March 13, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Common MS therapies appear safe to use while breastfeeding Taking antibody-based medications for multiple sclerosis (MS) while breastfeeding does not appear to harm a child’s health or development during at least the first three years of life, according to a preliminary study of more than 180 babies. Children breastfed by mothers taking Tysabri (natalizumab), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab),…
July 28, 2023 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Using Copaxone while breastfeeding safe for infants: Study Infants breastfed by mothers on Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) do not experience more adverse events, hospitalizations, or need more antibiotics for the first 1.5 years than those in the general infant population. That conclusion comes from new analyses of data from COBRA,…
May 16, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Copaxone Appears Safe for Infants Whose Mothers Breastfeed: Study TakingĀ Copaxone (glatiramer acetate), an approved therapy for relapsing forms ofĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS), while breastfeeding does not appear to be harmful to infants during their first 18 months, according to a real-life study in Germany called COBRA. āIn this study, we compared the development of 120 children in total, whose…
April 25, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Plegridy Found at Minimal Levels in Breast Milk, Small Study Reports Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a), an approved treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), is detected at minimal concentrations in the breast milk of patients using the therapy postpartum, a small study showed. This is in line with label updates on Plegridy and other interferon beta therapies in EuropeĀ and…
April 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Data Is Lacking on Safety of MS Treatments During Breastfeeding There is minimal data available on the safety of most disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) when used during breastfeeding, a new review indicates. The study “Disease-Modifying Drugs and Breastfeeding in Multiple Sclerosis: A Narrative Literature Review,” was published inĀ Frontiers in Neurology. Disease-modifying therapies, or DMTs,…
February 14, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD EU Copaxone Label No Longer Advises Against Use During Breastfeeding The label of CopaxoneĀ (glatiramer acetate) ā an approved therapy for relapsing forms ofĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) ā has been updated in Europe to no longer contain a warning against its use during breastfeeding. The label update follows a review by European Union health authorities of non-clinical and clinical evidence submitted…
February 8, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Patients Who Stop Tysabri for Pregnancy at Higher Risk for Relapse The majority of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who stop taking Tysabri (natalizumab) before or when they become pregnant experience a disease relapse during pregnancy or shortly thereafter, according to a study out of Germany. In more than one out of every 10 cases, relapses were so severe that…
November 15, 2021 News by Somi Igbene, PhD Longer Breastfeeding May Damage Brain By Delaying DMT Use Having at least one pregnancy may lower disability scores in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), but breastfeeding for longer than six months may worsen damage to the brain, an observational study in patients has found. Findings support the need for careful pregnancy planning, counseling, and treatment management to ensure…
November 9, 2021 News by Mary Chapman UK’s MS Pregnancy Register Seeks Improved Care for Women With MS Itās been a decade since the opening of the UK MS Register, which sought to gain a better understanding of how multiple sclerosis (MS) affects patientsā everyday lives, with a goal, according to its website, toward fueling campaigns for “fair, relevant policy and improved health care.” Now, the…
June 25, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD No Negative Effects on Infants Whose Moms Take Copaxone While Breastfeeding Treatment with Copaxone (glatiramer acetate), an approved therapy for relapsing forms ofĀ multiple sclerosis (MS), while breastfeeding does not appear to be harmful to infants in their first years, a study has found. Investigators observed no differences between infants whose mothers were taking Copaxone and those whose mothers weren’t…
August 13, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Breastfeeding Appears Safe While Being Treated for Postpartum Relapse The corticosteroid methylprednisoloneĀ is detected at low, safe levels in the breast milk of women withĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) during and after intravenous (into-the-vein) treatment for a postpartum relapse, according to a small study in Turkey. While these findings suggest that women can safely breastfeed their child during and shortly after…
June 1, 2020 News by Mary Chapman FDA Updates Rebif Label on Pregnancy and Breastfeeding for MS Patients TheĀ U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved adding new safety data on pregnancy and breastfeeding to the U.S. label for Rebif (interferon beta-1a), a disease-modifying treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The label update draws on findings from a large population-based study, together with…
April 6, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Biogen’s Plegridy or Avonex Use Possible in Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, FDA Says Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a) and Avonex (interferon beta-1a), both by Biogen, may be used ā if necessary ā by women with relapsingĀ multiple sclerosisĀ who are pregnant or breastfeeding, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in updating prescribing informationĀ for these MS treatments. Due to the limited…
February 12, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Rituximab Appears Safe for Women to Use While Breastfeeding, Small Study Finds RituximabĀ is barely detected in breast milk of women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who took the therapy while breastfeeding their child, small study shows. Results suggest that women with RRMS can continue with a disease-modifying treatment while breastfeeding. The study āMinimal breast milk transfer of…
December 16, 2019 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Breastfeeding Protects Against Postpartum Relapses in Women with MS, Review Finds Women who breastfeed have a lower rate of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses in the postpartum period compared to those who do not breastfeed or supplement it with regular formula, an analysis of published studies shows. The findings suggest that breastfeeding protects women from postpartum relapses, but due to the…
September 24, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Interferon Beta Use by Pregnant and Breastfeeding Patients OK, Office in Europe Says If necessary, women with relapsing multiple sclerosis can continue treatments based on interferon beta while pregnant and breastfeeding, according to an updated recommendation by an office of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Interferon beta-based treatments are a mainstay of approved MS therapies. Three specific treatments were mentioned in press…
September 11, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2019 ā MS Patients Should Be Informed about Pregnancy Risks and Family Planning, Experts Say While pregnancy does not appear to affect the disease course of multiple sclerosis (MS), questions remain about the best time to stop or resume treatment before conception and after delivery, the safety of new medications, and the importance of family planning. Pregnancy was the “hot topic” discussion today…
April 9, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Menstruation Onset, Pregnancies and Breastfeeding Habits Don’t Influence MS Risk, Study Suggests A woman’s age at her first menstruation, or becoming pregnant and breastfeeding does not substantially influence the long-term risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) or the risk of increased disability, a study of a large number of patients withĀ clinically isolated syndrome…
March 12, 2019 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #AANAM ā Risk of MS Relapses Not Increased Right After Giving Birth, Study Suggests Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) do not experience more relapses right after giving birth, as previously believed, according to a preliminary study. The study also revealed that mothers with MS who breastfeed their babies have a lower relapse risk compared with those who do not breastfeed. The data, ā…
March 6, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ACTRIMS2019 – Women Lack Guidance About Pregnancy After MS Diagnosis, Survey Says Women diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) say they lack guidance regarding family planning, pregnancy, and breastfeeding, according to a survey. Sixteen percent of those women also reported they didnāt become pregnant due to MS-related concerns. Casey E. Engel, Ā clinical researcher at Weill Cornell Medical CollegeĀ in New York, Ā presented the…
July 24, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye This Week: Ocrevus and Insurance, Intimacy Issues, Breastfeeding In case you missedĀ them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week: Ocrevus Is Popular Among Neurologists, but Insurance Is a Growing Concern, Report Concludes Some great marketing and PR efforts gave Ocrevus a…
July 14, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Breastfeeding May Be Linked to Reduced Risk of MS, Study Suggests Women who breastfeed for 15 months or longer may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than those who breastfeed for shorter periods or not at all, according to a recent study. The study also suggests that women who had their first…
September 18, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Pregnancy-Associated Issues in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Highlighted in New Review A study recently published in the European Journal of Neurology reviewed some of the issues associated with pregnancy in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The study is entitled āAn overview of pregnancy-related issues in patients with multiple sclerosisā and was developed by researchers at Sapienza…
September 1, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Exclusive Breastfeeding Does Not Increase Women’s Risk for Multiple Sclerosis Relapse In a new study entitled āExclusive Breastfeeding and the Effect on Postpartum Multiple Sclerosis Relapses,ā researchersĀ investigated how breastfeeding impacts risk for disease relapse in women with multiple sclerosis. The study was published in the journal JAMA Neurology. Around 20 to 30% of women with…
March 20, 2015 News by Kara Elam New MS Educational Program Seeks to Improve Care in Women This week the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) in collaboration with The France Foundation, a provider of continuing medical education have launched a new educational program focused on the important issues that affect women with multiple sclerosis (MS), entitled, āStrategies to Improve the…