A new discovery could provide help treat multiple sclerosis (MS). According to reports, two drugs that are used in skin cream to treat athlete's foot and eczema could also be used to reverse multiple sclerosis. The discovery could now lead to some ground-breaking therapies for the disease which affects more than 20,000 individual in Australia.

According to researchers, they found that the two drugs, the anti-fungal agent miconazole and the steroid clobetasol, could restore movement to mice that were paralyzed by a rodent version of MS. In lab tests, the researchers prompted inactive mouse and human stem cells to regenerate the insulating layer myelin.

Dr Robert Miller, a member of the US team from Case Western Reserve University and an author of the study, said the process was striking reverse of disease severity in the mice. "The drugs that we identified are able to enhance the regenerative capacity of stem cells in the adult nervous system. This truly represents a paradigm shift in how we think about restoring function to multiple sclerosis patients", Miller added.

Both the drugs have been widely used, but now, it is important to find a way to use the drugs safely as internal human treatments. Before using them to treat MS, clinical trials will be considered. According to the researchers of the study, which has been published in Nature journal, the problem will be solved soon. They also warned that people should not consider the drugs as the treatment, as it could take some time to ensure its safety to humans.

Paul Tesar, professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and lead author of the study, said that people should wait for some time as current form of the drugs could increase other health concerns.