Reflections on 2014 Survey Results

I was asked my thoughts on my recently published survey results.

The thing which I have found most surprising is the lack of evidence of the benefits of the more common medications for relieving HSP symptoms, particularly Diazepam and Gabapentin (1 paper only each) and Tizanidine, Amitripyline and Pregabalin (no papers). 

There is some indication that medication for spasticity from MS and Parkinsons can help with HSP, but again there is no evidence. 

I’m also surprised at the supplements that people take, there were plenty of people taking one or more dietary supplements without being sure that there was any benefit from doing so. 

Overall, there is little evidence to help people make choices about medication and supplements. 

I’ll put the caveat in that my search for papers was 'only' from the PubMed website (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) using keyword searches. There may be other papers out there covering these issues which I don’t know about, in which case I’d be pleased to pointed in other directions......