Ben Preiss
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Effective DNA treatment is the medical holy grail, it has not yet lived up to its promise, but for MS sufferers, a new experimental vaccine has opened a window of hope. There are over 400,000 MS sufferers in the US alone and for each, a family witnessing a loved one’s slow deterioration.  An experimental DNA vaccine to fight multiple sclerosis is safe and may also be effective, results of a small Canadian trial suggest.
The vaccine, called BHT-3009, works by preventing the immune system from attacking the myelin sheaths that protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The destruction of myelin eventually destroys a nerve cell's axon, which prevents cells from transmitting messages and is one of the hallmarks of MS.
"This is like science fiction. It's something that wouldn't have even been thought about 10 years ago," O'Looney said.
Still, the results offer hope, she said.
"This is a fascinating approach to try to control the immune activity with folks with MS," she said. "We are always looking for new ways to help people with MS. It is important that this is a novel idea, and we will just have to watch and see if it goes forward."
(forbes)References: nationalmssociety.org, forbes Filed In: |
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