A new study published in the Brain, a journal of Neurology, highlights that in multiple sclerosis diagnoses (MS), an early MRI scan can aid with predicting the development of the condition and calculating how serious the disability is likely to become.
Funded by the MS Society, the study was led by Dr Wallace Brownlee and MS Society’s Scientific Ambassador, Professor Olga Ciccarelli and involved observing 164 people across a period of 15 years, with clinically isolated syndrome. Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) refers to the first episode of neurological symptoms, which is often a precursor to Multiple Sclerosis. The study analysed how MS developed with researchers identifying signs of the condition’s development, following the first diagnosis. For example, individuals who were found to have early spinal cord damage had a higher likelihood of acquiring the secondary progressive form of MS, for which there is no treatment at the moment and which strongly impairs physical autonomy. MRIs of the spinal cord, however, could predict the “level of disability” an individual was likely to face in forthcoming years.
More Autonomy Over MS with MRI Scans
Additionally, researchers discovered via the MRI scan an association between a person’s cognitive and physical state in their later years and the appearance of lesions on their brain. The findings may not be the “cure-all” for multiple sclerosis; nonetheless, they afford individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a sense of stability in knowing how their condition will develop. In the UK, there are over 100,000 MS diagnoses, yet the ability to track cognitive ability and the rate in which a person will lose their physical autonomy has always been unclear and elusive. Early MRI scans hence allow people with MS to remain informed on their condition and make definitive decisions about finances, family and relationships, without the fear of not knowing what could happen in the near future.
MS Society’s Director Research, Dr Susan Kohlhaas, commented: “MS damages nerves in your body and makes it harder to do everyday things like walk, talk, eat and think. It’s also different for everyone and there isn’t currently a consistent way of predicting what course MS might take…Identifying key factors that appear very early on can indicate how someone’s MS might develop[and] this study has proved crucial.”
Knowing Provides Vital Foresight
After the study ended, 15 years later, all participants received a follow-up and their disability was assessed via different measures. These measures incorporated the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) to evaluate findings; 57 percent of the study’s 164 participants experienced a relapsing type of MS, 15 percent were diagnosed with the secondary progressive form, whereas 27 percent remained in clinically isolated syndrome and two people or one percent had acquired a different condition.
Alongside providing the individuals with MS the opportunity to prepare for the future, MRI scans provide healthcare professionals with foresight allowing them to decide the best possible treatment plan.
The study will be game-changing in terms of the future of monitoring MS diagnoses with benefits that the study’s participants such as Melanie Ellis, 33 from Walthamstow in London, have experienced first-hand.
Speaking of the impact of the study on her own relapsing MS diagnosis, she stated: “I signed up to the study over 15 years ago – at the time I didn’t even know I had MS, but I’d lost my vision in one eye and they asked me to take part…I know not everyone will want to know how their MS is going to turn out but it’s different for everyone, and I’m the sort of person who likes to know! If you know what’s going on you can at least deal with it, rather than sitting waiting for something awful to happen. If someone can tell you ‘well this is the likely impact’, it means you can live your life and plan for the future.”
The MS Society is here to make life better for people with MS, through research, campaigning, and support. For more information about MS, visit http://www.mssociety.org.uk . Backed by the MS society, these findings published in the Brain are momentous in allowing individuals diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis a better quality of life, as an early MRI scan allows them and healthcare professionals to take control of their condition.
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