April 20, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Gray Matter Loss in Spine Crucial, But Difficult, Marker of MS Disability 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…
November 15, 2021 News by Somi Igbene, PhD Longer Breastfeeding May Damage Brain By Delaying DMT Use Having at least one pregnancy may lower disability scores in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), but breastfeeding for longer than six months may worsen damage to the brain, an observational study in patients has found. Findings support the need for careful pregnancy planning, counseling, and treatment management to ensure…
January 19, 2021 News by Forest Ray PhD Brain Changes in Relapsing MS Found to Follow Pattern Changes in the amount of grey matter in specific regions of the brain appear to occur early in relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), while structural changes in white matter happen late in disease progression. These were among the findings of a recent study that tracked the sequence of events in…
September 14, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD #MSVirtual2020 – Cardiovascular Risk Factors Linked to Brain Shrinkage In people with multiple sclerosis (MS) under age 50, the presence of cardiovascular risk factors is associated with a greater loss of brain volume, including white and grey matter, a study showed. The brainās white matter mainly consists of nerve fibers and is typically affected by MS, while…
May 8, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD ‘Transcient’ Damage to CNS Seen with Chemotherapy Used in Stem Cell Transplants for MS A high-dose chemotherapy combination given to wipe out the immune system before its rescue withĀ autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (aHSCT)Ā can cause “transient” damage to neurons and supporting cells of the central nervous system in people with aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS), a Canadian study reports. Nonetheless, its researchers believe…
July 9, 2019 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD New PET Scan Radiotracer May Help Identify Early Signs of MS Progression, Study Reports A new radiotracer called [F-18]PBR06, used in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, helps detect changes in the brainās grey matter that are linked to progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study shows. The findings support [F-18]PBR06’s potential for detecting signs of disease progression even before patients show…
March 4, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein #ACTRIMS2019 – Cerebrospinal Fluid, Meninges Inflammation Profile Can Stratify MS Patients A method based on cerebrospinal fluid measurements and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can aid in stratifying patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the time of diagnosis, which may help identify a tailored therapeutic approach for each patient from early disease stages. The data was presented by Roberta Magliozzi, from…
November 6, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Diabetes, Hypertension, Smoking Linked with Brain Shrinkage in MS Patients Diabetes, hypertension, and active smoking correlate with more brain shrinkage in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a new study shows. The study, āAssessing the burden of vascular risk factors on brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis: A case- control MRI studyā was published in the journalĀ Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.
October 15, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2018 – Excessive Weight, But Not Vitamin D, Linked with Faster Grey Matter Loss in MS, Study Finds Being overweight is associated with accelerated grey matter volume loss in the brain, a mark ofĀ neurodegeneration, in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a five-year observational study shows. But vitamin D levels, often suggested as an MS risk factor, do not seem to affect brain volume over time.
November 16, 2015 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Hypoxia-Measuring Technology in MS Could Be Potential Biomarker for Treatment Responses In a new study entitled āReduced cortical microvascular oxygenation in multiple sclerosis: a blinded, case-controlled study using a novel quantitative near-infrared spectroscopy method,ā a team of researchers at theĀ Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of CalgaryĀ investigated whether frequency domain near-infrared spectroscopy technology can measure the potential…