Multiple Sclerosis

In this MD Newsline exclusive interview with neurologist Dr. Mitzi Williams, we discuss why multiple sclerosis is an important health issue to diagnose correctly and early. MD Newsline: Can you explain why multiple sclerosis (MS) is an important health issue?  Dr. Mitzi Williams: “Multiple sclerosis is an important health issue because of the potential disability...

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be wondering if they should get a COVID-19 shot, and the answer is definitely yes, an expert says. “The big takeaway message is the COVID-19 vaccine is strongly recommended for patients with multiple sclerosis,” said Dr. Nancy Sicotte, director of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Program at Cedars-Sinai in...

Risk for hospitalization, ICU admission/ventilator support, death increased in multiple sclerosis patients with ambulatory disability, older age Ambulatory disability and older age are associated with worse clinical severity of COVID-19, including death, among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study published online March 19, 2021 in JAMA Neurology. Amber Salter, Ph.D., from the...

B-cell repopulation occurs more often in African American versus White patients between six and 12 months after anti-CD20 infusion For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) receiving anti-CD20 treatment, B-cell repopulation occurs in more African American than White patients between six and 12 months after infusion, according to a study...

Black people experience more severe courses of multiple sclerosis (MS), and now new research suggests that drugs commonly used to treat this disease may not work as well or for as long in these folks. “I was amazed,” said study researcher Dr. Gregg Silverman, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York...

African American, Hispanic American race/ethnicity associated with greater disability, symptom severity in multiple sclerosis For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), African American (AA) and Hispanic American (HA) race/ethnicity is associated with higher overall disability and higher symptom severity versus Whites, according to a study published online May 28 in Neurology: Clinical Practice. Ilya Kister, M.D.,...

While multiple sclerosis can cause a wide swath of symptoms and challenges for anyone diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, a new study finds that race may play a role in disease severity. Researchers discovered that Black individuals with MS may be more severely affected by the disease, but also that this added impact persisted even...

Black Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience a higher disease burden than White patients, according to a study published online June 30 in Neurology. Karla Gray-Roncal, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues compared MS characteristics including self-reported disability, objective neurologic function assessments, and quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements for...

A new study may help explain why people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience worsening disability while those with two related diseases do not. MS causes permanent brain and spinal cord scarring, and researchers investigated whether the same damage accompanies two rarer, similar diseases in which the immune system also attacks the central nervous system. The...