2023-09-26 12:26:55
In multiple sclerosis, the body’s immune system attacks the myelin sheath that protects neurons. This disrupts communication with the brain and over time leads to weakness, numbness, loss of vision, limited mobility, and ultimately paralysis.
Po estimates WHO, approximately 2.8 million people worldwide suffer from this chronic, disabling disease of the nervous system. In the Russian Ministry of Health reported about the growing number of patients with multiple sclerosis in the country. In 2022, almost seven thousand patients were given this diagnosis, which is 18% more than in 2020.
It is extremely important to diagnose multiple sclerosis as early as possible in order to begin treatment as soon as possible and thereby slow down the progression of the disease. For a long time it was believed that its clinical manifestations begin only with the first episode demyelination – for example, if you have vision problems.
However, neurologists from the University of British Columbia (Canada) realized that this is preceded by a whole period when the disease makes itself felt in indirect ways, and not through classical symptoms. Their scientific work on the prodromal phase of multiple sclerosis published NeurologyJournal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Together with colleagues from several other Canadian universities, the researchers analyzed the medical records of 6,863 patients with multiple sclerosis from their region. The researchers looked at the prevalence of mental health conditions and disorders, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, in the five years before the classic medically recognized signs of multiple sclerosis appeared in patients. This information was then compared with data from a control group, which included 31,865 patients without autoimmune pathology.
It turned out that in patients with multiple sclerosis, mental problems were almost twice as common (28%) as in the general population (14.9%). Also, a higher percentage of people in the first group sought medical help for mental symptoms. This included visits to general practitioners and psychiatrists, prescriptions of medications, and hospitalizations.
The gap in patients with multiple sclerosis increased in each of the five years that preceded clinical manifestations of the disease. Psychiatric symptoms peaked in the last 12 months before the onset of multiple sclerosis.
“We are not saying that these mental conditions in themselves predict multiple sclerosis. However, they may be part of the puzzle of the prodromal phase of multiple sclerosis and a possible warning sign in combination with other factors.” stated one of the authors of the study, Dr. Anibal Chertkoff (Anibal Chertcoff).
The new study is a continuation of the previous one work neurologists. They then found that fatigue, sleep disturbances, irritable bowel syndrome, anemia and pain may also be part of the prodrome before the onset of multiple sclerosis.
The scientists’ findings are important given that treatment options for multiple sclerosis, especially in the early stages, have improved markedly in recent years. In the USA, for example, they have developed a “vaccine in reverse”, which allows them to suppress the self-destructive immune response. Researchers are already conducting phase 1 clinical trials of the new therapy to evaluate its safety in treating patients with multiple sclerosis.
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