Multiple sclerosis and steroid drugs helpful in minimizing disease activity
When a combination of steroid drugs and MS drug is administered to patients suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), the level of disease activity can be reduced to a significant extent. This finding was revealed by a study presented as a part of the Late-breaking Science Program at the American Academy of Neurology’s 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle.
From Sciencedaily.com:
For the study, people with MS received the steroid drug methylprednisolone in monthly “pulses,” or three doses over three days, in addition to regular weekly treatment with the drug interferon beta-1a. The steroid drug has typically been used only to treat acute MS attacks, not as an ongoing treatment.
The study involved 341 people with relapsing-remitting MS. Half of the participants received both drugs; half received only the interferon drug plus a placebo. The participants were seen every three months during the three-year study for evaluation.
The participants had the disease for an average of three years and had not yet received a disease-modifying drug such as interferon.
Those who received both drugs had 38 percent fewer relapses, or times when the disease is active, than those receiving only the interferon drug. They also improved slightly on a test of MS disability, while the scores for the placebo group decreased slightly.
It was noted by study Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark that both drugs seem to benefit from a synergy when taken together with an aim to offer beneficial effect on the disease activity as against use of the MS drug in isolation.
Tags: methylprednisolone, MS drug, multiple sclerosis, steroid, steroid drug
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