REPORT FROM THE 67TH AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY (AAN) ANNUAL MEETING – WASHINGTON DC, APRIL 18-25, 2015 – The GLORIA non-interventional study recently reported interim results of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) in the routine management of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease (Antonini et al. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2015;21:231-235). Read More
Neurology
After natalizumab: what are the options?
April 22, 2015REPORT FROM THE 67TH AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY (AAN) ANNUAL MEETING – WASHINGTON DC, APRIL 18-25, 2015 – It is well established that the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is substantially increased after 24 infusions of natalizumab. What is less well known is how best to manage patients following natalizumab discontinuation, and several studies at AAN have examined different switching options. Read More
Olfactory deficits a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease?
April 22, 2015REPORT FROM THE 67TH AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY (AAN) ANNUAL MEETING – WASHINGTON DC, APRIL 18-25, 2015 – Impaired olfaction is a common observation in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease, and has been variously attributed to neurodegenerative changes of the olfactory bulb, amygdala, hippocampus or other structures (Thomann et al. J Alzheimers Dis 2009;17:213-21; Kjelvik et al. BMC Neurol 2014;14:168). Read More
HPV vaccination: little evidence for autoimmunity, neurological outcomes
April 1, 2015Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for young females has been promoted as an important public health initiative to reduce the risk of cervical cancer in later life. However, some have questioned whether HPV vaccination promotes autoimmunity. This issue is especially relevant for patients with pre-existing autoimmune disorders, who may be at increased risk of persistent HPV infection and cervical dysplasia (Feldman & Kim. Expert Rev Vaccines 2014; Jun 17:1-4). Read More
Optimizing patient assessment in MS: NEDA and beyond
March 12, 2015
Treatment optimization and combining metrics
NEDA – new approach
NeuroSens Survey: How do you assess treatment response in practice?
The proliferation of disease-modifying therapies (DMT) in multiple sclerosis has focused attention on the need for improved measures for evaluating treatment efficacy and response. In part, this is driven by the increasing difficulty of detecting a treatment effect in clinical trials of early MS patients with minimal disease activity, as well as the need to differentiate DMTs with respect to their varying effects on clinical and radiological endpoints. In clinical practice, identifying suboptimal responders is a matter of some urgency since therapies are more likely to provide benefit in the first 2-5 years after diagnosis of CIS/MS. An early treatment effect may be the only effect, so it is important to optimize the drug regimen before the window of opportunity for effective intervention is shuttered. Read More