Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Support Group

What's the deal with drugs used in MS being linked to PML? There is at least one other med I know of being used on MS besides Tysabri that is linked to PML, it is Rituxan. Don't know if anyone is on that, but it is listed as a possible side effect. Thanks for the info Kelly

bump

Thanks for posting this. Are people aware that the reason why the medical arm of our fed govt is wanting women to ge tthe cervical cancer virus is because much of our blood supply is now from Chinese prison inmates, where there is a high degree of this virus? The fact is that the best way to prevent cervical cancer is annual pap smears. The young women used in the medical research studies leading to the cervical cancer virus endorsements did not have annual pap smears. Yep, so I guess what I am saying is that these snafu situations that are angering the hell out of me are not only with MS medications, but the whole kit and kaboodle. I apologise for sharing my anger and being the bearer of this information, but the truth is the truth. Leanna

Bump for the gal who's Dr wants her on the tysybri. F him.

Its important to Keep bumping this. When a person is first diagnosed with MS and the world is caving in they will try anything the doctor suggests. The truth is the drug coompanies are in this to make money PERIOD! I've been off meds for a couple of years and just started on copaxone. It has a pretty good safety record having been around and used for more than 10 years. But yesterday i called Shared solutions, the help line for copaxone to ask a question about dosing strenghts. I won't bore you all with the details, but my interpretation is they have approval at current dosing levels and they are not going to rock the boat. Case closed. The drug market now is "caveat emptor" --let the buyer beware. Do your research.

You m,might want to study on the LDN. The best record for safety and results.

Oh NM girl. the deal is they are steering us toward cancer drugs that are very dangerous. I think when it's all said and done many people are going to have regrets.

Apparently not everyone is READING the entire article.

This is about CELLCEPT which is an anti rejection drug.

This has nothing to do with MS or Tysabri except that it is another drug with the same reaction.

I did not know what PML was and figured that there might be some people like me, so here is a description of it (kellygrn, let me know if I am not right here):

"What is Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy?


Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is caused by the reactivation of a common virus in the central nervous system of immune-compromised individuals. Polyomavirus JC (often called JC virus) is carried by a majority of people and is harmless except among those with lowered immune defenses. The disease occurs, rarely, in organ transplant patients; people undergoing chronic corticosteroid or immunosuppressive therapy; and individuals with cancer, such as Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma, and sarcoidosis. PML is most common among individuals with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Studies estimate that prior to effective antiretroviral therapy, as many as 5 percent of people with AIDS eventually developed PML. For them, the disease was most often rapidly fatal.

With current HIV therapy, which effectively restores immune system function, as many as half of all HIV-PML patients survive, although they sometimes have an inflammatory reaction in the regions affected by PML. The symptoms of PML are the result of an infection that causes the loss of white matter (which is made up of myelin, a substance the surrounds and protects nerve fibers) in multiple areas of the brain. Without the protection of myelin, nerve signals can’t travel successfully from the brain to the rest of the body. Typical symptoms associated with PML are diverse, since they are related to the location and amount of damage in the brain, and evolve over the course of several days to several weeks. The most prominent symptoms are clumsiness; progressive weakness; and visual, speech, and sometimes, personality changes. The progression of deficits leads to life-threatening disability and death over weeks to months. A positive diagnosis of PML can be made on brain biopsy, or by combining observation of a progressive course of the disease, consistent white matter lesions visible on a magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan, and the detection of the JC virus in spinal fluid."

Let's bump this one more time.