MS Patients’ Risk Tolerance May Change in a Year

Published: June 03, 2012

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

SAN DIEGO — Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients reported that they may change their minds about the acceptability of risk associated with disease-modifying therapies in as little as 1 year, a researcher said here.

More than 20% of MS patients queried about their tolerance of treatment-associated risk gave substantially different answers than they did in an identical survey a year earlier, said Sneha Ramesh, PhD, of the Cleveland Clinic.

The findings suggest that MS patients on treatments that pose serious risks, such as natalizumab (Tysabri), which has been linked to a life-threatening form of brain inflammation, should have regular discussions with clinicians about whether treatment risks continue to be acceptable.

Ramesh presented the survey results in a poster session at the joint meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

The new findings were from a follow-up to a survey of risk tolerance reported last year by the same researchers.

Read more

..

 Please note that all comments are moderated.