Multiple sclerosis: New blood test can identify types of MS and if treatments are working

VIDEO: The “stunning breakthrough” in testing for MS patients (ABC News)

Patients with multiple sclerosis will soon have access to a new test which can tell them exactly what type of MS they have and how well their medications are working.

At the moment, patients have to have an array of expensive tests to determine what kind of MS they have.

The study, published in Nature scientific reports, shows a blood test could greatly simplify and speed up this process, allowing doctors to adapt a patient’s treatment more accurately and rapidly.

Neuroscience Professor Gilles Guillemin from Macquarie University said the discovery was the culmination of 12 years’ hard work in the lab.

PHOTO: Professor Giles Guillemin says the test will help patients know if treatments are working. (ABC News: Meredith Griffiths)

“We can tell you which sub-type of MS you have and if you respond to treatment,” he said.

At the moment, patients have to wait weeks on a medication to see if it is effective.

“If you can have the blood test and see the marker not working, and this treatment doesn’t work, the clinician will be able to realise very quickly change to another therapy,” Professor Guillemin said.

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