visible lesions but that also the brain tissue not showing visible lesions becomes more affected,” he added.
The observed brain changes were more strongly associated with clinical disability than were lesions visible on standard MRI. “This suggests that the changes, though possibly subtle, may be responsible for part of the patients’ disability,” Vrenken said.
“The tricky part of MS is the variability in progression of the disease,” noted Dr. Patricia A. O’Looney, director of biomedical research programs at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
MRI has been a boon to MS diagnosis since the early 1990s, allowing for earlier detection, in conjunction with other assessment tools. “It has also allowed doctors to look at the disease more objectively, by allowing them to see the damage in the brain, not just rely on whether patients feel well or bad,” says O’Looney.
However, “What’s missing in both research and clinical care now is a [long-term] predictor of disability,” added O’Looney.
Some people can remain fully functional for 20 years before symptoms worsen, while other MS patients deteriorate quickly. Right now, what science can’t tell doctors and patients at the time of diagnosis is if, when, or how fast the disease will progress.
So, any method that could predict prognosis based on brain tissue changes would be of great help to doctors, O’Looney said.
“The ultimate hope for MS patients is to stop the neuro-degeneration that happens and causes disability,” said O’Looney. Right now, though, science is still unraveling just how the disease manages to do its damage.
If you have advanced MS, don’t give up hope as there are treatments still readily available to you. For more information on this condition, visit our Health Conditions tab on BlackDoctor.org.
SOURCES: Hugo Vrenken, Ph.D., department of physics and medical technology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Patricia A. O’Looney, M.D., director, biomedical research programs, National Multiple Sclerosis Society; September 2006 Radiology