Medications and lifestyle changes are recommended to slow the onset of MS and to manage symptoms, but at this time there is no pill that can be taken to correct or reverse multiple sclerosis. However, this does not mean that there will not be one in the future.

New Hope for MS Patients

It is not uncommon for a treatment that helps one condition to also assist in the treatment of another chronic health concern. That is the case with the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine. In a small study with a sample of MS patients, a certain TB vaccine showed the ability to prevent the progression of MS, making it more manageable to live with the minor symptoms of the disease.

The vaccine is called the Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine, and it has only been shown to help those who are in the earliest phases of MS. This condition is sometimes called clinically isolated syndrome, which is often looked at as a precursor to multiple sclerosis.

Though the study was conducted in a small sample, an impressive 58 percent of participants benefited from the treatment. That means in just this small sample of people, more than half of those who were showing the early signs of MS successfully halted the disease through this medication.

Of course, it is not the TB vaccine on its own that is delivering relief. Even in the study, the TB vaccine was combined with traditional MS treatment, including medication, and healthy lifestyle changes were also encouraged.

In the study, the success rate of those with clinically isolated syndrome was almost 30 percent higher for those who took the TB vaccine than for those who only had the traditional MS medication with no additional support.

Throughout the duration of the study, additional side effects were noted in relation to use of the vaccine. This could mean that the additional treatment would be successful, previously available thanks to its help in treatment another serious health condition, and available without any worrisome side effects.

Any advancement in medical treatment for a disease like MS is exciting news, but before the TB vaccine is recommended as standard treatment for MS it will have to go through several larger studies and be approved for use in the United States by the FDA.