A widely-prescribed statin does not slow disability progression for people with a certain form of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new trial has concluded.
Researchers wanted to assess whether simvastatin – which is used to treat high cholesterol and prevent heart disease – could help people with secondary progressive MS.
One of the people who took part in the study said she was “massively disappointed” with the results of the trial. But the MS Society said that the trial was still a “huge milestone” in MS research. READ MORE: 'We dropped our BMW at Manchester Airport, what we came back to was disgusting' The seven-year MS-STAT study, which involved almost 1,000 patients over 31 sites across the UK, concluded that simvastatin is not an effective neuro-protective treatment for secondary progressive MS.
But researchers told delegates at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis conference in Copenhagen that the trial results would increase understanding of the biology of progressive MS. “I’m massively disappointed that the trial didn’t produce a new treatment,” said secondary progressive MS patient Jacqueline Krarup.