Individuals diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) worry about how quickly the disease will progress. To wither this worry element, Mayo Clinic scientists have now brought in a unique tool that can foretell disability timeline for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Since physicians will be able to better predict the onset of disability, they can accordingly counsel patients and offer answers in a time of uncertainty.
In this study, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test results from a sample of 281 progressive MS patients at Mayo Clinic from 2002 to 2007 have been examined. CSF test results apparently help doctors when the diagnosis is uncertain. While assaying CSF test results, experts laid hands on a probable association between a faster disability rate and abnormally high levels of two proteins. These proteins are known as oligoclonal band and immunoglobulin-G molecule.
“In this study, we found that in patients who developed the progressive form of MS that had preceding relapses, the presence of greater production of one of these molecules, immunoglobulin G, predicted a faster onset of disability,” added Orhun Kantarci, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and the study’s lead author.
The CSF results of those with the progressive form of MS and proceeding relapses allegedly revealed an increased protein. Such patients supposedly face a faster rate of disability. The study findings can seemingly help predict disability outcomes well in advance.
The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.