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Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect.
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Cholesterol Drugs Treat MS
By Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Cholesterol-lowering drugs,
widely used to reduce the risk of heart attack, could also be
effective in treating multiple sclerosis, according to new
research published on Friday.
The news underscores the reputation of statins as potential
miracle pills to rival aspirin.
Already hailed for revolutionising the management of heart
disease, the drugs -- which will soon be available over the
counter in Britain -- are also being studied in the fight
against Alzheimer's disease and osteoporosis.
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina
have produced the first clinical evidence that statins can help
in multiple sclerosis in an article in The Lancet medical
journal.
A group of 30 patients with MS given 80 mg a day of Merck &
Co Inc's
(nyse: MRK - news - people) Zocor, or simvastatin, had a 44 percent
reduction in brain lesions after three months of treatment,
their study showed.
Brain lesions are areas of inflammation, and are markers of
the progression and severity of MS -- a debilitating disease in
which nerve cells lose their insulating sheath, leading to
muscle weakness, fatigue, bladder problems and impaired vision.
Since existing MS treatments, such as interferons, are
expensive injections and are only partially effective, swapping
to statin pills -- which are already taken by millions of people
every day -- would offer clear advantages.
But Professor Chris Polman, an MS expert at the VU Medical
Centre in Amsterdam, said more research was needed, including a
large placebo-controlled clinical trial. The first of these
trials is about to commence and could take around two years.
"It's a very good start but it's not conclusive," Polman
said in a telephone interview, adding it was possible some brain
lesions may have disappeared spontaneously given the
relapsing-remitting nature of the disease.
The successful preliminary results recorded by Timothy
Vollmer and colleagues in South Carolina follow earlier findings
that statins can reverse paralysis caused by a similar condition
to MS in mice.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
Statins were first developed for their ability to block an
enzyme involved in the liver's production of cholesterol. But
researchers have since found they also counter key inflammatory
processes that may be central to several chronic degenerative
diseases.
Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of Britain's MS Society,
said the latest findings were encouraging.
"These are early days but we must hope statins can prove to
be an effective weapon in the growing armoury of treatments to
attack this very distressing life-long disease," he said.
Still, much work remains to be done, including discovering
the optimal dose for statins in MS, since initial indications
suggest it may have to be higher than for people with raised
levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol.
In the meantime, Polman urged MS sufferers not to switch
from existing medications, warning that premature use of statins
could develop into a "dangerous boomerang".
That risk may be heightened in countries like Britain which
this week became the first in the world to approve the sale of
simvastatin without prescription, although only at a low 10 mg
dose.
Other major manufacturers of statins include Pfizer Inc
(nyse: PFE - news - people), whose Lipitor drug is the world's largest-selling
prescription medicine with sales last year of $9.23 billion, and
AstraZeneca Plc <AZN.L>, which recently launched Crestor.
The current market leaders in MS treatment are Serono SA
<SEO.VX>, Biogen Idec
(nasdaq: BIIB - news - people) and Schering AG <SCHG.DE> -- all
of which sell versions of beta interferon -- and Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd <TEVA.TA>, which makes Copaxone.
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