I find this fascinating. I remember hearing about the increase in lesion bulletin - but kinda just kept moving on - and said, "well - all the more reason to stay on Tysabri if it works for me..."... - note: i havent started it yet - I am waiting for the TOUCH people to get their acts together.

Anyhow - I find this interesting:



Their findings show that the total group of participants developed more than three times as many lesions in the 15-month period after discontinuing the drug than before they started taking it. This increase was mainly driven by those who took the drug for an average of two months, who experienced five times as many brain lesions after stopping the drug. Clinical relapses did not increase following suspension of the drug.




If you REALLY read that part of the statement (that is - If I am reading it correctly - but you know, I have holes in my brain, so some days I'm more "off" than not!) - you see that the people MOST affected were the ones who ONLY took Tysabri for TWO months! - "this increase was mainly driven by those who took the drug for an average of two months" -

Also - as RW said - this isn't scientific - and we don't know cause-and-effect here - and as MS is a DEGENERATIVE disease - it makes sense that after a year of suspending a treatment that more lesions were found - especially if we do not know if a new treatment was started after Ty stopped. We also don't know if by the time Ty was stopped if any of the people tested had changed classification from RRMS to something more progressive, that could account for the quicker increase in lesions.

EVEN IF we can say that they are rebound lesions - then wouldn't we also have to argue that Ty prevented them from forming while on treatment - and so that those participants who were on Ty for three years - did not have an increase in lesions during treatment - and as we've heard reports from many people on Ty - one might be led to believe that in the years they were on Ty - that they had QUALITY of life - the Ty helped grant them that. ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF THE TREATMENT - at this point in time - as so far - no one has made any claim to be a cure for MS?

Okay, so I admit - it does kinda suck that the increase of lesions after stopping treatment is so large and it is a little alarming! I am a supporter of the med - but I'm also not an ignoramus! LOL Will it stop me from taking Ty? No, probably not. If Ty works for me - would it make me very upset if they pull it from the market? YOU BET. Then we'd have to show the FDA that pulling it from the market does more harm than good.

Alright, time for me to call TOUCH and see if they're getting my paperwork in order.

Cherie - I am glad you posted the article - I believe in INFORMED CONSENT - buyer beware - know what you are getting into before you get in!

~Keri