What an excellent week it has been for community submissions at This is MS. We started off the week with a great editorial by Finn, and now we have just received an outstanding article from our member Deb, aka "OddDuck." In it, she discusses the possibility that a drug called "desipramine"-- an antidepressant -- could be very useful as a treatment for MS.

She has performed an extensive amount of research and her theories are certainly intriguing. Please take some time to read through her thoughts and just as critically, to share your own. Your participation is crucial if we are to achieve our aim of ending MS, whatever the path. If you find the article far too technical, do not despair-- the main point is that there are people out there dedicated to outsmarting this disease and their work can benefit the entire community.

As always, do NOT begin any treatment without the consent of your doctor-- desipramine has an extensive side effect profile that must be seriously considered, particularly in terms of drug interactions which could cause severe harm.

Enough out of us, here is the article:

"I am on a mission of sorts. I have MS, and I have stumbled onto a medication (desipramine - which is an oral drug) that MAY help MS - not just symptomatically, but possibly via direct disease modification. I have examined literally thousands of individual laboratory research publications. All I can say is that I sincerely hope you will take the time to read my research findings, all of which I believe can be collaborated by medical
experts...

Although there are contradictory theories regarding the role of IL-1B in MS, desipramine appears to have proven mechanisms of action that inhibit IL-1B and TNFa, which thereby turns "off" cPLA2. It has been recently asserted that regulating or "turning off" cPLA2 promotes a preventative process with regard to myelin degradation, thereby possibly
halting MS disease and progression..."

Click "read more" to read the entire article, including her cover letter, the research narrative, and the response from the NMSS (it is actually quite neutral-positive, which we find refreshing given their view on LDN). Be forewarned that it is very technical-- a testament to the time and energy spent on this topic by Deb-- great job!

A few months ago, our community member Finn wrote an excellent article on the state of MS treatments today called "Is it a Boomerang or What? Controversial Thoughts on MS Research." Today, we are proud to post his second editorial entitled, "How much for the Hope?" discussing the obstacles in the way of formal approval for drugs showing great promise as treatments for MS, but originally developed to treat other conditions, such as high cholestorol and acne. Finn posits that these affordable, readily-available alternatives, such as statins and LDN, pose a threat to the standard CRABs and their establishment, introducing further difficulties in getting them evaluated and approved.

Again, we issue a big "thank you" to Finn and extend an invitation to all of our community members to prepare articles on topics important to them-- we will be extremely happy to share them with the rest of the community.

Now, the article:

"At the moment there are four drugs in clinical use that are developed for MS, three beta interferons (Avonex, Betaferon/Betaseron, Rebif) and glatiramer acetate (Copaxone). Together they are known as the ABCRs. They are all expensive, injectable drugs with potentially severe side effects. For almost ten years now they have been recommended as a first line treatment for relapsing-remitting MS by both neurologists and MS-societies around the world. Those recommendations have often been supported with sales promotion material and results from clinical trials funded by the drug companies.

Recently things have been starting to change. There have been doubts about the effectiveness of ABCRs almost as long as they have been used, but within the last two years researchers have been able to demonstrate that even oral drugs commonly used to treat high cholesterol (simvastatin) and acne (minocycline) could be as effective as - or even more effective than - the ABCRs in treating MS. There is also a growing amount of anecdotal evidence on the internet that the opiod antagonist naltrexone taken in low doses (LDN) has relieved MS-symptoms in many individuals. So it is understandable that the manufacturers of the ABCRs and some of the instances funded by them have started to fight back against this kind of development. In doing so they are using three major arguments..."

Click "read more" to read this great editorial

We are extremely proud to present the following article, written by our very own community member, Finn. In it, Finn broadly discusses current MS research and its implications on possible causes and therapies. Finn also critically analyzes the standard CRAB treatments in light of new developments. The author has spent a great deal of time poring over the literature, and this read is enlightening and informative.

This is MS is an entirely unbiased site, and we want to encourage all of our members to feel free to share their thoughts about MS with us and the community at large. MS is receiving a great deal of attention in the medical field, and piecing together the various studies to create a cohesive theory, as Finn has done, is an extremely helpful task. We welcome submissions from all of our community members-- if there's a topic that interests you, please send us a note and we'd be happy to work with you to pull it together and get it published.

Without further ado, the article:

"Consensus opinion is that MS-research has been progressing rapidly during the past ten years. As an MS-sufferer myself I would like to believe it. But if the amount of research projects is compared to the results achieved so far, one might want to ask oneself if there have been any major breakthroughs during that time..."

Please click "read more" to read the entire piece.