MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) patients have called on the Minister for Health James Reilly to make available a new drug which has had a dramatic impact on the chronic illness.
Gilenya has been proven to cut by half the number of relapses suffered by MS patients in a single year as against the conventional IM interferon beta-1a treatment. It also found 83 per cent of MS patients were relapse-free for a year as opposed to 70 per cent of those taking IM interferon beta-1a treatment.
One of the State’s best-known neurologists, Prof Orla Hardiman, said she had “no doubt” the drug had an extremely beneficial effect, especially on those patients who do not respond well to conventional treatments. “It is a very exciting drug. These are a big breakthrough. Not only are the number of relapses significantly reduced, but the time before you develop secondary progression is extended.” (Times) >
Filed under: Medicines, Orla Hardiman, Treatments Tagged: MS
