The scientific method involves making an observation, making an explanation of the observation, testing the explanation in order to see whether it is valid and either accepting or rejecting the explanation. Once an explanation is rejected, a better explanation is developed and then tested. The exact steps that are followed in a scientific method depend on the number of times the method is broken down. However, there are five major steps that are followed in a scientific method. These steps are making observations, proposing a hypothesis, designing an experiment and performing it to test the hypothesis, analyzing the data in order to determine whether the hypothesis is to be accepted or rejected, and whenever necessary proposing a new hypothesis and testing it (Helmenstine, 2013).
Multiple sclerosis refers to a severe central nervous system disorder. The condition is an inflammatory disease where the covers that insulate the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain are damaged. The damaged nerve cells hinder communication between nerve cells from taking place and this result in various signs that are observed including mental and physical symptoms (Compston & Coles, 2008). More than 85% of the multiple sclerosis patients have their disease starting with a relapsing stage. Some of the specific symptoms associated with the disease include muscle weakness, loss of sensitivity, muscle spasms, moving difficulties, balance and coordination difficulties, visual problems, tiredness, acute and chronic pains, and bowel and bladder difficulties among others.
Although cases of multiple sclerosis vary from one geographical region to another, it is approximated that about 30 people per every 100,000 are affected globally. Europe is the leading content with more than 80 per 100, 000 people while in Africa, South East Asia, and America the rates are less than 0.5, 2.8, and 8.3 per 100,000 respectively. The reported cases on multiple sclerosis have been on the rise, and this is in a bigger part contributed by better diagnosis techniques that are being developed. The disease occur more often in female than it does in males. The trend is similar in children but changes after the age of 50 years where males and females are affected almost at the same rate.
The most negative aspect about the disease is the fact that disease cause is not known. The disease may result from autoimmune disorders when the immune system invades the normal body cells. The disease also affects the ability to speak, write and even walk, and this affects their entire life. The disease also has no single test that can be performed to diagnose the disease. The doctor uses physical exam, medical history, and other tests in order to diagnose the disease.
Currently, there is no treatment for multiple sclerosis although medications that may help in slowing the disease as well as controlling the symptoms are available. The disease may be helped by occupational as well as physical therapies. The major objective of the medication is to return normal body functioning after the attack, prevent new attacks from occurring as well as preventing the patient from suffering from disability.
Research is going on more convenient and effective treatments that can be tolerated especially for the relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. The research also focuses on getting effective symptomatic treatments. Through research, several oral drugs have been approved and are expected to gain frequency of use and popularity. Other oral drugs that are being researched on include laquinimod, which is in the third phase of the trial. Research is also focused on improving the ease and efficacy of the therapies that are currently in use. Some of these improvements include using new preparations like the PEGylated form of interferon-β-1a. This formulation is expected to reduce the dose frequency while providing similar effects.
In the first paper by Comi et al (2001), all the five steps of scientific methods were followed. The paper made an observation on the activity of interferon beta in reducing multiple sclerosis severity. The paper then hypothesized that interferon beta-1a had an effect on the relapses occurrence in multiple sclerosis patients after first neurological events presentation. The paper went ahead to design an experiment that tested the set hypothesis by employing eligible patients who showed the first episode of the neurological dysfunction that suggested the presence of multiple sclerosis in the first three months. The patients were given interferon beta-1a or placebo randomly, and the patients analyzed clinically as well as neurologically. Neurological together with clinical assessments were conducted after every 6 months while brain MRI was done after every 12 months. The fourth step was followed where the research analyzed the data obtained, and a conclusion was made from the data obtained (Comi, et al., 2001).
In the second paper by Pakdaman et al (2007), the research followed all steps of scientific methods. The paper started by making an observation on the new treatment approach in the treatment of multiple sclerosis through the interferon therapy initiation in the early stage of the disease when the patient is presented with a clinically isolated syndrome. For the second step, a hypothesis that early treatment has an effect on the conversion risks to the clinically definite multiple sclerosis patients was set. An experiment was designed to test the set hypothesis. In the experiment, patients who were presented with first incidents of neurological dysfunction that suggested that they had multiple sclerosis and had magnetic resonance imaging of the brain that was abnormal were employed for the study. Interferon beta 1a or placebo was administered intramuscularly to the patients randomly once every week for the duration of 3 years. Observations were made on the treated subjects and were used to make a conclusion that the treatment of multiple sclerosis at an early stage delays the conversion process of the disease into definite multiple sclerosis. Some of the observations included neurological assessments, as well as safety assessments and were conducted after 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months (Pakdaman, et al., 2007).
The results that were obtained in the study conducted by Comi et al (2001) enabled for a precise conclusion from the study. From the study, 241 (78%) out of the 308 patients who randomly received treatment for two years. Out of these patients, 278 or 90% of the patients stayed in the study until the end 85% (57 of 67) of those who stopped taking the medication did so after the disease went a conversion to a multiple sclerosis that is clinically definite. The number of patients whose disease developed into clinically definite form was fewer in the group that received interferon than in the group that received placebo. The time when the disease developed into a clinically definite multiple sclerosis in 30% of the patients was 569 days the group that received interferon treatment compared to 252 in the group that received the placebo (Comi, et al., 2001).
In the study by Pakdaman et al (2007), there were 202 patients who completed the study out of the 217 patients. Out of these, there were 104 patients who received interferon beta 1a while 98 of the patients received placebo. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of the baseline characteristics. After the 3 years of treatment, only 36.6% of those who received interferon treatment and 58.2% of those who received the placebo developed clinically definite multiple sclerosis. The probability of conversion to clinically definite form of the disease was higher in the placebo group than in the interferon group (Pakdaman, et al., 2007).
The results reported in the papers provided enough evidence that provided a convincing conclusion. The sample size was big enough for such a rare disease and the study focused on several parameters that made it possible for a strong conclusion to be made. The paper by Pakdaman et al (2007) is believed to have a stronger case for its conclusions due to the fact that other than following the steps set for a scientific method, the experiment made its observation for a longer period of time (3 years). The paper also focused on more observational assessments than the other paper. To make the findings more convincing, both studies may try to involve a greater number of participants who have the disease in order to increase the accuracy of the study.
Reference List
Comi, G., Filippi, M., Barkhof, F., Durelli, L., Edan, G., Fernández, O., & Hommes, O. R. (2001). Effect of early interferon treatment on conversion to definite multiple sclerosis: a randomised study. The Lancet, 357(9268), 1576-1582.
Compston, A., & Coles, A. (2008). Multiple sclerosis. Lancet, 372(9648), 1502–1517.
Helmenstine, A. M. (2013). The Scientific Method. Retrieved December 13, 2013, from http://chemistry.about.com/od/lecturenotesl3/a/sciencemethod.htm
Pakdaman, H. S., Fallah, A., Pakdaman, R., Ghareghozli, K., Ghafarpour, M., & Shirani, A. (2007). Effect of early interferon beta‐1a therapy on conversion to multiple sclerosis in Iranian patients with a first demyelinating event. Acta neurologica scandinavica, 115(6), 429-431.
