MS News That Caught My Eye This Week: Resistance Training, Tysabri Report, Cognigram, and Depression

Resistance Training Can Slow MS Patients’ Brain Shrinkage, Clinical Trial Indicates

Over the years, studies have shown the benefits of various types of exercise in improving MS symptoms. But here, Alice Melão reports about a small study that says resistance training can actually slow MS progression and even reverse some of it. I think it’s time for me to head back to the gym.

Resistance training, like weight lifting, can protect or even regenerate the nerve cells of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients, slowing the progression of the disease, according to a clinical trial.

A hallmark of MS is the brain shrinking faster than normal, and the trial (NCT01518660) indicates that resistance training can slow the shrinking or even make some brain areas grow.

The research, “Can resistance training impact MRI outcomes in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis?” was published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

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Long-term Tysabri Treatment Improved Quality of Life and Satisfaction with Therapy in Relapsing MS Patients, Study Finds

I love studies that report the quality of a patient’s life is being improved by a therapy. They can give all of us hope. In this case, the therapy is Tysabri and the improvements are reported to be both physical and mental over three years. But, a caution as you read Jose Marques Lopes’ story. This is another study that was paid for by the company that makes the drug, in this case Biogen, and the study’s lead author has received consulting and speaking payments from that pharmaceutical company and others.

Long-term Tysabri (natalizumab) treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) improves physical and mental health and leads to greater satisfaction with therapy, new research shows.

The study, ”Long-term natalizumab treatment is associated with sustained improvements in quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis,” appeared in the journal Patient Preference and Adherence.

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FDA Approves Cognigram Cognitive Assessment Device for Marketing in US

This article, by Joana Fernandes, reports on a neat tool for assessing someone’s cognitive health. It’s a computerized “game” that can be used in a doctor’s office or in someone’s home.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of Cognigram, a medical device developed by the cognitive science company Cogstate to evaluate a patient’s cognitive health.

This device may be a useful tool for patients with diseases whose progression is accompanied by cognitive decline, such as multiple sclerosis, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV-related dementia, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Parkinson’s disease, among others.

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MS Patients Often Suffer Depression, Other Symptoms Within First Year of Diagnosis, Study Finds

Feeling depressed after receiving an MS diagnosis? That doesn’t seem surprising to me. And, as Iqra Mumal reports, a study by Italian researchers has confirmed that it happens. What was surprising to me is that this study reports that more than 65% of these newly diagnosed patients dealt with their MS diagnosis by simply avoiding it. It seems to me that’s a big problem.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the first year of diagnosis frequently suffer from depression, pre-morbid personality, self-perception issues, and other psychological problems, an Italian study finds. Yet it is hard to predict the degree of symptoms since MS takes a different course in each individual.

The study, “The first year after diagnosis: psychological impact on people with multiple sclerosis,” appeared in the journal Psychology, Health and Medicine.

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