Treatment with Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) significantly reduces relapse rates for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and most MS patients on the approved therapy remain free from disability progression for several years. That’s according to a final analysis from the Phase 4 ESTEEM clinical trial (NCT02047097), which tracked…
disease progression
The team at Multiple Sclerosis News Today has brought our audience the latest news about treatments, scientific research, and clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS) throughout 2024. Here is a list of the top 10 most-read articles we published this year. We look forward to continuing to serve…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) show significant differences between actual age and vascular age, an indicator of heart and blood vessel health, even if they don’t have any cardiovascular disease, a study found. The difference became more pronounced with the presence of additional cardiovascular diseases, reaching a peak among…
The incidence of late-onset multiple sclerosis (LOMS), a form of multiple sclerosis (MS) that begins after age 50, has risen steadily between 2005 and 2020, particularly among people in their 60s, scientists in Italy report. “Our study is the first population-based study describing the IR [incidence rate] of LOMS…
About four in five adults with stable multiple sclerosis (MS) for at least five years remained free of disease activity after stopping first-line treatment with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT), according to a study based on data from the DOT-MS clinical trial. Still, disease activity reemerged in roughly 20%…
A specific type of brain lesion called a paramagnetic rim lesion, or PRL, is associated with worse disability over time in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but available disease-modifying therapies (DMT) can lower the chances of the appearance of these lesions, according to two studies published by scientists…
My wife and I both have medical backgrounds. She is a registered nurse and has actual credentials that have to be renewed periodically. At one time I had a card that said advanced tactical practitioner, but even when it was current, it didn’t count for much outside of…
A large majority of people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who received Tysabri (natalizumab) in a real-world setting experienced no evidence of disease activity for as long as six years, according to a study from a single center in Hungary. No evidence of disease activity, known as NEDA-3,…
Activation of a protein called DLK may drive the death of nerve cells that have been demyelinated, or lost their protective myelin coating, in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study from U.S. researchers. The findings shed light on how a failure to repair lost or damaged…
Higher blood levels of bile acids — molecules found in the digestive fluid bile, which helps absorb fat in the gut — are associated with a slower progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), as indicated by imaging scans, a study by U.S. researchers reported. In a small clinical trial in…
Developing a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between the brain, blood vessels, and the immune system holds great promise for unlocking new ways to treat neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), a team of researchers argued in a new commentary paper. “Interactions between the brain, blood vessels, and…
The rate of disability progression among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) has slowed over the years due to advances in disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), according to a long-term analysis. Patients diagnosed in recent decades have experienced fewer progression events associated with relapses, called relapse-associated worsening (RAW), and also…
Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a plant-derived small molecule that can promote the growth of cells that produce myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibers that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS). The naturally occurring molecule, sulfuretin, blocks the activity of an enzyme that…
The company I keep has changed over the past 10 years. I used to associate with people who were much like me. We had a similar way of thinking and faced many of the same challenges in life. I was a part of an upper tier of the U.S. Army,…
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have multiple comorbidities, or co-occurring health problems, are more likely to experience disease activity and disability progression, according to a new analysis. Results indicate the risk of MS disease activity rises in patients who have at least one psychiatric diagnosis, as well as…
Transplanting genetically engineered oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), which give rise to mature myelin-making cells, significantly boosted myelin repair in mice with multiple sclerosis (MS)-like chronic brain lesions. The cells were engineered to ignore chemical signals that would normally inhibit OPCs being recruited into lesions and then restore…
Anti-CD20 therapies like Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and rituximab appear to be ineffective at slowing disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), a form of the disease characterized by symptoms that steadily worsen over time, according to data from a real-world study in France. The study,…
A revised version of the McDonald criteria, a set of guidelines used to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS), is expected to include additional features that will help doctors make an accurate diagnosis at an earlier stage of the disease, even if patients have yet to manifest clinical symptoms. The…
Daily treatment with high-dose simvastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering medication, failed to slow disability progression in adults with secondary progressive disease or SPMS, according to top-line data from a Phase 3 clinical study. Jeremy Chataway, PhD, a professor of neurology at University College London (UCL) in the U.K.,…
Sanofi’s tolebrutinib significantly delayed disability progression, by 31%, and increased the rates of disability improvement compared with a placebo in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), according to new data from the HERCULES Phase 3 clinical trial. The investigational BTK inhibitor also was found to significantly…
Taking high-dose cholecalciferol (vitamin D) as a supplement is safe and can nearly double the time it takes for people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), a first manifestation of neurological symptoms suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS), to experience new disease activity. That’s according to data from D-Lay-MS…
Continuous treatment with Briumvi (ublituximab) over five years was associated with low rates of relapses and confirmed disability progression among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to analyses from the open-label extension (OLE) phase of the treatment’s ULTIMATE Phase 3 trials. Relative to patients who…
A short course of treatment with Mavenclad (cladribine) can provide long-term reductions in disease activity and disability progression for as long as four years in adults with highly active, relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the MAGNIFY-MS studies. The majority of patients had…
A patient advocate shares how sudden vision loss in high school led to an unexpected MS diagnosis, profoundly shaping their resilience and deepening their commitment to supporting and guiding others through similar challenges.
A year of treatment with the experimental BTK inhibitor fenebrutinib was safe and nearly entirely suppressed signs of disease activity, including relapses, disability progression, and brain lesions, in people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new data from the open-label extension part of a Phase…
Treatment with rituximab, a CD20 inhibitor used off-label for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, can stabilize disability progression and reduce disease activity in people with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to a review of several published studies. These benefits were reported over a mean follow-up of two years, and…
Treatment with the investigational BTK inhibitor tolebrutinib significantly delayed the onset of confirmed disability progression in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared with a placebo, meeting the primary goal of the HERCULES Phase 3 trial. A preliminary analysis of liver safety was consistent with previous…
Glial cells, which mostly support the function of nerve cells, play key roles in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression and development, according to a stem cell-based study. “Most research and therapeutic strategies have so far focused on blocking the overactive immune system, but how cells in the brain itself,…
Two weeks ago, I was notified that one of the lesions on my brain has grown. This led me and my care team to decide it was time to switch multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments. Soon after I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2017,…
Note: This column refers to the author’s own experience with Gilenya (fingolimod). Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. On a recent Friday, all was calm and peaceful in my household. I was bundled up in my bed watching…