I’ve been busy with some new contract work and so I’m just dropping a note to report a few of the latest happenings in the month of February. Be well and please hope for an early spring!
Jen
Joan’s MS Chat Room this Friday, February 22nd:
Join Joan’s MS chat room this Friday, February 26th, from 7 – 9 pm Eastern Standard Time. Log into the chat from Joan’s blog A Short in the Cord by clicking on the coffee cup in the right margin of the homepage. Always fun and not always reverent, the chat is for anyone who would like to join (not just Delaware area MSers.) The topic this session will be “information exchange”, so if you have any news, tips, or happenings you’d like to offer (or receive), come out and join the discussion. All from the comfort of your home.
Latest about Prospective Oral MS Disease-Modifying med Fingolimod, now called Gilenia®:
Novartis International AG, the pharmaceutical company who created FTY720 or fingolimod, an initial oral disease-modifying MS medication, has been given priority review from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, due to the drug’s potential for multiple sclerosis. Novartis petitioned for FDA approval in December of 2009, and priority review speeds up the process– if the drug is seen to be safe for use– to six months or less. At the same time the FDA will carefully evaluate whether FTY720 or fingolimod should require a risk management program to coincide with drug usage. For more information about this oral medication, see the National MS Society’s news piece.
First American Study of Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Intrigues and Spawns Further Research:
This topic I find fascinating: the idea that MS patients have an insufficient flow of blood leading away from the brain, causing abnormal flow patterns and neuron damage within the brain. My thoughts are still murky about this topic and I’m not completely convinced of the validity of the idea, but I’m happy to see that the University of Buffalo has and is continuing to study the topic. They’ve performed a large study with MS patients and healthy control patients. Ultrasound venous Doppler tests were performed and a significant amount- over 55%- of MS patients were seen to have the vascular anomaly compared with about 22% of healthy individuals. These findings are prompting more research into this CCSVI phenomenon. The U of Buffalo has had the first large study after the idea was initially tested by Dr. Paolo Zamboni in Italy. For more information about this cutting-edge research, see the University of Buffalo’s news release.
MS Strength’s Fundraiser for the MS Society Scholarship Program is Soon to Hit $100 (AGAIN):
This is my own little project and if you glance to the upper right of the homepage here, you’ll see that the funds for the second donation are now over $95. Thanks for your help and for supporting a great cause: EDUCATION. You can read about recent recipients of the MS Scholarship fund by accessing the MS Society’s scholarship page.
