It's hoped that if successful, the new drug will slow the progress of the disease and some of its debilitating symptoms.
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00:00I woke up and I saw everything in double vision.
00:04Zhangwei Liao had been studying towards his PhD here in Canterbury for just over three years
00:10when he woke up one day with double vision. After being recommended to see a doctor by
00:15his painting instructor, he was quickly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or MS.
00:20But at first I'm not really thought they're really serious because I just thought if I
00:26cover just one of my eyes everything keeps the same and there's no pain no itches everything
00:30except the double vision it keeps normal. It's a condition that affects the brain and
00:35spinal cord and can affect patients in a variety of different ways including problems with vision
00:40such as in Zhangwei's case, difficulty walking, issues with balance and coordination and give
00:46them challenges with thinking, learning and planning. After learning that his lifelong
00:51condition meant his symptoms would only get worse, Zhangwei decided to take part in a trial
00:56for an experimental new drug that aims to slow down the progression of the disease. However the
01:01trial means that Zhangwei may never see the benefits of the new drug. He may be taking a
01:06placebo or it might just not work for him. But Zhangwei told me that taking part means more
01:12than just his own MS journey. Well I'm proud of that because finally I can do some contribution
01:17because I'm not like my other family members they're doctors so they can cure people
01:22care other people's health so do something which I think is meaningful but I think because I'm
01:28taking the trial I can do some contribution to others health like my family members yeah
01:34I can say I'm proud of myself. So all of the patients on this trial will be receiving an
01:40active treatment it's either the standard treatment that they would have outside of the
01:44trial or the new drug. Without patients taking part in trials we just wouldn't have an evidence
01:48base to say actually the treatment that we're offering is the best treatment we can offer for
01:53you. They're basically pushing medicine forward and progressing the treatments that we can offer
01:57our patients. Zhangwei is the first patient in Europe to be taking part in the experimental
02:02new drug and already that has doubled there's now two patients here in Canterbury involved.
02:07It's understood more than two million people worldwide live with multiple sclerosis which
02:12is why the work being done here at Kent and Canterbury hospital with Zhangwei is so important.
02:17It's hoped that if the trial is successful hundreds of thousands if not millions of people
02:21in the future will be able to live without fear of the rapid progression of the disease.
02:26Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Canterbury.