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…
September 13, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Understanding MS Burden, Support Needs Can Challenge Couples Differences are evident in the perceived frequency of expressions of support needs and disease burden between people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their life partners, a Swiss study found. People without MS responded in a survey to feeling their partners’ communication about these issues was more frequent than the…
September 12, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Progression Without Relapse Also Common in RRMS, Patients Say Nearly two-thirds of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) report disease progression independent of relapses, according to a survey involving more than 4,500 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in Germany. This finding supports evidence pointing to progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) as an underestimated contributing factor in RRMS.
September 9, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Immunoadsorption Better Than 2nd Round of Steroids for MS Relapse A type of blood-cleansing process called immunoadsorption worked better than a second round of methylprednisolone for treating relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who failed to respond to a first, standard cycle of the corticosteroid, a study found. Among people with relapsing MS, immunoadsorption also was associated with…
September 8, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD dreaMS App Can Detect Digital Biomarkers, Add to In-clinic Testing The 11 active tests of the dreaMS smartphone app — which evaluates functional domains affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) — enabled reliable and remote measurement of neurologic functions and were perceived as meaningful among MS patients, a small trial shows. Data collected through the app could offer a…
September 7, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Off-label DMT Use for Progressive MS May Be as Effective as On-label Off-label use of high-efficacy disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) appear to be as effective as on-label, or approved, DMTs for this MS patient group, a review study from Brazil suggests. The meta-analysis, which included data from controlled clinical trials, found that…
September 2, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Combining Biomarkers May Help to Predict Cognitive Impairment in MS Combining blood and imaging biomarkers might help clinicians better predict cognitive impairment in people with early multiple sclerosis (MS) than using either one alone, a new study suggests. Researchers found that using the two together worked better to predict information processing speed than did either blood or MRI biomarkers…
August 31, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Stem Cell Transplant in MS: Patients Support, but Neurologists Hesitant People who underwent a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), many of them patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), were supportive of the treatment despite its high costs — and hesitancy and opposition from their neurologists — a survey study showed. Most surveyed HSCT recipients — about 85% — believed…
August 26, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD MS Risk, Latitude Link May Be Explained by Healthcare Spending How much a country spends on healthcare is associated with the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS), with higher spending nations seeing a greater number of MS cases, a study found. MS cases might be underestimated in low-income nations that put less money into the healthcare system, resulting in reduced…
August 26, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Guidelines for Approval of DMT Biosimilars, Use In Europe Drafted Biosimilar, or “follow-on,” forms of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) that have been approved in a highly regulated area can be considered as safe and effective as their reference medications, according to multiple sclerosis (MS) experts. A biosimilar is a medication that’s highly similar to an existing biological medication in…
August 25, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Epstein-Barr Virus and MS Risk: New Link to Mono Found in Study People who had infectious mononucleosis — a contagious disease for which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the leading cause — had a higher incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the 10 years following diagnosis compared with individuals not diagnosed with the virus, a study found. This link was particularly…
August 24, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Algorithm May Help Define SPMS; ‘Gold Standard’ Still Neurologist A data-driven algorithm may be useful for defining the sometimes unclear transition from relapsing-remitting (RRMS) to secondary progressive (SPMS) forms of multiple sclerosis, a study found. The study, “Towards a validated definition of the clinical transition to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: A study from the Italian MS Register,”…
August 19, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Prior Pregnancy, But Not the Pill, May Protect Against MS The risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) is lower in women with a history of pregnancy and is not affected by the use of oral contraceptives, according to a recent meta-analysis of four published studies. However, the four studies, conducted in the U.S. and Iran, showed considerable variability in…
August 17, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Early Factors Identified That Predict Health-related Quality of Life Researchers have identified early factors that can affect the trajectory of a patient’s long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. These factors include older age, worse physical impairment, and more severe fatigue at diagnosis, which were predictive of worse long-term physical HRQoL. In addition,…
August 15, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Exergaming May Be Better Than Other Exercises, But Study Needed Virtual reality exergames — immersive video games whose play involves physical exercise — may be better than conventional exercise at easing certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), such as balance and upper limb function, a review of published studies suggested. However, differences among the evaluated studies — in matters…
August 11, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Robot-assisted Gait Training Best for Severe Mobility Issues: Study Robotic-assisted gait training (RAGT) may be the most effective form of physical exercise for improving mobility among people with severe multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent review study. Other exercise types, such as conventional walking, treadmill training, and yoga, may also be feasible and effective, however, the researchers…
August 11, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD PAS002 Vaccine Shows Efficacy in MS Mouse Model Pasithea Therapeutics investigational multiple sclerosis vaccine, PAS002, effectively delayed disease onset and reduced disease severity in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition, according to data from a preclinical study. The vaccine, which is designed to promote immune tolerance to a specific myelin protein, also reduced the severity…
August 10, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Retinal Thinning After Optic Neuritis May Help Predict Relapse Recovery After a relapse involving optic neuritis, or inflammation in the nerves connecting the eyes and brain, measurements of retinal thinning may predict the likelihood of full recovery from future relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study suggests. The measurement could identify subclinical nerve cell damage that remains…
August 9, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Tysabri Beats Other DMTs in Helping With Symptoms, Work Productivity Tysabri (natalizumab) outperforms other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in its ability to lessen a range of patient-reported symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a large real-world study. These symptoms include balance difficulties, sensory problems, feelings of anxiety, bladder problems, vision problems, and…
August 8, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Adding Nursing Care in MS May Ease Patient Depression, Anxiety Adding a specialized nurse practitioner (NP) to a neurologist-based standard care team was found to significantly lessen depression and anxiety in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a six-month study in Canada. People with multiple sclerosis — dubbed “PwMS” by researchers — who received the add-on…
August 5, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD No Neuron Damage Increase With 6-week Switch to Tysabri: Study Switching from a standard monthly course of Tysabri (natalizumab) to an extended-interval dosing administered every six weeks does not seem to increase neuronal damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study found. While individual blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a biomarker of nerve damage, did…
August 3, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Astrocytes May Promote MS Inflammation via D2 Receptors A set of receptors involved in dopamine signaling may play a key role in the activation of astrocytes, nerve support cells that contribute to the inflammation that drives multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative disease. Mice lacking these receptors — called dopamine…
July 28, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Mymee Acquires Developer of MS Management Mobile App Emilyn Breakthrough Health, a startup company that created the Emilyn mobile app to help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) manage their disease, has been acquired by Mymee to further its support to the MS community. A provider of specialized support for those with autoimmune diseases and long-term symptoms…
July 26, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Exercise in Early MS May Ease Mood Disorders via Immune Alterations Exercise prior to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) was associated with less depression and anxiety among patients, likely due to a reduction in the levels of an inflammatory molecule called interleukin-2 (IL-2), a study revealed. “This finding supports the notion that exercise in the early stages may act…
July 22, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD MS Patients with Social Support Slept Better During Pandemic: Study Greater feelings of social support predicted better sleep quality in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study shows. Specifically, greater help with daily tasks and more leisure activities with others were the types of social support identified, after adjusting for potential influencing factors, as…