Largest Drilling Rig Contractor Funds New Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trial

Diseases such as multiple sclerosis affect not only the person with the disease, but also their family, loved ones, and other people in the same community. Helping one, therefore, helps many.

Someone is standing up to help people with multiple sclerosis.

When an individual is suffering from a disease such as multiple sclerosis, it is known not only to affect the individual themselves, but it also causes an impact on the entire family as well as their loved ones. There is a saying that, “Helping one, helps many.” Now, there is someone who is standing up for this noble cause of aiding those individuals who suffer from multiple sclerosis. A resident of Calgary, Hank Swartout used the funds that he had mortgaged on his house to start a company called Precision Drilling. He was not only the founder of the company, but was also the CEO of this venture until he parted ways in 2009. Just before he left the company, it was known to be making around seven to eight billion dollars annually. It is considered to be the largest rig contractor in Canada, and it is still a growing company. To help others not have to share the same fate as his, Hank made use of his savings to start funding research into multiple sclerosis treatment and medications, which may prove to be helpful for those suffering from the condition. After years of hard work, it finally paid off, and he found a “golden pill” so to speak. This medicine is called Minocycline. Until now, it was only prescribed to treat acne, not for multiple sclerosis. Originally, this medicine was developed with the purpose to treat acne. Being an oral antibiotic, the medicine kills the microorganisms that are said to be responsible for causing infections to the skin cells, thereby clearing up the skin. This medicine also helps other conditions as well, such as urinary tract infections, respiratory infections, and MRSA. But there are certain disadvantages of this medicine as well. The medication is easily soluble in liquid, which means that it quickly dissolves into fats and is then transported through the entire body very easily. This medicine quickly penetrates into the nervous system, which can be a good thing since multiple sclerosis mostly involves the degeneration of certain parts of the nervous system. The medication possesses both neuro-restorative as well as neuroprotective properties. The research that was carried out and funded by Hank discovered that this medicine does in fact slow down the progression rate of multiple sclerosis into the advanced stage by half. There were around 142 participants in the entire study, and they ranged in age from 18 to 60 years old. All of them had shown a few of the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and some of the others were excluded if any other disease was thought to be the probable cause of those symptoms. This study was carried out for over a period of six years, wherein the participants were instructed to consume either the medication or a placebo two times daily. One third of the participants who were on the medication experienced diminishing symptoms of multiple sclerosis, as compared to two thirds of the participants who were instead given the placebo. In at least one case, the symptoms also showed signs of disappearing.

We all have the ability to help by whatever means we can to ensure that such a noble cause is carried forward.