High blood pressure may be linked to greater overall disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), although the rate at which disability progresses might be slower than in patients without hypertension, a retrospective study concludes. The research, involving a large number of MS patients, helps to clarify a rather confusing range of views on how…

The complement system, a part of our non-adaptable (innate) immune defenses, is activated in lesions inside the brain’s gray matter and may well contribute to the relentless progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers report. The findings offer new insights into mechanisms driving the development of this disease — particularly its primary progressive forms.

A retrospective study of vitamin D status and disability progression in multiple sclerosis patients — using real-life, clinical data from a large and varied group — found no  correlation between the two, although vitamin D levels may predict the occurrence of relapses in some patients. But these findings may have been limited by the lower doses of daily vitamin…

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) ithree institute are taking a novel approach in an attempt to halt disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). The scientists are planning to explore the anti-inflammatory potential of a controlled infection by parasitic worms as a way of preventing the harmful over-inflammation observed in MS and…

Sanofi Genzyme announced that it entered into a research collaboration with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to better understand the underlying causes of disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Sanofi Genzyme has a number of research partnerships with MS academic medical centers, focused on exploring the pathogenesis of MS and potential new…

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have increased levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate in their brains, lowering the levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) — a process that likely leads to the loss of brain volume. The findings indicate that glutamate might be a driver of neuronal cell death and disease progression in MS,…

MedDay recently disclosed full study results from the MS-SPI and MS-ON Phase 2b/3 trials of its therapeutic candidate MD1003 in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, the trials included people with “not active” progressive MS and those with either relapsing or progressive MS and visual loss, respectively. Data, presented at the recent American…

Biogen reported new data describing the effectiveness of Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) in newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients in a recent presentation at the 68th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The conference, taking place in Vancouver, Canada, runs through April 21. Tecfidera is an…

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, in collaboration with various institutions from north America and Europe, found that teriflunomide (Aubagio) is well-tolerated and efficient for long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings, entitled “Long-term safety and efficacy of teriflunomide,” were…

Researchers, working with an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), discovered that oral treatment with a synthesized plant peptide, known as cyclotide, halted the progression of clinical symptoms without side effects. The finding offers new hope for the development of an easily available and orally deliverable treatment that might slow or even…

Natalizumab (Tysabri) harnesses multiple sclerosis (MS) activity by targeting CD49, a molecule on the surface of immune cells. Now, researchers found that the drug reduces the factor on regulatory T-cells to a greater extent than on inflammatory T-cells — a mechanism that might explain disease exacerbation during treatment. The molecule under…

Damage to the cerebellum in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is due more to the death of actual nerve cells than the destruction of white matter connections, a new study out of Italy suggests. The article, which challenges previous ideas about how brain damage in MS occurs, is titled “MRI-detectable cortical lesions in the…

Scientists in recent years have wondered whether a link exists between high lactate levels resulting from mitochondrial dysfunction and multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. Now researchers in Italy showed that lactate, a metabolic byproduct, is indeed increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients and may be a disease driver. Mitochondria are the body’s energy factories,…

The precision of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement has improved over the years, and now scans can identify brain damage before symptoms begin showing. Whether the presence of new or expanding lesions predict disease progression is, however, still controversial, and clinicians have no guidance when making treatment decisions about the…

Andrea Perry Kaiser is a woman on a mission. The Long Beach, New York, resident is soon to undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for her multiple sclerosis (MS). Kaiser contacted Multiple Sclerosis News Today to chronicle her journey, both before and following the treatment. She received a primary progressive multiple sclerosis…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who also suffer from other autoimmune conditions, like thyroid disease or diabetes, have more severe brain damage than MS patients without comorbidities, according to a study from the University at Buffalo. The study was recently published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. An earlier report from…

When Microsoft rolled out its original Kinect system for playing Xbox video games in November 2010, the technology caught the eye of giant multinational healthcare company Novartis. A longstanding research challenge for Novartis has been to devise and design more consistent methods of quantifying whether multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments…

Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers reported that antibodies directed at lipids are associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and may potentially serve as biomarkers for monitoring disease status. While the hyperintense brain lesions detected by MRI are crucial for diagnosis and therapeutic…

Stable multiple sclerosis (MS) patients do not appear to be at any increased risk of disease reactivation while switching to oral therapy following treatment with injectable interferon-β/glatiramer acetate (IFNβ/GA), a study reports. Recently published in the European Journal of Neurology, the Australian study was titled “Risk of early…

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society announced that its five-year campaign to raise $250 million has concluded with its goal fully achieved, allowing the society to launch more research into multiple sclerosis (MS) and effect more life-changing progress than at any other time in its nearly 70-year history. A total 818 research projects…

The Fifth Tykeson Fellows Conference brought senior multiple sclerosis (MS) scientists together with nearly 100 young research and clinical fellows from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS Society of Canada, and MS International Federation to promote collaboration, networking, and the sharing of research data with the goal of improving patients’ lives and developing…

A new study entitled “Effect of Smoking Cessation on Multiple Sclerosis Prognosis” recently revealed that smoking by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) post diagnosis accelerates their disease progression course. The study was published in the journal JAMA Neurology and was led by researchers at the…

A new study recently published in the journal Annals of Neurology revealed a potential new therapeutic strategy to halt multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression. The study is entitled “Melanoma cell adhesion molecule–positive CD8 T lymphocytes mediate central nervous system inflammation” and was led by…