"Very early treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) -- before doctors have even confirmed their diagnosis of the nerve disease -- can significantly delay its progression, a Canadian-led study shows":
" Usually, doctors don't start treatment until a person has had two separate attacks, but Dr. Mark Freedman of the University of Ottawa and his colleagues found they could delay the development of the disease by starting people on a drug called interferon beta-1b (brand name Betaseron) after just one episode of symptoms suggestive of MS. Freedman describes the treatment benefits as 'remarkable.' The study involved 468 people who'd had just one MS-like attack, as well as at least two areas of nerve damage visible on a brain scan."