Contributions
Abstract: 153
Type: Oral
While immunomodulatory drugs reduce the inflammatory attacks and reduce frequency of relapses, there is no effective treatment for progressive MS, which has distinct and poorly understood pathogenic mechanisms. The majority of MS patients thus become disabled at a relatively young age. For example, in the Lyon cohort the median age at reaching an expanded disability severity score (EDSS) of 7 (wheel-chair bound) was 53.1 years, and in the European Study Group on Interferon-β1-b in Secondary Progressive MS (EU-SPMS) study, at 10 years of follow-up over 50% of the patients had an EDSS of 7 or worse. Thus, any intervention that improves the long term prognosis of MS would have a substantial clinical and public health impact. Modifiable factors that have been associated with MS progression in observational studies include cigarette smoking and vitamin D insufficiency. The optimal levels of vitamin D, however, are still uncertain and there are unresolved questions on potential interactions with different type of immunomodulatory treatment. In this presentation, I will review the evidence linking cigarette smoking and vitamin D to MS progression, and consider critically the potential role of other factors, including dietary polyunsaturated fat and salt intake.
Disclosure: Dr. Ascherio receives research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense and served on a medical advisory board for Bayer HealthCare.
Abstract: 153
Type: Oral
While immunomodulatory drugs reduce the inflammatory attacks and reduce frequency of relapses, there is no effective treatment for progressive MS, which has distinct and poorly understood pathogenic mechanisms. The majority of MS patients thus become disabled at a relatively young age. For example, in the Lyon cohort the median age at reaching an expanded disability severity score (EDSS) of 7 (wheel-chair bound) was 53.1 years, and in the European Study Group on Interferon-β1-b in Secondary Progressive MS (EU-SPMS) study, at 10 years of follow-up over 50% of the patients had an EDSS of 7 or worse. Thus, any intervention that improves the long term prognosis of MS would have a substantial clinical and public health impact. Modifiable factors that have been associated with MS progression in observational studies include cigarette smoking and vitamin D insufficiency. The optimal levels of vitamin D, however, are still uncertain and there are unresolved questions on potential interactions with different type of immunomodulatory treatment. In this presentation, I will review the evidence linking cigarette smoking and vitamin D to MS progression, and consider critically the potential role of other factors, including dietary polyunsaturated fat and salt intake.
Disclosure: Dr. Ascherio receives research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense and served on a medical advisory board for Bayer HealthCare.