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Tysabri and Diabetes

Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:15 pm
by amelia
Does anyone know if being a diabetic (either pill and diet modification or diet modification only) will hinder someone from getting Tysabri? I have a friend at a @#$%^&*()^% DR today and I know that DR will probably say you can't take it because of his blood sugar. He has been borderline diabetic for a couple of years and steroids has really pushed it over the edge.

hi amelia..

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:59 pm
by msladyinca
Does anyone know if being a diabetic (either pill and diet modification or diet modification only) will hinder someone from getting Tysabri?
Hi amelia, I'm not a dr., but Tysabri is a Selective Adhesion Molecule (SAM) inhibitor that specifically deals with the BBB and T-cell a-4 leukocytes preventing then from entering the brain and CNS where their cascading effects damage myelin and cause axonal loss (MS).

Diabetes deals with an organ (pancreas) that creates insulin, and I would imagine one has nothing to do with/or affects the other (again, I'm not a dr.) ...but I'd suggest he consult a professional and/or his treating dr for advice on this subject.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help honey... :?

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:10 am
by Degerlache
Hey,

So little is already knows about possible interactions and links.

For instance, ACTOS (pioglitazone), used against diabetes, prevented in a case study progression of secondary progressive MS and seriously improved the situation of that person and is now evaluated in a phase II study.

It would always be interesting to hear from a diabetic person with MS who might take ACTOS against MS, if there is an impact.

Regards,
Degerlache

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 6:31 am
by amelia
I;m lazy and don't feel like searching today, so, is ACTOS an injection or pill?

Actos (pioglitazone)

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:52 pm
by lyndacarol
Amelia, Actos is a pill (oral medication), used in diabetes. The Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) says that it reduces circulating levels of insulin. I think this is the mechanism that accounts for the improvement in the woman with MS.

Dr. Douglas Feinstein (U of Illinois at Chicago) is doing further studies with it. I will be eager to hear of his results; he did not acknowledge or respond to my letter some months ago.

My physician let me try Actos for about two months but I saw no changes--maybe the length of time was too short? Or dosage too low? I still think it should help to reduce the excess insulin level.

Degerlache, the online McGraw-Hill entry defines Metabolic Syndrome: "Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, researchers began to document a clustering of the elements of cardiovascular risk in certain patients. It wasn't until 1988 that a unifying cause--insulin resistance--was proposed and the term syndrome X applied. After several name changes over the past two decades, including the term diabesity used in lay publications, the name became metabolic syndrome."

At the labtestsonline site is "What is Insulin Resistance? Insulin resistance is a decreased ability to use insulin to transport glucose into the body's cells where it is needed for energy production. The pancreas tries to compensate for the cells' glucose deprivation by producing more insulin. The net result is elevated levels of insulin and C-Peptide in the blood along with normal or elevated glucose levels. Glucose, insulin, and C-Peptide levels may help your doctor diagnose this condition."

I think excess insulin may even lower glucose levels in some people to hypoglycemia.