diagnosis

Anniversaries often invoke reflection about the beginning, the journey, and where we now find ourselves. With luck, lessons will have been learned from the invariably good and bad experiences that couple any passage of time. In November 2010, I sat, eyes firmly affixed, as my neurologist read my…

In the future, a blood test may make diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) much easier, thanks to newly identified biomarker patterns that distinguish between MS patients and healthy people. The test could also correctly detect primary progressive MS (PPMS) in patients who also had relapsing-remitting disease (RRMS). Australian researchers suggest that…

Life is full of curveballs, with a mix of sliders, split-fingered fastballs, and sinkers thrown in. And, it is the curveballs that can be the hardest to take. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the major “curveballs” thrown into my life; I didn’t see it coming and it…

Aubagio (teriflunomide) can help to delay first clinical signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) from progressing to a definite diagnosis in a person, and treatment should likely begin as soon as that first episode is confirmed, Robert Zivadinov, a professor of neurology and director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, said…

The types of brain and spinal cord inflammation patches that occur in a precursor condition to multiple sclerosis help determine whether a person develops MS in the next 15 years, a British neurologist reported today. Wallace J. Brownlee of the University College London Institute of Neurology made the observation in…

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has updated guidelines for using magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate people suspected of having multiple sclerosis. Doctors use the MRI guidelines not only to diagnose MS but also to track treatment results. A task force is reviewing the new guidelines before they're published. The working document is called  "Revised Guidelines of the CMSC MRI Protocol for the Diagnosis and Follow-up of MS." The task force, composed of neurologists, radiologists and imaging scientists experienced in MS, met in January 2017 to revise the guidelines. They also updated information about the situations for which standardized brain and spinal cord MRI scans should be used. One change is a recommendation that gadolinium, a contrast agent in scans, be used cautiously. The previous update, published in 2015, included no constraints on the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. But soon after publication, information emerged showing that gadolinium, although not toxic, accumulates in the brain. This prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recommend limiting the use of gadolinium to “appropriate clinical circumstances.” To mirror the increased awareness of gadolinium deposits, the new guidelines say: “While there is no known central nervous system toxicity, these agents should be used judiciously, recognizing that gadolinium continues to play an invaluable role in specific circumstances related to the diagnosis and follow-up of individuals with MS.” Since 2009, the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has addressed a number of other issues. One is encouraging the use of three-dimensional MRI for brain scans. Another is developing protocols for monitoring severe optic nerve inflammation and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, a brain disease caused by a virus. The guidelines have been revised to recommend the specific timing of scans for monitoring PML. The update also includes recommendations for the timing of scans on patients receiving disease-modifying drugs. Since 2009, the guidelines have included recommendations on scans of radiologic isolated syndrome, a condition where MS-like MRI lesions are present without symptoms. And they have included provisions on the value of using MRI changes to evaluate treatment effectiveness. The centers' goal "is to standardize the MRI protocol and make these recommendations a useful guideline for neurologists, neuroradiologists, and related healthcare professionals during initial evaluations and during follow-up of patients with MS, and ultimately provide optimum care for those individuals dealing with this unpredictable disease,” June Halper, the centers' chief executive officer, said in a press release.

The year’s largest gathering of multiple sclerosis “minds” starts on Oct. 25 in Paris. More than 8,000 neurologists, researchers and others who specialize in treating and curing MS will be attending MSParis2017. It’s a joint meeting of the European and the Americas Committee for Research in Multiple Sclerosis…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of children could reveal changes associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) before any symptoms are developed, according to a study by scientists at Yale University School of Medicine. The findings suggest that brain and spinal cord scans can identify children at high risk for developing MS.

We are familiar with the “why me” moments? I reference this often because it is a recurring subject in the lives of people with chronic illness. As a little girl I’d ask my parents why my heart is sick, and as an adult, I still ask why have I…

Opioid growth factor (OGF) can serve as a new biomarker to determine diagnosis and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), say researchers at Pennsylvania State University. Their study, “Serum [Met5]-enkephalin levels are reduced in multiple sclerosis and restored by low-dose naltrexone,” appeared in the journal Experimental Biology and…

IQuity Taking Orders for RNA-based Blood Test That Can Detect MS Early with 90% Accuracy Can it be that there’s now a blood test that can help diagnose MS? This company says it has one and doctors can order it. For a disease that’s always been…

The life science tech company IQuity has begun taking orders from physicians for an RNA-based blood test that can provide reliable yes or no results for multiple sclerosis in seven days – dramatically faster than previous options, which took months or years. The test, IsolateMS, can be a game-changer in…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of Cognigram, a medical device developed by the cognitive science company Cogstate to evaluate a patient’s cognitive health. This device may be a…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the first year of diagnosis frequently suffer from depression, pre-morbid personality, self-perception issues and other psychological problems, an Italian study finds. Yet it is hard to predict the degree of symptoms since MS takes a different course in each individual. The study, “The first year after…

MSBase and icometrix have joined efforts in a large-scale project to identify imaging markers of multiple sclerosis (MS) that could help diagnose the disease in its early stages. The combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information collected from MS patients with clinical information from the MSBase Registry can offer new insights in disease progression, potentially leading to new predictive tools for MS. It may also promote more standardized use of imaging measures in clinical practice. With more than 52,000 MS patients, the MSBase Registry is an international database committed to collecting patients’ information as well as sharing, tracking and evaluating overall outcome data in MS and other neurological conditions. Until now, the MSBase Registry included only descriptive information regarding patients' imaging analysis results, with no access to full imaging data. This joint, large-scale project will include MRI scan data routinely acquired in clinical setting taking advantage of icometrix’s software platform, MSmetrix. “We wish to unlock the power of MRI for personalized monitoring in MS," Helmut Butzkueven, director of MSBase, said in a press release. "The MSBase Scientific Leadership group has selected MRI integration as the top strategic priority for MSBase. We believe that already conducted MRI scans represent an enormous missed opportunity, because advanced measurements to assess change over time from these scans are not currently in practical use.” Butzkueven said MSBase "will test the predictive power of this unlocking of MRI data in the first phase," with a total of 10,000 MRI data points in at least 3,000 MS patients from all over the world. The project is expected to identify disease progression markers that could help detect early signs of MS by MRI evaluation. This investigator-initiated collaboration between icometrix and the MSBase Foundation is being supported by three global pharmaceutical giants: Novartis, Biogen and Roche. “MRI measures play an essential part in the complex puzzle of MS,” said Danny Bar Zohar, global head of neuroscience development at Novartis. “Partnering with MS Base and icometrix in this exciting project will bring the acquisition of high-quality real world data to the next level, ultimately improving the outcome of people living with MS.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1 million grant to IQuity, a Nashville-based company looking into novel RNA targets that ultimately benefit patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune disorders. The NIH grant is part of the institute’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The MS Wire is adding a third weekly item, beginning today. It’s a list of several news items that appeared in MS News Today over the preceding week and that caught my eye. Axim Signs Deal to Advance Clinical Trials of Cannabis-based MedChew Rx Gum to…

A significant percentage of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients struggle with improper diagnoses and ineffective treatments, a national survey of more than 5,300 patients found. The fifth annual survey, “MS in America 2017,” was conducted by Health Union between Jan. 25 and March 1, 2017. It was released through the…

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be developing the disease for up to five years before the first clinical diagnosis is made, a study has found. The study, “Health-care use before a first demyelinating event suggestive of a multiple sclerosis prodrome: a matched cohort study,” was published…

Editor’s note: Marking the second MS diagnosis anniversary of our columnists in one week, Judy Lynn writes about the “Anniversary Effect.” This week marks the 14th anniversary of my MS diagnosis. That day, March 27, 2003, is etched clearly in my mind.  Ask me about anything else I was doing…

On March 27, 2013, my primary care physician called me about MRI results from the day before. He and the radiologist concurred; they had found evidence of brain lesions consistent with multiple sclerosis. Following protocol, he sent me to the best specialist in Seattle to confirm diagnosis. His was a preliminary diagnosis. In the…

What is benign MS? Does it even exist? Certainly it is not one of the types of the disease often listed as making up the multiple sclerosis family. It is a term that is surrounded by controversy,…

Kinesiology professor Richard van Emmerik and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a two-year $833,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to create an improved diagnostic test for multiple sclerosis (MS). The scientists expects their research to help an estimated 2.3 million people worldwide who live with…

Molecular diagnostics startup IQuity is introducing a pioneering blood test that speeds up multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis to just seven days. Previously, this process could take up to months or years. IQuity, based in Nashville, Tennessee, began working on its new IsolateMS blood test in January 2016, after receiving $2…

The MS world lost a very important person on Feb. 8. Britain’s Sir Peter Mansfield, Nobel Laureate, passed away at the age of 83. For most of us, his name means little, but his work revolutionized the way multiple sclerosis is diagnosed, and the way progression of the disease…

Scientists have discovered the first blood biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS) –  a chemical identifier in the blood. The discovery should lead to a simple blood test that makes it quicker and easier to follow the course of MS, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system affecting around 2.3 million people…

MicroRNAs in the blood could serve as biomarkers to monitor the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as help identify which mechanisms are at play in each patient, such as inflammation and tissue damage, according to new research. The findings were reported in the study, “Association Between Serum…

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with Tysabri (natalizumab) is linked to better outcomes if the condition does not give rise to actual symptoms and is diagnosed early. Limited brain lesions and more protective immune responses were also seen in patients who fared better, but researchers…

I’m sure all of us with multiple sclerosis have had at least one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Most likely, more than one. MRIs are designed to scan and provide detailed pictures of the body, the brain included. The test can reveal scars (plaque lesions) on the brain and the…

Royal Philips recently announced the introduction of the IntelliSpace Portal 9.0, the latest edition of its advanced comprehensive visual analysis and quantification platform for neurological disorders. The platform was presented at the 2016 Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting (RSNA), taking place through Dec. 2 in Chicago. Currently a work in…