'Multiple Sclerosis', the most common disease of the central nervous system, is curable now as a German drug company has introduced a biogenetic medicine for this purpose, which is also available in Pakistan.
Around 2.5 million patients aare suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), out of which around 10,000 are in Pakistan. This medicine, named 'Interferon-beta-1a', will provide much awaited relief to the patients. 'Multiple Sclerosis' mainly affects the neurons system in areas of the brain and spinal cord, known as the white matter.
'Interferon-beta' is a protein, produced naturally in the body. It slows down the progression of the illness and reduces the relapse rate. Biotechnological techniques make it possible to engineer this endogenous protein in bacterial or mammalian cells. Interferons have been shown to have about a 30-35 percent reduction in the rate of MS relapse, and to slow the progression of disability in the patients having this disease.