MND – search continues for new treatments

Motor neurone disease has been described as one of the few remaining illnesses that is still largely a mystery, even though it claims hundreds of lives each year in the UK.

The disease, for which there is currently no effective cure or treatment, sees muscles waste away after a loss of nerve cells that control speech, movement and breathing. 50 per cent of the 1,500 diagnosed each year die within 24 months.

However, the largest clinical trial in a generation, being led by a team of researchers based in Edinburgh, may offer some hope. The trial will test new treatments for the illness, together with researching whether existing treatments for other conditions may have some benefit.

There is currently only one treatment which can extend life for patients for two or three months.

The new trial will open the door for hundreds of MND patients in the UK to take part in tests for potential treatments. While most trials focus on a single treatment or drug, the MND-Smart trial will test several at the same time.

Consultant neurologist Dr Suvankar Pal of Edinburgh University’s Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, who will be overseeing the trial, admits it has been a challenge to identify effective treatments up until now.

“That’s partly because the mechanism by which the brain cells don’t work properly isn’t fully understood. This condition progress very quickly, so actually trying to encourage people to participate in trials and following them through until later stages of the illness is very difficult.

“There has been a lack of progress so far with discovering new therapies for motor neurone disease and I think anything that we can do to improve the quality of life and the survival of people with MND is a step forward for this condition.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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