Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Health

TBO > Life > Health

Woman fights back against multiple sclerosis

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

Elaine Adams, right, is one of 1,100 individuals bypassing daily injections and testing a proposed oral medication option.

By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2009

Related Links

More from 4You

Waiting for a cure isn't an option for Elaine Adams.

In the 14 years since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the Tampa woman has been determined to hold the incurable disease at bay with a healthful diet and lifestyle. So far, she's been able to stay active and work full time coordinating a medical residency program at Tampa General Hospital.

But while Adams says she'll do what's necessary to stay active, there's one aspect of living with MS she particularly loathes. Painful self-administered injections and infusions are among the few treatments she uses to control periodic bouts of fatigue, muscle pain and other symptoms associated with her relapsing form of MS.

"It's traumatic giving yourself shots every day," says Adams, 51.

She hates the treatment - and that there's still no cure for MS - so much that she's willing to stop the injections and become one of 1,100 individuals testing a proposed oral medication option. For the past nine months, Adams has been off the shots and taking the oral medication (or a placebo).

"Most people I know have just resigned themselves to the injections," she says. "They don't want to think outside the box."

MS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects a person's brain and spinal cord. The disease damages the material protecting nerve cells and can result in symptoms that include numbness and tingling of limbs, muscle weakness, and coordination and memory problems, says the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The risk of taking a placebo, and thus missing out on preventing the symptoms of a progressively worsening disease, is better than facing the current options, Adams says.

"We don't have a cure for MS now," she says, "so we're all taking a risk."

Tampa's Meridien Research is one of 40 American labs taking part in this 34-country study of the drug Teriflunomide. The drug already is approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but is now being considered to treat the form of MS called relapsing.

Chief Meridien investigator Dr. Cynthia Huffman says relapsing MS is common for people for the first 15 years after diagnosis. The injections Adams took, and the proposed drug, are designed as ongoing maintenance to control the progression of the disease.

Other medications are used to handle more serious flare-ups for people with relapsing MS. Study participants, including Adams, continue to receive those medications, which also are used for those living with advanced forms of MS.

Huffman says an oral maintenance treatment has been elusive, despite the number of people living with MS. About 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States, adding to roughly 250,000 to 350,000 total cases reported by the neurological disease institute.

There's a huge push to look for alternative treatments for MS. Adams is participating in one of 129 ongoing, planned or recently completed MS clinical studies reported to the National MS Society. Several revolve around oral medications.

Adams agreed to undergo a variety of tests for at least one year. The overall study could last for years, or until enough evidence is collected to deem the drug safe and worth FDA approval.

Adams says she's seen little difference in her health in the nine months since she started participating in the study. And she feels empowered that she's not sitting still. Instead, she says, she's helping answer an important question: "Is there something that can be done?"

Clinical Trials:

All proposed medications and treatments must undergo three distinct research phases before getting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

Phase I: Small study, testing safety and human reaction to proposed treatment.

Phase II: Larger study, lasting several months or years, compares treatment to that of existing treatment or a placebo.

Phase III: Multisite, yearslong study, involves a large group of eligible participants. Those taking treatment do not know whether they are taking the test drug, a placebo or current medication.

Want to share your health and fitness idea? Contact me at (813) 259-7365 or mshedden@tampatrib.com. And visit my blog, "Take Two and Call Your Mother," at www.tbo.com, Keyword: Take Two.

Share this:

* To:
Your Name:
Your Email Address:
Personal Message [optional]: