Early MS treatment improves outcomes

American Academy of Neurology 2017 Annual Meeting. submissions.mirasmart.com/Verify/AAN2017/submission/temp/radF9D27.pdf

According to the MS Society, around 108,000 people in the UK have MS – about one person in every 600. Each year, 5100 people are diagnosed with MS (caused by an immune attack on the myelin sheath around some nerves). Now a new study suggests early and continued treatment improves outcomes in MS patients with highly active disease.

The research, sponsored by Biogen, compared 233 treatment-naive patients, who began natalizumab within a year of the onset of MS symptoms, with 179 and 144 patients who initiated natalizumab one to five years and more than five years respectively after MS symptoms emerged. Patients received 300mg intravenous natalizumab every four weeks.