February 5, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Zeposia treatment during early pregnancy may be safe in MS: Study Treatment with Zeposia (ozanimod) during early pregnancy may be safe for women with multiple sclerosis (MS), or inflammatory bowel diseases,Ā a recent study suggests. Specifically, receiving the treatment during the first trimester of pregnancy didn’t increase the incidence of fetal malformations or…
January 26, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS More disability, fewer resources in pregnant Black, Hispanic patients In the U.S., pregnant people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) who are Black or Hispanic tend to have more severe disability than their white counterparts, along with fewer socioeconomic resources, a new study indicates.Ā āWhat we are seeing is that underrepresented women with MS start their…
April 24, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS AAN 2023: MS therapies don’t seem to raise pregnancy complications Most treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) are not associated with an increased risk of complications during pregnancy, according to a new analysis. A few therapies were associated with slightly elevated rates of congenital abnormalities for babies exposed to treatment during pregnancy, but small sample sizes limit being able to…
January 24, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Scientists Seek to Understand Effects of Pregnancy on Immune System Roche has teamed up with researchers in Australia to study the immune and biological mechanisms leading to better outcomes for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are or have been pregnant. The four-year project, led by Vilija Jokubaitis, PhD, a neuroscientist and group leader at Monash University, is expected…
August 23, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD For Pregnant MS Patients, No Added Risk of Infant Growth Deficits: Study Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are not at a higher risk of their babies having growth deficits during pregnancy or after birth than individuals without the disease, a study suggests. Yet, the data showed women with MS are significantly more likely to deliver their babies by cesarean section (C-section)…
July 21, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Abortion Bans Are Likely to Restrict Care for MS Patients: Researchers Note: This story was updated on July 25, 2022, for the headline to reflect researchers gave this information in a perspective paper, not a study.Ā Bans on abortion and other reproductive care limitations are likely to have a profound impact on the care of people with multiple sclerosis (MS)…
July 13, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Women with MS More Likely to Be Sexually, Emotionally Abused Rates of sexual and emotional abuse are higher in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with women in the general population, according to a new study from Norway. These women are also at more than two times higher risk of being revictimized, which occurs when a person who has…
December 20, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: COVID-19 Vaccines, Achtar Gel, Ublituximab, Pregnancy Study: Anti-CD20 Therapies, Gilenya Lower Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines This research adds more evidence to studies that have already shown that certain disease-modifying therapies reduce the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Those DMTs include Kesimpta (ofatumumab) and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), plus rituximab, another anti-CD20 vaccine, that is sometimes used…
November 9, 2021 News by Mary Chapman UK’s MS Pregnancy Register Seeks Improved Care for Women With MS Itās been a decade since the opening of the UK MS Register, which sought to gain a better understanding of how multiple sclerosis (MS) affects patientsā everyday lives, with a goal, according to its website, toward fueling campaigns for “fair, relevant policy and improved health care.” Now, the…
January 25, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: HSCT vs. DMTs, Mindfulness for MS, Ocrevus and T-cells, Pregnancy Guidelines Blood Stem Cell Transplant Better than DMTs at Reducing Risk of Disease Progression in RRMS Here’s more evidence that hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) works better than some disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) at reducing multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. In this study, only three of 52 patients in the…
December 14, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Pregnancy, DMTs, and MS: A New Study Many years ago a woman I know who has multiple sclerosis (MS) became pregnant. After her child was born her MS became significantly worse. There have been many studies on the impact of pregnancy on someone with MS, with most concluding that the number of MS relapses are reduced…