This volume of new research is indeed exciting and backs up what I often tell newly diagnosed people - if there was ever a time to have MS, it is now. So much is happening in the way of treatments and we now have options if one doesn't work we can move on to the next. A cure/vaccine is still down the road but in the meantime we have so many tools to use in this fight and more to come.
My MSF mag came today, too. It is the one MS magazine I get that I always read from front to back. -Laura
PS they also have opened their cooling equipment request time so get those applications in if you need help.
Thanks for the link!
They mention the drug I'm on. http://mymsaa.org/publications/msresearch-update-2014/daclizumab/
My nurse told me everyone's off the DECIDE trial and onto EXTEND (the extension, open-label, post Phase III portion of the trial) this month, so their information is a little out of date ("The safety profile of this medication will be closely followed in the ongoing Phase III trial.") There is no on-going Phase III of the trial.
The extension is also three years long. I'm starting year four on this drug now and have had a very good experience.
MS is such a vibrant area of research, thankfully. My hope now is for the gap to close between strides in RRMS treatment and PPMS treatment.
I was surprised to see that salt consumption is being investigated as a factor in MS development. Apparently researchers have found an association between level of salt consumed and MS. Certainly not cause and effect at this point, but enough to warrant further study.
I come from a family of saltaholics, and I was that way too for many years, actually until fairly recently. Then for reasons unknown I began to back off salt little by little several years ago. I know that we tend to train ourselves to like or dislike salty flavors, and we can train our tastes to change if we need to. But I don't have high BP or any other reason to modify salt intake, so I didn't need to change my intake, it was just a matter of preference.
It would be interesting if research in this area proves salt to be an MS culprit, wouldn't it? Of course, as with every other factor studied, it wouldn't be the sole cause, or half the world (and all the rest of my family) would have MS.
No one else in my family actually has MS, but autoimmune stuff in general runs rampant, especially thyroid disease. So many tantalizing clues, yet no answers.
ess