Gilenya And Multiple Sclerosis

Gilenya is a drug that helps to treat patients suffering from multiple sclerosis by reducing the frequency of attacks and slow down the progression of the disease. This drug is an immunomodulator and acts on the immune system by blocking a specific white blood cell known as lymphocytes which are produced in the lymph nodes and attack the cells in the body. This results in a decrease in the number of lymphocytes in the blood stream. The objective of Gileyna is to delay the progression of the disease, and decrease the frequency of attacks, by reducing the lymphocytes and inhibit the autoimmune response. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where nerve fibers or axons get damaged in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve and lose their functionality. Body movements can become very painful and some patients find it even hard to …show more content…
Almost, 400,000 people in the United States are suffering from this autoimmune disease, in which the body’s immune system starts to destroy the body's myelin and axons, thinking that they are foreign tissue. Essentially, the immune system cannot distinguish between its own tissue and foreign tissue. It is unclear why this disease starts, and if it is due to a muted gene or a virus. Most patients have the relapsing-remitting symptoms (less severe), whereas some have the progressive form (more severe). There is no cure for this disease except that Gilenya can delay the progression. This drug regulates immune responses, lessens the frequency and severity of relapses, tricks the immune system thereby reducing its attacks on myelin, and shortens the duration of a multiple