Patient Advocates with Multiple Sclerosis Fund Clinical Trial of Promising Drug that has Already Helped Thousands

http://ldners.org/Articles/LDNers_Press_Release.htm

Patient Advocates with Multiple Sclerosis Fund Clinical Trial of Promising
Drug that has Already Helped Thousands

Summary: Over the last decade, anecdotal reports suggested that a very low
dose of an FDA-approved drug called naltrexone provides effective symptom
relief for many patients who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis. Frustrated by
the lack of scientific research, volunteers began raising money to fund a
human clinical trial of Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) for MS. This effort
culminated in awarding a $25,000 gift to the University of California, San
Francisco Multiple Sclerosis Research Center.

Seattle, WA (LDNers.org) February 05, 2007 - Naltrexone was approved by the
FDA 20 years ago for treating addiction, but researchers at Penn State
University discovered its ability to normalize a dysfunctional immune system
when used in very low doses. Dr Bernard Bihari, a Harvard trained
neurologist in New York City, observed positive results in his patients
using LDN for MS and other immune system disorders. His observations were
published at www.ldninfo.org, which is where an MS patient named SammyJo
Wilkinson learned of it.

Wilkinson was diagnosed with MS in 1995 at age 30. For years she used the
injectable drugs approved by the FDA for MS but to no avail; the disease
progressed to walking with a cane, and she had to give up her technology
career. By the end of 2003, she was falling so often that a motorized
wheelchair was on order.

"In February of 2004 I took my first 4.5 mg capsule" recalls Wilkinson, "and
I have recovered without setbacks ever since." In 2005 she attended the 1st
LDN Conference, and in conjunction with other patient advocates including
the nonprofit Accelerated Cure Project for MS, formed a committee to raise
funds to stimulate research for LDN treatment of MS. Because naltrexone is
an inexpensive generic drug, the concern was that there would be little
commercial interest in research, so they felt it was up to patients
themselves to lead the way. In addition to Wilkinson, this committee also
consisted of Robert Lester and Art Mellor.

They set up a website, www.LDNers.org, and received enthusiastic support
from other patients who had benefited from LDN. The culmination of the
fundraising effort was a gala benefit in California attended by over 250.
The organizer, Vicky Finlayson, had experienced an amazing recovery from 10
years of painful MS attacks after taking LDN, and felt passionately about
funding the research, so that others with MS could gain the relief she had.

Following the benefit, $25,000 had been raised, and word arrived that the
UCSF Multiple Sclerosis Center was interested in conducting the first human
trial in the US, to measure the impact of LDN on MS. The funds were donated
to UCSF, and a 3 month double-blind crossover trial involving 80 patients is
expected to start this Spring.



Contact:
SammyJo Wilkinson
www.LDNers.org
425-971-5884



About UCSF MS Center

The Multiple Sclerosis Center at the University of California serves the MS
community of Northern California through a commitment to providing the
highest standard of integrated patient care, innovative basic science and
clinical research, and education. The UCSF MS center cares for
approximately 3,500 patients who suffer from MS and provides consultation
for many more patients who geographically are unable to receive continuity
of care in San Francisco. The MS Center is committed to developing improved
therapies for MS through clinical trials as well as basic science research
oriented at understanding why patients develop MS and uncovering novel
therapeutic strategies. For more information about the UCSF MS Center
please visit the website: http://www.ucsf.edu/msc/index.html



About Accelerated Cure Project for MS

Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, www.acceleratedcure.org, is
a national nonprofit organization dedicated to curing Multiple Sclerosis
(MS) by determining its causes. Accelerated Cure Project believes this
effort can be accelerated by organizing the research process and encouraging
collaboration between research organizations and clinicians. A "Cure Map" is
currently being developed by Accelerated Cure Project to establish what is
known and what is not known about the causes of MS. From the Cure Map,
Accelerated Cure Project will facilitate research most likely to reveal the
causes of MS in the shortest time through a large-scale, multidisciplinary,
MS Repository. For more information about Accelerated Cure Project or to
make a corporate or individual donation, call 781/487-0008, visit
http://acceleratedcure.org, or send an email to info-pr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disorder of the central
nervous system that often results in severe disability including the
inability to walk, blindness, cognitive dysfunction, extreme fatigue and
other serious symptoms. MS affects over 400,000 people in the US and 2
million individuals worldwide. The disorder occurs twice as often in women
as in men. The cause is not known and there is no known cure.



SOURCE www.LDNers.org



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