"Discovery could halt MS progression"
Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:34 am
Any Ideas what this is about?
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6338953415
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6338953415
MELBOURNE researchers may have found a way to block the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Blocking a specific protein responsible for nerve damage acted as a hand brake to progression of the disease, researchers from RMIT and Monash Universities have discovered.
The findings, published this week in the international journal Brain, could provide hope to sufferers of MS, one of the world's most common neurological diseases.
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When the modified protein, or the communication between the two proteins, was blocked, disease progression was halted.
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"We define it as a 'hand brake'. It (the therapy) halts it, (and) then the body in its own right can actually repair."
Dr Petratos said the clinical method used to block the proteins had already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration to treat other conditions.
"This should mean that clinical trials - once they start - will be fast-tracked," he said.
He said if clinical trials on humans started within a few years, it was hoped a therapy could be available in a decade.
Scientists from the University of Toronto and Yale University in the United States were also involved in the research.