The Feb. 28 edition of The Lancet reported that an experimental drug called fampridine may help some people with multiple sclerosis to walk.
301 U.S. and Canadian adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) were studied and were timed as they walked up to a distance of 25 feet. They were then given placebo pills for a week and then took either fampridine or a placebo twice a day for 14 weeks. They then spent the last month of the study not taking either pill.
During the study, those taking fampridine were found to be more likely to meet the study’s benchmark for the timed walk than those taking the placebo, and improved their walking speed, and showed more improvement in walking. 25% of the fampridine patients showed an improvement in their walking speed, as opposed to 5% of patients who took the placebo.
“We provide evidence that treatment with fampridine produces clinically meaningful improvement in walking ability in some people with multiple sclerosis,” report the researchers, who included Andrew Goodman, MD, of the University of Rochester. Goodman’s team notes that more research is needed to confirm the findings.
Two serious side effects were reported by the researchers that might have been linked to fampridine. One was a patient who experienced severe anxiety; the other was a patient who suffered a seizure during sepsis, a severe infection.
The results of the study are “intriguing,” but a greater understanding of the drugs risks and benefits are needed, and which patients would be the best candidates for fampridine, according to an editorial published with the study.
The editorialists included Alan Thompson, FRCP, FRCPI, of University College London’s Institute of Neurology and noted that although the results were clinically meaningful they only applied to a subset of patients, and that fampridine may not be appropriate for patients who had a history of seizures. For further details do check out the source article.