Neurologists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have found that many patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) are not taking or being prescribed drugs approved to treat the disease.
"When we looked at patients who are being seen by family practitioners and by neurologists, we were surprised at the number of people who are not benefiting from drugs proven to help reduce the side effects of MS," said Cormac O'Donovan, M.D., a neurologist and co-investigator of the study. "Hopefully by educating physicians about the benefits of these drugs and beginning treatment early, we can slow the progression of this disease."
O'Donovan's research was published this month by Biomed Central.
O'Donovan and his team studied patient visits to family practitioners, neurologists or internists between 1998 and 2004 across the United States. There were an estimated 6.7 million MS patient visits to physicians during this time. Neurologists recorded the most patient visits (50.7 percent).
About 62 percent of patients visiting neurologists and 92 percent seen by family practitioners/internists were not using immunomodulatory agents (IMAs), according to the research. Treatment with IMAs is known to reduce the frequency of relapses and slow disease progression.
Six IMAs have been approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for use in treating MS. They are: interferon-1b (sold under the name Betaseron), interferon-1a (Avonex), glatiramer acetate (GA or Copaxone), interferon-1a (Rebif), mitoxantrone (Novantrone) and natalizumab (Tysabri).