Active clinical trials for "Multiple Sclerosis"

The purpose of this study is to see if we can find a new way to test how certain Multiple Sclerosis (MS) medications work in the body and to better understand how the medicines change certain substances (cells) found in the immune (protective) system. Blood test will be drawn by doing the following: Use a new method called the "Immuknow®" Test to see if this method will help to better understand how MS medicines work. Measure certain levels of immune cells in a new way, to see if it this will help to understand the body's response to MS medicines. These methods will test those with MS who are not taking any MS medications, to help us compare the results. About 100 subjects will be enrolled in this study at the Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Biogen Idec, Inc. of Cambridge, MA, is paying for this study to be done.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease which causes inflammation and destruction of the nerves in within the brain and the spinal cord. This disease is one of the most common causes of disability in young adults. A ''relapse'' is a phenomenon that occurs when there is an acute attack of disability as a result of an acute attack on the nervous system. There is usually some degree of recovery after a relapse. Rebif is licensed in the United Kingdom for the treatment of relapsing MS and is given 3 times a week by injections under the skin. The RebiSmart device is a new injection device which has been developed to help patients with injecting their Rebif treatment. Currently, all treatments for MS are injectable and require long term patient commitment. Patient compliance to treatment is important for the therapy to work effectively and decrease the risk of relapse episodes. Using a device that makes it easy for patients to inject may potentially improve compliance to treatment and therefore potentially have an impact on the number of relapses patients experience. The RebiSmart device has been developed for patients to inject conveniently and in comfort. The device allows the patient to control certain parameters such as needle depth, needle speed, injection time etc, and also has extra features designed to ease the injection process, such as a dose history calendar and an on-screen injection guide. The aim of this study is to determine what percentage of patients liked using the RebiSmart device and found it ''easy'' or ''very easy'' to use. The study will also determine which of the device features were most useful to the patients.

This study aims to evaluate the occurence and severity of fatigue and depression in multiple sclerosis patients and the impact of Betaferon treatment on symptoms alterations. The study is conducted in routine practice setting hence no interference with standard care takes place. Pharmacologic treatments of MS-fatigue and depression will also be recorded.

This is a prospective, observational, registration and follow-up study of women exposed to Betaseron® at the time of conception (i.e., any time from the first day of the last menstrual period) and/or during pregnancy. The Betaseron® Pregnancy Registry is designed to determine whether there is an increased risk or a pattern of birth defects in the offspring of women exposed to Betaseron® at conception and during pregnancy compared to rates from women in the general US population. Secondarily, the Registry will examine rates of spontaneous abortions and other negative pregnancy outcomes in this population. This study will be conducted in the United States (US). The Betaseron® Pregnancy Registry is sponsored by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and is managed by the Post Approval & Strategic Services group at INC Research, LLC. The scientific conduct and analysis of the Registry will be overseen by an Independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (IDSMB) consisting of external specialists in teratology, epidemiology, maternal and fetal medicine, and neurology (external member details available upon request).

The purpose of this trial is to test the Single-Use Autoinjector for a) ease of use; b) multiple domains related to subject's acceptability and satisfaction, and c) reliability of the correct function for self-injection of Rebif® 44 mcg sc tiw in subjects with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).

The purpose of this study is to determine if sexual dysfunction symptoms and quality of life measures in patients with Multiple Sclerosis may be improved in patients that are prescribed Tysabri.

Non-adherence reduces treatment benefit and can bias the assessment of treatment efficacy thereby involving safety risks for the patient and influencing health cost-effectiveness. This observational study will concentrate upon the role of MS nurses in influencing adherence. This study will examine the influence of initial and subsequent periodic nurse interviews which aim to improve adherence to Betaferon® treatment.

It is thought that treating Multiple Sclerosis with Novantrone for a short period of time prior to treatment with Copaxone may enhance the onset effect of Copaxone.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether giving intravenous dexamethasone every 4 weeks during the first 12 months of weekly Avonex dosing will reduce the progression of functional impairment, brain atrophy, relapse rate and frequency, and new and enlarging brain lesions over the first 24 months of Avonex therapy in patients with relapsing-remitting or mono-symptomatic multiple sclerosis.

The purpose of this follow-up study is to look carefully at the long-term course of multiple sclerosis (MS) and possibly the long-term effects of Betaseron in the patients who were previously enrolled in the original North American study that led to the marketing approval of Betaseron.