THE OPTIMAL AGE FOR THE TREATMENT OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED

New data demonstrate that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can better compensate for damage to the central nervous system if they start therapy at the age of 30. But if you delay the start of treatment up to 40 years, the risk of progression of disability in these patients increases significantly.

These conclusions based on the results of a study carried out by scientists from the University of Zurich in Switzerland and involved more than 5,000 people with MS.

In the course of the study, the scientists have found that the risk of progression of disability in MS remains stable from early childhood to about 32 years of age and increases sharply by the age of 45, and then the curve is levelled again.

At the same time, the researchers have found that the risk of relapse was the highest among young people with MS and was constantly decreasing to 35 years of age. For example, in a patient whose first MS symptoms appeared at the age of 20, the risk of relapse was 1.5 times higher compared to a 38-year-old patient (even with the disease-modifying therapy). After 45 years, the risk of relapse continued to decrease linearly.

«Age between 37 and 40 years seems critical in terms of compensating for damage to the central nervous system caused by multiple sclerosis. The problem is not that disease-modifying drugs are ineffective, but that the risk of progression of disability increases sharply after age of 40», - said the authors at the 35th Congress of the European Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

SOURCE: MEDSCAP