Leading expert in multiple sclerosis, Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, explains the critical first steps after a new MS diagnosis. He emphasizes the immediate need to consult a neurologist and begin disease-modifying therapy. Dr. Weiner also highlights two vital patient-controlled actions: quitting smoking and maintaining normal vitamin D levels. He discusses the future of MS care, including more treatments for progressive forms and the potential for precision medicine.
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Essential First Steps and Treatment Strategy After a Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
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- Immediate Medical Steps After MS Diagnosis
- The Critical Role of Regular MRI Monitoring
- Patient-Controlled Factors: Smoking and Vitamin D
- The Future of Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
- Long-Term Vision: Prevention and a Cure for MS
- Full Transcript
Immediate Medical Steps After MS Diagnosis
Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, states that the first step after a multiple sclerosis diagnosis is to see a specialist. A patient must immediately consult a neurologist who specializes in treating MS. This ensures the condition is managed by an expert familiar with the latest therapies and protocols.
Dr. Weiner also stresses the urgency of starting a multiple sclerosis medication. Beginning a disease-modifying therapy early is a cornerstone of modern MS treatment to slow disease progression.
The Critical Role of Regular MRI Monitoring
Ongoing assessment is vital for managing multiple sclerosis effectively. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, highlights that patients must have MRI scans done regularly. This imaging is crucial for tracking disease activity and evaluating how well the treatment is working.
Regular MRI monitoring allows neurologists to make informed decisions about therapy. Scans can reveal new lesions or changes that are not yet causing physical symptoms, enabling timely treatment adjustments.
Patient-Controlled Factors: Smoking and Vitamin D
Certain lifestyle factors have a profound impact on multiple sclerosis outcomes. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, is unequivocal about smoking. He advises that any patient with MS who smokes must stop immediately, as smoking significantly worsens the disease.
Dr. Weiner also identifies vitamin D supplementation as a key patient-controlled action. Maintaining vitamin D levels within the normal range is very important for immune system function and can positively influence MS.
The Future of Multiple Sclerosis Treatment
The treatment landscape for multiple sclerosis is continuously evolving. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, anticipates more medications will become available, particularly for progressive forms of MS. This will provide new options for patients with challenging disease courses.
Dr. Weiner also discusses the move toward precision medicine in neurology. The future may allow doctors to decide which specific MS medication a person should take based on their individual disease profile, optimizing treatment efficacy.
Long-Term Vision: Prevention and a Cure for MS
The ultimate goal in multiple sclerosis research is prevention. Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, envisions a future with a vaccine for MS. This would stop people from developing the disease in the first place, a monumental shift from treatment to prevention.
This long-term vision includes identifying patients at risk and potentially treating children to prevent MS onset. While Dr. Howard Weiner, MD, notes this may be centuries away for civilization, it remains the guiding objective for research, as discussed with Dr. Anton Titov, MD.
Full Transcript
Dr. Anton Titov, MD: A person may be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis somewhere in the world today. What can that person do to ensure that the treatment is selected correctly?
Dr. Anton Titov, MD: How to organize a follow-up in multiple sclerosis appropriately?
Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Again, for somebody who could be living outside of the United States?
Dr. Howard Weiner, MD: The patient has to go to a neurologist or someone who knows how to treat multiple sclerosis. The patient has to start a multiple sclerosis medication. The patient has to have MRI scans done regularly.
Two things that I would say are very important that you don't need a doctor for: no smoking! Smoking is very, very bad for multiple sclerosis. Smoking makes multiple sclerosis worse.
Anybody who is smoking and gets multiple sclerosis should immediately stop smoking! It'll make the multiple sclerosis better.
Number two: patients should take vitamin D. Vitamin D is very important for the immune system. Their vitamin D levels should be in the normal range.
That is clearly something that is under control of every patient with multiple sclerosis. That is correct!
One day we will have a vaccine for multiple sclerosis. Patients don't get multiple sclerosis. We will identify patients at risk or treat children, so no one gets multiple sclerosis. That is the long term.
Come back in a few hundred years. Okay, now for us a few hundred years is a lot. But for civilization it isn't a lot.
In the near future there will be more medications for progressive multiple sclerosis. There may be a precision medicine. We can decide which medication a person should take.
Dr. Anton Titov, MD: What everyone must do first after a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is made or suspected?