An OTC psoriasis medication for MS?

[daisy.girl]

I was reading on another MS board that there is talk of an OTC psoriasis drug to treat MS?

Anyone here know anything about this?

[knuckle]

Biogen's forthcoming drug, now called BG-12, is Dimethyl Fumarate, or Fumaric Acid Esters. Fumaric Acid has long been used to treat Psoriasis.

In Europe, a drug called Fumaderm, sold by a Swiss company, Fumapharm AG, has been prescribed for many years for Psoriasis. Fumaderm is Dimethyl Fumarate. Biogen acquired Fumaderm AG and has been running the clinical trials for MS with very impressive results.

I'm sure Biogen will charge at least 10X in the US what is charged for Fumaderm in Europe because of our dysfunctional health insurance system.

Here's what I find most interesting about this drug:

Fumaric Acid is produced as part of the Kreb's Cycle, which is basically how the cells in our body make energy. To make Fumaric Acid our cells require vitamin D, sunlight.

It is also known that people with Psoriasis when exposed to sunlight/vitamin D do much better.

Now we all know that there is a strong connection between global latitude and MS. People who live in darker, colder, latitudes on the globe have higher incidences of MS, unless they eat a lot of oily fish, which is rich in vitamin D. People who live in darker, colder latitudes away from coastlines get little direct sunlight on their skin and wear a lot of clothing.

Very little Fumaric Acid is being created.

But why does Fumaric Acid help MS?

Fumaric Acid helps because it creates endorphins. Endorphins are hormones which help regulate the immune system. Vitamin D creates endorphins. When you spend some time in direct sunlight you tend to feel better because your body is generating endorphins. When you exercise you generate endorphins.

People with MS who exercise and get plenty of vitamin D tend to see their MS progress less rapidly. Most neuros will recommend you exercise and take vitamin D.

People who take Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), which causes the Pituatary Gland to produce 2-300% the normal amount of endorphins the day after you take it often report their MS symptoms improve. People with Psoriasis who take LDN also do well on LDN.

It appears that people with MS, as well as other other autoimmune diseases, have an endorphin deficiency with the result being an immune system not functioning correctly.

If this is true, and the superior efficacy of BG-12 versus the MS drugs seems to support it, the way medicine has been treating MS, through immuno-suppression, is less than ideal. We all know the CRAB drugs don't work well. That is because CRAB drugs ignore the hormone connection in MS - the endorphin connection.

And we all know that more women than men get MS. That estrogen seems to protect against MS and testosterone can make the disease worse. Hormones are playing a role and all the MS drugs ignore this connection. The drug companies don't even differentiate between men and women, or ages, in clinical trials. If they did, I think they would find dramatically different efficacy between sex, and age.

So, the efficacy results of BG-12 is huge because it undermines the entire autoimmune disease treatment model of the past two decades. Biogen is going to make a lot of money and some other companies are going to see prescription volumes dry up.

The good news is you can buy Fumaric Acid right now without a prescription. You have to be careful with it because it has some side-effects, like flushing, just like Dimethyl Fumarate or BG-12. You can also make sure you get plenty of Malic Acid, the per-cursor of Fumaric Acid in the Kreb's Cycle, which is found in fruits, specifically apples.

It is entirely possible that eating a couple apples a day, getting plenty of vitamin D, exercising, may be the more effective in treating MS than any of the injection drugs now prescribed for MS.

A long post but I think this is a pretty significant development for our disease.

[daisy.girl]

So where can you buy Fumaric Acid right now? Is it under a certain name? .......and if we can just buy it, why would anyone take the BG-12??

[knuckle]

Just google "buy fumaric acid".

However, the problem with fumaric acid is that it doesn't stay in your system very long and you'll need to take it a couple times a day, and even then it won't work as well as Dimethyl Fumarate.

BG-12 is certainly going to be the way to go but it's likely not going to be available for a year or two. Of course, it will be really expensive as all MS drugs always are.

In the meantime, the way in which BG-12 works validates that boosting endorphin production can only help slow MS.