MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Comparing DMTs, Myelin Repair, Hypertension

Gilenya and Tecfidera Similarly Effective at Treating RRMS, Real-world Study Says

Gilenya and Tecfidera are both oral disease-modifying therapies. Both meds attempt to limit the inflammatory action of the immune system. Both now have generic versions. And as this story reports, neither appears to have a leg up over the other when it comes to efficacy.

Gilenya (fingolimod) and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) are similarly effective at lowering the frequency of relapses and delaying disability progression in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a real-world study from Switzerland reported.

These efficacy measures were also consistent whether patients were new to a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) like Gilenya and Tecfidera, or switching to either treatment from another DMT, its researchers wrote.

Click here to read the full story.

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Simple Sugar Molecule May Be Potential Myelin-repairing Therapy for MS

Myelin repair is probably the holy grail of MS therapy. So, I’m making an exception to my usual practice of not highlighting stories about mouse studies. (Researchers have been known to say that “mice lie, monkeys exaggerate.”) Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pop a sugar pill and promote repair of our damaged nerve coatings? You bet. But remember, what works in a mouse may not work in a person.

Oral administration of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) — a natural simple sugar sold as a dietary supplement — prevents myelin degeneration and loss of motor function in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Myelin, the protective sheath around nerve fibers that helps to speed transmission of signals between nerve cells, is damaged and lost in MS.

Click here to read the full story.

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Pathway and Its Proteins Found to Control Myelin Repair, Renewal

As long as I’m granting mouse study exemptions this week, here’s another. Could a protein path lead to myelin repair?

A pathway controlled by three proteins — Daam2, Nedd4, and VHL — was identified by researchers as a key regulator of myelin production during central nervous system development and regeneration after injury.

Myelin, the protective fatty layer that covers nerve fibers and helps to speed transmission of signals between nerve cells, is damaged and lost in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Click here to read the full story.

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Hypertension Quite Common Among MS Patients in US, Study Finds

My blood pressure has never been high. In fact, I had a physical just a few days ago, and my blood pressure was 110/80. So, I’m a bit surprised to read this report.

Ah … As I read further, I discovered that “other studies report contradictory results.” But this is a very large study, so maybe, as usual, I’m an exception to the rule.

Hypertension is considerably more common among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States than among those without the disease, a large data study reported.

High blood pressure was found to be 42% more common among MS patients than non-patients adjusted for sex and age, with male patients ages 70 and older most at risk. Its prevalence was 25% higher among patients than others when adjusting for race, with Blacks with MS more likely to be affected than whites, the researchers found.

Click here to read the full story.

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