Acne medicine clears up MS symptoms

[trailmix 77]

Meghan Waters, Calgary Herald

Published: Friday, October 26, 2007

A well-known acne medication used to treat teens' pimply faces could help delay the onset of multiple sclerosis, a University of Calgary team has discovered.

A Calgary-based study will determine if the common antibiotic minocycline can slow or stop the progress of the disease in people who have recently had their first symptoms.

Donna Smith, 49, signed up for an early trial five years ago. She experienced her first attack of MS at 18, and the symptoms worsened as she got older.

Since starting the drug, she has been nearly symptom free, she said.

"It kind of gives you your life back," said Smith.

Dr. Wee Yong, a neuroscientist and professor at the University of Calgary, said his laboratory started looking for a simple, inexpensive and readily available treatment for MS in 1999.

The research team found minocycline, a member of the tetracycline family, was the best at protecting the brain.

This upcoming trial on 200 Canadians at 14 MS centres across Canada "will establish whether minocycline is effective as a multiple sclerosis therapy," Yong said.

Half of those enrolled in the trial will be given the antibiotic and the other half a placebo. In Canada, people in the early stages of MS are usually not treated with any medicine, said Dr. Luanne Metz, professor of clinical neuroscience at the U of C and the study's architect.

Minocycline, available as a generic pill, would cost about $800 per year as a therapy for MS and would be a simple way to treat the early stages of the disease, researchers said.

Traditional medications cost between $18,000 and $40,000 a year and are injected into the body.

The MS Society of Canada is funding the $4-million study.

"At the end of the trial, we'll know weather minocycline has a role to play," said Jon Temme, the society's national vice-president.

"It gives people another option that is safe and inexpensive."

Canadians have among the highest rates of MS in the world. About three Canadians are newly diagnosed with the disease every day, said Temme.

mwaters@theherald.canwest.com

link

[almaty 19]

i just ate a tube of clearsil

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

i just ate a tube of clearsil

I did a line. It burned.

[trailmix 77]

i just ate a tube of clearsil

I did a line. It burned.

ok you guys are good