Stony Brook Medicine Conducting Six-Month Research Study on Multiple Sclerosis Relapse

by Laura Cino

(Stony Brook, NY) Stony Brook Medicine will be conducting an IRB-approved research study in conjunction with Hyperbaric Medical Solutions to determine whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy when added to conventional steroid therapy will improve recovery from multiple sclerosis relapse. Stony Brook MS Comprehensive Care Center Director Dr. Patricia Coyle will be the Principal Investigator for this first research study of its kind. Dr. Coyle will work with Hyperbaric Medical Solutions’ (HMS) Medical Director Dr. Henry Prince.

The six-month study will include 30 volunteer patients who have suffered an MS relapse. It will include steroid therapy, physical exams, neurological exams, questionnaires, MRIs and possible hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Participants will be asked to visit Stony Brook MS Comprehensive Care Center for six study visits and offsite facilities for MRI and possible hyperbaric treatments. Fifteen patients will be randomized to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy and 15 will not.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder that attacks the central nervous system. Symptoms of the disease include numbness and weakness in extremities that can disable a person. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, there are approximately 400,000 people living with MS in the United States. Women are almost three times more likely to have the disease.

Notes Stony Brook’s Dr. Coyle, “This is the first time hyperbaric oxygen is being examined to determine whether it can, when used acutely, lessen the damage associated with an MS attack”.

READ More of this study, found here

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