Leukaemia drug 'eases MS effects'

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The findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine will bring fresh hope to many of the UK's 100,000 MS sufferers.

Led by researchers from the University of Cambridge, the study found a drug called alemtuzumab can stop MS advancing in patients in the early stages of the condition.

MS causes the immune system to attack the protective coating around nerve fibres which prevents messages being transmitted between the brain and other parts of the body.

Symptoms of the disease can include loss of physical skills, sensation, vision, bladder control and intellectual abilities.

A three-year trial of the drug on MS patients showed it can also restore lost function, reversing some of the effects of the condition.

Researchers compared the effectiveness of alemtuzumab with interferon beta-1a, a leading MS treatment.

They found patients treated with alemtuzumab were 74% less likely to experience relapses than those taking interferon beta-1a.

Remarkably, the risk of disability was reduced by 71% among those given the new drug, with many less disabled after three years than at the beginning of the trial.

This suggests alemtuzumab may allow damaged brain tissue to repair and restore lost nerve function.