Prozac may help slow multiple sclerosis

GRONINGEN, Netherlands, May 1 (UPI) -- The anti-depressant Prozac may help curb disease activity in the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis, a Dutch study said.

Researchers at the University Medical Center of Groningen, in The Netherlands, randomly allocated 40 patients with the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis -- administering either 20 mg daily of fluoxetine hydrochloride, or Prozac, or a placebo for 24 weeks.

Thirty-eight patients -- 19 in each group -- completed the study.

Magnetic resonance imaging scans were done every four weeks to check for new areas of neurological inflammation -- a hallmark of active disease.

The study, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, said the scans showed that those in the placebo group had more new areas of inflammation than those treated with Prozac.

The effects began to become evident after eight weeks, which corresponds to the time the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class of drugs, of which Prozac is one, start to work on relieving depression, the study said.