毎日英語を読む！！！

20170204

​Completely 'locked-in' patients can communicate
Patients with absolutely no control over their body have finally been able to communicate, say scientists.
A brain-computer interface was used to read the thoughts of patients to answer basic yes-or-no questions.
One man was able to repeatedly refuse permission for his daughter to get married.
The study on four patients in Germany- published in PLOS Biology - also showed they were happy despite the effects of being "locked-in".
The patients all had advanced forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in which the brain loses the ability to control muscles.
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
《病理》筋萎縮性側索硬化症
It eventually traps people in their own body - they are able to think, but incapable of moving or talking.
When they become "locked in", it can still be possible to develop ways of communication using eye movements.
But all the patients in the study were "completely locked in" and could not even move their eyes.
The activity of brain cells can change oxygen levels in the blood, which in turn changes the colour of the blood.
And scientists were able to peer inside the brain using light to detect the blood's colour, through a technique called near-infrared spectroscopy.
near-infrared spectroscopy近赤外線分光法
近赤外線は皮膚や頭蓋骨によっても完全には遮られず、生体組織に含まれるヘモグロビンやミオグロビンは酸素と結合した時としない時とで近赤外領域での吸光特性が異なる。これらの性質を利用して、生体の非侵襲計測に利用することができる。1940年代にGlenn Allan Millikanは、in vivoでの血中ヘモグロビンの酸素飽和度の計測を試みた。この方式は1970年代に青柳卓雄によってパルスオキシメーターに発展し、近赤外線を用いた経皮的動脈血酸素飽和度(SpO2)計測が実用化された。また、近年では大脳皮質における血流量、酸素消費などの計測に発展している。
They then asked the patients yes-or-no questions such as: "Your husband's name is Joachim?" to train a computer to interpret the brain signals.
The system achieved an accuracy of about 75%.
It means questions need to be asked repeatedly in order to be certain of a patient's answer.
Prof Ujwal Chaudhary, from the Wyss Center in Switzerland where the work was pioneered, told BBC News: "It makes a great difference to their quality of life.
"Imagine if you had no means of communicating and then you could say yes or no - it makes a huge impact."
Patients who have recovered from locked-in syndrome say being able to communicate makes a huge difference.
Kate Allatt, became locked in for five months when she had a stroke at the age of 39.
Unlike the patients in this study, she became able to communicate when her friends asked her to blink once for yes or twice for no.
She told the BBC: "It was phenomenal, that moment if you could wrap every single Christmas, every single birthday, every single child you've ever held in your arms for the first time - that was how exciting it was."
phenomenal【形】〈話〉驚くべき、驚異的な、目を見張るような
as if again in that moment再びその瞬間に戻ったかのように
In one case a daughter wanted the blessing of her completely locked-in father before marrying her boyfriend.
But eight times out of 10 the answer came back no.
"We don't know why he said no," said Prof Chaudhary.
"But they got married… nothing can come between love."
The form of communication is being used for more practical day-to-day means such as finding out if patients are in pain or want a family visit.
Prof John Donoghue, the director of the Wyss Center, told the BBC: "If a person who is totally locked-in is able to communicate, you're freeing the mind to interact with the world around them.
"That is remarkable."

20170126

Five in final stretch of Moon race
The race to put a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon has just five teams left in the competition.
The surviving groups all met an end-of-2016 deadline to obtain launch contracts - and these have now been verified by the organisers of the Google Lunar X-Prize.
To stand a chance of winning the $20m top purse, however, the teams will need to leave Earth by 31 December.
stand a chance of～の可能性がある
purse【名】金銭
The winner will be the first to roam at least 500m, and stream hi-res imagery.
roam【自動】うろつく
stream【自動】ストリーミング配信する
The remaining teams are:
SpaceIL (Israel): The non-profit has secured a payload berth on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceIL's surface probe will be a hopper. The group's stated goal is to make an educational impact and to create an "Apollo Effect" for the next generation in Israel.
berth【名】寝台、係留場所
Moon Express (US): The American team is also building a hopping craft. It has a vision to exploit the resources of the "eighth continent", and has signed a contract with US-New Zealand company Rocket Lab to use its Electron vehicle on three occasions between 2017 and 2020.
Synergy Moon (International): This team is made of up individuals from over 15 countries, and plans to use a Neptune 8 rocket supplied by California aerospace company Interorbital Systems. It will use a rover to traverse the lunar surface.
Team Indus (India): The Indian outfit has signed a commercial launch contract to ride one of the nation’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV). Team Indus’s spacecraft is designed to nestle inside the nosecone of the PSLV.
outfit【名】チーム
PSLV【略】＝polar satellite launch vehicle極軌道衛星打ち上げ用ロケット
Hakuto (Japan): It has an agreement with Team Indus to share space in the PSLV. Hakuto has been developing a design that sees two rovers tethered together. The configuration, it believes, would eventually make possible the exploration of holes on the lunar surface thought to be caves or “skylights” into underlying lava tubes.
skylight【名】天窓
lava tube溶岩洞
In confirming the five teams still in with a crack at the grand prize, the X-Prize organisers also announced on Tuesday that a $1m Diversity Prize would be split among all 16 groups that had been competing up to this point.
in with a crack atチャンス、機会
The hope is that teams dropping out will continue with their work to develop low-cost solutions to space exploration.
The Google Lunar X-Prize was initiated in 2007 and had to have its timeline extended when competitors struggled to raise investor funds in the aftermath of the financial crash. But Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, the senior director at the Google Lunar X-Prize, said she was now confident the race to the Moon was entering its exciting end-stage.
timeline【名】予定表
"In entering the final stretch, we wanted to see and prove that these teams were on manifested launches. That’s important because it shows they must have money in place because they’re now having to make payments to those launch providers," she told BBC News.
have ~ in place～を整える
"That gives us a lot of confidence. And we're now working with the teams on developing their mission profiles and in setting up the process to judge them."
To give the teams a bit more scope, the organisers have adjusted the current competition guidelines requiring that the mission be “completed” by 31 December, 2017, to be merely "initiated" by that deadline instead. In other words, they must have left the launch pad by the end of the year.
The X-Prize Foundation administers a number of competitions aimed at incentivising technological breakthroughs in a range of fields, including climate, healthcare, education and exploration.
In 2005, a privately funded rocket plane, SpaceShipOne, won the Ansari-funded X-Prize by completing two flights above the Earth's atmosphere inside a week.
The vehicle's technology now forms the basis of a spaceliner being developed by entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group.

20170118

Battery with inbuilt 'fire extinguisher' developed
Lithium-ion batteries power many popular devices.
Researchers have designed a lithium-ion battery that contains a fire-extinguishing material, which is released if the battery gets too hot.
Flame retardant triphenyl phosphate (TPP) sits inside a shell within the electrolyte fluid. 
retardant【名】《化学》遅延剤【形】〔薬効・化学反応などを〕遅らせる
to delay, protract, equivalent to re- re- + tard?re to loiter, be slow, derivative of tardus slow; see tardy

The shell melts when the temperature reaches 150C (302F), releasing the chemical compound.
In tests, battery fires were extinguished in 0.4 seconds.
Lithium-ion batteries power many devices but are a known fire hazard.
hazard【名】危険を引き起こすもの
The Stanford University research team's peer-reviewed paper has been published by the journal Science Advances.
Previous attempts to incorporate TPP inside batteries without the shell have hampered their performance.
If a lithium-ion battery cell charges too quickly or a tiny manufacturing error slips through the net it can result in a short circuit - which can lead to fire.
In February 2016, the US National Transportation Safety Board issued a warning about lithium batteries in aeroplane cargo, describing them as "a fire and explosion ignition source".
While Samsung has not yet released the results of its investigation into what caused some of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire last year, local reports have suggested it has found that the batteries were responsible.
A Galaxy Note 7 reportedly caught fire shortly after its charger was unplugged
However, the firm would not confirm that this was their conclusion.
"We understand the need for answers and appreciate your continued patience as well as that of our valued customers, partners and stakeholders," it said in a statement.
"We are working diligently to ensure that we have a comprehensive update and will provide more information in the coming weeks once we have the final report."
Battery technology has been slower to evolve than the many battery-powered devices that rely on it, said Ian Fogg, senior analyst at IHS,
"There is enormous pressure to improve battery tech. It's one of the areas that's holding back mobile devices and a range of other products," he told the BBC.
hold back【句動】押しとどめる、引き止める
hold back tears 泣きたいのをこらえる
"Manufacturers have been balancing out consumer demand for longer-lived batteries, and more powerful devices with better graphics and larger more detailed displays, with the sophistication of battery tech.
"It's very difficult to push up the capacity of batteries and there is always a risk that a battery in any device could fail."

20170113

Cancer spread cut by 75% in tests
The deadly spread of cancer around the body has been cut by three-quarters in animal experiments, say scientists.
Tumours can "seed" themselves elsewhere in the body and this process is behind 90% of cancer deaths.
The mouse study, published in Nature, showed altering the immune system slowed the spread of skin cancers to the lungs.
Cancer Research UK said the early work gave new insight into how tumours spread and may lead to new treatments.
The spread of cancer - known as metastasis - is a fight between a rapidly mutating cancer and the rest of the body.
The team at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge was trying to figure out what affected tumour spread in the body.
Researchers created 810 sets of genetically modified lab mice to discover which sections of the DNA were involved in the body resisting a cancer's spread.
The animals were injected with melanomas (skin cancer) and the team counted the number of tumours that formed in the lung.
Their hunt led them to discover 23 sections of DNA, or genes, that made it either easier or harder for a cancer to spread.
Many of them were involved in controlling the immune system.
Targeting one gene - called Spns2 - led to a three-quarters reduction in tumours spreading to the lungs.
'Interesting biology'
"It regulated the balance of immune cells within the lung," Dr David Adams, one of the team, told the BBC News website.
"It changes the balance of cells that play a role in killing tumour cells and those that switch off the immune system."
The field of immunotherapy - harnessing the power of the immune system to fight cancer - has delivered dramatic results for some patients.
A rare few with a terminal diagnosis have seen all signs of cancer disappear from their body, although the drugs still fail to work in many patients.
Dr Adams said: "We've learnt some interesting new biology that we might be able to use - it's told us this gene is involved in tumour growth."
Drugs that target Spns2 could produce the same cancer-slowing effect but that remains a distant prospect.
Dr Justine Alford, from Cancer Research UK, said: "This study in mice gives a new insight into the genes that play a role in cancer spreading and may highlight a potential way to treat cancer in the future.
"Cancer that has spread is tough to treat, so research such as this is vital in the search for ways to tackle this process."

​​20170106

Give peanut to babies early - advice
Babies should be given peanut early - some at four months old - in order to reduce the risk of allergy, according to new US guidance.
some【副】およそ、約
Studies have shown the risk of peanut allergy can be cut by more than 80% by early exposure.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the new guidance was "an important step forward".
important step forward 重要な一歩前進
However, young children should not eat whole peanuts, because of the risk of choking.
Allergy levels are soaring in the US and have more than quadrupled since 2008.
It is a pattern replicated across much of the Western world as well as parts of Asia and Africa.
replicate【他動】再現［反復］する
Parents are often wary about introducing peanut and in the past have been advised to wait until the child is three years old.
wary【形】用心深い、慎重な
The new guidance says:
Children with other allergies or severe eczema should start on peanut-containing foods at between four and six months old, with medical supervision
Babies with mild eczema should have peanut-containing food at about six months old
eczema【名】〈ラテン語〉《病理》皮膚炎、湿疹
Those with no eczema or allergies can have peanut-containing food freely introduced
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: "We expect that widespread implementation of these guidelines by healthcare providers will prevent the development of peanut allergy in many susceptible children and ultimately reduce the prevalence of peanut allergy in the United States."
healthcare providerヘルスケア［医療サービス・医療介護］提供者［提供組織・関連企業・機関］医師やマッサージ師など、主に健康保険でカバーできる医療サービスを提供する人または組織。
Michael Walker, a member of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, said: "The guidelines are based on sound medical research carried out in the UK.
"UK parents should consult their GP, bringing attention to the guidelines if necessary, before attempting peanut allergy prevention in their infant themselves."
bring one's attention to～に注意を向ける
Prof Alan Boobis, from Imperial College London, said: "The previous view that delaying the introduction of allergenic foods decreases the risk of food allergy is incorrect and... if anything, the exclusion or delayed introduction of specific allergenic foods may increase the risk of allergy to the same foods, including peanut."
The advice to parents in the UK is still being reviewed and Prof Boobis advised parents to follow NHS guidelines for now.
for now今［現在］のところ、差し当たり

20170104

Doctors issue new year detox health warning
Doctors have issued a warning about the potential harms of undertaking a radical new year detox.
undertake【他動】企てる、始める、～に着手する、～に取り掛かる
They highlight the case of a woman they treated last year who became critically ill after taking herbal remedies and drinking too much water.
remedy【名】治療薬、医薬品
The 47-year-old needed intensive care at Milton Keynes hospital.
She recovered with treatment, but her story is a reminder of the dangers of drastic detoxing, the medics say.
reminder【名】思い出させるもの
While it may be tempting to cleanse yourself of the excesses of Christmas, the concept is not necessarily healthy and is not backed by medical science, they report in the British Medical Journal Case Reports.
excess【名】暴飲暴食、不摂生
The woman they treated had taken a cocktail of herbs and alternative remedies including:
alternative remedy代替医療、西洋医学以外の療法
milk thistle milk thistle extract    オオアザミのエキス胃腸や消化管の症状を改善するとされている健康補助品
molkosan
I-theanineテアニン（L-Theanine）は、茶に多量に含まれるアミノ酸の一種でグルタミン酸の誘導体。
glutamineグルタミン (glutamine) はアミノ酸の一種
vitamin B compound
vervainvervain【名】《植物》クマツヅラ 葉はバベンソウ（馬鞭草）という生薬として、通経・黄疸や下痢の薬として利用され、ヨーロッパでもハーブとして用いられる。
valerian root《薬学》（セイヨウ）カノコソウ根◆乾燥させたカノコソウの根で鎮静剤や不眠症薬として用いられる。
Her partner said she had also been drinking lots of water, green tea and sage tea over the few days before she became ill.
Shortly before being admitted to hospital, the woman collapsed and had a seizure.
seizure【名】〔脳卒中やてんかんなどの〕発作、突然の発症［発病］
Medical tests revealed she had dangerously low levels of salt (sodium) in her body.
Researching the herbal remedies used by the patient, her doctors discovered the case of a man with a history of anxiety who had had seizures due to a low sodium level.
His symptoms developed after consuming a large amount of a herbal remedy that contained:
valerian root
lemon balm
passion flower
hops
chamomile
"The complementary medicine market is very popular in the UK and the concept of the new-year 'detox' with all-natural products is appealing to those less concerned with evidence-based medicine and more with complementary medicine," say the medics in their write-up.
complementary medicine〈主に英〉補完医学［医薬品］
write-up【名】〔新聞・雑誌などの〕記事
"Excessive water intake as a way of 'purifying and cleansing' the body is also a popular regime with the belief that harmful waste products can thus be washed from the body."
regime【名】《医》養生法
However, they warn that "despite marketing suggesting otherwise, all-natural products are not without side-effects".
The British Dietetic Association says the whole idea of detoxing is nonsense.
"There are no pills or specific drinks, patches or lotions that can do a magic job," a representative said
"The body has numerous organs, such as the skin, gut, liver and kidney, that continually 'detoxify' the body from head to toe.
"Being well-hydrated is a sensible strategy, but drinking too much water can be as dangerous as not drinking enough.
"It sounds predictable, but for the vast majority of people, a sensible diet and regular physical activity really are the only ways to properly maintain and maximise your health."
sensible dietしっかりとした［健康的な・理にかなった］食事［食生活・食習慣］

​​20170103

'Pregnancy fluid' reverses ageing bones
Cells in the amniotic fluid that surrounds a developing baby can revive ageing and weak bones, say UK scientists.
amniotic【形】羊膜の［に関する］、羊膜を持つ
The discovery could help babies with genetic diseases, elderly people and even astronauts, they say.
The findings in mice, published in Scientific Reports, showed cells in the fluid strengthened bone and cut fractures by 80%.
cut costs by __%経費［コスト］を＿％削減する
Human clinical trials are planned within the next two years.
The amniotic fluid protects the baby and helps it develop inside the mother's womb.
It also contains stem cells that are the building blocks of other tissues.
building block〔物質の〕構成要素［単位］、成分
The researchers collected the amniotic stem cells from material left over from screening tests during pregnancy or collected immediately before birth.
The team at the Institute of Child Health - a collaboration of Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London - injected the cells into diseased mice.
The animals had brittle bone disease or osteogenesis imperfecta.
brittle【形】もろい、壊れやすい、砕けやすい
osteogenesis imperfecta《病理》骨形成不全症
In people, the condition affects around one in every 25,000 births and can be fatal, with babies born with multiple fractures.
Even those who survive face up to 15 bone fractures a year, brittle teeth, impaired hearing and growth problems.
Tests on mice showed injecting the cells increased the strength, plasticity and structure of the animal's bones.
The number of fractures was cut to a fifth of their original level.
Dr Pascale Guillot, who conducted the research, said the findings could help people from crib to grave - from babies with brittle bone disease to pensioners with osteoporosis.
crib【名】幼児用寝台、〔囲い付きの〕ベビーベッド
She told the BBC News website: "I am extremely excited because this is a major breakthrough that will potentially affect everyone.
"We are already used to putting cream on our face to slow down ageing of the skin, this will be the same for the skeleton.
"I think in the next few years we will have ways to slow down the ageing of our skeleton to reduce fractures and pain.
"This will also be very important for space travel as when you don't have G-force the bones become fragile."
Bone is constantly being remade with cells called osteoclasts breaking down old bone and osteoblasts making new bones.
osteoclast【名】《生物》破骨細胞osteo- + -clast < Greek klastos broken
from Greek blastos bud
Dr Guillot said brittle bone disease, osteoporosis and space travel were all characterised by osteoblasts "becoming lazy".
osteoporosis【名】《病理》骨粗しょう症
The study showed the stem cells were increasing the natural activity of the osteoblasts - rather than directly making new bone themselves.
"Stem cell transplants boost these lazy cells so they become very eager to make more bone and mature bone," added Dr Guillot.
Clinical trials are already planned, but ultimately the researchers' aim is to discover which chemicals the stem cells are releasing that kick the osteoblasts into gear.
kick ~ into gear〔計画・事業など〕を本格的に始動させる

​​20161231

Bill Gates: We are vulnerable to flu epidemic in next decade
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates says he is crossing his fingers that a deadly flu epidemic does not strike in the next 10 years because the world is "a bit vulnerable right now".
philanthropist【名】博愛主義者、慈善家philos（＝love）＋anthropos（＝man）
cross one's fingers
〔中指を曲げて人さし指の上に重ねて十字架のような形を作って〕幸運を祈る、成功を祈る、神頼みする 手の指と足の指を同時に交差させて二重にお祈りすることもある
cross one's fingers that〔that以下〕を祈る
a bit副詞わずかにit's a bit warm 少し暖かい
Mr Gates, whose foundation invests in improving global healthcare, said the Ebola and Zika crises showed the systems for responding to emergencies are still not strong enough.
He was speaking to Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England and BBC Radio 4's Today programme guest editor. She revealed that her department had recently rehearsed a "nasty flu" scenario. She said in the UK the NHS was "pretty well prepared" but it would take at least six months from the start of a flu pandemic to get an effective vaccine.
nasty【形】扱いにくい

20161228

Blood test for hidden heart disease

A cheap blood test can predict which apparently healthy patients are at high risk of a heart attack.
Experts say it could be better than just checking blood pressure and cholesterol to assess heart risk.
So far, they have tested it only on men, but the British Heart Foundation-funded researchers say it should work in women too.
The test, called troponin, looks for a protein released when the heart muscle is damaged.
トロポニン(troponin)は横紋筋である骨格筋と心筋のカルシウムイオンによる収縮制御において中心的な役割を担うタンパク質複合体である。

Doctors already use the same blood test to help diagnose men and women who they suspect have just had a heart attack.
But researchers from Edinburgh and Glasgow universities say it should be used to help patients avoid ever reaching this point.
In their study, Prof Nicholas Mills and colleagues found men who had higher levels of troponin in their blood were more likely to have a heart attack or die of heart disease up to 15 years later.
But putting some of these high-risk men on preventive treatment, such as cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, lowered their risk as well as their troponin levels.
スタチン (Statin)、またはHMG-CoA還元酵素阻害薬は、HMG-CoA還元酵素の働きを阻害することによって、血液中のコレステロール値を低下させる薬物の総称である。
The 3,300 men in the study had high cholesterol but no history of heart disease.
The scientists now plan to do more research involving women too.
Prof David Newby, one of the authors of the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, said: "Troponin is almost like a barometer of heart health. If it creeps up, that's bad and your risk of heart problems increases. If it goes down, that's good.
"It also appears to predict who benefits from statins and opens a door to a whole new way of testing."
He said it could be a useful addition to measures like blood pressure readings and smoking status when building up a picture of someone's heart risk.
Prof Mills said: "Troponin testing will help doctors to identify apparently healthy individuals who have silent heart disease so we can target preventive treatments to those who are likely to benefit most."
Dr Tim Chico, a cardiologist from Sheffield University, said: "The problem with heart disease is that it remains very difficult to detect the early signs in people without symptoms, so these findings may provide a way to help identify people at risk.
"Nevertheless, the best way to treat heart disease is to prevent it in the first place, and this is why a healthy diet, regular physical activity, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight and blood pressure is so important."

 

20161222

Multiple sclerosis drug 'a landmark'
multiple sclerosis多発性硬化（症）◆【略】MS
中枢性脱髄疾患の一つで、脳、脊髄、視神経などに病変が起こり、多様な神経症状が再発と寛解を繰り返す疾患である。自然経過から多発性硬化症は再発寛解を繰り返す再発寛解型MS（RRMS：relapseing-remitting MS）と発症当初から慢性進行性の経過をたどる一次性進行型MS（PPMS:primary progressive MS）に大別される。MSは寛解と再発を繰り返す中枢神経系の炎症性脱髄を主として軸索変性を伴う疾患である。MSは中枢神経系脱髄疾患のなかで最も多く、炎症、脱髄、グリオーシスを三主徴とし寛解、再燃、進行性の経過をとる。
A drug that alters the immune system has been described is "big news" and a "landmark" in treating multiple sclerosis, doctors and charities say.
Trials, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest the drug can slow damage to the brain in two forms of MS.
Ocrelizumab is the first drug shown to work in the primary progressive form of the disease.
オクレリズマブ(Ocrelizumab) は ヒト化 抗CD20 モノクローナル抗体である。成熟した Bリンパ球の表面に発現したCD20に対し活性を持ち、免疫抑制剤 として開発されている。多発性硬化症に対し ホフマンラ-ロシュ社の特定子会社である ジェネンテック社と Biogen Idecにより開発が進められている。
The drug is being reviewed for use in the US and Europe.
MS is caused by a rogue immune system mistaking part of the brain for a hostile invader and attacking it.
mistake ~ for～を…と間違う［取り違える］
It destroys the protective coating that wraps round nerves called the myelin sheath.
The sheath also acts like wire insulation to help electrical signals travel down the nerve.
Damage to the sheath prevents nerves from working correctly and means messages struggle to get from the brain to the body.
This leads to symptoms like having difficulty walking, fatigue and blurred vision.
The disease can either just get worse, known as primary progressive MS, or come in waves of disease and recovery, known as relapsing remitting MS.
Both are incurable, although there are treatments for the second state.
Ocrelizumab kills a part of the immune system - called B cells - which are involved in the assault on the myelin sheath.
In 732 patients with progressive MS, the percentage of patients that had deteriorated fell from 39% without treatment to 33% with ocrelizumab .
Patients taking the drug also scored better on the time needed to walk 25 feet and had less brain loss detected on scans.
In 1,656 patients with relapsing remitting, the relapse rate with ocrelizumab was half that of using another drug.
Prof Gavin Giovannoni, from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, was involved in the trials and said: "The results shown by these studies have the potential to change how we approach treating both relapsing and primary progressive MS."
He told the BBC: "It's very significant because this is the first time a phase three trial has been positive in primary progressive MS."
More than 100,000 people are diagnosed with MS in the UK, around one-in-five are progressive.
Dr Aisling McMahon, the head of clinical trials at the MS Society, commented: "This is really big news for people with the primary progressive form of multiple sclerosis.
"It's the first time a treatment has shown the potential to reduce disability progression for this type of MS, which offers a lot of hope for the future."
The drug is being considered by the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration.
But Prof Giovannoni warned that patients in the UK may be disappointed as it may be hard for the NHS to fund everyone getting a drug that is likely to be expenseive.
He told the BBC: "I would expect a narrow group of people to be eligible."
Dr Peter Calabresi, from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, added: "This is the first drug to show a significant effect in slowing disability progression in a phase three trial in primary progressive multiple sclerosis and therefore represents a landmark study in the field."
But he warned doctors to "stay vigilant" because of the risk of side-effects.
Weakening the immune system increases the risk of infection and of cancer emerging.