March 16, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD National MS Society-supported Study Looking into How Disease Affects Children’s Thinking A researcher at theĀ University of Alabama at Birminghamās School of NursingĀ will help to lead a national effort into how multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā affectsĀ the cognitive skills of children. Yolanda Harris is the UAB principal investigator in a study assessing how MS impacts the way children make decisions. Titled ā…
March 13, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Can Be a Kids’ Disease, Too (Part 2) After I wrote about pediatric MS earlier this month, a reader commented: “I think it would behoove your editorship to follow up to address to audiences…symptoms that typify the early-age demographic.” That’s a good point. So, I drilled deeper into how MS is handled in people younger than…
March 8, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Oscar the MS Monkey and His Buddies While at the ACTRIMS Forum 2018 (which stands for Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in MS), I was surprised to see a colorful display of orange-and-teal colored sock monkeys mixed in with the pharmaceutical company and advocacy organization displays. It was the display booth for Oscar…
March 6, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Can Be a Kids’ Disease, Too The age at which a person is diagnosed with MS is usually between 20 and 50, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. But it can be diagnosed in people much younger. In fact, of the estimated 400,000 people with MS in the United States, 8,000-10,000 are…
December 20, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc FDA Gives Fingolimod a Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Relapsing MS in Children The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has givenĀ fingolimodĀ a Breakthrough Therapy designation as a treatment for children 10 years and older and adolescents with relapsing multiple sclerosis. NovartisĀ is marketing it in the United States under the brand name GilenyaĀ for adults with relapsing MS. It has yet to approved…
October 30, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #MSParis2017 ā Gilenya Seen to Reduce Relapses in Children with Active MS Gilenya (fingolimod) was seen to significantly reduce relapses in children and teenagers with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to data from a Phase 3 study ā the first successfully conducted in pediatric patients. Novartis, the therapy’s developer, is preparing to file requests for Gilenya to be approved to…
October 12, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Fat Intake Increases Risk of Children with MS Having a Relapse, Study Suggests Diet can play an important role in whether children with relapsing multiple sclerosis have a relapse, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco argue. Their study demonstrated that a diet with a lot of fat increases the risk of a youngster having a relapse by 56 percent, with saturated fat tripling the risk. Eating a lot of vegetables, on the other hand, cuts the risk in half, the team said. Since children with MS tend to have relapses more often than adults, the researchers figured they would be a suitable group to study diet's impact on relapse. They recruited 219 children with relapsing-remitting MS or clinically isolated syndrome from 11 centers across the U.S. Clinically isolated syndrome is a condition that can evolve in MS. The research team use a questionnaire known as theĀ Block Kids Food ScreenerĀ to analyze what the youngsters ate. They tracked the children an average of almost two years, which was plenty of time for relapses to occur. And, in fact, they did occur in 42.5 percent of the group. It turned out that fat had a particularly devastating effect on the youngsters' relapse rate. For every 10 percent increase in energy intake that came from fat, there was a 56 percent increase in the children's risk of having a relapse. Saturated fats were the biggest driver of risk. When researchers look only at these fats, they discovered that the risk more than tripled. Examples of saturated fats include processed meats such as sausages, ham, and burgers, butter,Ā hard cheeses, and whole milk. Vegetables had the opposite effect on risk, the researchers observed. Using a cup equivalent as a standardized measure, they learned that for every additional cup of vegetables the children ate, the risk of a relapse dropped in half. To exclude the possibility that other factors influenced the results, the team included information about age, sex, ethnicity, duration of disease, body mass index, treatment, and D-vitamin levels in their analyses. This did not influence the results. The team also looked at whether other food components, such as sugar, iron, fruit and fiber, would affect the risk of relapse. They did not find any links. Although the risk associations were strong, the researchers cautioned that the study's observational design meant that it was not able to prove that fat causes relapses. But there are several ways that fat could play a role in disease processes, they argued. For instance, high fat intake triggers the release of inflammation-promoting molecules. It also affectsf gut bacteria that are linked to immune processes. Vegetables lower the risk of inflammation and immune problems, the team said. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Kathryn Fitzgerald of theĀ Johns Hopkins School of MedicineĀ said the study had important limitations. Researchers gathered information on the children's diet only in the week before they enrolled in the study. This might not adequately capture more long-term dietary patterns, she said. And fat is not simply fat, she pointed out, arguing that fish oil is believed to help MS patients. Although the California research offers insight, she called for long-term studies to define diet's role in MS.
September 7, 2017 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD #MSParis2017 – Gilenya Reduces Relapses in Children and Adolescents with MS, Novartis Trial Shows Gilenya decreased relapses in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis in the phase 3 PARADIGMS trial, according to the therapy's developer, Novartis. The Swiss company will present the trial's results at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, set for Oct. 25-28 in Paris. The study addressed the safety and efficacy of an oral, once-daily dose of Gilenya in 215 MS patients aged 10 to 17. Participants received 0.5 mg or 0.25 mg of Gilenya, according to their body weight, and results were compared with those of intramuscular Avonex (interferon beta-1a given once weekly). The trial ā conducted at 87 sites in 25 countries ā was designed in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group. Gilenya led to a "clinically meaningful decrease in the number of relapses" over a period of up to two years, compared to Avonex, according to the trial. The safety results of Gilenya matched those observed in previous trials, with adverse events more likely among the Avonex group. Importantly, the PARADIGMS trial is the first-ever randomized, controlled Phase 3 study of a disease-modifying therapy in pediatric MS. No treatment is currently available for children and adolescents with MS. Novartis will now complete a thorough evaluation of the results and later submit Gilenya for approval by regulatory agencies. It will also extend the study to a five-year period.
August 14, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye This Week: Study Volunteers Wanted, MS and the Flu, Iron and Pediatric MS, Botox University of California at San Francisco Recruiting MS Patients for Gut Bacteria Study Last year, a Harvard study reported significant differences between bacteria that MS patients have in their bellies and that found inĀ those who don’t have MS. If that bacteria is treated, those MS-related changes might…
May 22, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye: Risk Factors, Biotin and Symptoms, Pills, Shots or IVs, and More In case you missedĀ them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week. Ocrevus Market Entry Already Changing Dynamics in MS Treatment Choices, Spherix Analysis Suggests Are pills, shots, or infusions the therapy…
February 8, 2017 News by admin Obesity and Early Start of Puberty Linked to Greater Likelihood of MS in Study of Teens Obesity in early adolescence poses a risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) regardless of sex, and an earlier age at puberty also contributes to MS onset at younger ages, especially inĀ overweight teenagers, a study reports. These findings were in the study, āDistinct…
September 6, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Parents of Youngsters with MS Voice Needs and Frustrations in Study A study exploring the difficulties parents experience when their childĀ develops multiple sclerosis (MS) foundĀ that more support and education ā from healthcare and school staff, as well as by parents themselves ā is key to easing the burden of a child or teenager with this disease. The study, āParentsā…
January 14, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Young MS Patients Gain in Functional Connectivity with Onset of Damage to Brain A Canadian study showed that child-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by increased functional connectivity withinĀ the brain, most likely a compensatory effect to preserve function and protect againstĀ physical disability. The study, titledĀ “Alterations in Functional and Structural Connectivity in Pediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis,“Ā was published in the journalĀ …
December 3, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Society of Canada Helps Fund Pediatric Study of Gut Bacteria The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation recently announced the funding of new research on pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and on the role played by the gut microbiome in brain and autoimmune diseases. Although onlyĀ around 5% of all newly diagnosed MS cases…
July 21, 2015 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Nutra Pharma Working on Pediatric MS Treatment Based on Venom Nutra Pharma, a US-based biotechnology a company specializing in the acquisition, licensing, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and technologies for the management of neurological disorders, cancer, autoimmune, and infectious diseases, recently announced that it has filed an application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for orphan drug status…