Multiple Sclerosis

A British study shows nonmedical costs make up a significant portion of the annual expense generated by multiple sclerosis (MS). Most of those nonmedical costs are not covered by insurance.

Patients younger than 50 years who have multiple sclerosis (MS) who receive a gastrostomy tube to enable home enteral feeding live longer than those older than 50 years, according to a study published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal- Experimental, Translational, Clinical.

Scientists have long known that both microglia and blood-derived macrophages play roles in how the central nervous system responds to demyelination, which occurs in multiple sclerosis. A new study explains how the two interact.

Researchers determined that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) present with significant Aqueduct of Sylvius enlargement over time, which may be attributable to regional atrophy changes and ex vacuo expansion of the aqueduct, according to a study recently published in Fluids and Barriers of the CNS.

Body mass index (BMI) and low vitamin D are causal factors for multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent study published in Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation.

Shifting towards an anti-inflammatory and suppressive homeostatic immune system may contribute to increased clinical efficacy of siponimod in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), a recent study in JCI Insight reported.

Patients with Multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with mitoxantrone (MTX)—an antracyclin drug used to treat chronic refractory MS—may be at an increased risk of developing early and late left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, suggesting the need for these patients to be periodically evaluated for complications, a recent study found.

For patients with multiple sclerosis, ketogenic diets and fasting diets may be potentially safe and inexpensive complementary treatment options. However, additional clinical studies and data are needed to prove this theory.

The costs of disease-modifying drugs for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have almost tripled in 7 years, even with the introduction of generic options in the market, according to a study published by Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The use of interferon-beta (IFN-beta) by pregnant patients with multiple sclerosis poses no risk to an infant’s birth weight, length, or head circumference, according to a recent study.

Researchers recently developed a novel paradigm that connects the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) to the hygiene hypothesis and the microbiome.

The results suggest that delaying initiation of disease-modifying therapy (DMT), especially after a poorly recovered relapse, decreases the likelihood of remaining disability free by age 45.

There are numerous conditions, including many rare and difficult to recognize disorders, which can be mistaken for MS, said Andrew Solomon, MD, associate professor of neurological sciences and division chief of multiple sclerosis at Larner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

Thomas Frisell, PhD, coordinator of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses whether patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.

Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPh, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discusses the fact that, in addition to other modifiable factors linked with progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), dietary factors are also emerging as potentially related to outcomes.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, explores what data registry have shown about factors that are linked with secondary progression in pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a difficult disease to diagnose as it can present in many different ways and lacks an attributable biomarker to assess, said Andrew Solomon, MD, associate professor of neurological sciences and division chief of multiple sclerosis at Larner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

The painless procedure is still in its experimental stages; however, it is inexpensive and safe, and the equipment is portable.

Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPh, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, discusses the current state of knowledge on smoking and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk and the risk of MS progression.

The first disease-modifying therapies were introduced in the United States and Canada in the 1990s.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, addresses the current state of knowledge on using disease-modifying therapies to treat children with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care news included research that may hold the key to slowing progression of multiple sclerosis; Humana says it is saving billions of dollars through value-based care; the challenges of rural healthcare delivery.