RE: So this is research.

[Guest guest]

Tom, thanks for the post, it’s

laughable to make such false promises “chemo could help people with MS” . What

they don’t tell you is that Chemo kills your good cells as much as the

bad! It’s horrible the way they create

such false hopes for some folks. Sigh

the recent petition everyone to help ldn get into a clinical

trail so it can become FDA approved for MS! As a team we can become a powerful

tool!

(MS)

-----Original Message-----

From: tmbayuk

[mailto:tmbayuk@...]

Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004

3:06 PM

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low dose naltrexone

Subject: [low dose naltrexone] So

this is research.

Hello to all,

I just came across this and just had

to add my two cents. This is just about the perfect reason why we ms'er's

ABSOLUTELY MUST take charge of our own health. What more can

I say ? You all know how I feel and think about this sort of YUK!!

Regards,

Tom

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 · Last updated 10:15

a.m. PT

Doctors: Chemo could help people with MS

By JOANN LOVIGLIO

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PHILADELPHIA -- Doctors report promising results using

huge doses of a potent chemotherapy drug to treat autoimmune diseases including

multiple sclerosis, though only a handful of patients have been treated so far

and one MS researcher said far more study is needed before any victory is

declared.

The drug, cyclophosphamide, is given at such high

doses that it destroys most or all of a patient's disease-fighting immune

cells.

However, the stem cells within the patient's bone

marrow survive the drug's onslaught, the doctors say, and then are stimulated

with other drugs to rebuild the immune system from scratch - but without the

bad triggers that caused the body to attack its own cells.

" Once the immune cells are destroyed, they come

back no longer recognizing the stimulus that brought them on, " Dr. Isadore

Brodsky, director of hematology and oncology at Drexel University's Hahnemann

University Hospital, said Monday. " The immune system comes back naive, so

it's tolerant of whatever trigger caused the autoimmune response. "

So far, only six MS patients have completed the

regimen, which is administered over three to five days, and the first patient

finished it just six months ago. All had advanced cases of MS and had tried at

least three other types of therapy, from steroids to immune-suppressing drugs,

with no benefit, said Brodsky. He is developing the treatment with his son, Dr.

Brodsky of Hopkins University.

The vice president for research with the National

Multiple Sclerosis Society, Reingold, said the results are too

preliminary to draw any conclusions.

" Any study that claims extraordinary benefits

based on a short-term, uncontrolled study with a small number of patients has

to be treated cautiously, " Reingold said. " The big questions here are

how long it lasts and whether it leaves you open for infections and other

problems. "

Autoimmune diseases typically are suppressed with drug

interferon, steroids, radiation and other chemo drugs that stop reproduction of

the confused cells that treat the body's own cells like they're foreign

invaders.

Brodsky's work involves killing the misdirected immune

cells, not merely suppressing them.

He has used the drug since 1997 on more than 300

patients with autoimmune diseases of the blood, peripheral nervous and

neuromuscular systems, and extended it to the handful of MS patients starting

last fall.

Patient follow-up and more research is necessary but

the initial results were " striking and unexpected, " said Dr.

Schwartzman, a Hahnemann neurologist who has referred patients to Brodsky for

treatment.

Several of his patients who had cognitive problems,

difficulty walking, or other coordination troubles have seen much of their

symptoms disappear in as little as three to six weeks, Schwartzman said.

MS patient Terry , 47, of Pennsville, N.J., said

she underwent Brodsky's treatment in September after other therapies failed.

She lost her hair, experienced severe nausea and had a " flare up " of

her MS symptoms after the treatment, but those symptoms all have since subsided

and she no longer needs a cane or walker to get around, she said.

" There are no words to describe how dramatically

this treatment has affected the quality of my life, physically and

mentally, " she said.

Results of the study, which was approved by the FDA,

were presented at a symposium in Philadelphia last week.

---

On the Net:

Brodsky Institute: http://www.ibrodskyassociates.com

Multiple Sclerosis Society: http://www.nmss.org

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