Multiple Sclerosis

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.

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 role of vitamin D insufficiency in the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the optimal dose of vitamin D for patients with MS.

Researchers may have identified a way to delay the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) by blocking a molecule that controls the entry of B cells into the brain, which results in deterioration of tissue.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, discusses the current body of data on treating pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS).

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is known to be associated with lower health-related quality of life, and a new study adds evidence that depression and fatigue are the major drivers of this relationship.

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, explains that, in addition to known environmental factors that affect multiple sclerosis (MS) risk, novel factors, such as childhood obesity, are also emerging.

Researchers have identified complement genes that appear to play a role in vision loss associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and this finding could help researchers monitor and predict the progression and severity of MS, according to a study published in Brain.

Melinda Magyari, MD, PhD, consultant neurologist, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital, explains the treatment paradigm for pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS).

As the number of disease-modifying therapies available for multiple sclerosis increases, patients and physicians can struggle to identify the right one for the right patient, highlighting the need for a patient decision aid.

The FDA today approved Biogen and Alkermes’ diroximel fumarate, an oral agent, to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), including clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and secondary progressive disease. The drug, approved under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway on the basis of its bioequivalence to dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), will be sold as Vumerity.

Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses whether the medical community has reached a consensus on using an escalation approach to treatment or starting with highly effective therapies in treating multiple sclerosis (MS).

Serum neurofilament light chain is associated with brain atrophy and disability worsening, which means it can be used as an objective surrogate of ongoing disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to research published in JAMA Neurology.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a higher risk in general of infections, but the risk varies depending on their treatment, according to a new study in JAMA Neurology.

Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses the body of knowledge on using stem cell transplants to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Two abstracts presented at ECTRIMS 2019, the 35th Annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, looked at patterns among patients newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Ozanimod, under development to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), has greater efficacy on the annualized relapse rate (ARR) than most other first-line disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), according to 2 abstracts presented at ECTRIMS 2019, the 35th Annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

When measuring disease severity and progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), there are several approaches that provide different information and have varying strengths and weaknesses, according to Daniel Kantor, MD, president of Kantor Neurology.

Data on the link between elevated serum neurofilament light chain and diabetes was presented at the 35th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis, held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

While there are concerns about the overdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), underdiagnosis is also a serious problem that can lead to patients not receiving treatment for MS, explained Daniel Kantor, MD, president of Kantor Neurology.

Sessions and posters from the 35th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis discussed various ways to measure patient-reported outcomes in multiple sclerosis.

Since the introduction of disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), evidence from disease registries has shown how the therapies work in the real world and reduce the effect of MS on people’s lives, according to Daniel Kantor, MD, president of Kantor Neurology.