Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
We're talking about the brain and nervous system this week on Healthwatch. About 400-thousand Americans are living with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder that affects the central nervous system. Doctors at UT Southwestern Medical Center are leading trials of a new drug to treat a rare form of MS.
Primary progressive MS affects about 15 percent of people with MS. It has a slow, steady onset, with gradually worsening motor dysfunction and disability. This form of the disease doesn't respond well to most treatments. UT Southwestern neurologists say there haven't been a lot of options for patients with this kind of MS.
The new treatment is a monoclonal antibody that works on the B-cells of the immune system. It's being tested on patients in a two-year trial with sites in the US and Canada.
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July 2005
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