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The big news on the MS front is the two new cases of PML (a rare brain
infection) that has emerged in Europe from two guys that had taken Tysabri
for more than a year. I talk about it in my latest
YouTube video.
I, of course, am not a doctor, but I give my perspective after having been
on Tysabri for almost 2 years. The drug has improved my life 1000%.
The intricate details
of what MS is;
Tysabri -
What's next?
is my latest video. I got a comment right away wondering if
I had heard about the drug
Revimmune. Yes, I guess that is close to a cure (from
what I have heard).
Revimmune uses an
ultra-high intensity, short-course of an
intravenous formulation of an approved drug
(cyclophosphamide), in a new patent-pending method to
"reboot" a patient's immune system, thereby eliminating the
autoimmunity, whereas current therapies including oral
cyclophosphamide are used chronically to try to suppress the
inflammation of autoimmunity. Based on long-term follow-up
showing complete remissions, there is substantial evidence
that Revimmune has the potential to cure cases of severe
refractory autoimmune diseases such as aplastic anemia and
myasthenia gravis. Accentia's lead indication for Revimmune
is multiple sclerosis (MS).
 The
Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico did a
brief interview with me about the MS drug Tysabri. It appeared in the March
9, 2008 edition. Here are my comments;
Vern Beachy, 44, credits Tysabri with improving his life since he began
receiving monthly infusions in November 2006.
"There is no comparison," Beachy said of life before and
after Tysabri. "Before I could walk half a block and that was with crutches.
Now, I'm walking up to a mile a day and I don't use crutches or a
wheelchair."
Beachy, 44, worked as news director at Albuquerque radio
station KOB-AM (770) when he was diagnosed in 1998 and forced to retire a
year later, he said. He left New Mexico in 2001 and now lives in Carroll,
Iowa.
TYSABRI® DEMONSTRATES SIGNIFICANT HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY-OF-LIFE
IMPROVEMENTS FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS IN STUDY PUBLISHED IN ANNALS OF
NEUROLOGY
My latest Tysabri videos can be found on this
page and my YouTube page. I have many other videos I produced as well (79
total).
Tysabri infusion day. January
9th, 2008.
TYSABRI RECOVERY VIDEO #9. Walking.
 Tysabri
recovery video #8. I Spoke of was and when.
TYSABRI RECOVERY VIDEO #7. a WALK IN
THE PARK ON A SUNNY DAY.
Tysabri recovery video #6. side effects.
Tysabri recovery video #5. Left, rig ht,
repeat.
Tysabri recovery video #4. Recorded
 after
my 11th infusion. Pre-medicate.
Tysabri recovery video #3. In addition to being able to
walk after I started taking Tysabri for MS, here are the drugs I no
longer have to take.
Tysabri recovery video #2. I have
posted another "Progress" video on YouTube. People with MS have asked me to
post more often to talk about how I am doing on Tysabri. Click on the video
picture to view it.
 Tysabri
recovery video #1. This is the first video I posted on YouTube. I
was once in a wheelchair and used Canadian crutches for 8 years. But, a day
after my 3rd monthly infusion I started walking again.
 On June 5, 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) approved a Supplemental Biologics License
Application (sBLA) for the reintroduction of TYSABRI®
(natalizumab) as monotherapy treatment for relapsing
forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). We are pleased to be
able to once again offer TYSABRI for appropriate MS
patients.
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