MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Zeposia, Music and Gait, Video Therapeutics, Treatment Perceptions

NICE Again Says No to Adding Zeposia to Health System for England and Wales

Reading this news, I’m again reminded of the major difference between the healthcare system in the U.S. and those in most of the rest of the world. While the systems outside the U.S. provide most care at no cost, they generally limit treatment choice. Add Zeposia to the list of disease-modifying therapies that the U.K.’s National Health Service says aren’t “cost-effective.” It doesn’t matter if a patient and their neurologist think it’s the best treatment. Zeposia is now on the “Not NICE” list. Boo!

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has maintained its initial draft recommendation and will not recommend that Zeposia (ozanimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales.

This final decision on the cost effectiveness of the oral therapy means Zeposia will not be available at low or no cost to adults with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in these two countries, according to a press release by the MS Trust, the U.K. patient advocacy group.

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MedRhythms Launches Trial of Rhythmic Sound Therapy to Aid Walking

It’s not really dancing to the music, but the device being tested in this story uses sensors placed on the shoes to detect a person’s walking gait. That information is relayed to an app that plays music matched to the gait. My question is, why do I need a sensor and an app to do that? Am I missing something?

The digital therapeutics company MedRhythms is launching a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MR-004, an experimental product that uses rhythmic sounds to improve walking abilities in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The randomized and controlled trial, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will be conducted in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, the company announced in a press release.

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MindMaze’s Therapeutic Games Opening to More MS, Neurologic Patients

Here’s another technical tool for helping people with MS. MindMotion basically is a video game to be used by a patient and a therapist. For people with MS, it’s designed to help improve balance and reduce the risk of falls. The tool is approved in the U.S. and Europe, and its availability is now being expanded to other parts of the world.

To get a real sense of what this is all about, I suggest you go to the full story, find the link to MindMotion, and then scroll down and click on the video.

MindMaze’s animated games, designed to aid in recovering motor and cognitive skills in people with neurological disabilities, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), will now be more widely available to patients worldwide.

The brain technology company announced four new partnerships that will enable patients in Latin America, the Middle East, and in two countries in Europe — Spain and Switzerland — to have access to its digital neurotherapeutics portfolio.

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Perceptions of Medication Can Predict MS Treatment Adherence, Persistence

This small study reports that a patient’s beliefs about a medication at the start of their treatment can predict their adherence to it and their persistence. It also notes that patients who were nonadherent to their therapies often believed that the prescribed therapy was overtreatment and could be harmful.

I’ve always believed the saying “perception is reality.” No matter what the facts might be, what you perceive about something is what becomes real to you. So, if doctors want to improve adherence to their prescriptions, it might be wise for them to do a good job of educating their patients about the treatments they prescribe. Unfortunately, I think too many don’t do enough. Would you agree?

Perceptions of a medication can predict treatment adherence and persistence — sticking with the same therapy — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a prospective observational study found.

The findings were the result of a clinical study (NCT02488343) evaluating the profile of adherence to therapy in patients ages 18 to 70 with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).

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