Octave Bioscience plans to test its precision care program in an observational, real-world study with people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The program, called MS Precision Care Solution, uses blood biomarkers to monitor disease activity alongside MRI scans of the brain and spinal cord. An app tracks…
treatment
A new statistical method could help to more accurately capture changes in disability severity for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and monitor the impact of MS treatments. “With the use of this new statistical methodology, it is possible to estimate the time to improvement as well as the…
A protein called Daam2 helps to regulate the activity of cells in the brain that make myelin, the fatty covering around nerve fibers that’s damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. By uncovering how that protein functions in the brain to boost myelin repair, researchers have discovered…
An anti-inflammatory diet combined with synbiotic supplements eased fatigue, pain, sexual dysfunction, and bladder and bowel problems in people with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a small clinical trial. Synbiotics contain probiotics, healthy bacteria for the gut, and prebiotics, or plant fibers that feed probiotics and help…
An energy management education program combined with high-intensity exercise during a three-week inpatient rehabilitation program didn’t lead to quality of life gains for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with fatigue over usual care, but it did offer some benefit. In the months after the program, better cardiorespiratory fitness, gains in…
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) will be funded in New Zealand for treating certain people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) about six years after being approved there. The decision from the Pharmaceutical Management Agency (Pharmac), which decides what medicines are funded in New Zealand and to what extent, makes Ocrevus…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: PPMS is difficult to diagnose, report says Most people who have multiple sclerosis start out with a diagnosis of…
What follows is something of an emergency column. All of yesterday’s writing had to be scrapped. I’m now down at the bottom of Column Mountain, squinting up through the clouds and mist, trying to work out again what’s the best route to climb. Last night, I knew the dreaded urinary…
Noting that Aubagio (teriflunomide) continues to have “a robust impact on disability progression” in multiple sclerosis (MS) despite being eclipsed by newer MS treatments in trials, an international team of researchers are now arguing that it is, in fact, still ethical to use the older therapy as a…
The late August approval of Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is big news in the multiple sclerosis (MS) world. Tyruko is a biosimilar for Tysabri (natalizumab), and it’s the first biosimilar to gain FDA approval as an MS disease-modifying therapy…
A course of neuromuscular electrical stimulation using Neufit‘s neuro-bio-electric stimulator — a device dubbed Neubie — alongside physical therapy (PT) led to improvements in strength and range of motion for seven people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a case series. Use of the Neubie device and PT…
Nura Bio has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating NB-4746, its investigational treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) and several other neurological conditions, in healthy volunteers. The trial’s participants will be randomly assigned to receive single and multiple doses of NB-4746 or a placebo. The goal is to…
A new system that can use MRI scans to effectively measure myelin content in brain tissue may help assess the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. The technique was described in “Quantitative magnetic resonance mapping of the myelin bilayer,” which…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Can noninvasive brain stimulation reduce MS spasticity? For a long time, I’ve had to deal with spasticity, a common…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn) as the first biosimilar of Tysabri to treat adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). The decision also marks the first approval of any biosimilar for MS in the country, according to the regulatory agency.
Treatment with polysialic acid, a sugar molecule naturally made in the body, may be a promising approach to boost myelin repair in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study in lab-grown brain samples. Findings show that the molecule increased myelin repair, or remyelination, in the cell…
It’s a new week, so it’s time for a new comorbidity. Not content with affecting my brain, spine, and bodily functions, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis is now making my body break down at a cellular level. Make something funny out of that, Connor. Toughie, this one. Maybe later —…
ASH41020, an investigational therapy from Ashvattha Therapeutics, significantly reduced disease severity and exhibited immunomodulatory properties in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent presentation. Evidence indicated the therapy works by shifting the balance of immune cells called macrophages toward a less inflammatory and more…
Aubagio (teriflunomide) can significantly reduce the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) among adults with signs of MS-like brain damage who don’t yet have any disease symptoms, according to findings from a clinical trial. The results were presented earlier this year at the American Academy of Neurology…
Children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) early on are significantly less likely to experience a relapse than those given a less efficacious drug, a real-world study found. While most patients on moderate-efficacy therapies eventually switched to a more effective one, a…
Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) may offer promise for treating spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS), but more work is needed to identify the best approach to use for patients, according to a new review study. The studies under review generally indicated that a type of brain stimulation called repetitive…
Older age and greater physical disability when starting a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) were linked to worse cognitive function for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, but cognition remained relatively stable over the next several years, according to a Swedish study. Due to the high rates of DMT switches and…
Researchers have shed new light on the molecular mechanisms that help immune cells get into the brain to drive inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Two proteins called MMP-9 and MMP-2 were found to break down some components of the barrier that keeps immune cells out of the brain, helping…
Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: MS is costly to patients and society People with MS understand how costly the disease can be in terms of…
In 2010, I strolled into a new hospital to meet my new neurologist. In them there far-off days, I was indeed strolling — nay, striding — but it wouldn’t last. I was surrounded by an aura of self-confidence that anyone who’s survived the vicissitudes of nearly three decades of show…
People who experience a first attack of multiple sclerosis (MS)-like disease are less likely to experience long-term disability progression if they start treatment within the first few months, a new study reports. “When it comes to MS treatment, the earlier the better,” Alvaro Cobo-Calvo, MD, PhD, co-author of the…
Pilates exercise with a relaxation technique improved walking abilities and self-awareness among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a small study. The study, “Impact of Pilates suspension with self-awareness on gait and metacognition in multiple sclerosis: Randomized, single-blinded and parallel-group trial,” was published in…
Delivering an antibody against the Nogo-A protein to a specific region of the nose called the olfactory mucosa improved motor function and preserved myelin in the spinal cord of a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study. This intranasal mode of delivery enabled significant concentrations…
A lab-engineered probiotic, composed of live bacteria that colonize the gut, was able to ease signs of disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to recent research. After discovering that a metabolite called lactate could activate immune signaling pathways that help to curb autoimmunity, scientists specifically…
An antibody biomarker may help to distinguish people with a disease that resembles multiple sclerosis (MS), but may actually be its own clinical disorder, according to a new study. The biomarker was present in about 1% of MS patients and in 6% of those with a related demyelinating condition…