October 2017 News
Exciting news this month. I will start with the best. Clemastine fumarate, an over the counter antihistamine drug used to relieve symptoms of allergies can successfully repair the myelin in people with MS. Yes, it works! Previous studies found that clemastine fumarate can stimulate differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in vitro, in animal models, and in human cells. Clemastine made the headlines last year, as well, when another study was published. But now, this October 2017 study is the first randomised controlled trial to document efficacy of a remyelinating drug for the treatment of chronic demyelinating injury in MS. Ok, so clemastine fumarate is effective. How about its safety ? According to this study, fatigue was reported, but otherwise no serious side effects. The dose used was 5.36 mg orally twice daily. What about the cost ? It is an old generation anti-histamine drug, therefore much cheaper than the current drugs for MS (which are immune-modulating and do not directly promote myelin repair, by the way). I do expect more great news. While clemastine seems the best choice, several other drugs may help repair the myelin. I will review histamine as a brain neurotransmitter, histamine imbalances in MS, and why some anti-histamine drugs work, their pros and cons-in another article. Decreasing the inflammation and autoimmunity, optimizing the metabolism of sugar , the hormones and mitochondrial function would be very helpful for myelin...
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