How effective are the treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS)?

Until the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is proved, treatment cannot be truly scientific. This doesn't mean that many treatments today aren't effective. It just means that because MS is still a mystery disease, many treatments may be disputed now or in the future.

The tendency of MS to remit, or improve spontaneously, makes it very difficult for scientists and patients to evaluate various treatments. In fact, this characteristic of MS has led to many ineffective, even bizarre treatments, not to mention a host of false claims for a cure. It is important to accept that today there is no cure for multiple sclerosis.

But new advances can modify the course of the disease, lessen the frequency and severity of attacks, manage symptoms, and improve the quality of life for people with MS and their families. We've come a long way since 1884 when Charcot, the pioneer of MS treatment, had tried gold chloride, zinc sulfate, strychnine, silver nitrate, electrical stimulation, belladonna ergot, potassium bromide, and hydrotherapy. When all was said and done, he admitted that none of the results had been very favorable.

Later, as various causes of MS were suspected, different treatments came into vogue. When infection was first being evaluated, "anti-infectious agents" were tried on many patients. A typhoid vaccine was used to induce fever therapy and a heat box was used to raise the body temperature to kill the suspected spirochetal disease.

Today we know that raising body temperature and inducing fever have negative effects on MS patients, but before 1935 there was a belief that "you have to get worse before you get better." Other early treatments that fell by the wayside include dietary tonics and stimulants, neurosurgery, dental and tonsil extraction, ultraviolet light, and hypnosis. More recent treatments that have failed include massive vitamin therapy, the hyperbaric (high pressure) oxygen chamber, chelation, and others.

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