Multiple Sclerosis

Treatment is updated with the most recent articles listed on top.
To view only the last month's articles for the other sub-topics, go to our Monthly Online Newsletters page

If you have any questions regarding our Search Reports, please contact us at info@infomedsearch.com.

Multiple Sclerosis

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Multiple Sclerosis

"Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually affects woman more than men. The disorder most commonly begins between ages 20 and 40, but can strike at any age. The exact cause is not known, but MS is believed to result from damage to the myelin sheath, the protective material which surrounds nerve cells. It is a progressive disease, meaning the damage gets worse over time. Inflammation destroys the myelin, leaving multiple areas of scar tissue (sclerosis). The inflammation occurs when the body's own immune cells attack the nervous system. The inflammation causes nerve impulses to slow down or become blocked, leading to the symptoms of MS. Repeated episodes, or flare ups, of inflammation can occur along any area of the brain and spinal cord."

Highlighted Article

The role of MRI in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. (Adv Neurol. 2006)

"There is no single test that is diagnostic of MS, including MRI. The lesions detected with MRI are pathologically nonspecific. The principles of MS diagnosis are based on showing dissemination of white matter lesions in space and time. … The first important role for MRI in the diagnosis of MS allows for an early diagnosis of MS … The second important role for MRI in the diagnostic work-up of suspected MS patients is to rule out alternative diagnoses obvious on MRI, such as spinal stenosis and most brain tumors. Characteristic lesions that favor MS include Dawson Fingers, ovoid lesions, corpus callosum lesions, and asymptomatic spinal cord lesions. However, other white matter diseases can have similar appearances on MRI. … MRI evidence plays a supportive role in what is ultimately a clinical diagnosis of MS, in the appropriate clinical situation, and always at the exclusion of alternative diagnoses."

CONTINUE YOUR INFOMEDSEARCH RESEARCH with our previous InfoMedLinks. Start with InfoMedLinks 2008.

Custom Search

Notes

View Treatment Guidelines from previous years. Go to Treatment for each year.

Multiple Sclerosis

Daily Treatment Report

In this Report:

Cognitive Therapy-CBT-Psychotherapy
Device Therapy
Drug Side-Effects and Interactions
Drugs
Exercise
General Information
Guidelines
Immunotherapy
Internet Sites
Nutrition
Other
Radiotherapy
Supplements-Vitamins-CAM
Surgery
Transplantation

Cognitive Therapy-CBT-Psychotherapy

Device Therapy

Drug Side-Effects and Interactions

Statins May Have A Negative Impact In Multiple Sclerosis Patients "The results of our study indicate that simvastatin has in fact, a slightly deleterious effect on myelin under non-pathological conditions," adds Dr. Miron. "During remyelination, there is a decrease not only in myelin production but also in oligodendrocyte number as a result of simvastatin treatment. The findings also suggest that simvastatin inhibits CNS remyelination by blocking oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation or maturation into myelinating oligodendrocytes." “

AAN 2009: Leukemia Risk Higher Than Previous Estimates With Mitoxantrone in MS “The risk of developing leukemia for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who take mitoxantrone (Novantrone, EMD Serono and OSI Pharmaceuticals) for at least a year is close to 3 times higher than previously thought, according to a new study.”

Drugs

Oral versus Intravenous Steroids for Treatment of Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis (Cochrane Reviews 2009)

Adding Steroid Drug To MS Treatment May Reduce Disease Activity “For the study, people with MS received the steroid drug methylprednisolone in monthly "pulses," or three doses over three days, in addition to regular weekly treatment with the drug interferon beta-1a. The steroid drug has typically been used only to treat acute MS attacks, not as an ongoing treatment. … At the beginning of the study and again after three years, the researchers measured the size of lesions in the brain that are a sign of disease activity. For those receiving both drugs, the lesions stayed the same size or shrunk, while the size of the lesions grew for those taking only interferon. "These results indicate that these two drugs may have a synergy when taken together and provide a more beneficial effect on the disease activity," said study author Mads Ravnborg, MD, of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. "This is a promising finding, as the benefit from interferon is only moderate and not everyone responds fully to the treatment, so anything we can do to boost those results is positive." “

Exercise

Resistance training improves muscle strength and functional capacity in multiple sclerosis. (Neurology. 2009)

Aerobic Fitness is Associated with Gray Matter Volume and White Matter Integrity in Multiple Sclerosis. (Brain Res. 2009) “Taken together, these results suggest that fitness exerts a prophylactic influence on the cerebral atrophy observed early on preserving neuronal integrity in multiple sclerosis, thereby reducing long-term disability.”