disease progression

Note: This story was updated July 20, 2022, to correct the headline to reflect that Soliris might be a potential treatment for progressive MS based on data from a single case report. A female patient with undiagnosed secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) was placed on Soliris (eculizumab)…

Higher COVID-19 Risk Tied to 2 MS Therapies, Even With Vaccination According to this study, people being treated with Ocrevus had 3.6 times the risk of a breakthrough COVID-19 infection compared with people being treated with most other disease-modifying therapies. For those treated with Gilenya, the risk was increased…

Some prodromal symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) — symptoms that are evident before the disease begins in earnest — could help to predict the course of MS, a new study proposes. In particular, its researchers suggest that MS patients with prodromal depression are more likely to be diagnosed…

Smoking is associated with lower brain volume, more brain lesions, and greater disability and attention deficits among people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) after 10 years, according to a study in Norway. “The findings imply that patients should be advised and offered aid in smoking cessation shortly after diagnosis, to…

OM1 has created an artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm to estimate scores on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), an established method for evaluating disability and disease progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The algorithm, using a method called machine learning, was trained to estimate EDSS scores…

When I turned 50 in 2013, I blew out the candles, and bam! I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I started seeing an endocrinologist and a neurologist, taking daily diabetic medications, and testing my blood sugar every day. At that point, I was not physically disabled in any…

A protein called nephronectin mediates autoimmunity in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), and blocking this protein was found to prevent disease progression and processes that drive T-cells toward an inflammatory state, researchers reported. Study findings support nephronectin, a protein involved in kidney development, as a promising treatment…

A new scoring system might more precisely evaluate disease development, severity, and treatment response in a commonly used mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS) known as the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis or EAE model, scientists report. This scoring system, called “I AM D EAE,” was described in the study, “…

People with relapsing multiple sclerosis who have disability progression, but no clinical relapses, show significantly faster brain shrinkage, or atrophy, than those with a stable disease, a study shows. There were no significant differences in the brain atrophy rate between patients with progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) and…

People with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and those with greater MS-related disability have a significantly greater risk of serious infections relative to people without the disease, according to a population-based study in Sweden. Notably, these associations were observed regardless of the use of disease-modifying therapies, many…

Disease severity, brain volume loss, and brain lesions are able to predict later cognitive declines in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a study in China found. The study, “Clinical and MRI predictors of cognitive decline in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a 2-year longitudinal study,”…

Children with multiple sclerosis (MS) who in their first year after disease onset experience pyramidal symptoms, such as spasticity or weakness, visual problems, or show signs of cerebellum involvement like poorer coordination are more likely to have worse long-term disability, an analysis of registry data indicates. The analysis also…

Serum levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) — proteins found in nerve cell projections — can help in the prediction of disease progression among people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to an analysis of data from two large Phase 3 trials. The researchers said that NfL…

Loss of gray matter in the spinal cord clearly associates with greater disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but determining the extent of its loss is limited by an inability to accurately measure gray matter in all patients, a small study in Spain reported. The true amount of…

Repeat harvesting of bone marrow cells and infusing them back into the bloodstream is safe and feasible in people with active progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a small, proof-of-concept clinical trial. Results were detailed in the study, “Repeat infusion of autologous bone marrow…

About CA$1.35 million ($1.07 million) has been invested in a project that seeks to understand the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) on a group of people with pediatric-onset disease as they move into adulthood. The three-year investment was from Biogen Canada and Roche Canada — each providing about…

Nearly three of every four participants in the CONSONANCE clinical trial, which is evaluating Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) in people with primary or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), showed no evidence of disease progression after a year of treatment. That’s according to new data presented at the American Academy of…

Use of GA Depot in Treating Progressive MS Given US Patent In the area of MS treatments, one major need is for medications that treat more than just the relapsing form of our disease. GA Depot might help fill that void. The U.S. patent the medication received says it’s…

MS Doctors, Nurses in UK Struggle With Marking Transition to SPMS The issue highlighted in this story isn’t just a problem in the U.K.; it’s a universal MS problem. People with MS often ask how they will know when their illness has transitioned from relapsing to progressive. I respond…

Among healthcare providers in the U.K., considerable variation exists in marking the transition from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), a study based on interview responses reports. Neurologists and nurses with MS specialties also expressed a reluctance to label patients as having progressed to…

Photo courtesy of Pamela Neckameyer Day 16 of 31 This is Pamela Neckameyer’s story: My symptoms started in 2004. I would trip and fall for no reason. My mind would say “walk” but my legs wouldn’t move for a few seconds. I went to a neurologist who tested…

Ketogenic Diet Eases Symptoms, Aids Life Quality in Small RRMS Study This new report says that a ketogenic diet might help people with MS. It’s certainly helped my wife lose weight, but will it help my symptoms? I wondered about that in a recent ‘MS Wire’ column.

While people who smoke cigarettes are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, MS patients who are daily alcohol drinkers are more likely to show signs of faster neurodegeneration, a new study highlights. The findings suggest that quitting smoking and cutting back on alcohol would be beneficial for people…

A substantial amount of disability worsening happens independently of relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), including those in earlier stages of relapsing-remitting disease, a study in a large patient database reported. While its findings “confirm relapses contribute to the accumulation of disability, primarily early in multiple sclerosis,” data…

Masitinib, AB Science’s experimental oral therapy, significantly slows disability progression in adults with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) and non-active secondary progressive MS (SPMS), according to final data from the AB07002 Phase 2b/3 clinical trial. These findings, indicating that the trial met its main goal, support…

A higher burden of lesions in the brain’s cortex is associated with a greater likelihood of disability worsening in multiple sclerosis (MS) and transition to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), researchers report. These results suggest that “monitoring cortical lesion volume … could be useful when stratifying risk of disability…

A faster rate of atrophy in the spinal cord of people in earlier stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) is likely to indicate “silent progression” — worsening disability in the absence of relapses — and a swifter conversion to secondary progressive MS (SPMS), new data show. Antje Bischof, MD, with…

Iron rim lesions, or specific regions of chronic inflammation seen on MRI scans of the brain, are associated with greater disability and poorer outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS), a study indicates. These findings “could support the use of iron rim lesions as an imaging biomarker for disease severity and…

Levels of a protein called neurofilament light chain (NfL) in the blood can be used to predict the risk of future disease activity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study. The results also suggest that changes in NfL levels could be used to deduce the extent…

Combined Data May Predict Person’s Risk of Advancing From CIS to MS Clinically isolated syndrome is sometimes called “early MS.” It’s the diagnosis used when someone’s symptoms don’t quite look like MS, but it does appear that MS is lurking. It may take years for an actual…