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Top 5 Most-Viewed MS Content of 2024
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The most-viewed pieces of multiple sclerosis (MS) content covered remeylination therapies, the potential of cannabis treatment, potential predictors of MS, and reliable telemedicine developments.
Our top pieces of multiple sclerosis (MS) coverage from 2024 surveyed emerging remyelination therapies, the impact of cannabis on MS management, early indicators of the disease, cognitive evaluations, and the influence of the vitamin D pathway.
These are our 2024 top 5 pieces of MS content. To view our MS coverage in its entirety, and to stay up to date headed into the new year, please visit our dedicated MS page.
5. Dr Ari Green on Promising Remyelination Therapies and Patient Outcomes in MS
Remyelination trials have demonstrated the potential benefits that therapeutics, such as clemastine, can bring to patients with MS even when drugs do not meet clinical end points, explained Ari Green, MD, chief, Division of Neuroimmunology and Glial Biology at the University of California, San Francisco. In this emerging field, ensuring drugs remain tolerable is of upmost importance when considering efficacy. With the data available at this point, Green stressed the value of earlier interventions for optimizing patient outcomes.
4. Cannabis Treatment Showcases Promising Benefits for Managing Adverse Symptoms of MS
Quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes were the main focus of this study that investigated the impact of cannabis-based medicinal products on MS management. In particular, cannabis treatment has shown great potential for mitigating painful symptoms or muscle spasticity. Participants involved reported significant QOL improvements over 6 months, including benefits to their mental, emotional, and physical health, as well as sexual and social functionating. However, the authors cautioned against taking these results at face value as they lacked a control group for this study, highlighting the need for future research to piggyback off their findings.
The most-viewed pieces of MS content covered remeylination therapies, the potential of cannabis treatment, potential predictors of MS, and reliable telemedicine developments. | image credit: Mr image - stock.adobe.com
3. GI Symptoms Could Be an Early Feature of MS, Study Finds
Before disease onset in patients with MS, researchers found that individuals more often experienced gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and events, and prescription dispensations, compared with individuals without MS. Even with this study, the authors stressed the lack of data on the relationship between GI occurrences and MS. Their findings demonstrate higher incidences of esophagus conditions, gastritis, and duodenitis in patients who went on to have MS; physician visits were also 40% higher vs controls. Because gut issues can have a wide array of implications and consequences for overall health, the others recognize the importance of their research but advocate that more energy be directed to explore the relationship between the MS prodrome and GI symptoms.
2. Remote Test Reliably Assesses Cognitive Function in MS
Evaluating cognitive functioning in people with MS was effective and reliable through the use of electronic tools, such as the electronic version of the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). SDMT assessments are usually conducted in clinics; however, clinicians have recognized how the in-person nature of these tests can be an obstacle for some patient populations, particularly those residing in more rural or remote areas. Compared with the in-person oral SDMT, the electronic SDMT demonstrated good to excellent validity in cognitive assessments, indicated by patients’ reaction times and responses (P < .0001).
1. Vitamin D Pathway Associated With MS Susceptibility
In this year’s most-read MS article, strong correlations were found between individual susceptibility to MS and variations in their vitamin D receptor (VDR). This theory initially emerged as researchers recognized higher prevalence in MS occurring in populations residing further from the equator. Of note, VDR differentiation in rs2881514 and rs2531804 was linked to MS, the former associated with increased risk and the latter with decreased risk. Although their results support prior studies indicating a relationship between VDR binding and MS, the authors remain curious about the influence of dietary vitamin D supplements, which they were not able to make concrete conclusions about in this study.
