During a bad relapse, it is not uncommon for an MS'er to receive an intravenous (IV) infusion of methylprednisolone (a form of anti-inflammatory steroids). This usually induces a rapid recovery from the acute symptoms of the flare, as well as reducing the active lesions in the central nervous system.
A new study released today examines scheduled monthly infusions of IV steroids-- rather than dosing on an as-needed basis-- to see if it the regular dosing might be able to prevent relapses. In a very small (9 people!), open label (no placebo) trial, patients underwent monthly MRIs for 6 months, and then began receiving 500mg of steroid (tapered orally for 3 days) for the next 6 months.
The results were quite successful-- 8 of the 9 patients had a reduction in active lesions by a median of ~44%, and T2 lesions (plaques) reduced by ~20%. Treatment was well-tolerated.
Though a weakly-designed trial, it does point out that using steroids as a preventative against relapses might be a decent strategy. It is worth keeping in mind that neither relapses nor lesion load are well correlated with disability progression, asides from a general rule of thumb that the more of either, the worse.
Click "read more" for the full abstract.
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