. Ten years after discovery that the drug may benefit MS patients was discovered, all that seems to have happened in the interim is that this (cheap) drug was pulled from shelves, at least in the UK, with no explanation. Ten years of denial of a potentially partly restorative treatment to pwMS. https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/news-posts/2023/06/16/mri-analysis-ms-rebuild-data-shows-myelin-repair-clemastine/ It isn't a cure but looks like some functionality may be RESTORED using this cheap, but unavailable, drug which no other current treatment offers. Probably needs examination whether it can safely be used with current DMTs, but that should have happened as they've had TEN YEARS. This should be a much bigger deal with all MS organisations. Patients should at least be given the option of taking Clemastine. Time is Brain, and ten years is too long to have no answers and no availability.
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@styubud
@styubud
 

It's frustrating that it takes so long to invent cures and test them before they are live on the market. Clinical trials necessarily take many years to assuage the efficacy and study unforeseen side effects. https://www.mssociety.org.uk/research/explore-our-research/emerging-research-and-treatments/explore-treatments-in-trials/clemastine I guess the harmful/useless polar opposites of this are homeopathy and the sort of "inject bleach" advice given by certain public figures!

@Leeb
@Leeb
 

@styubud Thanks for that. Interesting that the study referenced was small scale (50 participants) and only Relapsing/Remitting participants. Seems that the study referenced in the second paper of my original post is not the study referred to in the MS Society study paper. While I appreciate the 'many years to assuage efficacy' theory, that a number of covid vaccines could be produced and approved so quickly suggests the timescale can be enormously compacted. Clemastine is an old antihistamine with largely known side effects; the main risk would appear to be combination effects. Progress should be significantly further advanced after ten years. Given the paucity of options for Primary Progressive MS, it is very unclear why there is not at least a corresponding trial with PPMS parents.