This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, debilitating condition mediated by inflammation and neurodegeneration. .

The ultimate goal of treatment is to delay or halt the progression of irreversible disability...

the long-term effects of DMDs on MS progression are not very clear;

long-term, open-label extensions of interferon and glatiramer acetate failed to show significant beneficial effects in delaying disability progression

... Finally, the 1562 patients with an exacerbating-remitting initial course and the 282 patients with a progressive initial course of the disease were essentially similar with respect to the time course of disability accumulation from assignment to a given disability score, and the age at assignment of disability landmarks.

These observational data suggest that the clinical phenotype and course of multiple sclerosis are age dependent.

Times to reach disability milestones, and ages at which these landmarks are reached, follow a predefined schedule not obviously influenced by relapses, whenever they may occur, or by the initial course of the disease, whatever its phenotype.