Time is Brain: Early Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

Initiating treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) within 6 months of the first symptoms is associated with a significantly lower risk for severe disability one decade later, a new study suggests (Neurology. Published online July 19, 2023).

Patients who received early treatment had a 45% lower risk of reaching a disability score of 3 and a 60% lower risk of advancing to secondary progressive MS compared with those who began treatment 18 months or more after symptoms presented.

The observational, retrospective study included people aged 50 years or younger who received MS treatment within 6 months of their first clinical demyelinating event (n = 194), 6-16 months later (n = 192), or more than 16 months after the initial symptoms presented (n = 194).

The earliest-treatment group also had a 60% lower risk of advancing to secondary progressive MS than did people in the latest-treatment group (HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.19-0.85).

Source:Medscape