“Ocrevus” - treatment for multiple sclerosis

“Ocrevus” - a panacea in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Among the diseases of the central nervous system, affecting people of middle age (on average from 15 to 45 years) is increasingly common so-called multiple sclerosis. Today, about three million inhabitants of the planet have already encountered this insidious disease that affects the function of the brain in receiving and transmitting signals to the organs and systems of the body. The disease got its name because, as a result of tissue thickening from multiple sclerosis, many parts of the central nervous system are affected.

A healthy human brain transmits electrical signals (impulses) through nerve endings to different parts of the body, controlling our movements, arbitrary or involuntary. The conductors - nerves are hidden in a special myelin sheath - a protective layer. Multiple sclerosis destroys myelin, forming scars on the affected areas, which distort the transmission of nerve impulses, and in severe cases, block brain signals.

Symptoms of multiple sclerosis include: muscle spasms, excessive fatigue, visual impairment, coordination and speech problems, numbness or partial paralysis of body parts. Multiple sclerosis is most often caused by viruses and germs that enter the body, causing the immune system to react to the invasion. Unfortunately, sometimes a person's immune system begins to work against them, attacking the body's cells rather than the viruses.

Distorted transmission of signals from the brain to organs and systems leads to significant changes in the condition of patients with multiple sclerosis. And a young person suddenly can no longer move without a special stick, crutches or finds himself in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, a patient suffering from multiple sclerosis will not be able to fully recover and return to his former life. But modern medicine does not stand still, successfully using in its practice drugs that can slow down the process of negative impact of multiple sclerosis on the quality of life of the patient.

One such drug is Okrevus' Ocrelizumab, a glycated immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) with a molecular mass of approximately 145 kDa, which is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody directed against B cells expressing CD20. The drug, manufactured by Roche, is well established in the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis, both primary and progressive.

The efficacy of Ocrevus (Ocrelizumab), manufactured in Switzerland, in the treatment of patients with progressive multiple sclerosis has been proven in clinical trials. In more than one and a half thousand patients taking the new drug, the rate of disease relapses decreased. More than seven hundred patients with primary but progressive multiple sclerosis were involved in the study of the effectiveness of “Ocrevus”, as a result of which the rate of disability of patients significantly decreased. All this gives good reasons for the use of Ocrevus (Ocrelizumab) in the treatment of patients who have to fight such an insidious disease as multiple sclerosis.