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MS Progresses Slowly for Most Patients (continued)

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Patients with more moderate or severe disability scores at the beginning of the study were at a higher risk of developing impaired walking at follow-up.

The findings are published in the January issue of the journal Neurology.

In another study, Pittock and colleagues found that the progression of symptoms during the first five years following a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is a good predictor of whether the disease will progress quickly or slowly.

"A patient with minimal disability after five years will have about a 90% chance of continuing to have minimal disability over the next decade or so," he says. "Some patients do progress to the point where they need a wheelchair very quickly, but for most multiple sclerosis patients the outlook is better than they may think."

Changing View of MS

National Multiple Sclerosis Society spokesman Reingold, PhD, tells WebMD that the findings will come as no surprise to doctors who treat MS patients, but they may help change the public's perception of the disease.

"There are a large number of people walking around with MS who are functioning perfectly normally," he says. "The public needs to know that this is a disease with a broad spectrum of severity. Patients can have very serious and disabling symptoms or almost no symptoms at all."

But he adds that the vast majority of patients with multiple sclerosis will eventually experience some degree of disease-related disability. Reingold serves as vice president for research for NMSS.

"This is a progressive, neurologic disease, and people do tend to get worse over time," he says. "But this study confirms that for the majority of patients, progression is slow."

SOURCES: Pittock, S. Neurology, January 2004; vol 63: pp 51-59. Moses , MD, and J. Pittock, MD, department of neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Reingold, PhD, vice president for research, National MS Society.