November 23, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Climate Change Risk to MS Patients: Worse Symptoms, More Relapses Temperature variability and increasing exposure to airborne pollutants — both consequences of climate change — can worsen disease symptoms and risk relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent review study. Unwanted effects of environmental change were also linked to a number of other neurological conditions,…
November 15, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Human EBV Antibodies May Help Inform Vaccine Development Scientists have identified a number of antibodies that can bind to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) — a major risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS) — and prevent its infection of human cells. The antibodies might offer new approaches to treat or prevent infection in groups of people most…
November 11, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Tiziana Planning 2023 Launch of Phase 2 Foralumab Trial in SPMS Tiziana Life Sciences plans to request a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year to discuss the upcoming Phase 2 clinical trial of foralumab nasal spray in people with nonactive secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). FDA feedback on the design of the…
November 7, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – ATA188 Could Be ‘Game Changing’ for Progressive MS In an early clinical trial, Atara Biotherapeutics’ investigational treatment ATA188 stabilized or eased disability in most people with nonactive, progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) — with those benefits now having been sustained for up to four years. For MS patients, in whom disability progressively accumulates over time,…
November 4, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – 3-year Data Show Evobrutinib Safely Lowers Relapses Long-term use of the investigational BTK inhibitor evobrutinib among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to maintain MS relapse rates, and keep MRI lesion activity low. That’s according to up to 3.5 years of data from a Phase 2 trial (NCT02975349) and its open-label…
November 4, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Vumerity Lowers RRMS Activity Over 2 Years Up to two years of Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) treatment was generally well-tolerated and led to significant decreases in disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a final analysis of data from the open-label EVOLVE-MS-1 Phase 3 clinical trial. Indirect comparisons of Vumerity-treated patients against those…
November 3, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Ocrevus Seems to Beat Rituximab in Reducing Relapses Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), an anti-CD20 therapy developed by Genentech, seems to be superior to rituximab at lowering relapse rates among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from two large MS registries. Overall, the findings suggest that rituximab cannot be considered just as good as —…
November 3, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Job Prospects Can Slowly Take a Hit After CIS Diagnosis In the years after a diagnosis of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) — a first episode of neurological symptoms suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) — the odds of maintaining employment progressively decrease, according to a recent study. The risk of decreasing or losing employment was particularly high among individuals…
November 2, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – DMTs Ease SPMS Disability Early but Not Over Time Early use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) among people with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) may lead to overall lower levels of disability, according to a new analysis. But staying on treatment does not appear to significantly slow disability progression over time. People with SPMS who used DMTs early…
November 1, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – High-efficacy DMTs Linked to Cervical Cancer Risk Exposure to high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) is associated with an increased risk of cervical abnormalities in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), recent data suggest. The findings are consistent with previous reports showing these treatments may raise the risk of certain cancers, likely as a consequence of their immune-modulating…
October 31, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Genetic Variants Tied to Worse MS ID’d in New Study Genetic variants in genes mostly active in the brain and spinal cord — the central nervous system — are associated with the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS), and linked to a faster accrual of disability and greater signs of brain tissue damage, a new study found. Importantly, researchers estimated…
October 31, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – ATA188 Still Easing Disability in Progressive MS Patients The investigational immunotherapy ATA188 continues to ease disability and prevent brain tissue shrinkage in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, according to the data, now reaching up to four years, on patients in an ongoing clinical trial. People who achieved confirmed disability improvement also showed potential signs of remyelination, or…
October 28, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Smartphone Tap Speed May Help in Monitoring MS Tap speed — or how quickly one types on a smartphone keyboard — may be a useful tool for monitoring multiple sclerosis (MS) severity and detecting the transition to a progressive form of the disease, according to new research data. Results demonstrated that slower tapping speeds were linked to…
October 28, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – EBV Antibodies Precede Early Nerve Damage Signs An infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) consistently preceded elevations in neurofilament light chain (NfL), an early biomarker of nerve cell damage, in people who went on to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), new data show. An increase in NfL levels, which is thought to occur before the clinical…
October 27, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Poor Myelin Repair Offers Clues in Disease Progression Remyelination, or regeneration of the myelin sheath that’s progressively damaged and lost in multiple sclerosis (MS), may be less effective for those who develop MS later in life, new research suggests. People with late-onset MS (LOMS) whose disease appears after age 50 have significantly fewer oligodendrocytes – the…
October 26, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD #ECTRIMS2022 – Fertility Treatment Won’t Raise Relapse Risk for Women Fertility treatments do not significantly increase the risk of relapse in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), even among those who undergo treatment protocols associated with greater levels of hormone exposure, according to a recent U.S.-based analysis. Older age, a longer MS duration, and the use of MS disease-modifying…
October 20, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Maker of PoNS Device for MS Salutes Physical Therapists For National Physical Therapy Month, Helius Medical Technologies is spotlighting physical therapists who make possible the success of the company’s portable neuromodulation stimulator (PONS) device to treat gait problems in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Helius will broaden access to its free online PoNS training program by enabling…
October 14, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD GoodRx Offers MS Patients Digital Vumerity Enrollment Form GoodRx, in collaboration with Biogen, has made the enrollment form for starting a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient on Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) available on its new “Provider Mode” digital platform. By adding the electronic enrollment form, the company hopes doctors will be able to prescribe their patients Vumerity more…
October 12, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD EBV Antibodies Found at Increased Levels in MS Patients in Study People with multiple sclerosis (MS) are significantly more likely to have antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) — the strongest risk factor for the disease — than healthy individuals, as well as higher levels of these antibodies, according to a Spanish study. All MS patients were positive for anti-EBV…
October 10, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Sexual Dysfunction in MS Real But Often Ignored: Neurologist Survey Neurologists in Colombia agree that sexual dysfunction is burdensome and affects quality of life in major ways for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but some still don’t ask their patients about it, a survey study reported. Findings also revealed that many neurologists there do not use formal tools…
October 6, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Virtual Reality Upper Limb Training Feasible for MS Patients: Pilot Study XRHealth‘s virtual reality (VR) software, which provides an immersive three-dimensional environment where patients do repetitive tasks such as popping a balloon with a sword, is safe and feasible for upper limb training among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent pilot study. Participants generally felt engaged…
October 5, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD MS Disease Progression Could Be Monitored With Smell Test: Study Evaluating a person’s sense of smell may help monitor disease progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study. Almost a third of MS patients studied showed signs of smell loss in clinical evaluations and the degree of impairment correlated with clinical measures of disease, such…
September 28, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Kesimpta More Effective, Costs Less Than Most DMTs for RRMS: Analysis Kesimpta (ofatumumab) is more cost-effective for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) than most other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) approved in Canada, according to a new analysis. The analysis indicated that Kesimpta is generally more effective and associated with fewer costs than the majority of MS treatments, with the…
September 26, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Unhealthy Coping Strategies in MS May Lead to Worse Quality of Life People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be more likely to use unhealthy or ineffective coping mechanisms than healthy individuals — and these “maladaptive strategies” are linked to worse mood and a poorer quality of life among patients, according to a new review study. Rather than also relying on active…
September 23, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Novartis to Petition U.S. Supreme Court to Uphold Gilenya Patent Novartis said it will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a patent that protects the dosing regimen of Gilenya (fingolimod) that’s approved for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The original patent was not set to expire until the end of 2027, which meant generic versions…
September 21, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Second SPMS Patient Given Foralumab Continues to Improve Six months of treatment with foralumab nasal spray led to significant functional improvements in the second patient with non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) who received treatment under a single-patient expanded access program. Findings from this patient have been generally consistent with those seen in the first non-active SPMS…
September 21, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Lower Limb Resistance Training Leads to Upper Limb Strength Gains Ten weeks of lower limb fast-velocity concentric resistance training (FVCRT) led to muscle strength gains in both the upper and lower limbs in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study. This form of resistance training, which requires muscles to be maximally contracted as quickly as possible…
September 19, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Wearable Sensors May Identify MS Patients at Greater Risk of Falls Using wearable sensors to monitor gait during daily life may be a promising way to identify people with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have a greater risk of falling, a study found. The study identified a number of gait differences between those who fell in the year and those who…
September 16, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Stem Cell Transplant for MS Eases Fatigue, Improves Life Quality Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT) — commonly called stem cell therapy — lessens fatigue and improves quality of life in people with highly active relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a small study in Lithuania. These gains in the physical and social domains of quality of life…
September 14, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Inflammatory Brain Lesions Often Don’t Match Relapse Symptoms More than half of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients in a small study had active inflammatory brain lesions during a relapse, even when relapse symptoms occurred outside the brain, in areas including the spinal cord or optic nerve, researchers in Spain reported. Less than half of the patients with…