January 5, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Human Herpes Virus 6 May Increase Risk of MS, Study Suggests Iranian researchers have identified another herpes virus that may increase the risk of a person developing multiple sclerosis. The team identified the human herpesvirus 6, or HHV6, as a potential risk factor for MS through a meta-analysis of several studies. They published their findings, āRelationship of Human…
December 26, 2017 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Lifetime Cancer Risk Lower in MS Patients Than General Public, Study Reports People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a lower overall lifetime risk of cancer relative to a general population matched by area, age, sex and habits like tobacco use and alcohol consumption, new research reports, suggesting this lesser risk might be due to the nature of MS itself or to disease…
October 27, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – Researchers Suggest Best Time to Stop Tysabri During Pregnancy Babies born to women who are treated with Tysabri (natalizumab) during pregnancy are more likely to develop abnormal blood cell counts if the treatment continues beyond week 30 of pregnancy. Since more relapses occurred in women who quit the treatment before this time, researchers from the Ludwig Maximilian University…
October 27, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #MSParis2017 ā Anti-inflammatory Therapies May Be More Beneficial for Younger SPMS Patients, Study Suggests Older patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) have reduced risk of experiencing disease relapse, according to a study presented at theĀ 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS Meeting, being held Oct. 25-28, in Paris, France. The study, āRelapses in patients with secondary progressive MS: a matter of disease duration…
October 26, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – Lemtrada and Tysabri More Efficient Than Older Injectables in Preventing SPMS Onset, Study Finds Sanofi Genzyme‘s Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and Biogen’s Tysabri (natalizumab) are more effective in preventing conversion to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) compared to older injectable drugs, researchers from the University of Cambridge in the U.K. reported at the 7th Joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS MeetingĀ Oct. 25-28 in Paris. The…
October 25, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #MSParis2017 – As MS Rises Worldwide, Differences Remain Evident Among Regions The numbers of people being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is rising worldwide, though distinct differences in factors thought to drive this rise are evident among regions, according to MS data represented by researchers on patients inĀ Asia, Latin America, and the Australia-New Zealand. The data was part of theĀ session āPrevalence and…
September 18, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Finnish Study Links Low Levels of Vitamin D to Higher Risk of MS in Women Women with low levels of vitamin D in their blood are more likely to developĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, finds a large-scale study on women in Finland. The study, “25-Hydroxyvitamin D deficiency and risk of MS among women in the Finnish Maternity Cohort,ā appearedĀ in the journal…
September 14, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Specific Gut Bacteria May Drive Progression of Multiple Sclerosis, Study Finds Specific gut bacteria may drive the progression of multiple sclerosis, according to a study showing that two bacterial species made the disease worse in a mouse model of MS. Researchers at the University of California, San FranciscoĀ also pinpointed a species ā found in lower numbers in MS patients ā…
September 12, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Concussion in Adolescence May Increase Risk of MS Later, Swedish Study Suggests Having a concussion when you’re 11 to 20 years old could increase your risk of developingĀ multiple sclerosisĀ later, a Swedish study suggests. The collaboration between Ćrebro University and Karolinska InstitutetĀ showed that a concussion in adolescence raised the risk of developing MS by 22 percent. Two or more concussions…
September 11, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Structural Eye Neurodegeneration Common Among MS Patients with Optic Neuritis, Danish Study Finds Structural changes of the eye retina are a common feature among multiple sclerosis patients with a clinical history of optic neuritis, a Danish study finds. Loss of the myelin protective layer of optic nerve cells due to inflammation causes optic neuritis. About 20 percent of MS have it, and optic neuritis is a symptom of disease progression in about 40 percent of patients. In most cases, symptoms persist, leading to visual impairment or blindness, along with pain. Non-invasive optical coherence tomography can help evaluate neurodegeneration of optic nerve cells. This imaging technique allows a three-dimensional evaluation of internal eye structures, including the thickness of the retina nerve fiber layer. Previous studies have shown that MS patients may present progressive RNFL loss, but this can also be caused by optic neuritis. The use of OCT has been proposed to distinguish MS subtypes and evaluate disease activity. However, little clinical data is available to validate OCT's accuracy and potential as a diagnostic tool. To find out more, a Danish research team conducted a long-term evaluation of structural and functional visual outcomes in MS patients with and without a history of optic neuritis. Researchers observed that patients with a history of optic neuritis had significantly more RNFL thickness loss than those without optic neuritis. They linked reduced RNFL thickness with a 1.56 times higher risk of optic neuritis development. Nevertheless, the team did not find any association between optic neuritis and functional impairment of visual acuity or color vision. Use of high-resolution OCT devices coupled with up-do-date analysis software can improve the diagnostic efficacy of this imaging technique in MS patients, said researchers, who urged more studies to address the relevance of structural changes in MS.
September 1, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Infection by Epstein-Barr Virus Increases MS Risk for African-Americans and Latinos, Study Finds Past infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been reported to increase the risk for multiple sclerosis (MS). Now, researchers have found a link between EBV and MSĀ in three racial-ethnic groups, with African-Americans and Latinos showing a higher risk for MS than Caucasians.
August 17, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Older Immunosuppressants May Increase MS Patients’ Cancer Risk, Study Reports The risk of people with multiple sclerosis developing cancer is higher if they have used immunosuppressants than if they haven’t, according to a study that followed more than 1,000 patients for a decade. The findingsĀ indicate that the often discussed association between MS and cancer may stem from older types of…
July 14, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Breastfeeding May Be Linked to Reduced Risk of MS, Study Suggests Women who breastfeed for 15 months or longer may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than those who breastfeed for shorter periods or not at all, according to a recent study. The study also suggests that women who had their first…
July 13, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Health Questionnaires Can Help to Predict ‘Hard Outcomes’ Like Survival in MS Patients, Study Says Patient questionnaires can be sensitive to signs of disease progression and worsening in neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis just as they are in other diseases, helping doctors to better predict clinical outcomes in patients, a study reports. Particularly, the study found that MS patients with higher scores on a specific disease questionnaire were nearly six times more likely to die within 10 years than those with lower scores, and that mortality risk also jumped among people whose scores rose on a second taking of same questionnaire. But the researchers cautioned that their study was not a tool for predicting mortality but a way to help patients be more active participants in their care. āOur research shows that by answering a set series of questions, patients can have an important role in predicting long-term prognosis in diseases like MS, and that these types of questionnaire should be used by doctors to get a better idea of the patientās health,ā Joel Raffel, studyās first author, from the Imperial College London, United Kingdom, said in a university news release written by Ryan O'Hare. āWe hope that using patient-reported outcomes like these more and more will mean a shift towards empowering patients," he added. "They will be able to provide their own data, so rather than the doctor telling the patient how they are doing, itās the other way around.ā Among tools often used in the clinic are patient-reported outcomes; that is, questionnaires for patients that focus on their disease and treatment. But while these questionnaires have many uses, from screening for symptoms or evaluating treatment response to improving communications, they are often under-utilized when people have MS or other neurological diseases, "in part because it is not clear if PROs [patient-reported outcomes] relate to āhard clinical outcomesā like disability or mortality," the team noted. Researchers wanted to determine whether the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scaleā29 (MSIS-29) ā a 29-question survey assessing quality of life and disease impact over the previous two weeks ā might serve as a way of predicting a patient's risk of death. The questionnaire was completed by 2,126 people, registered with the MS Society Tissue Bank in the U.K., beginning in 2004. Of these, 872 patients repeated it one year later. By 2014, the researchers reported that 264 of the original group of MS patients (12.4%) had died, and an evaluation revealed that MSIS-29 scores were associated with 10-year mortality risk regardless of age, gender, and disability score at the time the questionnaire was completed. Indeed, patients with high scores on the MSIS-29 questionnaire, indicative of a poor quality of life, were 5.7 times more likely to die within 10 years than those whose scores were lower. The mortality risk rose further among people whose MSIS-29 score worsened between the first and second year of answering the questionnaire. āIdeally, these questionnaires should be administered routinely, once a year in the clinic or online,ā Raffel said. āThis could help doctors to understand what issues the patients are facing and could also help to answer big research questions around prognosis and which of the available treatments we have for MS are working.ā The team believes that questionnaire responses, together with usual clinical assessment tools like imaging data through MRI scans, could help doctors and patients choose the best course of treatment.
July 10, 2017 News by Charles Moore Experts Call for Tighter Regulation of Stem Cell Therapies in Use at Clinics Worldwide Advertising for stem cell therapies not supported by clinical research ā often made directly to patients and sometimes promoted as a "cure" for diseases like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's ā is a growing problem that needs to be addressed and regulated, a team of leading experts say, calling such "stem cell tourism" potentially unsafe. Stem cell tourism is the unflattering name given to the practice of encouraging patients to travel outside their home country to undergo such treatment, typicaly at a private clinic. The article, titled "Marketing of unproven stem cellābased interventions: A call to action" and recently published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, was co-authored by scientists with universities and hospitals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Belgium, Italy, Japan, and Australia. It focuses on the global problem of the commercial promotion of stem cell therapies and ongoing resistance to regulatory efforts. Its authors suggest that a coordinated approach, at national and international levels, be focused on "engagement, harmonization, and enforcement in order to reduce risks associated with direct-to-consumer marketing of unproven stem cell treatments." Treatments involving stem cell transplants are now being offered by hundreds of medical institutions worldwide, claiming efficacy in repairing tissue damaged by degenerative disorders like MS, even though those claim often lack or are supported by little evidence . They also noted that the continued availability of these treatments undermines the development of rigorously tested therapies, and potentially can endanger a patient's life. The researchers emphasize that tighter regulations on stem cell therapy advertising are needed, especially regarding potential clinical benefits. They support the establishment of international regulatory standards for the manufacture and testing of human cell and tissue-based therapies. "Many patients feel that potential cures are being held back by red tape and lengthy approval processes. Although this can be frustrating, these procedures are there to protect patients from undergoing needless treatments that could put their lives at risk," Sarah Chan, a University of Edinburgh Chancellorās Fellow and report co-author, said in a news release. Chan and her colleagues are also calling for the World Health Organization to offer guidance on responsible clinical use of cells and tissues, as it does for medicines and medical devices. "Stem cell therapies hold a lot of promise," Chan said, "but we need rigorous clinical trials and regulatory processes to determine whether a proposed treatment is safe, effective and better than existing treatments." According to the release, the report and its recommendations followed the death of two children at a German clinic in 2010. The clinic has since been shut down. Certain stem cell therapies ā mostly involving blood and skin stem cells ā have undergone rigorous testing in clinical trials, the researchers noted. A number of these resulted in aproved treatments for certain blood cancers, and to grow skin grafts for patients with severe burns. Information about the current status of stem cell research and potential uses of stem cell therapies is available on the website EuroStemCell.
June 20, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Cigarette Smoking Doesn’t Speed Up Disease Progression in PPMS, Canadian Study Suggests Cigarette smoking is certainly no good for you, but it may not necessarily make your primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) worse, a new study finds. The study, āSmoking does not influence disability accumulation in primary progressive multiple sclerosis,ā appeared inĀ the European JournalĀ ofĀ Neurology. It contradicts what was…
May 18, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Obesity and Poor Vitamin D Levels Tied to Risk of Childhood MS in Study A study of nearly 600 children with multiple sclerosis reportedĀ that genes linked to low vitamin D levels and obesity contribute to the risk of developing MSĀ in childhood. While the two are also risk factors for adult-onset MS, obesity and low vitamin D have a larger risk impact on childrenĀ thanĀ adults. The…
May 11, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD National Multiple Sclerosis Society Commits to $17 Million for 43 Research Projects The National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ is pumping $17 million intoĀ 43 research projectsĀ that represent almost half of its $40-million research funding commitment in 2017. Among the projectsĀ are trials evaluating intermittent fasting as a way to harness inflammation and stem cell research. A growing number of studies indicate thatĀ stem cells can slow…
May 10, 2017 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Increased Risk of Autoimmune Diseases Linked to Malaria-resisting Gene Variation A variation in a gene that likely promoted resistance to malaria in Sardinia may have increased the risk of people there developing autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study, āOverexpression of the Cytokine BAFF and Autoimmunity Risk,ā was published in The…
May 10, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD Exposure to Sunlight During Pregnancy Has No Influence on MS Risk in Children, Polish Study Finds The risk of childrenĀ developingĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life has no link to how much sunlight their mothers were exposed to during pregnancy, a Polish study found. The study, āMonth of birth and level of insolation as risk factors for multiple sclerosis in Poland,ā appeared in the journal…
April 21, 2017 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Decisions to Stop Taking Tysabri for MS Are Often Subjective, Study Concludes Many decisions to stop taking the multiple sclerosis treatmentĀ Tysabri (natalizumab)Ā appear to be based largely on subjective factors such as patients’ or physicians’ view of the risk, rather thanĀ objective assessments of the risk, a study indicates. TysabriĀ is an approved immunotherapy for active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Despite its benefits, there…
March 27, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Two Genes Team Up to Increase Risk of Multiple Sclerosis, Study Indicates A person unlucky enough to have two specific gene variants is at significantly higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study. The research, which gave scientists insight into the processes that cause MS, also suggestedĀ that another mutation increased the effects of a known MS risk gene. The…
March 27, 2017 News by Joana Fernandes, PhD MS Patients Face Higher Risk of Contracting Kidney, Bladder Stone Disease, Study Finds PeopleĀ with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to develop kidney or bladder stones than those without MS, a new study concludes. The report,Ā āMultiple sclerosis and nephrolithiasis: aĀ matched-case comparative study,ā appearedĀ in the journal BJU International. Stone disease is highly lethalĀ in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), a condition that,…
March 22, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Swallowing Problems in MS That Lead to Pneumonia Need Attention, Professor Says Swallowing difficulties and reduced cough are a major, yet commonly overlooked, issue in patients with multiple sclerosis and other brain conditions, according to Dr. Don Bolser, aĀ University of FloridaĀ (UF) professor. Pharmaceutical companies haven’t recognized the importance of preventing bits of food and drink from getting into the lungs while…
February 24, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #ACTRIMS2017 – Sex Hormones and Chromosomes Lead to Gender Differences in MS, Studies Report Sex hormones, and genes in the two sex chromosomes, impact the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) in men and women differently, and lead to differences in the course of the disease between the sexes, according to two studies. Two speakers at the ACTRIMS 2017 ForumĀ highlighted the role of sex…
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…
January 20, 2017 News by Ćzge Ćzkaya, PhD Women in Family with MS Seen to Be at Particular Risk of Developing Disease Family members of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are asymptomatic but at a higher risk of developing the disease themselves are more likely to have early signs of the disease, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology and titled "Assessment of Early Evidence of Multiple Sclerosis in a Prospective Study of Asymptomatic High-Risk Family Members". These people should therefore be closely monitored.
December 7, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Copaxone Use During Pregnancy by RMS Patients Now Possible in EU European users ofĀ Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection, Teva Pharmaceutical) to treatĀ relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS) will no longer see a warning that the drug should not be used during pregnancy. A report assessing this change in the drug’sĀ marketing authorization within the European Union ā a process known as…
October 3, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Lifelong Exercise Doesn’t Lower the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis, Large Study in Women Reports In a large prospective study with validated measures of physical activity, researchers found no evidence that exerciseĀ reduced a womanās risk of developingĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). Although physical activity is known to haveĀ numerous health benefits, it seems unlikely toĀ protect a person against the likelihoodĀ of developing MS, the study concludes. The study, published…
September 20, 2016 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD #ECTRIMS2016 – Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Higher Risk of MS for Women in Finland In a large nationwide study in Finland, researchers found evidence supporting the link between vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) inĀ women. The results were givenĀ in an oral presentation, āSerum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of multiple sclerosis among women in the Finnish Maternity Cohort,ā…