Nasal spray desmopressin treatment of bladder dysfunction in patients with multiple sclerosis

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vasopressin and Desmopressin in the context of multiple sclerosis in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 26 patients taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

In the present study, the effect of the synthetic vasopressin analogue, desmopressin, was evaluated on the voiding frequency in 26 patients with MS suffering from socially handicapping voidings and incontinence problems during daytime.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vasopressin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Blinding on both sides kept the patients and researchers unaware of who received Vasopressin.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vasopressin could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the patients took both Vasopressin and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Deamino Arginine Vasopressin, Multiple Sclerosis and Urinary Bladder Diseases.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vasopressin and Desmopressin in 26 patients in people with multiple sclerosis.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1996 (Acta neurologica Scandinavica), a journal based in Denmark.

More context: the Vasopressin compound page and the Desmopressin compound page, Multiple sclerosis research.