Pill marks a new dawn for children with MS
A PILL which can reduce multiple sclerosis relapses by more than 80 per cent has been approved for children after a landmark trial.
It means that those with the devastating neurological condition can live near-normal lives.
Gilenya, which is already approved for use in some adults with MS, is the first fully approved pill for children aged 10-17 living with the condition that leads to permanent disability.
MS is caused when the immune system attacks the sheath protecting the nerves cells and affects the brain’s signalling processes.
The new drug works in the relapsing remitting form of the MS – which affects all children and many adults – by blocking certain immune cells so they can no longer attack the central nervous system. Specialists have welcomed Gilenya’s approval by the European Medicines Agency last week.
Dr Cheryl Hemingway, an expert in childhood neurology at London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and lead researcher in the trial, said: “It heralds a new dawn of treatment which can make a significant impact on these children and provide an outstanding opportunity to give them a brighter future whilst helping to normalise their childhood.
“We believe for many children this will work long term.”
Up to 400 under 18s in the UK are known to have MS, though experts think there could be many more who have not yet been diagnosed. There are about 127,000 people as a whole with MS in Britain.
Relapses in children with the condition are often two-to-three times more frequent than in adults. Half of children with MS also develop depression within two years of diagnosis.
The exact mechanism that drives MS is not entirely understood although most scientists think symptoms arise from the body’s immune system attacking the myelin sheath – the protective layer surrounding the nerves that help electrical signals to travel from the brain to the body – in the brain and spinal cord.
Symptoms tend to vary depending on the nerves affected and the damage caused. While some people may lose the ability to walk, others experience extended periods of remission.
The trigger for MS is unknown, LUCY WOOD, who first had symptoms of MS at the age of three, is believed to be the first youngster in the UK to be prescribed the new daily pill.
The 15-year-old, of Peterlee, Co Durham, pictured, became blind in one eye then the other due to the illness.
She recovered, but over the years has also had symptoms including seizures, slurred speech, exhaustion, poor coordination, and loss of balance.
Her mother Sharon, a health care assistant said: “The results of the [Gilenya] trial are so good and for Lucy it is also so much better for her not to have to go to hospital for weekly injections, which she has had to do since she was diagnosed.” although it is believed to be linked to both genetic and environmental factors including infection, smoking, stress, and exposure to toxins, mainly solvents.
Over the past 10 years new drugs have helped slow the course of MS. However Gilenya is the first proven treatment that has been shown to radically slow it down.
The trial results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, included 215 relapsing MS patients aged 10-17 who randomly received either Gilenya capsules once daily or standard therapy over two years. Relapses were shown to be dramatically reduced for those on Gilenya.
‘We believe this will work long term’