MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mavenclad, Genetic Risk, Fatigue Impact, Multivitamins
Skin Reactions ‘Frequent’ With Mavenclad, Real-world Study Finds
I regularly see people posting on social media about having a rash or itchy skin, or losing hair while taking Mavenclad. Researchers in this study say these side effects aren’t mentioned in the risk management plans for this disease-modifying therapy. Therefore, doctors may not be on the lookout for them. Researchers suggest that people being treated with Mavenclad should have frequent skin examinations. I suggest that people who are reporting these problems on social media, sometimes with pictures, also should be sure to report them to their neurologist.
Skin reactions are common among relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients being treated with oral Mavenclad (cladribine), affecting about one-third of the people evaluated in a real-world study in Germany.
These findings suggest the need for careful clinical surveillance to rapidly diagnose and possibly treat skin problems stemming from Mavenclad’s use, its researchers noted.
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Combinations of Variants Contribute to Genetic MS Risk
An ongoing debate has been happening for a long time about whether there’s a hereditary element to developing MS. According to this study, a hereditary element does exist, but it’s complicated, involving a few hundred types of genes that carry instructions to a protein on the surface of important immune cells.
Genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) depends on an individual’s particular combination of multiple risk variants, a study reveals.
The study, “Genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis: interactions between conserved extended haplotypes of the MHC and other susceptibility regions,” was published in the journal BMC Medical Genomics.
The risk of developing MS is thought to be due to a combination of environmental and genetic factors. To date, more than 200 genetic risk variants, or disease-associated mutations, have been identified that potentially contribute to susceptibility to MS, either alone or in combination.
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MS-related Fatigue Identified as Main Factor Affecting Work Ability
I don’t think this will surprise anyone with MS, but I think it’s something that very few healthy people understand. Our fatigue, invisible to others, is more of a handicap for many of us than the problems we have walking. That can be a big problem when it comes to workplace productivity and dealing with our managers and fellow workers. How do you handle this problem?
Fatigue, whether alone or in combination with depression or anxiety, is the main influencing factor of self-reported working ability among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and mild disability, according to a study in the Netherlands.
Notably, contrary to the researchers’ expectations, personality traits were found to have no effect on a patient’s working difficulties, when corrected for known MS-related influencing factors.
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Multivitamins Reduce Fatigue, Improving Quality of Life
For years, my wife has suggested I take a multivitamin, but vitamin D-3 is the only vitamin supplement I’ve ever used. Maybe it’s time to listen to my wife and give multivitamins a try.
Multivitamin supplements reduce fatigue and improve quality of life in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a new study reports.
After 70 days of continuous use, patients taking multivitamin supplements containing vitamins A, B-complex, C, and D improved their blood antioxidant status and experienced up to a 34% reduction in fatigue.
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Comments
Joanne Cybulski
I already take multivitamins and follow a .Mediterranean diet. But I still have MS. I feel cheated. I do all the right things, but still have to deal with MS .
Ed Tobias
Hi Joanne,
I feel that diet and supplements can help but they can't do it all. I've just started taking a multivitamin and I'm trying to limit my sugar intake. I expect that both will help my symptoms but I believe that the medications with which I've been treated have been necessary to actually slow my MS progression.
Ed