Benign MS
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Medical Update Memo
February 12, 2007
SUMMARY
A study by three researchers from the
University of British Columbia, Dr. Ana-Luiza
Sayao,
Dr. Virginia Devonshire and Dr. Helen Tremlett,
suggests some new ideas about how MS progresses.
This information may lead to better overall
treatment for people with MS.
DETAILS
Published in the February 13, 2007
issue of Neurology (2007 68: 480-481), the
study
of
169 people revealed that 20 years from
disease onset, the disease had progressed in
nearly
half of those whose MS was considered benign
at 10 years. People enrolled were from
the British Columbia MS Clinic database, which
covers approximately 80 percent of the
MS
population in BC.
This study offers new insights into the course
of this disease, and provides physicians with
new data to support that even those with mild
symptoms and stable disease need to be monitored
over the long term.
It also supports the need for people with
MS to stay connected with specialists and MS
clinics so that their symptoms, even if mild
and occurring some time after diagnosis, can
be understood. This data tells doctors that
the progression of the disease is individual
and predicting outcomes is more complex than
has been previously understood.
The study was supported in part by a Don Paty
Career Development Award from the Multiple
Sclerosis Society of Canada.
ASK MS Information System Code: 1.2.a
National Research Department
National Marketing and Communications Department
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