Impact of Body Mass Index on the Age of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Onset: A Retrospective Study

Paradigm shifts in multiple sclerosis management: Implications for daily clinical practice

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic inflammatory neurological disease. The emergence of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) has greatly improved disease activity control and progression of disability in MS patients. DMTs differ in their mode of action, route of administration, efficacy, and safety profiles, offering multiple options for clinicians. Personalized medicine aims at tailoring the therapeutic strategy to patients' characteristics and disease activity but also patients' needs and preferences. New therapeutic options have already changed treatment paradigms for patients with active relapsing MS (RMS). The traditional approach consists in initiating treatment with moderate-efficacy DMTs and subsequently, escalating to higher-efficacy DMTs when there is evidence of clinical and/or radiological breakthrough activity. Recent real-world studies suggest that initiation of high-efficacy DMTs from disease onset can improve long-term outcomes for RMS patients. In this article, we review different treatment strategies and discuss challenges associated with personalized therapy.

The age at onset of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis has increased over the last five decades

BACKGROUND

Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) most commonly experience their first symptoms between 20 and 40 years of age. The objective of this study was to investigate how the age at which the first symptoms of RRMS occur has changed over the past decades.

METHODS

Patients who were followed up in our unit after an initial diagnosis of RRMS using the Poser or McDonald criteria and who experienced their first symptoms between January 1970 and December 2019 were included in the study. The cohort was divided into five groups according to the decade in which the first symptoms appeared. The age at disease onset was compared across decades. Changes in age were also determined after excluding patients with early-onset disease (<18 years of age) and those with late-onset disease (>50 years of age) to avoid bias.

RESULTS

The cohort included 1,622 patients with RRMS, 67.6% of whom were women. Among them, 5.9% and 4% had early-onset and late-onset disease, respectively. The mean age ± standard deviation at onset was 31.11 ± 9.82 years, with no differences between men and women. The mean ages at onset were 23.79 ± 10.19 years between 1970 and 1979, 27.86 ± 9.22 years between 1980 and 1989, 30.07 ± 9.32 years between 1990 and 1999, 32.12 ± 9.47 between 2000 and 2009, and 34.28 ± 9.83 years between 2010 and 2019. The ages at disease onset were progressively higher in the later decades; this trend was statistically significant (p < 0.001), with a Pearson linear correlation coefficient R of 0.264 and R² of 0.070 (p < 0.001). The results were similar when analysing men and women separately. We conducted an analysis of 1,460 patients (mean age at onset: 31.10 ± 7.99 years), after excluding patients with early-onset and late-onset disease. In this specific subgroup, the mean ages at disease onset were 28.38 ± 8.17 years between 1970 and 1979, 29.22 ± 7.51 years between 1980 and 1989, 30.06 ± 8.02 years between 1990 and 1999, 31.46 ± 7.77 years between 2000 and 2009, and 33.37 ± 7.97 years between 2010 and 2019. The trend was also statistically significant (p < 0.001), with a Pearson linear correlation coefficient R of 0.193 and R² of 0.037 (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our data showed that the age at RRMS onset has increased over the past decades.

Coronaviruses and their relationship with multiple sclerosis: is the prevalence of multiple sclerosis going to increase after the Covid-19 pandemia?

The purpose of this review is to examine whether there is a possible (etiological/triggering) relationship between infection with various Coronaviruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the Coronavirus disease-19 (Covid-19) pandemia, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and whether an increase of the prevalence of MS after the current Covid-19 pandemia should be expected, examining new and preexisting data. Although the exact pathogenesis of MS remains unknown, environmental agents seem to greatly influence the onset of the disease, with viruses being the most popular candidate. Existing data support this possible etiological relationship between viruses and MS, and experimental studies show that Coronaviruses can actually induce an MS-like demyelinating disease in animal models. Findings in MS patients could also be compatible with this coronaviral MS hypothesis. More importantly, current data from the Covid-19 pandemia show that SARS-CoV-2 can trigger autoimmunity and possibly induce autoimmune diseases, in the Central Nervous System as well, strengthening the viral hypothesis of MS. If we accept that Coronaviruses can induce MS, it is reasonable to expect an increase in the prevalence of MS after the Covid-19 pandemia. This knowledge is of great importance in order to protect the aging groups that are more vulnerable against autoimmune diseases and MS specifically, and to establish proper vaccination and health policies.