Types of Medications
In its overview of MS medications, Yahoo! Health divides them into three broad categories: drugs taken during periods of relapse to reduce both the length and severity of the relapse, disease-modifying drugs and drugs that target specific symptoms of MS and not the disease itself.
Relapse-Controlling Drugs
The most common course of drug therapy for shortening the duration and intensity of an MS relapse is based on the use of corticosteroid medications. They do little or nothing to affect the long-term progression of MS but do help patients to get through a period of relapse quickly and with less discomfort. In addition to corticosteroids, such as methylprednisolone, other drug therapies include intravenous administration of immunoglobulin and intramuscular injection of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Another nondrug course of treatment is plasma exchange.
Disease-Modifying Drugs
Drug therapies that modify immune system activity have proved helpful in reducing the number and intensity of attacks on the nerve covering myelin. According to Yahoo! Health, this mode of treatment has been shown to help patients diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS and secondary progressive MS. No comparable drug therapy has yet been found to help people diagnosed with primary progressive MS. Disease-modifying drugs for MS patients include glatiramer acetate (Copaxone), interferon beta (Avonex, Betaseron and Rebif), mitoxantrone (Novantrone) and natalizumab (Tysabri).
Controling Symptoms
Because MS targets the central nervous system, it triggers a constellation of other symptoms that are treated with the medications specifically designed to address those symptoms and not MS itself. The symptoms of MS include fatigue, difficulty sleeping, muscle stiffness, tremors, sexual dysfunction, depression, pain, urinary problems and constipation. Examples of drugs prescribed to treat symptoms include amantadine (Symmetrel) for fatigue; desipramine (Norpramin) or fluoxetine (Prozac) for depression; sildenafil (Viagra) for sexual dysfunction; baclofen (Lioresal), carbamazepine (Tegretol) or gabapentin (Neurontin) for pain; and propantheline (Pro-Banthine), oxybutynin (Ditropan) or tolterodine (Detrol) for urinary problems.
On the Horizon
A cover story in the April 6, 2009, issue of Chemical & Engineering News raised hopes that an even broader range of drugs for treating MS may soon be available. The story, written by Lisa M. Jarvis, reported that clinical trials were underway on more than 10 new drugs to treat MS. Most of the drugs being tested are designed to be taken orally rather than injected. "Most are small molecules that fine-tune how the immune system is modulated, whereas others aim to treat the symptoms of the disease by repairing some of the damage done to the CNS," Jarvis reported.
Tags: central nervous, central nervous system, diagnosed with, drug therapy, help patients, immune system