Study Offers Hope to Some MS Patients

A small group of previously untreatable multiple sclerosis patients got a dose of hope from a study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. It suggests that some patients with MS and related diseases may benefit from exchanging their blood plasma. In the study of 19 patients who had their blood removed, mixed with new plasma and returned to their bodies, 42% experienced moderate to marked improvement, including recovery of arm and leg functions and ability to speak. “We hope that future studies will determine why this treatment works in some patients and not others,” said Dr. Brian Weinshenker, a Mayo Clinic neurologist and the study’s lead investigator. He stressed it is not a cure and not for everyone with MS. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that afflicts more than 300,000 Americans, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates. Symptoms range from numbness in the limbs to paralysis and loss of speech and vision. The procedure was effective for eight of the 19 patients, but five had recurrent attacks within six months of the procedure. The research will be published in the December issue of Annals of Neurology.