DALFAMPRIDINE,NOW AVAILABLE IN US HELPS PATIENTS WALK

[Guest guest]

HEY, THIS MIGHT BE SOMETHING!

DALFAMPRIDINE,NOW AVAILABLE IN US HELPS PATIENTS WALK

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/ms-drug-dalfampridine-now-available-us-helps-pati\

ents-walk.html

The drug dalfampridine has been approved by the FDA and is now available in the

United States for treatment of impaired walking associated with multiple

sclerosis. Dalfampridine was approved in January by the FDA, and is the first

oral therapy for multiple sclerosis that can be taken by mouth.

Dalfampridine helps patients with multiple sclerosis walk, by promoting nerve

impulse conduction rather than reducing inflammation like other medications used

to treat MS.

Two phase III clinical studies of dalfampridine helped patients with multiple

sclerosis improve walking speed of twenty five percent among 35 percent of

patients in one trial. In the other trial, 43 percent of patients experienced

improved walking ability.

Dalfampridine was explored in a small study in 1983, and injected into eleven

patients with motor dysfunction from multiple sclerosis. The results were

" stunning, " says Dr. Dusan Stefoski, director of Rush University Multiple

Sclerosis Center " After a single intravenous dose, the patients could walk

better and see better. "

Dalfampridine was originally used in Bulgaria to help patients awaken from

anesthesia. The drug was being studies in the lab for its effect on nerve

conduction at the same time.

A combination of observations by Dr. Floyd , a neurologist in training in

the 1960's and later a physician at Rush University Medical Center led to

discovery o dalfampridine for treating patients with multiple sclerosis. First,

Dr. found out that patients with MS can walk better when their

temperatures are even slightly lower.

The now retired Dr. explains, " In multiple sclerosis, the protective

myelin sheath that wraps around nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord is

damaged, essentially causing a short circuit. Somehow, lower body temperature

enabled the electrical pulse to continue its travel along the nerve fibers. I

was completely transfixed by the significance of that fact. "

Next Dr. embarked on a series of lab studies to understand why symptoms of

MS improved. He found the chemical 4-aminopyridine, or dalfampridine, which

blocks the potassium ion channels in nerve fibers, acting in the same way as

lowering body temperature.

Dalfampridine is now available in the United States, and is sold under the brand

name Ampyra; marketed by Acorda.

The debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis lead to difficulty walking.

Dalfampridine, approved for sale in the United States to help patients with all

types of multiple sclerosis walk can also help with other symptoms that include

balance loss, fatigue, and memory problems, because it improves signals in all

affected nerve fibers.

Rush Newsroom

Comments

Post new comment

Your name: *