Long-term treatment with Tysabri (natalizumab) significantly improves cognitive function and increases the chance of disability reduction in people with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to data from the four-year observational STRIVE trial. Patients on Tysabri also reported improved quality of life and less impact of MS on…
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People with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with Tysabri (natalizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) are less likely to have disease activity than those on low-efficacy MS medications, according to a small study conducted in Japan. Results also showed that patients receiving the high-efficacy therapies had less brain shrinkage,…
Off-label use of high-efficacy disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) appear to be as effective as on-label, or approved, DMTs for this MS patient group, a review study from Brazil suggests. The meta-analysis, which included data from controlled clinical trials, found that…
A little over a year ago, I wrote about whether Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi’s) might be the next big thing in multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments. BTKi’s are small molecules that selectively block an enzyme that’s important for the activation of B-cells in the immune system and…
An extended interval between maintenance doses of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) may increase the risk of MRI-based disease activity in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a real-world, multicenter study in Italy. In fact, an extended interval dosing (by one month or longer) was associated with a fivefold higher risk…
Treatment with medrysone, a glucocorticoid approved in the U.S. as a topical treatment for certain inflammatory eye diseases, improved repair of myelin in a mouse model of demyelination, a new study shows. The results suggest medrysone may be a useful treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), which is…
Long-term treatment with Ponvory (ponesimod) safely and effectively reduces the rate of relapses, slows disability worsening, and prevents brain volume decline in adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). That’s according to eight years of data from patients enrolled in a now-completed Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT01006265) and its…
An experimental oral therapy called TRE-515 significantly reduced disease severity and the growth of the abnormal immune cells that drive multiple sclerosis (MS) in two mouse models of the disease, a study found. Notably, the efficacy of Trethera Corp.’s potential treatment, administered either in a preventive or therapeutic…
Early Detection of Pseudobulbar Affect May Help Ease MS Symptom I often see posts on social media from people with MS asking if crying for no reason is an MS symptom, because it happens to them. I didn’t know that apparently, it is. Laughing, too. This report says…
Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS — in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. These findings suggest baclofen — sold as oral tablets,…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Trethera Corporation’s experimental oral therapy TRE-515 for demyelinating optic neuritis, an eye condition that may progress to multiple sclerosis (MS) or occur during the disease course. The first-in-class therapy is expected to lessen the inflammation…
Researchers have discovered how interferon-beta, a common treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), may be effective for people with the disease. Specifically, they found that red blood cells from MS patients have an unusually high ability to bind molecules that contribute to disease-related impairments in neuronal health and myelin repair,…
Tysabri (natalizumab) outperforms other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in its ability to lessen a range of patient-reported symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a large real-world study. These symptoms include balance difficulties, sensory problems, feelings of anxiety, bladder problems, vision problems, and…
In December 2019, I was stopped in my tracks, or rather wheels, as I was about to have my third infusion of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), the multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that I’d been taking every six months for the past year. My neurologist had decided just a few…
My multiple sclerosis medications cost me a lot, even with good insurance. Yours probably do, too, if you don’t live in a country where the government picks up your drug costs. But now billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is taking a big bite out of the cost of some…
Switching from a standard monthly course of Tysabri (natalizumab) to an extended-interval dosing administered every six weeks does not seem to increase neuronal damage in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a study found. While individual blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a biomarker of nerve damage, did…
No Link Between MS Severity, Vitamin D-related Mutations: Study Several studies over the years have indicated that there could be a link between a person’s vitamin D level and the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study is slightly different. Researchers looked at whether genetic variations related to vitamin…
Digoxin, an approved medication for certain heart conditions, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that is progressively lost in multiple sclerosis — in mouse models of the disease, a study reports. Combining digoxin with an experimental immune-modulating therapy was more effective at promoting myelin…
In my last column, I mentioned that I had an intrathecal baclofen pump. I’d make a bad pun, but I don’t have it in me. Spasticity, spasms, and hyperreflexivity were some of my first symptoms, which steadily got worse as my multiple sclerosis (MS) progressed.
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)…
The case of Women’s National Basketball Association star Brittney Griner is an important reminder for all of us who travel internationally with our medications: What you might be able to do in your home country, might not be the case in another. And the penalty could be severe. Griner was…
“So can you lift me up/ And turn these ashes into flames/ ‘Cause I have overcome/ More than words will ever say.” — Kate Voegele My relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) diagnosis stole my life from me. The reverberations of this unwelcome thunderbolt were astounding. Coming to terms with a…
Kesimpta (ofatumumab) may be more effective at reducing relapse rates than other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) in Japanese adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a review of clinical trial data. Although the differences were not statistically significant, the study provided comparative evidence that may help…
Treatment with Aubagio (teriflunomide) may significantly reduce the risk of relapse in children with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new analysis of the TERIKIDS clinical trial that took into account data from adult trials. Results were in the paper “Reinterpreting Clinical Trials in Children With…
Fully vaccinated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) or Gilenya (fingolimod) have a significantly higher risk of COVID-19 infection than those given other immunosuppressive therapies, according to a study in Italy. Called breakthrough infections, these post-vaccination cases of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes…
Taking the pregnancy hormone estriol in combination with Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) significantly reduced the blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) — a marker of nerve damage — in women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), clinical trial data show. These lower NfL levels were significantly associated with a…
The safety and efficacy of the approved multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy Mavenclad (cladribine) in a real-world group of patients were similar to what had been demonstrated in clinical trials, a new study reports. Among 243 people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), more than 60% showed no…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a partial clinical hold on Phase 3 trials testing the investigational therapy tolebrutinib in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and myasthenia gravis based on reports of medication-induced liver injury. Under the clinical hold, new enrollment at U.S. sites…
Long-term treatment with Zeposia (ozanimod) stabilizes or even improves cognitive function in adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly among those with greater brain volumes. That’s according to five years of data from the completed SUNBEAM Phase 3 clinical trial (NCT02294058) and the ongoing…
Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.