Sorry. Had some things to do outside in the hot sun yesterday and was busy paying the price while I wrote that. Anyway, on to BG-12...
Take all this with a grain of salt. I'm just a guy that was recently given the 'probable ms' diagnosis and all my info comes from basically a weekend of (obsessive) reading about the various treatments. It is a summary of what i read, I don't actually know what I'm talking about.
In addition to increasing endorphins like LDN, BG-12 has some other benefits from what I've been reading. Here are some quotes from a good article I found
here.
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BG-12 is the first compound that has been shown to activate the Nrf2 transcriptional pathway, which previous studies have shown defends against oxidative-stress induced neuronal death, protects the blood-brain barrier, and supports maintenance of myelin integrity in the central nervous system.
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Sounds pretty good to me, but does it work?
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The data also showed a 53 percent reduction in T1-hypointense lesions and a 44 percent reduction in cumulative new Gd+ lesions in patients treated with BG-12 compared to treatment with placebo.
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BG-12 also significantly reduced the number of new or enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions by 48 percent versus placebo, and 63 percent of patients given BG-12 had no new T2-hyperinstense lesions, compared with 26 percent receiving placebo.
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Sounds even better!
But the best part, to me, is the side effects.
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Frequency of infection was low in all treatment groups and did not differ from that of the placebo group.
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Quote:
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The most common, non-MS related adverse events that occurred more frequently in patients receiving BG-12 240 mg three times daily than those receiving placebo included flushing, headache, nausea, diarrhea, upper abdominal pain, hot flush, and abdominal pain. Flushing and gastrointestinal-related events decreased during the course of BG-12, especially during the first one-to-two months of treatment. Frequency of infection was low in all treatment groups and did not differ from that of the placebo group.
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Flushing, diarrhea, and abdominal pain (which stop if you come off the BG-12) all sound better to me than liver damage, deadly brain infections, depression, and heart stoppage.
Now there were still about 30% that backed out of the clinical trials because of the side effects, so this isn't going to work on everyone. But the side effects are not going to cause permanent damage. And they get better with time if you can hang on and continue the treatment.
However, I had also read that some of the other MS drugs were declared 'safe' after their trials, but turned out to be much less safe than advertised. The thing about BG-12 though, is that it has been in use for years for psoriasis. We know that people have been taking it - safely - for a long time. If you go do some fumaderm searches you'll see some great results for psoriasis and side effects that match the promises. Flushing, diarrhea, abdominal pain. All improving with time if you can continue the treatment. And nothing else. Unlike the other MS drugs, this one has already been 'in the field'.
And you don't have to inject it! Sounds like a winner to me. Time will tell, but I'm almost sure this is where I want to start my treatment if I get the MS diagnosis.
Also, wasn't LDN successfully used for psoriasis too? Interesting side note.