July 31, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Relapses found to drive disability worsening in 1st years of MS In people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), relapses that occur in the first few years after the disease develops have a strong impact on rates of disability worsening ā but after about 2.5 years, more relapses don’t consistently result in a greater worsening of disability, according to…
May 12, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Study examines risk factors for chronic opioid use by vets with MS People with multiple sclerosis and a history of chronic opioid use are nearly 200 times more likely to use prescription opioids persistently, according to a study involving nearly 15,000 U.S. military veterans living with the neurodegenerative condition. A history of pain, paralysis, post-traumatic stress disorder, or living in a…
August 25, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Epstein-Barr Virus and MS Risk: New Link to Mono Found in Study People who had infectious mononucleosis ā a contagious disease for which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the leading cause ā had a higher incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the 10 years following diagnosis compared with individuals not diagnosed with the virus, a study found. This link was particularly…
July 7, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Higher COVID-19 Risk Tied to 2 MS Therapies, Even With Vaccination 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 ā the virus that causes…
September 10, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD T. Gondii Parasite May Protect Against Developing MS Toxoplasmosis, an infection by the parasiteĀ Toxoplasma gondii,Ā has a protective effect against the development of multiple sclerosisĀ (MS), according to a review study. Specifically, people who had been infected with the parasite were 32% less likely to develop MS than those who never had toxoplasmosis. While these findings support T. gondii…
September 13, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD #ECTRIMS2019 – Longer DMT Use and Female Sex Seen to Protect Against SPMS Conversion Women with multiple sclerosis (MS), and people who stay in a relapsing stage or use disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for longer periods are less likely to transition to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) than others, according to a study based on the Italian MS registry. But patients whose…
August 5, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Vaccines Pose No Risk of Developing MS, Large Population Study in Germany Reports Vaccines are not a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS), a large data analysis spanning more than 12,250 MS patients in Germany shows. Fewer vaccinations were given to people who ā five years later ā would be diagnosed with MS, compared to those who would be diagnosed with…
July 19, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Obesity May Prevent First-line MS Therapies from Working in Youngsters, Study Suggests Obesity may increase the risk for the development and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in children and teens, and it may prevent first-line MS therapies from working. Those findings were reported in the study āAssociation of Obesity With Multiple Sclerosis Risk and Response to First-line Disease…
June 6, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Vitamin D’s Role in MS Likely More Result of Environment Than Genes, Study Suggests A study found no genetic risk factors associated with vitamin DĀ in families with a history of multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting that the link between vitamin D deficiency and MS risk is determined by environmental factors rather than a genetic predisposition. The study “Exonic variants of genes related…
May 23, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Stress-induced Changes in Gut Bacteria May Increase Risk of Autoimmune Disorders, Mouse Study Suggests Stress-induced changes in gut bacteria, or gut microbiota, may play a significant part in the possible link between exposure to stress and the risk of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), a mouse research study says. In the study ā…
July 3, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc No Risk of MS Found in GlaxoSmithKline Vaccine for Swine Flu, Canadian Study Says Protecting the public against an outbreak like the swine flu usingĀ GlaxoSmithKline‘s vaccineĀ ArepanrixĀ ā or a similar vaccine with anĀ AS03 adjuvant delivery system ā does not increase a risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), a population study conducted in Canada reports. The study, āRegistry Cohort Study to Determine Risk…
July 2, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Winter Months Spent in Sunny Climes Can Lower MS Risk, Study Suggests Greater exposure to sunlight during the winter months ā part of a person’s lifetime exposure to ultraviolet radiation ā can help to lower the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), a large U.S. cohort study suggests. The study, āLifetime exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the risk of multiple sclerosis in…
June 22, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD Researchers Discover How Key Genetic Risk Factor for MS Operates Scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanism by which the genetic variant HLA-DRB1*15:01 is the strongest risk factor for multiple sclerosis, new research shows. Analyzing several studies, researchers found that the risk linked…
January 4, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Pilot MS Study Suggests High-Dose Vitamin D Supplements Are Safe and Beneficial Results from a small pilot study indicated that high-dose vitamin D supplementation is safe and tolerable in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and that it can reduce the presenceĀ of autoimmunity-causing immune T cells. Patients are now being recruited for a larger clinical trial. The study, entitled āSafety and immunologic…