Combining diabetes and allergy drugs gives hope of MS treatment

Early results from a clinical trial suggest that a common diabetes drug taken with an antihistamine can partially repair damage in the nervous system that drives disability in multiple sclerosis.

- Ian Sample

While the effect was too small for patients to notice a benefit after six months, tests did reveal improvements in nerve function, raising hopes that damage to the protective coatings around nerve fibres might be reversed with drugs.

"I feel like we're at this precipice of a new class of therapies for MS and that’s why this is exciting,” said Dr Nick Cunniffe, a neurologist at the University of Cambridge who led the CCMR Two trial.

Nearly 3 million people worldwide live with multiple sclerosis and there are more than 150,000 patients in the UK. Most are diagnosed in their 30s and 40s. It is the most common neurological condition in young adults.

The disease arises when the immune system attacks protective fatty coatings around nerves in the brain and spinal cord. The loss of these myelin sheaths slows electrical signals passing along the nerves or stops them getting through entirely.