What is beta interferon?
Beta interferon is a drug used to reduce the frequency and severity of relapses afflicting people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a neurological disorder affecting the brain and spinal cord, which over time can lead to poor coordination and severe disabilities. It affects around 85,000 people in the UK. Relapses vary but are basically painful and distressing episodes that can result, in extreme cases, in blindness, paralysis, incontinence and hospitalisation. Does it work? Beta interferon is not a cure for MS, nor does it work for all MS sufferers. Its supporters claim that it reduces the number of relapses by one third on average, and that some people who take the drug stop relapsing completely. They say that people taking beta interferon require less hospital treatment, and thus save the NHS money. Opponents of the drug claim that it is costly but not cost-effective; while it is effective in the early phase of the disease, it has no long term effect on the progress of t
