sclerosis to be tested
(26/02/14)
Potential 'cure' for multiple sclerosis to be tested The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry has developed a drug that it says might provide a cure to multiple sclerosis.
The center announced Monday that it will start a three-month clinical trial from March on nine patients. If the drug’s efficacy is confirmed, it will move on to a large-scale trial.
“We are hopeful as preliminary studies have produced very good results,” said Takashi Yamamura, head of the immunology department responsible for the drug’s development. About 2.5 million people around the world are estimated to suffer from the disease, which causes symptoms such as numbness, motion problems and vision loss. In Japan, there are an estimated 15,000 sufferers, including many young women, and the number is growing.
The autoimmune disease occurs when lymphocyte immune cells misidentify the body’s own cells as foreign. They attack nerve cells, causing inflammation and destroying them.
The drug developed by Yamamura stimulates a type of immune cell that softens the attacks by lymphocytes and creates a protein that suppresses inflammation. In the clinical trial, the drug will be drunk in powder form dissolved in water, according to the center.
Source: THE JAPAN TIMES © THE JAPAN TIMES LTD (26/02/14)
(26/02/14)
Potential 'cure' for multiple sclerosis to be tested The National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry has developed a drug that it says might provide a cure to multiple sclerosis.
The center announced Monday that it will start a three-month clinical trial from March on nine patients. If the drug’s efficacy is confirmed, it will move on to a large-scale trial.
“We are hopeful as preliminary studies have produced very good results,” said Takashi Yamamura, head of the immunology department responsible for the drug’s development. About 2.5 million people around the world are estimated to suffer from the disease, which causes symptoms such as numbness, motion problems and vision loss. In Japan, there are an estimated 15,000 sufferers, including many young women, and the number is growing.
The autoimmune disease occurs when lymphocyte immune cells misidentify the body’s own cells as foreign. They attack nerve cells, causing inflammation and destroying them.
The drug developed by Yamamura stimulates a type of immune cell that softens the attacks by lymphocytes and creates a protein that suppresses inflammation. In the clinical trial, the drug will be drunk in powder form dissolved in water, according to the center.
Source: THE JAPAN TIMES © THE JAPAN TIMES LTD (26/02/14)