Photo courtesy: The New York Times
Dr. Yasir Jassam, a board-certified neurologist at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, CA.
Award-winning actress Christina Applegate revealed on social media that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going,” wrote Applegate in a tweet.
Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.
Treatment for MS is rapidly evolving, and multidisciplinary teams at respected comprehensive MS centers are leading the way to provide MS patients with more options than ever.
Comprehensive MS centers combine cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials with neurology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacology, support groups, education and other disciplines to create a “one-stop shop” for the management of MS.
Since moving to Orange County from Kansas to help launch the Hoag Comprehensive MS and Immunology Center in March, I have been impressed with the dedication of specialists and the support of the community to advance science and offer evidenced-based, comprehensive treatment in a community hospital setting.
This is especially true when it comes to stem cell research, which is incredibly exciting, but which needs thoughtful, evidence-guided leadership to provide people with the most appropriate treatment options for them.
MS causes the body’s immune system to attack the central nervous system and damage nerve fibers, leading to symptoms like muscle weakness, trouble speaking, cognitive issues, chronic pain, depression, and vision loss.
Current medications used to treat MS can cause serious side effects, and over time, can stop working for some people. A National Institutes of Health-funded study is comparing current medications to a treatment that uses autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT), or stem cells extracted from the patient’s own blood.
The experimental treatment is showing promise in people who have the most common form of MS, relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). The treatment involves using a mixture of four chemical agents to kill off certain immune cells. The AHSCT is then infused back into the patient, where it can “reset” the immune system so that the new immune cells no longer attack the central nervous system.
It’s an inspiring study, and it is exactly the type of trial that requires the rigor, expertise and ethical standards of a comprehensive MS center like Hoag’s.
Even patients who don’t yet show symptoms of the disease can benefit from a comprehensive center. At Hoag, for instance, specialists provide neuroimmunology services that can assess patients for future risk. This means, we can begin to treat people before the onset of the disease, greatly extending the quality of their lives.
Having a staff of dedicated specialists also means knowing when something isn’t MS. Diseases as disparate as migraines and Lou Gehrig’s disease can have the same symptoms as MS, and these “MS mimics” are misdiagnosed nearly 20% of the time. It is not uncommon for people who don’t have MS to be placed on chemotherapy or other drugs for years before specialists realize that they don’t actually have the disease.
This is why expert care is so critical. It is our job not only to treat, but to prevent harm. And the best way to accomplish both is to seek out care from a comprehensive center.
By: KevinMD.com
