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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
New Drug helps some MS victims walk betterScientists at Acorda Therapeutics, in Hawthorne, N.Y., announced their results Monday after finishing analysis of the study over the weekend. Patients on the medicine were walking consistently faster over a 14-week period than those on a placebo. Their leg muscles also seemed stronger.
"This is a great drug and a great story," said Dr. Lauren Krupp, director of the pediatric MS center at Stony Brook University Hospital and co-director of the adult center. She treated 16 of her patients with Acorda's experimental drug. "We had great results," she said. "Our goal is to keep patients out of a wheelchair." Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Krupp said she first heard about the substance, now called Fampridine-SR, more than 20 years ago. The chemical was synthesized from coal tar in the 1890s. It took almost 100 years for scientists to discover its biological properties. It improves impulse conduction along nerve fibers.... |