Heart Disease Linked To Brain Atrophy In MS

Research Summary:  Hypertension and heart disease are associated with development of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis: a 5-year longitudinal study

WHO?

This study was performed by researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York, USA.

WHAT?

This study included 194 people living with multiple sclerosis and 43 controls over a 5-year period.  Data was collected from full physical and neurological clinical testing, as well as through questionnaires designed to gain information about risk factors that may lead to heart disease and cardiovascular problems.  The abstract can be found by clicking here.

FACT #1:  Heart disease and other comorbidities have been found to occur more frequently in people living with multiple sclerosis than the general population.

FACT #2:  Studies have shown that these comorbidities often result in worse disease outcomes.

FACT #3:  There is still a lot that is unknown about the long-term effects of these comorbidities in people living with multiple sclerosis.  It is important that our understanding of this is improved, as many of the issues may be able to be reduced through treatment and/or lifestyle changes.

FINDING #1:  A diagnosis of heart disease in people living with multiple sclerosis was associated with higher white matter and whole brain volume loss.

FINDING #2:  Hypertension (high blood pressure) was also shown to be linked to increased brain atrophy.

THOUGHT:  As many of the participants in the study were older, it is possible that this contributed to some of the results observed.  It will be important to repeat this study with a larger group of people across more age groups to see if the same associations are present.

THOUGHT:  There were a mixture of treatments used by people in the multiple sclerosis group, as well as approximately 23% who were not using any disease-modifying therapies.  It will be important to understand if this impacted on the results observed.

THOUGHT:  Monitoring and treating heart disease (and associated risk factors for it) may provide benefits to people with multiple sclerosis.

THOUGHT:  This may help provide further evidence to the importance of lifestyle modifications, particularly diet and exercise, in the management of multiple sclerosis.  Both of these factors can help improve cardiovascular health.  We have extensive information on this research on our website, including features with Professor George Jelinek and the Neuroepidemiological Unit at the University of Melbourne and interviews with Dr Terry Wahls from the University of Iowa.