MONDAY, Sept. 22, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Aggressive early treatment using the drug Avonex in people considered at risk to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to slow development of the disease after five years.
That's what data presented Sept. 20 at the meeting of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS found.
The study involving patients from 32 sites across the United States was designed to determine whether early treatment -- within a month of the appearance of initial MS symptoms and before a definite diagnosis had been made -- would delay the onset of new MS-related neurological symptoms.
Researchers followed 203 people, half of whom had been receiving Avonex immediately after showing MS symptoms, and half of whom began receiving the drug at a later point -- after their second MS attack or two or more years after their first MS attack.
The study found that after five years, the people who starting taking Avonex immediately after their first MS attack had a 35 percent reduction in the rate of developing a clinical diagnosis of MS and a 48 percent reduction in the number of relapses, compared to people who began treatment on a placebo and switched to the drug an average of two years after their initial MS symptoms.
The study was sponsored by Biogen Inc., the maker of Avonex.
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