Medical Reports: Multiple Sclerosis

WSVN -- Rich Elliott is having fun with his daughter, but it's hard work just staying on his feet.

Rich Elliott: "It's difficult to walk and stay upright without falling.

At 36, Rich is fighting a daily battle with multiple sclerosis or MS.

Rich Elliott: "Dexterity, speech is slurred sometimes."

Rich is now part of a small group of people in the U.S. testing a new drug. At this point, he'd settle for anything that keeps the symptoms from getting worse.

Rich Elliott: "I know that this is as bad as it's going to get, and I could handle that."

Researchers say current MS therapies affect more than just the bad cells, the can also harm good cells that protect the body's nervous system.

Dr. Arthur Vandenbark: "It's like having a sledge hammer to kill a fly."

Doctor Arthur Vandenbark and his team designed RTL 1,000 zero-in on the bad cells that cause MS. These pictures from an animal study show MS before RTL, and after the MS cells simply disappear.

Dr. Arthur Vandenbark: "I think we can potentially reduce the symptoms a lot."

Researchers also hope RTL will reverse damage already caused by MS. For Elliott, it's hard to imagine.

Rich Elliott: "If I could walk on my own again without any assistance, have a normal day, be able to use your fingers, to get it back would be incredible."

Christine Cruz: "If RTL 1,000 is proven effective in the fight against MS, scientists hope this kind of therapy may also be used to treat other auto-immune diseases such as, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis."

New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center
1300 York Avenue, Box 144
New York, NY 10021
publicaffairs@med.cornell.edu