New Treatment Approved for MS!

On Tuesday, the FDA approved the first treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis. “That’s the severe form of the neurological condition,” explains ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork. The new drug does not treat the other form of MS, relapsing and remitting. The medication, ocrelizumab, should be available within a few weeks.

Watch: Runner Living with MS

“What’s really exciting here is that, in the clinical trials, 24 percent lower risk of progression in those with primary progressive MS,” Dr. Stork says.

“This is a game-changer. This really opens the door for people suffering from this type of MS,” comments Plastic Surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon. “It’s not a cure, but it stops the progressive part of the disease.”

Watch: How MS Affects the Body

Dr. Stork notes that the new treatment has exciting implications beyond Ms. “It’s really a new way of attacking autoimmune illnesses. I think this is probably the first of more treatments like this, not just for MS but other illnesses similar to it.”

There are 400,000 people with MS in the United States. Women are more likely to develop the disease, and it usually strikes people in their 30s.